Kenny Heckle grew up in Orlando, just west of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. An 80s child, he comes from a long line of union pipefitters and fabricators. Heckle recalls the day 42 years ago at KARS Park, which is a NASA Exchange–run recreation area for the agency’s workforce and their guests, when he […]
Category: General
Growing Stem Cells in Space to Improve Cancer and Disease Treatments
Expedition 74 astronauts aboard the International Space Station are continuing research efforts to manufacture large quantities of stem cells for therapies on Earth. Previous studies have focused on fine-tuning hardware that allows scientists to produce greater quantities of high-quality stem cells. Now, the InSPA-StemCellEX-H2 investigation is aiming to demonstrate large scale production of blood stem […]
New Material Could Help NASA Melt Moon Rocks, Harness Lunar Resources
A material recently discovered and tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland could help astronauts pack lighter for future missions to the Moon. NASA is researching ways explorers could “live off the land” by harnessing lunar resources, including melting Moon rocks to extract metals for building infrastructure and oxygen for fuel and life support. […]
NASA Wins Four Telly Awards for Artemis Moon Coverage, More
NASA’s historic Artemis II mission coverage, which connected global audiences to watch the first humans to travel around the Moon in more than half a century, is among the agency’s video productions recognized with four 2026 Telly Awards. The agency’s continuous, 24/7 livestream of the Artemis II mission, which functioned as both a live event […]
Lunar Robots: NASA Spotlights Moon Base at 2026 FIRST Robotics Competition
Robotics will play a critical role in NASA’s ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, presenting opportunities for the next generation of engineers, technologists, and innovators to contribute to a bold vision for the future. That was the agency’s message to students, partners, and industry leaders at the 2026 FIRST Robotics World […]
Johnson’s Cindy Evans Prepares Artemis Teams for Lunar Science
NASA’s Artemis II crew had many technical and operational responsibilities during their historic mission to the Moon, but they also served an important role as scientific ambassadors to Earth’s nearest neighbor. On their 10-day journey, the crew flew by the far side of the Moon, analyzing and photographing geologic features such as impact craters and […]
NASA Langley Engineer Attends FAA Training
At a busy airport, every aircraft in the area shares just a handful of radio frequencies. Spectrum and time are constrained and if multiple people speak at once, both messages can get lost. Communications like “clearance delivery,” which require long transmissions and readbacks, are challenging in high-traffic areas, particularly when weather or other factors require […]
NASA’s SpaceX 34th Commercial Resupply Mission Overview
NASA and SpaceX are targeting a mid-May launch to deliver scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Loaded with about 6,500 pounds of supplies, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will lift off aboard the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following its arrival to the orbital complex, Dragon will dock autonomously to the forward port of […]
NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon
With a small blue crane, four researchers hoist a cylindrical fuel cell, which looks like a stack of flattened silver and gold soda cans bundled together, into the air and lower it into a rectangular cart on wheels. A tangle of tubes and wires spiral away from the system, where nearly 270 sensors and 1,000 […]
Industry Moon Lander Training Cabin Lands at NASA for Artemis
A full-scale mock-up of a crew cabin for a future industry lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program now is operational for training and testing. The agency and its industry partners will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 crew cabin for mission simulations as the agency prepares to dock with landers in Earth orbit in […]