The forces of rotation caused red hot masses of stones to be torn away from the Earth and to be thrown into the ether, and this is the origin of the stars.

— Anaxagoras 428 BC

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Snow Buries the U.S. Interior and East

Wed, 01/28/2026 - 12:01am
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NASA Testing Advances Space Nuclear Propulsion Capabilities

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 5:36pm
3 Min Read NASA Testing Advances Space Nuclear Propulsion Capabilities

Written by Daniel Boyette

Nuclear propulsion and power technologies could unlock new frontiers in missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA has reached an important milestone advancing nuclear propulsion that could benefit future deep space missions by completing a cold-flow test campaign of the first flight reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s.

April 8, 2025Crews at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, install a flight reactor engineering development unit into Test Stand 400 in preparation for cold-flow testing. The test campaign began in July and ran through September and marked the first testing on a light reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s.NASA/Adam Butt April 9, 2025Crews at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, install a flight reactor engineering development unit into Test Stand 400 in preparation for cold-flow testing. The test campaign began in July and ran through September and marked the first testing on a flight reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s. NASA/Adam Butt April 10, 2025Crews at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, install a flight reactor engineering development unit into Test Stand 400 in preparation for cold-flow testing. The test campaign began in July and ran through September and marked the first testing on a flight reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s. NASA/Adam Butt April 10, 2025A flight reactor engineering development unit is fully installed at Test Stand 400 in preparation for cold-flow testing. The test campaign began in July and ran through September, marking the first testing on a flight reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s. NASA/Adam Butt

“Nuclear propulsion has multiple benefits including speed and endurance that could enable complex deep space missions,” said Greg Stover acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By shortening travel times and expanding mission capabilities, this technology will lay the foundation to explore farther into our solar system than ever before. Information from the cold-flow test series is instrumental in understanding the operational characteristics and fluid flow performance of nuclear reactors.”

Teams at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, conducted more than 100 tests on  the engineering development unit over several months in 2025. The 44-inch by 72-inch unit, built by BWX Technologies of Richmond, Virginia, is a full-scale, non-nuclear, flight-like development test article the size of a 100-gallon drum that simulates propellant flow throughout the reactor across a range of operational conditions.

The cold-flow tests at NASA Marshall are the culmination of a multi-year activity for the agency and its industry partners. Key test objectives included simulating operational fluid-dynamic responses, gathering critical information for design of the flight instrumentation and control system, providing crucial validation of analytical tools, and serving as a pathfinder for manufacturing, assembly, and integration of near-term flight-capable nuclear propulsion systems.

Other benefits to space travel include increasing the science payload capacity and higher power for instrumentation and communication.

Test engineers were able to demonstrate that the reactor design is not susceptible to destructive flow-induced oscillations, vibrations or pressure waves that occur when a moving fluid interacts with a structure in a way that makes the system shake.

“We’re doing more than proving a new technology,” said Jason Turpin, manager of the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office at NASA Marshall. “This test series generated some of the most detailed flow responses for a flight-like space reactor design in more than 50 years and is a key steppingstone toward developing a flight-capable system. Each milestone brings us closer to expanding what’s possible for the future of human spaceflight, exploration, and science.”

The Space Nuclear Propulsion Office is part of NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Learn more about NASA’s technology advancements:

https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate/

News Media Contact

Joel Wallace
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov

Share Details Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactJoel Wallacejoel.w.wallace@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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Discovery Alert: An Ice-Cold Earth?

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 5:27pm
Explore the Universe Artist’s concept of exoplanet candidate HD 137010 b, dubbed a “cold Earth” because it’s a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a Sun-like star about 146 light-years away.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC) The Discovery

A candidate planet that might be remarkably similar to Earth, HD 137010 b, has one potentially big difference: It could be colder than perpetually frozen Mars.

Key Facts

Scientists continue to mine data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, retired in 2018, and continue to turn up surprises. A new paper reveals the latest: a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a Sun-like star about 146 light-years away.

The orbital period of the planet — listed as a “candidate” pending further confirmation — is likely to be similar to Earth’s, around one year. Planet HD 137010 b also might fall just within the outer edge of its star’s “habitable zone,” the orbital distance that could allow liquid water to form on the planet’s surface under a suitable atmosphere.

Planets orbiting other stars are known as “exoplanets.” And this could turn out to be the first exoplanet with Earth-like properties that, from our vantage point, crosses the face of a Sun-like star that is near enough and bright enough for meaningful follow-up observations.

Details

Now the bad news. The amount of heat and light such a planet would receive from its star is less than a third of what Earth receives from the Sun. Although of a stellar type similar to our Sun, the star, HD 137010, is cooler and dimmer. That could mean a planetary surface temperature no higher than minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 68 degrees Celsius). By comparison, the average surface temperature on Mars runs about minus 85 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 65 degrees Celsius).

Planet HD 137010 b also will need follow-up observations to be promoted from “candidate” to “confirmed.” Exoplanet scientists use a variety of techniques to identify planets, and this discovery comes from a single “transit” — only one instance of the planet crossing its star’s face in a kind of miniature eclipse — detected during Kepler’s second mission, known as K2. Even with just one transit, the study’s authors were able to estimate the candidate planet’s orbital period. They tracked the time it took for the planet’s shadow to move across the star’s face — in this case 10 hours, while Earth takes about 13 — then compared it to orbital models of the system itself. Still, though the precision of that single detection is much higher than most transits captured by space-based telescopes, astronomers need to see these transits repeat regularly in order to confirm that they are caused by a real planet.

And capturing more transits is going to be tricky. The planet’s orbital distance, so similar to Earth’s, means such transits happen far less often than for planets in tighter orbits around their stars (it’s a big reason why exoplanets with Earth-like orbits are so hard to detect in the first place). With luck, confirmation could come from further observation by the successor to Kepler/K2, NASA’s TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), the still-functioning workhorse for planetary detection, or from the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite). Otherwise, gathering further data on planet HD 137010 b might have to wait for the next generation of space telescopes.

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An artist’s concept animation of exoplanet candidate HD 137010 b, which gives a view as if flying above this possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, thought to orbit a Sun-like star about 146 light-years away. This view also creates an effect similar to a transit, as the planet’s star disappears and then reappears from behind HD 137010 b.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keith Miller (Caltech/IPAC) Fun Facts

Despite the possibility of a frigid climate, HD 137010 b also could turn out to be a temperate or even a watery world, say the authors of the paper on this exoplanet. It would just need an atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide than our own. The science team, based on modeling of the planet’s possible atmospheres, gives it a 40% chance of falling within the “conservative” habitable zone around the star, and a 51% chance of falling within the broader “optimistic” habitable zone. On the other hand, the authors of the study say the planet has about a 50-50 chance of falling beyond the habitable zone entirely.

The Discoverers

An international science team published a paper on the discovery, “A Cool Earth-sized Planet Candidate Transiting a Tenth Magnitude K-dwarf From K2,” in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Jan. 27, 2026. The team was led by astrophysics Ph.D. student Alexander Venner of the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia, now a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.

Explore More 3 min read NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware Article 8 hours ago 4 min read AI Unlocks Hundreds of Cosmic Anomalies in Hubble Archive Article 8 hours ago 4 min read TESS Status Updates Article 4 days ago Share Details Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 Related Terms
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NASA Science Flights Venture to Improve Severe Winter Weather Warnings

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 4:44pm

4 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

A team of NASA scientists deployed on an international mission designed to better understand severe winter storms. The North American Upstream Feature-Resolving and Tropopause Uncertainty Reconnaissance Experiment, or NURTURE, is an airborne campaign that uses a suite of remote sensing instruments to collect atmospheric data on winter weather with a goal of improving the models that feed storm forecasts. This combination of instruments will also serve as a proxy to demonstrate the potential to collect similar observations from space.

NASA’s G-III aircraft in the hangar at NASA’s Langley Research Center as science and flight crews install remote sensing instruments inside and onto the body of the plane.NASA/Ryan Hill

On Jan. 24, the research team departed from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, aboard the center’s Gulfstream III aircraft (G-III) en route to Goose Bay, Canada.  For nearly a month, the plane will be making flights stretching from the Northern Atlantic Ocean over Canada through the Northeast United States, measuring moisture, clouds, and ozone as winter storms develop.

The second phase of the campaign, scheduled to fly out of Langley next year, will serve as the inaugural mission of NASA’s new airborne science laboratory, a Boeing 777 These flights will cover a larger range of 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) and use a larger suite of instruments. Researchers will collect detailed observations of the atmosphere over Europe, Greenland, the North Atlantic Ocean, Canada, the majority of  of the U.S., and much of the Arctic Ocean.

“Part of NASA’s role is to leverage our expertise and resources for the benefit of humankind – with innovation always being at our core,” said Will McCarty, weather program manager and program scientist at NASA’s Headquarters in Washington. “The NURTURE campaign is doing exactly that by outfitting our aircraft with one-of-a-kind instruments designed to put our science data into action to understand dangerous weather events before, and as they form.”

Research scientist and co-investigator for the NURTURE mission, Amin Nehrir, installing and testing the High Altitude and Lidar Observatory (HALO) instrument aboard the G-III aircraft before deploying.NASA/Ryan Hill

As the NASA G-III flies over Canada, a parallel companion mission led by a team of international partners called the North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign (NAWDIC) will be operating out of Shannon, Ireland. Meanwhile, a third airborne mission led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be studying how moisture is transported from the tropics to the Western U.S. By combining the data collected during these campaigns, scientists will be able to track weather systems as they interact and intersect globally to understand the large-scale flows and small-scale features that drive high-impact winter weather events. 

Software and instrument checks taking place pre-deployment on board the G-III aircraft. HALO and other instruments, like the CloudCube radar, combine to form a specialized suite of atmospheric sensors.NASA/Ryan Hill

“These storms are not forecasted very accurately,” said Amin Nehrir, a research scientist at NASA Langley and co-investigator for the NURTURE mission. “Space observations of high latitudes in the Arctic lack the sensitivity needed to gather accurate data in such a dry, atmospheric environment. In lower latitudes, we benefit from observations from radiosondes, surface networks, and satellite observations. We are using cutting-edge technology beyond those that we have in space to get a better snapshot of atmospheric dynamics.”

A map showing the two flight paths of the NURTURE mission phases – the G-III aircraft marked in green in 2026 and the NASA 777 aircraft in blue planned for 2027.

Examples of severe winter weather events include cold air outbreaks, windstorms, hazardous seas, snow and ice storms, sea ice breakup, and extreme precipitation. Data from the NURTURE mission will be used to inform first responders, decision makers, and the public sooner while also demonstrating the potential for NASA’s remote weather sensor capabilities to be developed for use on future space-based missions.

“Effects from severe weather have significant costs that threaten lives and national security by destabilizing supply chains and damaging infrastructure,” said Steven Cavallo, principal investigator for NURTURE and lead scientist at the University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology.

The NURTURE mission is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Division and managed by researchers at NASA Langley and NASA Ames in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma.

To learn more about NURTURE, visit:

https://espo.nasa.gov/nurture

Share Details Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Launches Its Most Powerful, Efficient Supercomputer Article 19 hours ago 4 min read AI Unlocks Hundreds of Cosmic Anomalies in Hubble Archive

A team of astronomers has employed a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence-assisted technique to uncover rare astronomical…

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Webb Data Reveals Dark Matter

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 4:24pm
3 Min Read Webb Data Reveals Dark Matter PIA26702 Credits: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale/A. Pagan Photojournal Navigation
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This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, containing nearly 800,000 galaxies, is overlaid with a map of dark matter, represented in blue. Brighter blue areas indicate a higher density of dark matter. Researchers used Webb data to find the dark matter — which is invisible — via its gravitational influence on regular matter.

The area of sky shown here is 0.54 square degrees (about 2½ times the size of the full Moon) and located in the constellation Sextans. Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) peered at this region for a total of about 255 hours. 

Dark matter doesn’t emit, reflect, absorb, or even block light, and is therefore not visible to the human eye or traditional telescopes. But it does interact with the universe through gravity, and large clumps or clusters of dark matter have enough mass to curve space itself. Light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies becomes slightly distorted as it passes through the curved fabric of spacetime. In some cases, the warping is significant enough that it is apparent to the naked eye, almost as if the galaxy were being viewed through a warped windowpane, an effect called strong gravitational lensing. In the case of the dark matter map shown here, scientists inferred dark matter’s distribution by relying instead on an effect called weak gravitational lensing, which leads to much more subtle distortions of the light from thousands of galaxies.  

The dark matter in this area of sky was also mapped in 2007 using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb map contains about 10 times more galaxies than do maps of the area made by ground-based observatories and twice as many as Hubble’s map. It reveals new clumps of dark matter and captures a higher-resolution view compared to the Hubble map. 

Both the Hubble and Webb dark matter maps are part of a project called the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). The full COSMOS “field” is 2 square degrees (about 10 times the size of the full Moon) and has been imaged by at least 15 telescopes in space and on the ground. Observing the same region with many different telescopes allows scientists to combine complementary views to understand how galaxies grow and how dark matter influences their evolution. Only Webb and Hubble data have been used to map dark matter in the region.

To refine measurements of the distance to many galaxies for the map, the team used Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), designed and managed through launch by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with other space- and ground-based telescopes. The wavelengths that MIRI detects also make it adept at detecting galaxies obscured by cosmic dust clouds. 

The James Webb Space Telescope is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Webb’s MIRI was developed through a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ESA. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL led the U.S. contribution to MIRI. JPL also led development of MIRI’s cryocooler, done in collaboration with Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

To learn more about Webb, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/webb

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Widely Attended Gatherings (WAGs) Determinations

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 3:45pm

2026

Leaders for a Better Louisiana at Adams and Reese 1.28.26

California Manufacturers and Technology Association Reception 1.23.26

Goddard Memorial Dinner 3.13.26

ISS 25th Anniversary 1.19.26

2026 Amentum Artemis II Rollout Reception 1.14.26

Maryland Space Business Roundtable 1.14.26

2025

Commercial Space Federation 12.9.25

Ansys Government Initiatives (AGI) 12.16.25

Maryland Space Business Roundtable (MSBR) 12.10.25

Women in Aerospace 12.11.25

Umbra Lab Inc 12.3.25

Space Policy Institute 10.21.2025

MSBR Space Business Roundtable 10.15.2025

76th International Astronautical Congress_IAC 9.29.25

2025 Von Braun Memorial Dinner 10.29.25

Space Foundation Reception 9.16.25

Evening with the Stars 9.10.25

MSBR Rooftop Reception 9.8.25

AIAA Dinner 8.18.25

STScI Event 7.29.25

MSBR Lunch 7.16.25

Rocket Lab Event 7.16.25

MSBR Lunch Reception 6.18.25

2025 Paris Airshow 6.13-19.25

Greater Houston Partnership Reception 6.12.25

Axiom Space X-4 Event

Space Foundation and German Embassy Reception 6.5.25

Mission 2 Moon Landing 6.5.25

H2M Conference and Events 5.28-29.25

Planetary Society 5.19.25

American Rocketry Challenge Reception 5.17.25

Rockets on the Hill Reception 5.16.25

Dayton Development Coalition Event 5.13.25

PA State Day Reception 5.6.25

MSBR STEM Gala 5.2.25

2025 ASF Hall of Fame Gala

AIAA Awards Gala 4.30.25

RNASA Awards Dinner 4.25.25

2025 Space Heroes and Legends Gala

Thunderbird School and Global Management Reception

40th Space Symposium Main Events

GovExec Awards Dinner 4.3.25

AIA Reception.4.2.25

SPI/GWU Dinner.4.2.25

Astrolab and Axiom.3.27.25

SPI/GWU/USRA Symposium.3.27.25

IDGA 18th Annual Event

Artemis VIP Reception.3.24.25

Goddard Memorial Dinner.3.21.25

MSBR Lunch.3.19.25

2025 Satellite Exhibition Event.3.10.25 to 3.13.25

SIA Dinner.3.10.25

67th Laureate Awards Dinner.3.6.25

SPI GWU Dinner.3.5.25

Bae Systems SPHEREx Launch.2.27.25

2025 Artemis Suppliers Conference

Blue Ghost Viewing Event

ServiceNow Forum.2.12.25

MSBR Luncheon.2.19.25

2025 Monthly NSCFL Luncheon

MSBR Lunch.1.22.25

Creole-Queen NOLA Reception.1.13.25

2025 New Glenn Mission 1 Launch Event

2025 Firefly Blue Origin Launch Reception

2024

MeriTalk Reception.12.19.24

Aero Club Award Dinner.12.13.24

Rocket Lab Event.12.13.24

Space Foundation Event.12.13.24

Umbra Lab Inc.12.5.24

Commercial Space Federation Joint Event.12.9.24

AGI Holiday Reception.12.3.24

The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Event.11.21.24

Planet Labs PBC Reception.11.20.24

Rocket Lab Event.11.19.24

SPI GWU Dinner.11.5.24

Blue Origin and KBR Dinner.10.30.24

JASWDC Gala.10.30.24

SPI GWU Dinner.10.30.24

36th Annual Dr. Wernher von Braun Memorial Dinner

2024 Keystone Space Conference

2024 IAC Event

WIA Reception and Awards Dinner.10.10.24

2024 JPL Europa Clipper Launch Reception.10.8.24

SPI GWU Dinner.9.18.24

2024 VASBA HR AUVSI Gala

Blue Origin Reception.8.27.24

AIA & Amazon Reception.8.26.24

Exolaunch Reception.8.7.24

Farnborough Air Show.7.20-21.24

Artemis II SLS Roll Out Reception.7.15.24

Astroscale Reception Tokyo.7.12.24

Brooke Owens Fellowship Dinner.7.11.24

SpaceX GOES-U Launch

MSBR lunch.6.18.24

NAA Collier Dinner.6.13.24

Greater Cleveland Partnership.6.13-14.24

VAST Space LLC.6.12.24

Coalition for Deep Space Exploration Return to the Moon.6.5.24

The 2024 Infinite Exhibit Grand Opening

AIA and German Embassy Reception.6.4.24

AIA and British Embassy Reception.5.22.24

Space Foundation Event.5.16.24

Foundation Fratelli Tutti Dinners.5.10-11.24

MSBR STEM Gala.5.10.24

H2M Conference and Event.5.7-8.24

SPI/GW Dinner.5.1.24

Astrolab and Axiom.4.30.24

2024 Monthly NSCFL Luncheon

MEI 77th Annual Gala.4.17.24

Crowell & Moring Reception.4.16.24

2024 ASF Hall of Fame Gala

2024 Space Heroes and Legends Awards Dinner

SpaceX Symposium Reception.4.10.24

39th Space Symposium Supplemental

39th Space Symposium Main Events

SPI GWU Dinner.4.5.24

Goddard Memorial Dinner.3.22.24

SPI GW Dinner.3.20.24

AIA and Amazon Reception.3.19.24

MSBR Lunch.3.19.24

AIAA Awards Gala.3.15.24

NASM Event.3.6.24

Planetary Society.3.5.24

Embassy of Australia and Space Foundation.2.29.24

SPI/GWO Dinner.2.27.24

2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference

BDB Engineering Award Event

2024 Aerospace Days Legislative Reception

2024 NG-20 CRS Launch

IDGA 17th Annual Event.1.23 – 24.24

MSBR Lunch 1.16.24

Latino Biden-Harris Appointees Reception.1.11.24

STA Reception.1.11.24

2024 Axiom Space AX-3 Launch Reception

2023

2023 Astrobotic PM1 PreLaunch Reception

AERO Club Awards Dinner.12.15.23

WIA Dinner.12.13.23

MSBR Lunch.12.12.23

SCL and GBM Foundation Reception.12.11.23

LASP and Ball Aerospace Reception.12.11.23

Bayou Classic Brunch

L Oreal USA for Women Event.11.16.23

AAIA Reception.11.15.23

KBR Welcome Reception.11.14.23

SPI GWU Dinner 11.15.23

Museum of Natural History Board Events 11.2.23

USF Reception.10.24.23

Blue Origin KBR Reception

2023 Von Braun Memorial Dinner

Planet Labs PBC Reception.10.26.23

ELI Reception Dinner.10.24.23

OSIRIS REX RECEPTION.10.17.23

WIA Reception and Award Dinner.10.12.23

National Space Club Banquet 2023

Space Foundation and Airbus.10.3.23

IAC Event

NAHF Dinner Ceremony.9.22.23

2023 VASBA HR AUVSI Gala and Symposium

2023 Psyche Mission Team

SPI GWU Dinner 9.13.23

AIA Congress Space Reception.9.7.23

 MSBR Lunch 8.16.23

 WAG NG CRS 7-24-23

 2023 ASF Innovators Gala

 Space Foundation Reception 7.19.23

 Chamber of Commerce Reception.7.13.23

 ECI Fellows Meeting.7.12 to 7.14.23

 Embassy of Italy and Virgin Galactic.7.12.23

 JWST Reception 7.13.23

 Brook Owens Fellowship Dinner 7.13.23

 Comteck and Airbus Space Defense 07.11.23.

 Calgary Stampede.7.7.23

 CLD Reception.6.20.23

 CFA SAO Reception.6.15.23

 Paris Air Show.6.17-20.23

 UCAR Reception 6.7.23

 Space Forum 2023

 Rocket Lab TROPICS.5.18.23

 2023 Axiom Space AX-2 Launch Event WAG

 SW SPI Dinner 5.9.23

 H2M WAG 2023

 MSBR STEM Gala 5.5.23

 AIAA Awards Gala Event 5.18.23

 38th Space Symposium 4.16 to 4.20.23

 Planet Labs PGC Reception.4.13.23

 AL-23-009 RNASA

 2023 TEMPO Pre-Launch Reception

 MSBR Lunch 4.4.23

 Coalition for Deep Space Exploration SLS Orion EGS Gateway Suppliers 3.26.23

 Orion SLS Conference 3.27 to 3.28.23

 EWDC Event.3.23.23

 2023 Agency WAG Debus Award Banquet

 VHMC And Boeing Reception 3.18.23

 Ball Aerospace Kinship Reception 3.15.23

 Airbus Defence Event 3.14.23

 Terran Orbital Event 3.15.23

 SpaceX Satellite Reception 3.13.23

 SPI GWU Dinner 3.9.23

 Goddard Memorial Dinner 3.10.23

 2023 Agency Wag AHOF Gala

Space Foundation Event 2.16.23

BDB National Engineers Week 2023 Banquet
MSBR Lunch 2.28.23
STA Luncheon 2.7.23
WSBR Reception 2.1.23
SPI GWU SWF Reception 1.31.23
Artemis I Splashdown 01.17.23
MSBR Lunch 1.17.23

2022

GRC An Evening With the Stars 8.30.22
JPL 25 Years on Mars Reception 7.27.22
SPI GWU Dinner 7.6.22
Berlin Air Show 6.22-26.22
MSBR Lunch 6.21.22
KSC Gateway VIP Rception 6.14.22
MSBR Dinner Gala 6.10.22
NAA Robert J. Collier Awards Dinner 6.9.22
Advanced Space and Rocket Lab Capstone Event 6.8.22
AIA Challenger Center Reception 6.2.22
2022 H2M Summit 5.17-19.22
MSBR Lunch 5.17.22
FCW GovExec Awards Dinner 5.12.22
Meta Reception 5.4.22
JSC RNASA Luncheon and Dinner 4.29.22
Coalition for Deep Space Reception 4.28.22
SLS Orion EGS Suppliers Conference 4.28-29.22
SPI GWU Dinner 4.27.22
AIAA Awards Gala Dinner 4.27.22
MSBR Luncheon 4.19.2022
Arianespace Northrop Grumman JWST Reception 4.5.22
37th Space Symposium 4.4 to 7.22
Axiom Space Launch Event 3.30.22
Heinrich Boell Foundation Dinner 3.30.22
Aarianespace Reception 3.23.22
SIA Conference Events 3.21-23.22 Revised
Satellite Industry Association Reception 3.21.22
Goddard Memorial Dinner 3.18.22
GOES-T Post-Launch Reception 3.1.22
Goes-T L3 Harris Reception 3.1.22
Christopher Newport University Dinner 02.23.22
NG-17 CRS Launch Events VA 2.19.22
SPI GWU Dinner 02.04.2022
MSBR Dinner 01.18.2022
KSC CCTS Spaceport Summit 1.11-12.22

2021

JWST Launch 12.25.21
Aero Club Awards Reception 12.17.21
KSC NSC Celebrate Space 12.10.21
AGI Ansys Reception 12.10.21
KSC Ball Aerospace IXPE Launch Celebration Reception 12.7.21
WIA Awards Dinner 12.2.21
National Space Council Recognition Reception 12.1.21
SPI Dinner 11.16.21
AIAA ASCEND Event 11.15.21
AIAA Ascend 2021 Reception Dinner Las Vegs 11.14.21
KSC Astronaut Hall of Fame Event 11.13.21
KSC DNC Taste of Space Event 11.5.21
SPI Dinner 11.2.21
IAC Closing Gala 10.29.21
GRC Evening With The Stars 10.27.21
Goddard Memorial Awards Dinner 10.22.21
IAC 2021
Lucy Post Launch Dinner 10.16.21
KSC Lucy Launch Mission Events 10.12-13.21
United Airlines Reception 10.12.21
Blue Origin Launch 10.12.21
SPI Dinner on or about 9.28.21
Goddard Memorial Dinner 9.17.21 CANCELLED
SPI Dinner 9.7.21
RNASA Awards Dinner and Luncheon 9.3.21
GRC Evening With the Stars 8.31.21
FED100 Gala Awards Dinner 8.27.21
Addendum to 36th Space Symposium 8.22-26.21
36th Space Symposium 8.22-26.21
KSC ASF Innovators Gala 8.14.21
NG16 Launch Events 8.10.21
LaRC Virginia Space Reception 7.30.21
KSC 2021 Debus Award Dinner 7.30.21
Coalition for Deep Space 07.22.21
KSC Lockheed WAS Star Center Reception 7.15.21

2020

United Launch Alliance Satellite 2020 Reception 3.10.20
SpaceX Reception 3.9.20
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2020 Aviation Summit 3.5.20
Maryland Space Business Roundtable Lunch 2.18.20
SLS Orion Suppliers Conference 2.12.20
Coalition for Deep Space Exploration Reception 2.11.20
Northrop Grumman NG-13 CRS Launch Events 2.9.20
VA UAS AeroSpace Legislative Reception 1.29.20
MSBR Lunch 1.21.20
Guidance Keough School of Global Affairs 1.16.20
Boeing Orbital Flight Test Launch Events 12.20.19
Virgin Space Reception 12.17.19
SEA Summit 12.17.19
Wright Memorial Dinner 12.13.19
Analytical Graphics AGI Reception 12.13.19
Ball Reception 12.10.19
MSBR Lunch 12.3.19
Plant Reception 11.20.19
JSC Spacecom Conference VIP Reception 11.20.19
JSC Spacecom Conference Reception 11.19.19
SAIC BSU STEM Roundtable 11.07.19
Apollo UK Productions Ltd 7.10.19
SpaceX Satellite Reception 5.6.19
SPI GWU Dinner 5.1.19
AIAA Reception 4.30.19
MSBR Lunch 1.21.20
MSBR Lunch 1.21.20

Categories: NASA

NASA’s Juno Measures Thickness of Europa’s Ice Shell

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 2:21pm

5 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Jupiter’s moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022. The images show the fractures, ridges, and bands that crisscross the moon’s surface.Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing: Björn Jónsson (CC BY 3.0)

Results from the solar-powered spacecraft provide a new measurement of the thickness of the ice shell encasing the Jovian moon’s ocean. 

Data from NASA’s Juno mission has provided new insights into the thickness and subsurface structure of the icy shell encasing Jupiter’s moon Europa. Using the spacecraft’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR), mission scientists determined that the shell averages about 18 miles (29 kilometers) thick in the region observed during Juno’s 2022 flyby of Europa. The Juno measurement is the first to discriminate between thin and thick shell models that have suggested the ice shell is anywhere from less than half a mile to tens of miles thick.  

Slightly smaller than Earth’s moon, Europa is one of the solar system’s highest-priority science targets for investigating habitability. Evidence suggests that the ingredients for life may exist in the saltwater ocean that lies beneath its ice shell. Uncovering a variety of characteristics of the ice shell, including its thickness, provides crucial pieces of the puzzle for understanding the moon’s internal workings and the potential for the existence of a habitable environment. 

The new estimate on the ice thickness in the near-surface icy crust was published on Dec. 17 in the journal Nature Astronomy. 

This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell. Data used to generate a new result on the ice thickness and structure was collected by the microwave radiometer instrument on NASA’s Juno during a close flyby of the Jovian moon on Sept. 29, 2022.NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Koji Kuramura/ Gerald Eichstädt (CC BY) Catching waves 

Although the MWR instrument was designed to investigate Jupiter’s atmosphere below the cloud tops, the novel instrument has proven valuable for studying the gas giant’s icy and volcanic moons as well. 

On Sept. 29, 2022, Juno came within about 220 miles (360 kilometers) of Europa’s frozen surface. During the flyby, MWR collected data on about half the moon’s surface, peering beneath the ice to measure its temperatures at various depths.  

“The 18-mile estimate relates to the cold, rigid, conductive outer-layer of a pure water ice shell,” said Steve Levin, Juno project scientist and co-investigator from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission. “If an inner, slightly warmer convective layer also exists, which is possible, the total ice shell thickness would be even greater. If the ice shell contains a modest amount of dissolved salt, as suggested by some models, then our estimate of the shell thickness would be reduced by about 3 miles.”  

The thick shell, as suggested by the MWR data, implies a longer route that oxygen and nutrients would have to travel to connect Europa’s surface with its subsurface ocean. Understanding this process may be relevant to future studies of Europa’s habitability.  

Cracks, pores 

The MWR data also provides new insights into the makeup of the ice just below Europa’s surface. The instrument revealed the presence of “scatterers” — irregularities in the near-surface ice such as cracks, pores, and voids that scatter the instrument’s microwaves reflecting off the ice (similar to how visible light is scattered in ice cubes). These scatterers are estimated to be no bigger than a few inches in diameter and appear to extend to depths of hundreds of feet below Europa’s surface. 

The small size and shallow depth of these features, as modeled in this study, suggest they are unlikely to be a significant pathway for oxygen and nutrients to travel from Europa’s surface to its salty ocean. 

“How thick the ice shell is and the existence of cracks or pores within the ice shell are part of the complex puzzle for understanding Europa’s potential habitability,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “They provide critical context for NASA’s Europa Clipper and the ESA (European Space Agency) Juice (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) spacecraft — both of which are on their way to the Jovian system.” Europa Clipper will arrive there in 2030, while Juice will arrive the year after.  

Juno will carry out its 81st flyby of Jupiter on Feb. 25.  

More about Juno  

A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 

To learn more about Juno, go to:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/juno

News Media Contacts

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 / 240-419-1732
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov

Deb Schmid 
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio 
210-522-2254 
dschmid@swri.org 

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Share Details Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 6 min read NASA’s Pandora Satellite, CubeSats to Explore Exoplanets, Beyond

Editor’s Note, Jan. 13, 2026: Mission controllers received full acquisition of signal from the Pandora…

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NASA Launches Its Most Powerful, Efficient Supercomputer

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 11:52am

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Athena, NASA’s newest supercomputer, is housed at the agency’s Modular Supercomputing Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrete

NASA is announcing the availability of its newest supercomputer, Athena, an advanced system designed to support a new generation of missions and research projects. The newest member of the agency’s High-End Computing Capability project expands the resources available to help scientists and engineers tackle some of the most complex challenges in space, aeronautics, and science.

Housed in the agency’s Modular Supercomputing Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Athena delivers more computing power than any other NASA system, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessors, Aitken and Pleiades, in power and efficiency. The new system, which was rolled out in January to existing users after a beta testing period, delivers over 20 petaflops of peak performance – a measurement of the number of calculations it can make per second – while reducing the agency’s supercomputing utility costs.

“Exploration has always driven NASA to the edge of what’s computationally possible,” said Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer and lead for the agency’s High-End Computing Capability portfolio at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now with Athena, NASA will expand its efforts to provide tailored computing resources that meet the evolving needs of its missions.”

Supercomputers like Athena are critical to missions and research across the agency, providing the computational power necessary to simulate rocket launches, design next-generation aircraft, and train large-scale artificial intelligence foundation models capable of analyzing massive datasets to uncover new scientific insights. The supercomputer is available to NASA researchers and external scientist and researchers supporting NASA programs who can apply for time to use the system.

The name Athena was selected through a contest held in March 2025 among the agency’s High-End Computing Capability workforce, which chose the name of the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare because she is the half-sister of Artemis.

Managed by NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer, the High-End Computing Capability portfolio supports a flexible, hybrid computing approach that combines supercomputers with access to other tools, such as commercial cloud platforms. This strategy enables NASA teams to choose the most effective computing environment for their research, whether running complex simulations, developing and deploying AI models, or performing large-scale data analysis.

The project’s capabilities will continue to expand as the agency invests in advanced supercomputing to meet the growing complexity of its missions. As exploration pushes further into the universe, the ability to compute quickly, efficiently, and intelligently will be more important than ever. With Athena, NASA is laying the digital foundation for the next era of discovery.

To learn more about high-end computing at NASA, visit:

https://www.nas.nasa.gov/hecc

Share Details Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 4 min read NASA Science Flights Venture to Improve Severe Winter Weather Warnings Article 14 hours ago 5 min read NASA’s Chandra Releases Deep Cut From Catalog of Cosmic Recordings Article 5 days ago 4 min read NASA AI Model That Found 370 Exoplanets Now Digs Into TESS Data

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Finds Crystal-Spewing Protostar

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 11:08am
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the actively forming protostar EC 53 (circled at left) in the Serpens Nebula in this image released on Jan. 21, 2026.

Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why comets at the outskirts of our own solar system contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form and these “dirty snowballs” spend most of their time in the ultracold Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, Webb has returned the first conclusive evidence that links how those conditions are possible.

The telescope clearly showed for the first time that the hot, inner part of the disk of gas and dust surrounding a very young, actively forming star is where crystalline silicates are forged. Webb also revealed a strong outflow that is capable of carrying the crystals to the outer edges of this disk. Compared to our own fully formed, mostly dust-cleared solar system, the crystals would be forming approximately between the Sun and Earth.

Read more about this discovery.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Categories: NASA

NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 10:09am

3 min read

NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware

Engineers and scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, completed tests this month on a second early version of a key element of the upcoming LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission.

The LISA mission, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA, will use infrared lasers to detect gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time. The tests involved the frequency reference system, delivered by BAE Systems, that will help control the lasers connecting LISA’s three spacecraft. The lasers must be finely tuned to make precise measurements — to within a trillionth of a meter, called a picometer.

A prototype laser optical module for LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) rests on a table after testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in May 2025. Xiaozhen Xu, an engineer with Miller Engineering and Research Corp., works in the background. The smaller box to the right is the laser electronics module. Each of the three LISA spacecraft will have a laser system with a frequency reference component and six laser heads.NASA/Sophia Roberts Download high-resolution images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

The team tested the first version of the system in May 2025.

“The extensive round of checkouts on the frequency reference system last year were very successful,” said Ira Thorpe, the project scientist for LISA at NASA Goddard. “This second unit is identical, so our assessments this time around were less intense and preface a future cross-check of the two, which is the gold-standard for checking the stability of the system overall.”

In addition to the laser system, NASA is contributing the telescopes, devices to manage the buildup of onboard electrical charge, and the framework scientists will need to process the data the mission will generate.

A prototype charge management device for LISA sits on a lab bench at NASA Goddard in May 2025. Each of the three LISA spacecraft will have a charge management device to reduce the buildup of electric charge on the gold-platinum proof masses that fly freely inside the spacecraft. The University of Florida in Gainesville and Fibertek Inc. in McNair, Va., are developing the devices.NASA/Dennis Henry

NASA’s contributions are part of the agency’s efforts to innovate on ambitious science missions that will help us better understand how the universe works. LISA will also offer a major advancement in multimessenger astronomy, which is how scientists explore cosmic signals other than light.

The three LISA spacecraft will fly in a vast triangular formation that follows Earth as it orbits the Sun. Each arm of the triangle will stretch 1.6 million miles (2.5 million kilometers).

Each spacecraft will contain two free-floating cubes inside called proof masses. Arriving gravitational waves from throughout the universe will minutely change the lengths of the triangle’s arms. The lasers connecting the cubes will measure changes in their separation to within a distance smaller than a helium atom.

In May 2024, technicians inspected the prototype LISA telescope in a darkened clean room at NASA Goddard. Illuminated by a flashlight, the telescope’s structure glows. The prototype is made from a translucent, amber-colored, glass-ceramic material called Zerodur, which is often used in high-precision applications because it resists changes in shape over a wide temperature range. The mirror, near center and coated in gold, reflects a magnified image of part of the telescope.NASA/Dennis Henry

The enormous scale of the triangle will enable LISA to detect gravitational waves that cannot be found with ground-based facilities, such as those generated when massive black holes in the centers of galaxies merge. Scientists can use the data to learn about a source’s distance and physical properties.

The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.

By Jeanette Kazmierczak
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Floods Inundate Southern Mozambique

Tue, 01/27/2026 - 12:01am
Earth Observatory

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NASA, GE Aerospace Hybrid Engine System Marks Successful Test 

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 4:00pm

4 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Research from NASA and GE Aerospace led to the successful testing of a jet engine at the company’s Peebles Test Operation site in Ohio in December. The hybrid engine is a modified version of a GE Aerospace Passport.GE Aerospace

To an untrained eye, the aircraft engine sitting outside of a Cincinnati facility in December might have looked like standard hardware. But NASA and GE Aerospace researchers watching the unit fire up for a demonstration knew what they were looking at: a hybrid engine performing at a level that could potentially power an airliner.  

It’s something new in the aviation world, and the result of years of research and development. 

NASA, GE Aerospace, and others working toward hybrid engine development had already tested components in the past — power system controls, electric motors, and more. What the demonstration at GE Aerospace’s Peebles Test Operation site in Ohio represented was the first test of an integrated system.  

“Turbines already exist. Compressors already exist. But there is no hybrid-electric engine flying today. And that’s what we were able to see,” said Anthony Nerone, who served as manager of the agency’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland during the test engine’s development. 

The test involved a modified GE Aerospace’s Passport engine with the ability to extract energy from some of its operations and insert that supplementary power into other parts. 

The hybrid engine is result of research from GE Aerospace and NASA under a cost-sharing HyTEC contract. It runs on jet fuel with assistance from electric motors, a concept that seems simple in a world where hybrid cars are common. Yet the execution was complex, requiring researchers to invent, adapt, and integrate parts into a system that could deliver the requisite power needed for a single-aisle aircraft safely and reliably.  

As a result, the demonstration — known as a power extraction test — was one of the most complex GE Aerospace has staged to date. 

“They had to integrate equipment they’ve never needed for previous tests like this,” said Laura Evans, acting HyTEC project manager at Glenn.  

Despite the complexity, the team witnessed a successful demonstration. Not a balancing test or a preliminary exercise, but an engine on a mount doing many of the things it would need to do if installed in an aircraft. 

The test comes at a time when U.S. aviation is increasingly looking for power systems that can do more while also saving money on fuel. It’s a trend NASA was well ahead of. Hybrid aircraft engine technology began to emerge from Glenn roughly 20 years ago, when it seemed nearly impossible to realize, Nerone said.  

“Now,” he said. “When you go to a conference, hybrid technology is everywhere.”

And NASA and GE now have real data for how the technology can be applied to flight. 

From that early start, NASA transitioned into HyTEC and its contract with GE Aerospace.  

HyTEC’s goal is to mature technology that will enable a hybrid engine that burns up to 10% less fuel compared to today’s best-in-class engines. NASA’s overall goal is to leverage its resources to bring the technology to market faster, meeting industry needs. 

The work is far from over. Both NASA and GE Aerospace are analyzing data from the demonstration and from previous work and are making progress toward a compact engine test this decade.  

Still, the demonstration was a chance to see the integration of technology that’s closer than ever to practical application. 

“We’re getting close to the payoff on work that’d been in progress for a long time,” Nerone said.  

Read More About NASA/GE Aerospace Work on HyTec Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Tests Technology Offering Potential Fuel Savings for Commercial Aviation Article 6 days ago 5 min read NASA Chase Aircraft Ensures X-59’s Safety in Flight  Article 7 days ago 3 min read NASA Develops Blockchain Technology to Enhance Air Travel Safety and Security 

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Categories: NASA

NASA Welcomes Oman as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 3:53pm
Credit: NASA

The Sultanate of Oman signed the Artemis Accords during a ceremony in Muscat attended by NASA on Monday, becoming the 61st nation to commit to responsible space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.

“Oman’s accession to the Artemis Accords sets an important example about the value of responsible behavior and shared pursuit of discovery,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in recorded remarks during the ceremony. “Oman joins the U.S. and our other partners on ensuring the peaceful exploration of space for generations to come. We are returning humans to the Moon and laying the groundwork for future missions. A community of like-minded nations will be the foundation of our success.”

U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman Ana Escrogima and NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails participated in the event held on the opening day of the Middle East Space Conference, an international forum on space and innovation in the region. Said al-Maawali, Oman’s minister of transportation, communication, and information technology signed on behalf of the country.

In 2020, during the first Trump Administration, the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies.

The accords introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety, transparency, and coordination of civil space exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Signing the Artemis Accords means to explore peaceably and transparently, to render aid to those in need, to enable access to scientific data that all of humanity can learn from, to ensure activities do not interfere with those of others, to preserve historically significant sites and artifacts, and to develop best practices for how to conduct space exploration activities for the benefit of all.

More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords

-end-

Bethany Stevens / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

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NASA Technology Brings Golden Age of Exploration to Earth

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 1:42pm
Spinoff 2026 marks the publication’s 50th year documenting commercial uses of NASA technology. This edition’s cover features NASA astronaut Alan Bean holding an environmental sample container filled with lunar soil during the Apollo 12 mission of November 1969. NASA astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., who took this picture, is reflected in Bean’s helmet visor. Credit: NASA

As NASA fosters technologies needed to live and work farther away from home than ever before, the agency’s Technology Transfer program has the sole mission of getting those innovations into the hands of companies, entrepreneurs, and, ultimately, everyday people. The agency’s Spinoff publication has captured this endeavor for half a century, sharing stories of space technologies improving our lives on Earth.

“NASA’s work has always delivered returns well beyond the mission itself,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “As we develop the technologies needed for a sustained presence on the Moon and prepare for human exploration of Mars, those innovations will continue to unlock new capabilities across medicine, aviation, agriculture, and other critical sectors, delivering lasting benefits to Earth well beyond the mission.”

Many technologies created to support deep space and lunar missions, including Artemis, are in use on Earth. Spinoff’s 50th edition tells the stories of two companies that developed equipment to 3D print habitats on planetary surfaces. On Earth, one of those companies is custom-building wall panels, cladding, and facades, while the other is additively manufacturing entire neighborhoods of affordable housing.

NASA envisions a future where robots handle routine maintenance and mundane tasks to support astronauts during lunar missions. Two companies featured in Spinoff 2026  received the agency’s support to meet that need, and each has already found applications for their technology on Earth. One company is commercializing software to power robots that are cleaning bathrooms and building homes, and the other has created a humanoid robot capable of warehouse and assembly line tasks.

“Incredible feats on distant worlds require incredible innovation,” said Dan Lockney, Technology Transfer program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We can’t wait to see what breakthroughs and advancements come from not just exploration on the lunar surface but missions to put a rotorcraft on Saturn’s moon Titan or study interstellar objects in deep space.”

Any NASA work can result in spinoff technology, including lifesaving inventions. Technology developed by engineers trying to make life easier for astronauts on the International Space Station has evolved into an implantable heart monitor that’s helping keep heart failure patients out of the hospital. Companies also are improving personal locator beacons for search and rescue networks based on NASA’s satellite communication technology.

Standout spinoffs

Procedures NASA created to ensure food safety for Apollo astronauts traveling to the Moon formed the foundation for safety procedures and regulations governing food production globally. The memory foam found in mattresses today originated from NASA’s development of pressure-absorbing materials for aircraft seats in the 1970s. Miniaturized, energy-efficient camera technology, initially engineered by NASA to create compact, high-quality imaging systems for spacecraft, is now the basis for modern digital imagery, from smartphone cameras to cinema. Scratch-resistant lenses use diamond-hard coatings originally developed for aerospace applications, and wireless headsets are rooted in technology NASA pioneered to enable hands-free communication for astronauts.

Readers of Spinoff 2026 are invited to contribute to the next “small step” in NASA’s history of “giant leaps” and bring space-inspired technology to Earth. In this edition’s Spinoffs of Tomorrow section, there are 20 technologies ready for commercialization, with information on how to license them or any of the other 1,300 inventions available in NASA’s Patent Portfolio.

Spinoff is part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and its Technology Transfer program. Technology Transfer is charged with finding broad, innovative applications for NASA-developed technology through partnerships and licensing agreements, ensuring agency investments benefit the nation and the world.

To read NASA’s 50th edition of Spinoff, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/4t5Xv12

-end-

Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-432-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov

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How NASA Is Homing in From Space on Ocean Debris

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 12:02pm
Detergent bottles and other litter can travel thousands of miles across the ocean before washing up on the remote Island of Kaho’olawe in Hawaii. JPL remote-sensing technology recently showed that it can spot plastic pollution on land, but doing so in the sea presents challenges.NOAA

Space-based technology could help track plastic and other flotsam by its ‘fingerprints.’

In late 2025, scientists reported that, for the first time, they were able to detect concentrations of plastic pollution on land using NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) sensor aboard the International Space Station. The technology has inspired marine researchers to see whether it could also help track debris in our waters.

Before future generations of sensors like EMIT can be called upon to detect ocean litter, scientists need to know what to look for. Working with collaborators, NASA intern Ashley Ohall has built a newly published reference library containing nearly 25,000 molecular “fingerprints” from all manner of flotsam and jetsam, including rope, tires, metal, bubble wrap, buoys, and bottle caps. Given the overwhelming presence of plastic in marine debris, the library includes some 19 types of polymer.

NASA’s EMIT, shown in the red circle, was launched to the International Space Station in 2022 to map minerals. Its data is now advancing fields from agriculture to water science.NASA

Most of the estimated 8 million tons or more of plastic that enter the ocean every year comes from land, so mapping pollution hot spots near coastlines could be a first step toward reducing what ends up on beaches and washed out to sea. That’s exactly what NASA’s sensor showed it could do, though detecting plastic wasn’t its first mission. Launched in 2022, EMIT maps minerals across desert regions to help determine how the dust can heat or cool the atmosphere.

But the instrument has proved itself incredibly nimble. From its perch on the space station, it can identify hundreds of compounds on Earth via the unique spectral patterns they make in reflected sunlight. The technology behind EMIT, called imaging spectroscopy, was pioneered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and is used on missions throughout the solar system. One of EMIT’s cousins discovered lunar water in 2009, and another is set to return to the Moon to help future astronauts identify scientifically valuable areas to sample.

Marine scientist Ashley Ohall checked out aircraft at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, during her recent internship with the agency in which she led the creation of a spectral library containing nearly 25,000 molecular “fingerprints” from all manner of debris.Kelsey Bisson

The same technology has now shown that it can find plastic compounds in landfills and large-scale structures like greenhouses, said JPL’s David Thompson, who coauthored the 2025 study. However, detecting plastic once it enters the ocean is more challenging: Seawater absorbs infrared light, masking many of plastic’s prominent spectral features.

Litter library

That’s where the work of Ohall and her collaborators comes in. Their open-source library compiles the work of many researchers over the years who’ve analyzed marine debris using handheld instruments in laboratories. Standardizing the various datasets into one searchable repository is crucial because different kinds of debris have slightly different spectra based on material, color, and condition. Weathered water bottles, for example, “look” different than washed-up hurricane detritus. Once the patterns are known, detection algorithms can be developed.

Carried by ocean currents, debris can travel thousands of miles from the source, so a better understanding of where it is and where it’s headed could be a boon for public health and coastal tourism, said Ohall, a Florida native who recently graduated from the University of Georgia.

“My biggest hope is that people see remote sensing as an important and useful tool for marine debris monitoring,” Ohall said. “Just because it hasn’t been done yet doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

Planet-scale challenge

Conventional methods for quantifying plastic in the ocean — including dragging nets through garbage patches — can’t sample the millions of tons that flow in. With NASA’s support, scientists are learning more about the ability of existing sensors as well as what’s still needed to spot marine debris. Teams are also training AI tools to sift through satellite imagery.

It remains a planet-scale endeavor, said Kelsey Bisson, a program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The groundwork being done by Ohall and other scientists brings us a step closer to leveraging a powerful technology flying in air and space today.

“Humans have a visceral connection to the ocean and its health,” Bisson said. “Detecting marine debris is the kind of incredible challenge that NASA can help solve.”

To learn more about EMIT, visit:

https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/

Media Contacts

Andrew Wang / Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-393-2433
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Written by Sally Younger

2026-003

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Hubble Observes Ghostly Cloud Alive with Star Formation

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 11:29am
A seemingly serene landscape of gas and dust is hopping with star formation behind the scenes.NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

While this eerie NASA Hubble Space Telescope image may look ghostly, it’s actually full of new life. Lupus 3 is a star-forming cloud about 500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. 

White wisps of gas swirl throughout the region, and in the lower-left corner resides a dark dust cloud. Bright T Tauri stars shine at the left, bottom right, and upper center, while other young stellar objects dot the image.

T Tauri stars are actively forming stars in a specific stage of formation. In this stage, the enveloping gas and dust dissipates from radiation and stellar winds, or outflows of particles from the emerging star. T Tauri stars are typically less than 10 million years old and vary in brightness both randomly and periodically due to the environment and nature of a forming star. The random variations may be due to instabilities in the accretion disk of dust and gas around the star, material from that disk falling onto the star and being consumed, and flares on the star’s surface. The more regular, periodic changes may be caused by giant sunspots rotating in and out of view. 

T Tauri stars are in the process of contracting under the force of gravity as they become main sequence stars which fuse hydrogen to helium in their cores. Studying these stars can help astronomers better understand the star formation process.

Categories: NASA

NASA Reveals New Details About Dark Matter’s Influence on Universe

Mon, 01/26/2026 - 11:00am
Containing nearly 800,000 galaxies, this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is overlaid with a map of dark matter, represented in blue. Researchers used Webb data to find the invisible substance via its gravitational influence on regular matter.NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale/A. Pagan

With the Webb telescope’s unprecedented sensitivity, scientists are learning more about dark matter’s influence on stars, galaxies, and even planets like Earth.

Scientists using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have made one of the most detailed, high-resolution maps of dark matter ever produced. It shows how the invisible, ghostly material overlaps and intertwines with “regular” matter, the stuff that makes up stars, galaxies, and everything we can see.

Published Monday, Jan. 26, in Nature Astronomy, the map builds on previous research to provide additional confirmation and new details about how dark matter has shaped the universe on the largest scales — galaxy clusters millions of light-years across — that ultimately give rise to galaxies, stars, and planets like Earth.

“This is the largest dark matter map we’ve made with Webb, and it’s twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories,” said Diana Scognamiglio, lead author of the paper and an astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Previously, we were looking at a blurry picture of dark matter. Now we’re seeing the invisible scaffolding of the universe in stunning detail, thanks to Webb’s incredible resolution.”

Created using data from NASA’s Webb telescope in 2026 (right) and from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2007 (left), these images show the presence of dark matter in the same region of sky. Webb’s higher resolution is providing new insights into how this invisible component influences the distribution of ordinary matter in the universe.NASA/STScI/A. Pagan Dense regions of dark matter are connected by lower-density filaments, forming a weblike structure known as the cosmic web. This pattern appears more clearly in the Webb data than in the earlier Hubble image. Ordinary matter, including galaxies, tends to trace this same underlying structure shaped by dark matter.NASA/STScI/A. Pagan Some dark matter structures appear smaller in the Webb data because they are coming into sharper focus. Webb’s higher resolution also makes it possible to better confine the size and location of the dark matter clusters in the lower left of the image.NASA/STScI/A. Pagan

Dark matter doesn’t emit, reflect, absorb, or even block light, and it passes through regular matter like a ghost. But it does interact with the universe through gravity, something the map shows with a new level of clarity. Evidence for this interaction lies in the degree of overlap between dark matter and regular matter. According to the paper’s authors, Webb’s observations confirm that this close alignment can’t be a coincidence but, rather, is due to dark matter’s gravity pulling regular matter toward it throughout cosmic history.

“Wherever we see a big cluster of thousands of galaxies, we also see an equally massive amount of dark matter in the same place. And when we see a thin string of regular matter connecting two of those clusters, we see a string of dark matter as well,” said Richard Massey, an astrophysicist at Durham University in the United Kingdom and a coauthor of the new study. “It’s not just that they have the same shapes. This map shows us that dark matter and regular matter have always been in the same place. They grew up together.”

Closer look

Found in the constellation Sextans, the area covered by the new map is a section of sky about 2.5 times larger than the full Moon. A global community of scientists have observed this region with at least 15 ground- and space-based telescopes for the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). Their goal: to precisely measure the location of regular matter here and then compare it to the location of dark matter. The first dark matter map of the area was made in 2007 using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, a project led by Massey and JPL astrophysicist Jason Rhodes, a coauthor of the paper.

Webb peered at this region for a total of about 255 hours and identified nearly 800,000 galaxies, some of which were detected for the first time. Scognamiglio and her colleagues then looked for dark matter by observing how its mass curves space itself, which in turn bends the light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies. When observed by researchers, it’s as if the light of those galaxies has passed through a warped windowpane.

The Webb map contains about 10 times more galaxies than maps of the area made by ground-based observatories and twice as many as Hubble’s. It reveals new clumps of dark matter and captures a higher-resolution view of the areas previously seen by Hubble.

To refine measurements of the distance to many galaxies for the map, the team used Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), designed and managed through launch by JPL, along with other space- and ground-based telescopes. The wavelengths that MIRI detects also make it adept at detecting galaxies obscured by cosmic dust clouds.

Why it matters

When the universe began, regular matter and dark matter were probably sparsely distributed. Scientists think dark matter began to clump together first and that those dark matter clumps then pulled together regular matter, creating regions with enough material for stars and galaxies to begin to form.

In this way, dark matter determined the large-scale distribution of galaxies in the universe. And by prompting galaxy and star formation to begin earlier than they would have otherwise, dark matter’s influence also played a role in creating the conditions for planets to eventually form. That’s because the first generations of stars were responsible for turning hydrogen and helium — which made up the vast majority of atoms in the early universe — into the rich array of elements that now compose planets like Earth. In other words, dark matter provided more time for complex planets to form.

“This map provides stronger evidence that without dark matter, we might not have the elements in our galaxy that allowed life to appear,” said Rhodes. “Dark matter is not something we encounter in our everyday life on Earth, or even in our solar system, but it has definitely influenced us.”

Scognamiglio and some of her coauthors will also map dark matter with NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope over an area 4,400 times bigger than the COSMOS region. Roman’s primary science goals include learning more about dark matter’s fundamental properties and how they may or may not have changed over cosmic history. But Roman’s maps won’t beat Webb’s spatial resolution. More detailed looks at dark matter will be possible only with a next-generation telescope like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, NASA’s next astrophysics flagship concept.

More about Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

To learn more about Webb, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/webb

Media Contacts

Calla Cofield / Ian O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov / ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov

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NASA Sets Briefings for SpaceX Crew-12 Mission to Space Station

Fri, 01/23/2026 - 5:46pm
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 crew, from left to right, is NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.Credit: SpaceX

NASA and its partners will discuss the upcoming crew rotation to the International Space Station during a pair of news conferences on Friday, Jan. 30, from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

At 11 a.m. EST, mission leadership will discuss final launch and mission preparations in a news conference that will stream on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Next, the crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission will participate in a virtual news conference from NASA Johnson crew quarters at 1 p.m., also on the agency’s YouTube channel. Individual streams for each of the events will be available on that page. This is the final media opportunity with Crew-12 before they travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch.

Crew-12 will carry NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to the orbiting laboratory. The crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The agency is working with SpaceX and its international partners to review options to advance the launch of Crew-12 from its original target date of Sunday, Feb. 15.

United States-based media interested in attending in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. CST on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

Media wishing to join the news conferences by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom by 9:45 a.m. on the day of the event. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

Briefing participants are as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

11 a.m.: Mission Overview News Conference

  • Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
  • Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
  • Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
  • Andreas Mogensen, Human Exploration Group Leader, ESA
  • SpaceX representative

1 p.m.: Crew News Conference

  • Jessica Meir, Crew-12 commander, NASA
  • Jack Hathaway, Crew-12 pilot, NASA
  • Sophie Adenot, Crew-12 mission specialist, ESA
  • Andrey Fedyaev, Crew-12 mission specialist, Roscosmos

This will be the second flight to the space station for Meir, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. The Caribou, Maine, native earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Brown University, a master’s degree in space studies from the International Space University, and a doctorate in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. On her first spaceflight, Meir spent 205 days as a flight engineer during Expedition 61/62, and she completed the first three all-woman spacewalks with fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch, totaling 21 hours and 44 minutes outside of the station. Since then, she has served in various roles, including assistant to the chief astronaut for commercial crew (SpaceX), deputy for the Flight Integration Division, and assistant to the chief astronaut for the human landing system.

A commander in the United States Navy, Hathaway was selected as part of the 2021 astronaut candidate class. This will be Hathaway’s first spaceflight. The South Windsor, Connecticut, native holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and history from the U.S. Naval Academy and master’s degrees in flight dynamics from Cranfield University and national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College, respectively. Hathaway also is a graduate of the Empire Test Pilot’s School, Fixed Wing Class 70 in 2011. At the time of his selection, Hathaway was deployed aboard the USS Truman, serving as Strike Fighter Squadron 81’s prospective executive officer. He has accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours in 30 different aircraft, including more than 500 carrier arrested landings and 39 combat missions.

The Crew-12 mission will be Adenot’s first spaceflight. Before her selection as an ESA astronaut in 2022, Adenot earned a degree in engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse, France, specializing in spacecraft and aircraft flight dynamics. She also earned a master’s degree in human factors engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. After earning her master’s degree, she became a helicopter cockpit design engineer at Airbus Helicopters and later served as a search and rescue pilot at Cazaux Air Base from 2008 to 2012. She then joined the High Authority Transport Squadron in Villacoublay, France, and served as a formation flight leader and mission captain from 2012 to 2017. Between 2019 and 2022, Adenot worked as a helicopter experimental test pilot in Cazaux Flight Test Center with DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement – the French Defence Procurement Agency). She has logged more than 3,000 hours flying 22 different helicopters.

This will be Fedyaev’s second long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. He graduated from the Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute in 2004, specializing in aircraft operations and air traffic organization, and earned qualifications as a pilot engineer. Prior to his selection as a cosmonaut, he served as deputy commander of an Ilyushin-38 aircraft unit in the Kamchatka Region, logging more than 600 flight hours and achieving the rank of second-class military pilot. Fedyaev was selected for the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center Cosmonaut Corps in 2012 and has served as a test cosmonaut since 2014. In 2023, he flew to the space station as a mission specialist during NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission, spending 186 days in orbit, as an Expedition 69 flight engineer. For his achievements, Fedyaev was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation and received the Yuri Gagarin Medal.

For more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
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sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov

Share Details Last Updated Jan 23, 2026 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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NASA Awards Global Modeling, Assimilation Support Contract

Fri, 01/23/2026 - 4:47pm
Credit: NASA

NASA has selected ADNET Systems, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland, to provide global modeling and data assimilation support at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The Global Modeling and Assimilation Support contract is a single-award, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering value of approximately $84 million with a five-year period of performance beginning March 15, 2026.

Under this contract, the contractor will be responsible for supporting and maintaining NASA Goddard’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office’s Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and data assimilation system. Tasks include supporting the development and validation of individual model components within GEOS and the development and integration of external components like sea and land-ice models within the modeling and assimilation system.

For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Rob Garner
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-5687
rob.garner@nasa.gov

Share Details Last Updated Jan 23, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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NASA Selects Participants to Track Artemis II Mission

Fri, 01/23/2026 - 4:01pm
4 Min Read NASA Selects Participants to Track Artemis II Mission A visual representation of NASA’s Artemis I mission. Credits: NASA

NASA has selected 34 global volunteers to track the Orion spacecraft during the crewed Artemis II mission’s journey around the Moon.

The Artemis II test flight will launch NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft and a crew of four astronauts, on a mission into deep space. The agency’s second mission in the Artemis campaign is a key step in NASA’s path toward establishing a long-term presence at the Moon and confirming the systems needed to support future lunar surface exploration and paving the way for the first crewed mission to Mars.

While NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, coordinated by the agency’s SCaN (Space Communication and Navigation) program , will provide primary communications and tracking services to support Orion’s launch, journey around the Moon, and return to Earth, participants selected from a request for proposals published in August 2025, comprised of established commercial service providers, members of academia, and individual amateur radio enthusiasts will use their respective equipment to passively track radio waves transmitted by Orion during its approximately 10-day journey.

The Orion capsule viewing the Moon during Artemis I. NASA

“The Artemis II tracking opportunity is a real step toward SCaN’s commercial-first vision. By inviting external organizations to demonstrate their capabilities during a human spaceflight mission, we’re strengthening the marketplace we’ll rely on as we explore farther into the solar system,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for SCaN at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This isn’t about tracking one mission, but about building a resilient, public-private ecosystem that will support the Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”

This isn’t about tracking one mission, but about building a resilient, public-private ecosystem that will support the Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”

KEvin Coggins

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for SCaN

These volunteers will submit their data to NASA for analysis, helping the agency better assess the broader aerospace community’s tracking capabilities and identify ways to augment future Moon and Mars mission support. There are no funds exchanged as a part of this collaborative effort.

This initiative builds on a previous effort in which 10 volunteers successfully tracked the Orion spacecraft during Artemis I in 2022. That campaign produced valuable data and lessons learned, including implementation, formatting, and data quality variations for Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, which develops communications and data standards for spaceflight. To address these findings, SCaN now requires that all tracking data submitted for Artemis II comply with its data system standards.

Compared to the previous opportunity, public interest in tracking the Artemis II mission has increased. About 47 ground assets spanning 14 different countries will be used for to track the spacecraft during its journey around the Moon.   

Participants List:

Government:

  • Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Canada
  • The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany

Commercial:

  • Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, United Kingdom
  • GovSmart, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Integrasys + University of Seville, Spain
  • Intuitive Machines, Houston
  • Kongsberg Satellite Services, Norway
  • Raven Defense Corporation, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Reca Space Agency + University of Douala, Cameroon
  • Rincon Research Corporation & the University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Sky Perfect JSAT, Japan
  • Space Operations New Zealand Limited, New Zealand
  • Telespazio, Italy
  • ViaSat, Carlsbad, California
  • Von Storch Engineering, Netherlands

Individual:

  • Chris Swier, South Dakota
  • Dan Slater, California
  • Loretta A Smalls, California
  • Scott Tilley, Canada

Academia:

  • American University, Washington
  • Awara Space Center + Fukui University of Technology, Japan
  • Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky
  • Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, Rosman, North Carolina
  • University of California Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, California
  • University of New Brunswick, ECE, Canada
  • University of Pittsburgh, ECE, Pittsburgh
  • University of Zurich – Physics Department, Switzerland

Non-Profit & Amateur Radio Organizations:

  • AMSAT Argentina, Argentina
  • AMSAT Deutschland, Germany
  • Amateur Radio Exploration Ground Station Consortium, Towson, Maryland
  • CAMRAS, Netherlands
  • Deep Space Exploration Society, Kiowa County, Colorado
  • Neu Golm Ground Station, Germany
  • Observation Radio Pleumeur-bodou, France

Artemis II will fly around the Moon to test the systems which will carry astronauts to the lunar surface for economic benefits and scientific discovery in the Golden Age of exploration and innovation.

The networks supporting Artemis receive programmatic oversight from NASA’s SCaN Program office. In addition to providing communications services to missions, SCaN develops the technologies and capabilities that will help propel NASA to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The Deep Space Network is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and the Near Space Network is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

Learn more about NASA’s SCaN Program:  

https://www.nasa.gov/scan

Share Details Last Updated Jan 26, 2026 Related Terms About the AuthorKatrina Lee

Katrina Lee is a writer for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program office and covers emerging technologies, commercialization efforts, exploration activities, and more.

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