The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments like this? NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) collaborated with radio and optical telescopes to find answers. The results […]
Author: Brian Evans
NASA Progresses Toward Crewed Moon Mission with Spacecraft, Rocket Milestones
Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch. At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch […]
SPHEREx Starts Scanning Entire Sky
A soot-like cloud is revealed in a section of the sky in this May 1, 2025, image from NASA’S SPHEREx space observatory. On May 1, SPHEREx began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day for the next two years to provide new insights about the origins of the universe, galaxies, […]
NASA’s NICER Maps Debris From Recurring Cosmic Crashes
Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other missions. Scientists have only recently encountered this class of X-ray flares, called QPEs, or quasi-periodic eruptions. […]
NASA’s NICER Maps Debris From Recurring Cosmic Crashes
Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other missions. Scientists have only recently encountered this class of X-ray flares, called QPEs, or quasi-periodic eruptions. […]
Spot the Station Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is the International Space Station up there? The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth for the benefit of humanity. For more than 25 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the station, through which astronauts have learned […]
Spot the Station Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is the International Space Station up there? The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth for the benefit of humanity. For more than 25 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the station, through which astronauts have learned […]
NASA Expands SPHEREx Science Return Through Commercial Partnership
NASA is partnering with commercial industry to expand our knowledge of Earth, our solar system, and beyond. Recently, NASA collaborated with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to support data transfer for the agency’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to explore the origins of the universe. “Not […]
NASA Expands SPHEREx Science Return Through Commercial Partnership
NASA is partnering with commercial industry to expand our knowledge of Earth, our solar system, and beyond. Recently, NASA collaborated with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to support data transfer for the agency’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to explore the origins of the universe. “Not […]
Quantum Sensing via Matter-Wave Interferometry Aboard the International Space Station
Future space missions could use quantum technologies to help us understand the physical laws that govern the universe, explore the composition of other planets and their moons, gain insights into unexplained cosmological phenomena, or monitor ice sheet thickness and the amount of water in underground aquafers on Earth. NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL), a first-of-its-kind […]