by Kat Troche of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Here on Earth, we undergo a changing of seasons every three months. But what about the rest of the Solar System? What does a sunny day on Mars look like? How long would a winter on Neptune be? Let’s take a tour of some other […]
Author: Brian Evans
Sol 4553: Back to the Boxwork!
Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick Earth planning date: Tuesday, May 27, 2005 We return to planning today after a successful long weekend and about 42 meters of drive distance (about 138 feet). We planned four sols of activities on Friday to keep Curiosity busy, while the U.S.-based science team […]
A Dust Devil Photobombs Perseverance!
Written by Athanasios Klidaras, Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, and Megan Kennedy Wu, Senior Mission Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems To celebrate her 1,500th Martian day (“Sol”) exploring the red planet, the Perseverance rover used its robotic arm to take a selfie of the rover and the surrounding landscape. But when team members […]
45 Years Ago: NASA Announces Ninth Astronaut Group
Nearly all of NASA’s ninth class of astronaut candidates, along with two European trainees, poses for photos in the briefing room in the public affairs facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 7, 1980. Group 9 was announced on May 29, 1980; the candidates would go on to make history in spaceflight […]
NASA Tests New Ways to Stick the Landing in Challenging Terrain
Advancing new hazard detection and precision landing technologies to help future space missions successfully achieve safe and soft landings is a critical area of space research and development, particularly for future crewed missions. To support this, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is pursuing a regular cadence of flight testing on a variety of vehicles, […]
Integrated Testing on Horizon for Artemis II Launch Preparations
Teams responsible for preparing and launching Artemis II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are set to begin a series of integrated tests to get ready for the mission. With the upper stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) integrated with other elements of the rocket, engineers are set to start the tests […]
NASA’s MAVEN Makes First Observation of Atmospheric Sputtering at Mars
After a decade of searching, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere Volatile Evolution) mission has, for the first time, reported a direct observation of an elusive atmospheric escape process called sputtering that could help answer longstanding questions about the history of water loss on Mars. Scientists have known for a long time, through an abundance of evidence, […]
NASA Langley Uses Height, Gravity to Test Long, Flexible Booms
Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, have developed a technique to test long, flexible, composite booms for use in space in such a way that gravity helps, rather than hinders, the process. During a recent test campaign inside a 100-foot tower at a NASA Langley lab, researchers suspended a 94-foot triangular, rollable, […]
Cosmic Dawn Screening
Join NASA for a free screening of Cosmic Dawn, the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope–humanity’s mission to unveil the early universe, against all odds. Cosmic Dawn is the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope – humanity’s largest and most powerful space telescope – on a mission to unveil […]