A new video shows the evolution of Kepler’s Supernova Remnant using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured over more than two and a half decades. Kepler’s Supernova Remnant, named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, was first spotted in the night sky in 1604. Today, astronomers know that a white dwarf star exploded when […]
Category: Marshall Space Flight Center
NASA Marshall Prepares for Demolition of Historic Test, Simulation Facilities
NASA is preparing for the demolition of three iconic structures at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Crews began demolition in mid-December at the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, a facility built in the late 1960s that once enabled NASA astronauts and researchers to experience near-weightlessness. The facility was also used to conduct underwater […]
NASA’s IXPE Measures White Dwarf Star for First Time
By Michael Allen For the first time, scientists have used NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer) to study a white dwarf star. Using IXPE’s unique X-ray polarization capability, astronomers examined a star called the intermediate polar EX Hydrae, unlocking the geometry of energetic binary systems. In 2024, IXPE spent nearly one week focused on EX Hydrae, a […]
NASA’s Chandra Rings in New Year With Champagne Cluster
Celebrate the New Year with the “Champagne Cluster,” a galaxy cluster seen in this new image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes. Astronomers discovered this galaxy cluster Dec. 31, 2020. The date, combined with the bubble-like appearance of the galaxies and the superheated gas seen with Chandra observations (represented in purple), inspired the […]
NASA’s Chandra Rings in New Year With Champagne Cluster
Celebrate the New Year with the “Champagne Cluster,” a galaxy cluster seen in this new image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes. Astronomers discovered this galaxy cluster Dec. 31, 2020. The date, combined with the bubble-like appearance of the galaxies and the superheated gas seen with Chandra observations (represented in purple), inspired the […]
NASA IXPE’s Longest Observation Solves Black Hole Jets Mystery
Written by Michael Allen An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has identified the origin of X-rays in a supermassive black hole’s jet, answering a question that has been unresolved since the earliest days of X-ray astronomy. Their findings are described in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, […]
NASA’s Chandra Finds Small Galaxies May Buck the Black Hole Trend
Most smaller galaxies may not have supermassive black holes in their centers, according to a recent study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. This contrasts with the common idea that nearly every galaxy has one of these giant black holes within their cores, as NASA leads the world in exploring how our universe works. A team […]
NASA Awards Liquid Hydrogen Supply Contracts
NASA has selected Plug Power, Inc., of Slingerlands, New York, and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., of Allentown, Pennsylvania, to supply up to approximately 36,952,000 pounds of liquid hydrogen for use at facilities across the agency. The NASA Agency-wide Supply of Liquid Hydrogen awards are firm-fixed-price requirements contracts that include multiple firm-fixed-price delivery orders critical […]
I Am Artemis: Ethan Jacobs
Listen to this audio excerpt from Ethan Jacobs, a helicopter pilot and member of the Colorado Army National Guard developing a foundational flight training course for Artemis astronauts: High above the Rocky Mountains, Ethan Jacobs is helping NASA preparing to land people on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA […]
Lunar Challenge Winner Tests Technology in NASA Thermal Vacuum Chamber
By Savannah Bullard One year after winning second place in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, members of the small business Starpath visited NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of their prize opportunity to test their upgraded lunar regolith excavation and transportation rover in the center’s 20-foot thermal vacuum chamber. The […]