Othmane Benafan is a NASA engineer whose work is literally reshaping how we use aerospace materials — he creates metals that can shape shift. Benafan, a materials research engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, creates metals called shape memory alloys that are custom-made to solve some of the most pressing challenges of space […]
Category: General
NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing
Better understanding the lunar lighting environment will help NASA prepare astronauts for the harsh environment Artemis III Moonwalkers will experience on their mission. NASA’s Artemis III mission will build on earlier test flights and add new capabilities with the human landing system and advanced spacesuits to send the first astronauts to explore the lunar South […]
NASA Seeks Commercial Feedback on Space Communication Solutions
NASA is seeking information from U.S. and international companies about Earth proximity relay communication and navigation capabilities as the agency aims to use private industry satellite communications services for emerging agency science missions. “As part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, the agency is working with private industry to solve challenges for future exploration,” said Kevin […]
Johnson’s Jason Foster Recognized for New Technology Reporting Record
Heading into a recent staff meeting for Johnson Space Center’s Business Development & Technology Integration Office, Jason Foster anticipated a typical agenda of team updates and discussion. He did not expect an announcement that he had been named a 2025 Rookie of the Year – Honorable Mention through the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s annual awards program. […]
Auburn Team Wins 2025 NASA Moon and Mars Design Competition
A team from Auburn University took top honors in NASA’s 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition Forum, where undergraduate and graduate teams competed to develop new concepts for operating on the Moon, Mars and beyond. Auburn’s project, “Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability […]
NASA Earth Scientist Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Earth scientist Compton J. Tucker has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work creating innovative tools to track the planet’s changing vegetation from space. It’s research that has spanned nearly 50 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he is a visiting scientist after retiring in March. […]
Interview with Dave Des Marais
Let’s start with your childhood, where you’re from, your family at the time, if you have siblings, your early years, and when it was that you became interested in what has developed into your career as an astrophysicist or research scientist? I was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1948, the youngest of four siblings – […]
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 […]
Top Prize Awarded in Lunar Autonomy Challenge to Virtually Map Moon’s Surface
NASA named Stanford University of California winner of the Lunar Autonomy Challenge, a six-month competition for U.S. college and university student teams to virtually map and explore using a digital twin of NASA’s In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx). The winning team successfully demonstrated the design and functionality of their autonomous agent, or software that performs […]