A NASA laser reflecting technology that will aid Global Positioning System (GPS) accuracy is now operational as of March 9. The instrument, known as a laser retroreflector array, or LRA, launched aboard GPS III SV-09, the ninth of U.S. Space Force’s Block III Global Positioning System satellites, on Jan. 27. LRAs are sets of mirrors […]
Category: Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA’s Roman Observatory Passes Final Major Prelaunch Tests
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team recently blasted the observatory with extreme sound, shook it, and listened to its electronic hum. Roman passed all three assessments, which aimed to confirm that the observatory will withstand launch conditions and function as expected in space. The achievement keeps the mission on track for launch as early […]
NASA’s Hubble Unexpectedly Catches Comet Breaking Up
In a happy twist of fate, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a comet in the act of breaking apart. The chance of that happening while Hubble watched is extraordinarily minuscule. The findings published Wednesday in the journal Icarus. The comet K1, whose full name is C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)—not to be confused with interstellar comet […]
To Protect Artemis II Astronauts, NASA Experts Keep Eyes on Sun
As four astronauts travel around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission, they will venture beyond Earth’s protective magnetic field. The crew’s spacecraft, Orion, will carry and protect them as they journey into deep space and serves as the main protection against the Sun’s intense power. During their 10-day flight, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will monitor the […]
Artifacts From NASA’s Webb, Parker Solar Probe on View at Smithsonian
A testing replica of the “backbone” of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and a full-scale model of the agency’s Parker Solar Probe are now on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. “From touching the Sun with Parker Solar Probe to creating humanity’s most powerful […]
NASA Invites Media to 63rd Annual Goddard Space Science Symposium
Media are invited to attend the 63rd annual Goddard Space Science Symposium, taking place Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13, at the National Housing Center in Washington. The event also will be streamed online. Organized by the American Astronautical Society (AAS) in conjunction with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the symposium […]
From Cabbages to Countdowns: NASA Marks 100 Years of Modern Rocketry
Snow covered the ground that Tuesday morning 100 years ago, when a college professor and his wife took a morning drive to the family farm a few miles south in Auburn, Massachusetts. Along for the ride, the couple brought two work colleagues — and “Nell.” They may not have known it at the time, but […]
NASA Wallops Supports First Rocket Lab HASTE Launch of 2026
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility supported a Rocket Lab HASTE suborbital launch from the company’s Launch Complex 2 in Virginia on Feb. 27, 2026. The mission, called Cassowary Vex, supported a flight of a hypersonic test platform for the Department of War’s Defense Innovation Unit. The NASA Wallops launch range supported by providing services such as tracking, telemetry, and range safety […]
NASA, OPM Launch NASA Force to Recruit Top Talent for US Space Program
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and NASA announced NASA Force on Wednesday, a dedicated talent track within the US Tech Force initiative designed to recruit and deploy the nation’s top engineers and technologists to support America’s space program. NASA Force will identify and place high-impact technical talent into mission-critical roles supporting NASA’s exploration, […]
Two Observatories, One Cosmic Eye: Hubble and Euclid View Cat’s Eye Nebula
This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features one of the most visually intricate remnants of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543. This extraordinary planetary nebula lies in the constellation Draco and has captivated astronomers for decades with its elaborate and multilayered structure. Observations with ESA’s Gaia mission place the nebula at 4,400 light-years away. […]