Category: Science Mission Directorate

New Research Connects Plant Nutrition and Astronaut Gut Health

New research uncovers the connection between space agriculture and astronaut health. A study published in npj Microgravity shows how analyzing diverse datasets together can reveal insights that might otherwise be missed — in this case, linking space-grown food quality to astronaut nutrition and gut health. The paper reviewed previous studies of plants grown aboard the […]

NASA’s Apollo Samples, LRO Help Scientists Predict Moonquakes

Moonquakes pose little risk to astronauts during a mission lasting just a few days. But their effects on longer-term lunar surface assets could be significant.

NASA-ISRO Satellite Lifts Off to Track Earth’s Changing Surfaces

Carrying an advanced radar system that will produce a dynamic, three-dimensional view of Earth in unprecedented detail, the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite has launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. Jointly developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and a critical part of the United States […]

NASA Launches Mission to Study Earth’s Magnetic Shield

NASA’s newest mission, TRACERS, soon will begin studying how Earth’s magnetic shield protects our planet from the effects of space weather. Short for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, the twin TRACERS spacecraft lifted off at 11:13 a.m. PDT (2:13 p.m. EDT) Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 […]

NASA Sets Launch Coverage for Earth-Tracking NISAR Satellite

NASA will provide live coverage of launch activities for NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), which is set to lift off at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 p.m. IST), Wednesday, July 30, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast. A collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the first-of-its-kind satellite will lift […]

NASA Sets Launch Coverage for Earth-Tracking NISAR Satellite

NASA will provide live coverage of launch activities for NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), which is set to lift off at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 p.m. IST), Wednesday, July 30, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast. A collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the first-of-its-kind satellite will lift […]

NASA Scientist Finds Predicted Companion Star to Betelgeuse

A century-old hypothesis that Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star in our night sky, is orbited by a very close companion star was proved true by a team of astrophysicists led by a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in the paper “Probable Direct […]

NASA Tests Scalable Satellite Tech to Launch Sensors Quicker

NASA’s Athena Economical Payload Integration Cost mission, or Athena EPIC, is a test launch for an innovative, scalable space vehicle design to support future missions. The small satellite platform is engineered to share resources among the payloads onboard by managing routine functions so the individual payloads don’t have to. This technology results in lower costs […]

NASA to Preview Advanced US-India Radar Mission Ahead of Launch

NASA will host a news conference at 12 p.m. EDT Monday, July 21, to discuss the upcoming NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission. The Earth-observing satellite, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), carries an advanced radar system that will help protect communities by providing a dynamic, three-dimensional view of Earth […]