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Bones of now extinct species became a haven for bee babies thousands of years ago, scientists report in a first-of-its-kind discovery

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Two composite images show side-by-side observations of the Perseus Cluster from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer) and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Scientists used data from both observatories, along with data from Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, to confirm measurements of the galaxy cluster.X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and K. Arcand

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, by the American Astronomical Society, Nov. 11.

The IXPE mission observed the Perseus Cluster, the brightest galaxy cluster observable in X-rays, for more than 600 hours over a 60-day period between January and March. Not only is this IXPE’s longest observation of a single target to date, it also marks IXPE’s first time observing a galaxy cluster.

Specifically, the team of scientists studied the polarization properties of 3C 84, the massive active galaxy located at the very center of the Perseus Cluster. This active galaxy is a well-known X-ray source and a common target for X-ray astronomers because of its proximity and brightness.

Because the Perseus Cluster is so massive, it hosts an enormous reservoir of X-ray emitting gas as hot as the core of the Sun. The use of multiple X-ray telescopes, particularly the high-resolution imaging power of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was essential to disentangle the signals in the IXPE data. Scientists combined these X-ray measurements with data from the agency’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Fast facts

• Polarization measurements from IXPE carry information about the orientation and alignment of emitted X-ray light waves. The more X-ray waves traveling in sync, the higher the degree of polarization.
• X-rays from an active galaxy like 3C 84 are thought to originate from a process known as inverse Compton scattering, where light bounces off particles and gains energy. The polarization measurements from IXPE allow us to identify the presence of either inverse Compton scattering or other scenarios.
• “Seed photons” is the term for the lower-energy radiation undergoing the energizing process of inverse Compton scattering.
• You may remember the Perseus Cluster from this sonification replicating what a Black Hole sounds like from May 2022.

“While measuring the polarization of 3C 84 was one of the key science goals, we are still searching for additional polarization signals in this galaxy cluster that could be signatures of more exotic physics,” said Steven Ehlert, project scientist for IXPE and astronomer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Chandra & IXPE composite image of the Perseus Cluster.X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and K. Arcand

“We’ve already determined that for sources like 3C 84, the X-rays originated from inverse Compton scattering,” said Ioannis Liodakis, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics – FORTH in Heraklion, Greece, and lead author on the paper. “With IXPE observations of 3C 84 we had a unique chance to determine the properties of the seed photons.”

The first possible origin scenario for the seed photons is known as synchrotron self-Compton, where lower-energy radiation originates from the same jet that produces the highly energetic particles.

In the alternative scenario known as external Compton, seed photons originate from background radiation sources unrelated to the jet.

“The synchrotron self-Compton and external Compton scenarios have very different predictions for their X-ray polarization,” said Frederic Marin, an astrophysicist at the Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory in France and co-author of the study. “Any detection of X-ray polarization from 3C 84 almost decisively rules out the possibility of external Compton as the emission mechanism.”

Throughout the 60-day observation campaign, optical and radio telescopes around the world turned their attention to 3C 84 to further test between the two scenarios.

NASA’s IXPE measured a net polarization of 4% in the X-rays spectrum, with comparable values measured in the optical and radio data. These results strongly favor the synchrotron self-Compton model for the seed photons, where they come from the same jet as the higher-energy particles.

“Separating these two components was essential to this measurement and could not be done by any single X-ray telescope, but by combining the IXPE polarization data with Chandra, NuSTAR, and Swift, we were able to confirm this polarization measurement was associated specifically with 3C 84,” said Sudip Chakraborty, a researcher at the Science and Technology Institute of the Universities Space Research Association in Huntsville, Alabama, and co-author on the paper.

Scientists will continue to analyze IXPE’s data from different locations in the Perseus Cluster for different signals.

More about IXPE

NASA’s IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. The IXPE mission is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:

https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe

Share

Details Last Updated Dec 17, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms

• IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)
• Astrophysics
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory
• Galaxies
• Galaxy clusters
• Marshall Astrophysics
• Marshall Science Projects
• Marshall Science Research & Projects
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
• The Universe
• X-ray Astronomy

Explore More 3 min read Galaxy With Black Hole Shines In Image From NASA’s Chandra, IXPE

In the center of this galaxy is a supermassive black hole feeding off the gas…

Article 3 years ago 5 min read Historic Nebula Seen Like Never Before With NASA’s IXPE Article 3 years ago 4 min read IXPE Untangles Theories Surrounding Historic Supernova Remnant Article 2 years ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory built to discover the secrets of some of the most…

Chandra

Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (B)

The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary…

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion…

4 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Two composite images show side-by-side observations of the Perseus Cluster from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer) and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Scientists used data from both observatories, along with data from Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, to confirm measurements of the galaxy cluster.X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and K. Arcand

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, by the American Astronomical Society, Nov. 11.

The IXPE mission observed the Perseus Cluster, the brightest galaxy cluster observable in X-rays, for more than 600 hours over a 60-day period between January and March. Not only is this IXPE’s longest observation of a single target to date, it also marks IXPE’s first time observing a galaxy cluster.

Specifically, the team of scientists studied the polarization properties of 3C 84, the massive active galaxy located at the very center of the Perseus Cluster. This active galaxy is a well-known X-ray source and a common target for X-ray astronomers because of its proximity and brightness.

Because the Perseus Cluster is so massive, it hosts an enormous reservoir of X-ray emitting gas as hot as the core of the Sun. The use of multiple X-ray telescopes, particularly the high-resolution imaging power of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was essential to disentangle the signals in the IXPE data. Scientists combined these X-ray measurements with data from the agency’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Fast facts

• Polarization measurements from IXPE carry information about the orientation and alignment of emitted X-ray light waves. The more X-ray waves traveling in sync, the higher the degree of polarization.
• X-rays from an active galaxy like 3C 84 are thought to originate from a process known as inverse Compton scattering, where light bounces off particles and gains energy. The polarization measurements from IXPE allow us to identify the presence of either inverse Compton scattering or other scenarios.
• “Seed photons” is the term for the lower-energy radiation undergoing the energizing process of inverse Compton scattering.
• You may remember the Perseus Cluster from this sonification replicating what a Black Hole sounds like from May 2022.

“While measuring the polarization of 3C 84 was one of the key science goals, we are still searching for additional polarization signals in this galaxy cluster that could be signatures of more exotic physics,” said Steven Ehlert, project scientist for IXPE and astronomer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Chandra & IXPE composite image of the Perseus Cluster.X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk and K. Arcand

“We’ve already determined that for sources like 3C 84, the X-rays originated from inverse Compton scattering,” said Ioannis Liodakis, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics – FORTH in Heraklion, Greece, and lead author on the paper. “With IXPE observations of 3C 84 we had a unique chance to determine the properties of the seed photons.”

The first possible origin scenario for the seed photons is known as synchrotron self-Compton, where lower-energy radiation originates from the same jet that produces the highly energetic particles.

In the alternative scenario known as external Compton, seed photons originate from background radiation sources unrelated to the jet.

“The synchrotron self-Compton and external Compton scenarios have very different predictions for their X-ray polarization,” said Frederic Marin, an astrophysicist at the Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory in France and co-author of the study. “Any detection of X-ray polarization from 3C 84 almost decisively rules out the possibility of external Compton as the emission mechanism.”

Throughout the 60-day observation campaign, optical and radio telescopes around the world turned their attention to 3C 84 to further test between the two scenarios.

NASA’s IXPE measured a net polarization of 4% in the X-rays spectrum, with comparable values measured in the optical and radio data. These results strongly favor the synchrotron self-Compton model for the seed photons, where they come from the same jet as the higher-energy particles.

“Separating these two components was essential to this measurement and could not be done by any single X-ray telescope, but by combining the IXPE polarization data with Chandra, NuSTAR, and Swift, we were able to confirm this polarization measurement was associated specifically with 3C 84,” said Sudip Chakraborty, a researcher at the Science and Technology Institute of the Universities Space Research Association in Huntsville, Alabama, and co-author on the paper.

Scientists will continue to analyze IXPE’s data from different locations in the Perseus Cluster for different signals.

More about IXPE

NASA’s IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. The IXPE mission is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:

https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe

Share

Details Last Updated Dec 17, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms

• IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)
• Astrophysics
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory
• Galaxies
• Galaxy clusters
• Marshall Astrophysics
• Marshall Science Projects
• Marshall Science Research & Projects
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
• The Universe
• X-ray Astronomy

Explore More 3 min read Galaxy With Black Hole Shines In Image From NASA’s Chandra, IXPE

In the center of this galaxy is a supermassive black hole feeding off the gas…

Article 3 years ago 5 min read Historic Nebula Seen Like Never Before With NASA’s IXPE Article 3 years ago 4 min read IXPE Untangles Theories Surrounding Historic Supernova Remnant Article 2 years ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory built to discover the secrets of some of the most…

Chandra

Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (B)

The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary…

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion…

2 Min Read NASA Launches Research Program for Students to Explore Big Ideas

NASA is now accepting concepts for a new research challenge. The Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology (ORBIT) challenge is a multi-phase innovation competition designed to empower university and college students to develop next-generation solutions that benefit life on Earth and deep-space exploration.

With up to $380,000 in total prize funding, NASA’s ORBIT challenges student teams to bring their most forward-thinking concepts to the table, either utilizing NASA intellectual property or conceptualizing their own. Teams are tasked with conducting targeted research, designing early mockups or models, and performing feasibility analyses to refine their ideas. Finalists then advance to a live showcase where they present their work to a panel of expert judges, who evaluate the proposals and select winners based on the teams’ final pitches and responses to questions.

The ORBIT has two challenge tracks for teams to choose from. The ORBIT Earth track requires teams to select a NASA-owned patent and develop novel commercial or nonprofit applications addressing real-world problems. From adapting aerospace materials for disaster response and preparedness, to repurposing space-based sensors for healthcare, students must demonstrate clear pathways to public benefit.

The ORBIT Space track asks teams to design new system concepts aligned with NASA’s current and future missions, particularly supporting the Artemis program’s goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon and preparing for eventual missions to Mars and beyond. Students will create technically feasible designs for everything from lunar habitats that could house future Artemis astronauts to deep space robotics that open more pathways to in-situ resource utilization. Teams that successfully integrate objectives from both tracks may qualify for an optional integration bonus.

This challenge accelerates innovation in areas critical to NASA’s future goals while cultivating a pipeline of interdisciplinary talent. By engaging the next generation in NASA’s dual mission to explore space and improve life on Earth, ORBIT inspires students to join the agency’s talent network while delivering tangible benefits to American communities and industries.

Beyond monetary awards, participants stand to gain mentorship from NASA experts, access to agency facilities, and hands-on experience in systems design, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.

For complete competition details, eligibility requirements, and official rules, visit:  https://go.nasa.gov/4q2TS9u

Registration is open until Feb. 9, 2026, through the NASA STEM Gateway.

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

MUREP Student Engagement

Learning Resources

NASA STEM Opportunities and Activities For Students

For Colleges and Universities

2 Min Read NASA Launches Research Program for Students to Explore Big Ideas

NASA is now accepting concepts for a new research challenge. The Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology (ORBIT) challenge is a multi-phase innovation competition designed to empower university and college students to develop next-generation solutions that benefit life on Earth and deep-space exploration.

With up to $380,000 in total prize funding, NASA’s ORBIT challenges student teams to bring their most forward-thinking concepts to the table, either utilizing NASA intellectual property or conceptualizing their own. Teams are tasked with conducting targeted research, designing early mockups or models, and performing feasibility analyses to refine their ideas. Finalists then advance to a live showcase where they present their work to a panel of expert judges, who evaluate the proposals and select winners based on the teams’ final pitches and responses to questions.

The ORBIT has two challenge tracks for teams to choose from. The ORBIT Earth track requires teams to select a NASA-owned patent and develop novel commercial or nonprofit applications addressing real-world problems. From adapting aerospace materials for disaster response and preparedness, to repurposing space-based sensors for healthcare, students must demonstrate clear pathways to public benefit.

The ORBIT Space track asks teams to design new system concepts aligned with NASA’s current and future missions, particularly supporting the Artemis program’s goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon and preparing for eventual missions to Mars and beyond. Students will create technically feasible designs for everything from lunar habitats that could house future Artemis astronauts to deep space robotics that open more pathways to in-situ resource utilization. Teams that successfully integrate objectives from both tracks may qualify for an optional integration bonus.

This challenge accelerates innovation in areas critical to NASA’s future goals while cultivating a pipeline of interdisciplinary talent. By engaging the next generation in NASA’s dual mission to explore space and improve life on Earth, ORBIT inspires students to join the agency’s talent network while delivering tangible benefits to American communities and industries.

Beyond monetary awards, participants stand to gain mentorship from NASA experts, access to agency facilities, and hands-on experience in systems design, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.

For complete competition details, eligibility requirements, and official rules, visit:  https://go.nasa.gov/4q2TS9u

Registration is open until Feb. 9, 2026, through the NASA STEM Gateway.

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

MUREP Student Engagement

Learning Resources

NASA STEM Opportunities and Activities For Students

For Colleges and Universities

After 25 years of continuous human presence in space, the International Space Station remains a training and proving ground for deep space missions, enabling NASA to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon and Mars. The orbiting laboratory is also a living archive of human experience, culture, and connection.  

Creating community Expedition 34 crew members pictured in the Unity node of the International Space Station in December 2012. NASA

With 290 visitors from 26 countries and five international partners, the space station has celebrated many different cultures during its 25 years of continuous human presence. Crew members share their holiday traditions, cuisine, music, and games with each other – creating their own community, similar to the ones they have back home, while maintaining a connection to Earth. 

Crews living and working aboard the space station during the holiday season have found creative ways to mark the occasions from low Earth orbit. Festive socks, Halloween costumes, mini artificial Christmas trees, champagne, and candle-less menorahs are just a few of the items space station visitors have brought with them to spread holiday cheer.  

Mealtimes are also the perfect opportunity to share a taste of home. The space station’s standard menu is inclusive of varied cuisines, but crew members also contribute their own special food items. French astronaut Thomas G. Pesquet once brought macarons to help celebrate his birthday, and several JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronauts have hosted sushi parties.  

Sharing a piece of themselves and their cultures not only fosters crew camaraderie but also supports the international collaboration necessary to sustain the space station’s success. 

Taking music to new heights  Expedition 55 crew members aboard the space station (from left) are NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, and NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Scott Tingle. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)/Norishige Kanai

The first musical instrument, an acoustic guitar, arrived at the orbiting laboratory in August 2001. Since then, playing music aboard the orbiting laboratory has supported astronaut well-being, fostered relationships among international crew members, and helped them connect with home. 

The space station’s instrument collection started with an acoustic guitar and an electric keyboard, and also includes an alto saxophone. Some NASA astronauts bring their own instruments to suit their playing habits – bagpipes for Kjell Lindgren, flutes for Catherine Coleman, a piccolo for Jessica Meir. International partners have, too. In April 2010, JAXA astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki performed a duet using a bamboo flute and a miniature version of a traditional Japanese stringed instrument.  

Several crew members have played in concerts on Earth while still orbiting the planet. Coleman played a duet with the frontman of Jethro Tull, for example, and ESA (European Space Agency) Luca Parmitano used the station’s electric keyboard to participate in a concert at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. He later became the first person to perform a DJ set from space. 

The space station has even hosted at least one epic jam session, featuring the crew members of Expedition 55 on guitar, flutes, and a drum made from a repurposed waste container. 

Read more musical memories here. 

NASA astronaut and Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg plays guitar inside the space station’s Kibo laboratory module. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir plays a saxophone in front of the station’s Cupola windows. Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov plays an electronic keyboard aboard the space station’s Harmony module. NASA astronaut Cady Coleman plays a flute in the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kibo laboratory aboard the space station. Former NASA astronaut Dan Burbank plays a guitar while Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov plays a musical keyboard in the station’s Unity node. An astronaut’s perspective The sun shines above Earth’s horizon as the space station orbited 264 miles above the Canadian province of Quebec.NASA

Across the decades and missions of U.S. human spaceflight, NASA astronauts have shared a unique and transcendent experience: looking down at Earth from the space station’s cupola windows. That experience has had a profound impact on many, creating a powerful shift in the way astronauts think about life and our home planet – a phenomenon known as the overview effect. 

Crew members aboard the orbital outpost describe the beauty of our planet and how it stands in stark contrast to the darkness of space from the cupola module. Many comment on Earth’s fragility and the need to protect it after observing how thin the planet’s atmosphere appears to be from orbit. Others note the lack of borders or lines we see on a map, emphasizing that all of humanity is connected.  

Regardless of how long they stay in orbit, astronauts return with a different worldview they are eager to share with others.  

Read more about astronaut perspectives on the overview effect or watch “Down to Earth” on NASA+. 

Capturing the beauty and science in orbit  

The space station provides a vantage point like no other. The cupola observation module, with its seven windows, offers unparalleled panoramic views of Earth and space which are crucial for monitoring mission activities, conducting scientific observations, and supporting crew morale and habitability. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory have captured millions of photographs of Earth, creating a visual archive that spans 25 years of continuous human presence in orbit.  

These images serve as scientific data used to track hurricanes, monitor wildfires, measure glacial retreat, and study urban growth through NASA’s Crew Earth Observations. Astronaut photography also supports NASA Disaster Response, a program that works with various NASA centers to collect data before, during, and following a disaster to aid recovery efforts. 

The cupola has become a favorite spot for astronauts to work and reflect. Their photos help connect people worldwide to the orbital outpost, reinforcing the importance of protecting our planet.  

Earth views NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographs “cosmic colors at sunrise.” From 250 miles above, the space station’s orbital path covers most of Earth’s population, offering valuable data and a great opportunity for shooting photography. The Full Moon is pictured setting below Earth’s horizon from the space station. Earth observation taken by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the orbital outpost. The southern coast of Africa is pictured from the space station’s “window to the world,” or cupola, as it soared 265 miles above. Earth observation taken during a day pass by an Expedition 36 crew member aboard the space station. The Canadarm2 robotic arm, with Dextre—its fine-tuned robotic hand—attached, extends from the space station’s Harmony module as the orbital outpost soars 263 miles above Kazakhstan. Earth observation taken during a night pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. Clouds gather on Nepal’s sub-tropical side of the Himalayas with Mount Everest at the center of this photograph taken by an external high definition camera on the space station as it orbited 263 miles above the Indian subcontinent. The Milky Way appears above Earth’s bright atmospheric glow from the orbital outpost as it soared 261 miles above southern Iran. The soft hues of an orbital sunrise reveals the cloud tops above the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand as the space station orbited 260 miles above. NASA astronaut Don Pettit captures a photo of a fire in La Porte, Texas in 2024. NASA astronaut John Phillips photographs a wildfire raging through northeast Phoenix in 2005. The blue-green lights of fishing boats, designed to lure squid, sardines, or mackerel, dot the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait contrasting with the coastal city lights of Taiwan and China. The space station was orbiting 259 miles above the South China Sea just south of Taiwan. The Moon’s shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine. Lightning illuminates the cloud tops of Category 1 Hurricane Erick as it stormed across the Pacific Ocean south of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Eruption of Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska in 2006. Hurricane Gabrielle is seen in the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm at the time, in the Gulf of America off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula in 2024. Wildfires burn throughout Canada’s central provinces sending smoke drifting into the United States’ Great Lakes and Northeast regions. Lightning illuminates the cloud tops as the International Space Station orbits 259 miles above the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas. Station memories from the ground  Flight controllers at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston marked 25 years of continuous human presence in space with the Expedition 73 crew aboard the orbital outpost on Nov. 2, 2025.NASA/Pooja J. Jesrani

Behind every moment aboard the orbiting laboratory is a dedicated team on the ground – engineers, scientists, flight directors, and communicators – who work around the clock to keep crews safe and missions running smoothly.  

They mark milestones together, from spacecraft dockings and crew returns to mission anniversaries and plaque-hanging ceremonies. Teams on console in the mission control have even organized chess matches with astronauts in orbit to foster connection between Earth and space. 

The flight control team celebrated the 25th anniversary of continuous human habitation in space with the Expedition 73 crew aboard the station on Nov. 2, 2025. The team congratulated the crew to mark the incredible milestone. They emphasized that humanity has held a heartbeat in orbit for a quarter century, a testament to human curiosity, cooperation, and courage that keeps the light of exploration shining above Earth and represents the very best of what humankind can achieve together. Every orbit, every experiment, and every challenge has taught teams how to adapt, grow, and build the skills needed for the next great leaps to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Holidays are often spent in the control rooms, where teams decorate consoles, share potluck meals, and hold the occasional cookie-cutting contest. Engineers in the station’s Mission Evaluation Room (MER) host an annual “MERloween,” a tradition that began in 2006 to celebrate the year’s milestones and reflect on lessons learned. 

These traditions highlight the spirit and teamwork that make every mission possible. The dedication honed through decades of mission support now guides the teamwork and expertise that will send Artemis astronauts to the Moon and beyond. 

Flight controllers in mission control celebrate the holidays while supporting crews aboard the space station. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Painting hope beyond Earth  NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, the first person to watercolor in space, paints aboard the space station. NASA

Former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott became the first person to watercolor in space during her time aboard the orbiting laboratory. Inspired by the beauty of Earth from orbit, she used her art to connect the science of human spaceflight with the creativity that defines it. 

After returning to Earth, Stott helped launch the Space for Art Foundation, which unites children around the world through the healing power of art and space. One of its most meaningful initiatives, the Spacesuit Art Project, invites young patients undergoing cancer treatment to create colorful artwork that is transformed into custom-made spacesuits. Each suit – Hope, Courage, Unity, Victory, Dreamer, Exploration, Beyond, and Infinity – celebrates the imagination and resilience of its creators. 

Four of these suits have journeyed to and from the orbiting laboratory, where astronauts wore them during special downlinks to speak with the patients and raise awareness for childhood cancer research. The project shows that space exploration is not only about discovery, but about compassion, creativity, and the human spirit that connects us all. 

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After 25 years of continuous human presence in space, the International Space Station remains a training and proving ground for deep space missions, enabling NASA to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon and Mars. The orbiting laboratory is also a living archive of human experience, culture, and connection.  

Creating community Expedition 34 crew members pictured in the Unity node of the International Space Station in December 2012. NASA

With 290 visitors from 26 countries and five international partners, the space station has celebrated many different cultures during its 25 years of continuous human presence. Crew members share their holiday traditions, cuisine, music, and games with each other – creating their own community, similar to the ones they have back home, while maintaining a connection to Earth. 

Crews living and working aboard the space station during the holiday season have found creative ways to mark the occasions from low Earth orbit. Festive socks, Halloween costumes, mini artificial Christmas trees, champagne, and candle-less menorahs are just a few of the items space station visitors have brought with them to spread holiday cheer.  

Mealtimes are also the perfect opportunity to share a taste of home. The space station’s standard menu is inclusive of varied cuisines, but crew members also contribute their own special food items. French astronaut Thomas G. Pesquet once brought macarons to help celebrate his birthday, and several JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronauts have hosted sushi parties.  

Sharing a piece of themselves and their cultures not only fosters crew camaraderie but also supports the international collaboration necessary to sustain the space station’s success. 

Taking music to new heights  Expedition 55 crew members aboard the space station (from left) are NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, and NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Scott Tingle. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)/Norishige Kanai

The first musical instrument, an acoustic guitar, arrived at the orbiting laboratory in August 2001. Since then, playing music aboard the orbiting laboratory has supported astronaut well-being, fostered relationships among international crew members, and helped them connect with home. 

The space station’s instrument collection started with an acoustic guitar and an electric keyboard, and also includes an alto saxophone. Some NASA astronauts bring their own instruments to suit their playing habits – bagpipes for Kjell Lindgren, flutes for Catherine Coleman, a piccolo for Jessica Meir. International partners have, too. In April 2010, JAXA astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Naoko Yamazaki performed a duet using a bamboo flute and a miniature version of a traditional Japanese stringed instrument.  

Several crew members have played in concerts on Earth while still orbiting the planet. Coleman played a duet with the frontman of Jethro Tull, for example, and ESA (European Space Agency) Luca Parmitano used the station’s electric keyboard to participate in a concert at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. He later became the first person to perform a DJ set from space. 

The space station has even hosted at least one epic jam session, featuring the crew members of Expedition 55 on guitar, flutes, and a drum made from a repurposed waste container. 

Read more musical memories here. 

NASA astronaut and Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg plays guitar inside the space station’s Kibo laboratory module. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir plays a saxophone in front of the station’s Cupola windows. Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov plays an electronic keyboard aboard the space station’s Harmony module. NASA astronaut Cady Coleman plays a flute in the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kibo laboratory aboard the space station. Former NASA astronaut Dan Burbank plays a guitar while Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov plays a musical keyboard in the station’s Unity node. An astronaut’s perspective The sun shines above Earth’s horizon as the space station orbited 264 miles above the Canadian province of Quebec.NASA

Across the decades and missions of U.S. human spaceflight, NASA astronauts have shared a unique and transcendent experience: looking down at Earth from the space station’s cupola windows. That experience has had a profound impact on many, creating a powerful shift in the way astronauts think about life and our home planet – a phenomenon known as the overview effect. 

Crew members aboard the orbital outpost describe the beauty of our planet and how it stands in stark contrast to the darkness of space from the cupola module. Many comment on Earth’s fragility and the need to protect it after observing how thin the planet’s atmosphere appears to be from orbit. Others note the lack of borders or lines we see on a map, emphasizing that all of humanity is connected.  

Regardless of how long they stay in orbit, astronauts return with a different worldview they are eager to share with others.  

Read more about astronaut perspectives on the overview effect or watch “Down to Earth” on NASA+. 

Capturing the beauty and science in orbit  

The space station provides a vantage point like no other. The cupola observation module, with its seven windows, offers unparalleled panoramic views of Earth and space which are crucial for monitoring mission activities, conducting scientific observations, and supporting crew morale and habitability. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory have captured millions of photographs of Earth, creating a visual archive that spans 25 years of continuous human presence in orbit.  

These images serve as scientific data used to track hurricanes, monitor wildfires, measure glacial retreat, and study urban growth through NASA’s Crew Earth Observations. Astronaut photography also supports NASA Disaster Response, a program that works with various NASA centers to collect data before, during, and following a disaster to aid recovery efforts. 

The cupola has become a favorite spot for astronauts to work and reflect. Their photos help connect people worldwide to the orbital outpost, reinforcing the importance of protecting our planet.  

Earth views NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographs “cosmic colors at sunrise.” From 250 miles above, the space station’s orbital path covers most of Earth’s population, offering valuable data and a great opportunity for shooting photography. The Full Moon is pictured setting below Earth’s horizon from the space station. Earth observation taken by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the orbital outpost. The southern coast of Africa is pictured from the space station’s “window to the world,” or cupola, as it soared 265 miles above. Earth observation taken during a day pass by an Expedition 36 crew member aboard the space station. The Canadarm2 robotic arm, with Dextre—its fine-tuned robotic hand—attached, extends from the space station’s Harmony module as the orbital outpost soars 263 miles above Kazakhstan. Earth observation taken during a night pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. Clouds gather on Nepal’s sub-tropical side of the Himalayas with Mount Everest at the center of this photograph taken by an external high definition camera on the space station as it orbited 263 miles above the Indian subcontinent. The Milky Way appears above Earth’s bright atmospheric glow from the orbital outpost as it soared 261 miles above southern Iran. The soft hues of an orbital sunrise reveals the cloud tops above the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand as the space station orbited 260 miles above. NASA astronaut Don Pettit captures a photo of a fire in La Porte, Texas in 2024. NASA astronaut John Phillips photographs a wildfire raging through northeast Phoenix in 2005. The blue-green lights of fishing boats, designed to lure squid, sardines, or mackerel, dot the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait contrasting with the coastal city lights of Taiwan and China. The space station was orbiting 259 miles above the South China Sea just south of Taiwan. The Moon’s shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine. Lightning illuminates the cloud tops of Category 1 Hurricane Erick as it stormed across the Pacific Ocean south of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Eruption of Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska in 2006. Hurricane Gabrielle is seen in the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm at the time, in the Gulf of America off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula in 2024. Wildfires burn throughout Canada’s central provinces sending smoke drifting into the United States’ Great Lakes and Northeast regions. Lightning illuminates the cloud tops as the International Space Station orbits 259 miles above the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas. Station memories from the ground  Flight controllers at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston marked 25 years of continuous human presence in space with the Expedition 73 crew aboard the orbital outpost on Nov. 2, 2025.NASA/Pooja J. Jesrani

Behind every moment aboard the orbiting laboratory is a dedicated team on the ground – engineers, scientists, flight directors, and communicators – who work around the clock to keep crews safe and missions running smoothly.  

They mark milestones together, from spacecraft dockings and crew returns to mission anniversaries and plaque-hanging ceremonies. Teams on console in the mission control have even organized chess matches with astronauts in orbit to foster connection between Earth and space. 

The flight control team celebrated the 25th anniversary of continuous human habitation in space with the Expedition 73 crew aboard the station on Nov. 2, 2025. The team congratulated the crew to mark the incredible milestone. They emphasized that humanity has held a heartbeat in orbit for a quarter century, a testament to human curiosity, cooperation, and courage that keeps the light of exploration shining above Earth and represents the very best of what humankind can achieve together. Every orbit, every experiment, and every challenge has taught teams how to adapt, grow, and build the skills needed for the next great leaps to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Holidays are often spent in the control rooms, where teams decorate consoles, share potluck meals, and hold the occasional cookie-cutting contest. Engineers in the station’s Mission Evaluation Room (MER) host an annual “MERloween,” a tradition that began in 2006 to celebrate the year’s milestones and reflect on lessons learned. 

These traditions highlight the spirit and teamwork that make every mission possible. The dedication honed through decades of mission support now guides the teamwork and expertise that will send Artemis astronauts to the Moon and beyond. 

Flight controllers in mission control celebrate the holidays while supporting crews aboard the space station. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Painting hope beyond Earth  NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, the first person to watercolor in space, paints aboard the space station. NASA

Former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott became the first person to watercolor in space during her time aboard the orbiting laboratory. Inspired by the beauty of Earth from orbit, she used her art to connect the science of human spaceflight with the creativity that defines it. 

After returning to Earth, Stott helped launch the Space for Art Foundation, which unites children around the world through the healing power of art and space. One of its most meaningful initiatives, the Spacesuit Art Project, invites young patients undergoing cancer treatment to create colorful artwork that is transformed into custom-made spacesuits. Each suit – Hope, Courage, Unity, Victory, Dreamer, Exploration, Beyond, and Infinity – celebrates the imagination and resilience of its creators. 

Four of these suits have journeyed to and from the orbiting laboratory, where astronauts wore them during special downlinks to speak with the patients and raise awareness for childhood cancer research. The project shows that space exploration is not only about discovery, but about compassion, creativity, and the human spirit that connects us all. 

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Artemis II NASA astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 20, 2023. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

With a second Trump Administration at the helm in 2025, NASA marked significant progress toward the Artemis II test flight early next year, which is the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years, as well as built upon its momentum toward a human return to the lunar surface in preparation to send the first astronauts — Americans — to Mars.

As part of the agency’s Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA and its partners landed two robotic science missions on the Moon; garnered more signatories for the Artemis Accords with 59 nations now agreeing to safe, transparent, and responsible lunar exploration; as well as advanced a variety of medical and technological experiments for long-duration space missions like hand-held X-ray equipment and navigation capabilities.

NASA also led a variety of science discoveries, including launching a joint satellite mission with India to regularly monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces, as well as identifying and tracking the third interstellar object in our solar system; achieved 25 continuous years of human presence aboard the International Space Station; and, for the first time, flew a test flight of the agency’s X-59 supersonic plane that will help revolutionize air travel.

Sean Duffy, named by President Trump, is serving as the acting administrator while NASA awaits confirmation of Jared Isaacman to lead the agency. Isaacman’s nomination hearing took place in early December, and his nomination was passed out of committee with bipartisan support. The full Senate will consider Isaacman’s nomination soon. President Trump also nominated Matt Anderson to serve as deputy administrator, and Greg Autry to serve as chief financial officer, both of whom are awaiting confirmation hearings. NASA named Amit Kshatriya to associate administrator, the agency’s highest-ranking civil servant position.

Key accomplishments by NASA in 2025 include:

Astronauts exploring Moon, Mars is on horizon

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build upon our foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars. The Artemis II test flight is the first flight with crew under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is slated to launch in early 2026. The mission will help confirm systems and hardware for future lunar missions, including Artemis III’s astronaut lunar landing.

NASA also introduced 10 new astronaut candidates in September, selected from more than 8,000 applicants. The class is undertaking nearly two years of training for future missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. 

Progress to send the first crews around the Moon and on the lunar surface under Artemis includes:

• NASA completed stacking of its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II. Teams integrated elements manufactured across the country at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including the rocket’s boosters and core stage, as well as Orion’s stage adapter and launch abort system, to name a few.
• Ahead of America’s 250th birthday next year, the SLS rocket’s twin-pair of solid rocket boosters showcases the America 250 emblem.
• The Artemis II crew participated in more than 30 mission simulations alongside teams on the ground, ensuring the crew and launch, flight, and recovery teams are prepared for any situation that may arise during the test flight. Soon, crew will don their survival suits and get strapped into Orion during a countdown demonstration test, serving as a dress rehearsal for launch day.
• The agency worked with the Department of War to conduct a week-long underway recovery test in preparation to safely collect the Artemis II astronauts after they splashdown following their mission.
• To support later missions, teams conducted a booster firing test for future rocket generations, verified new RS-25 engines, test-fired a new hybrid rocket motor to help engineering teams better understand the physics of rocket exhaust and lunar landers, as well using various mockups to test landing capabilities in various lighting conditions. Teams also conducted human-in-the-loop testing in Japan with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) with a rover mockup from their agency.
• NASA also continued work with Axiom Space, to develop and test the company’s spacesuit, including completing a test run at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson ahead of using the suit for Artemis training. The spacesuit will be worn by Artemis astronauts during the Artemis III mission to the lunar South Pole.
• On the Moon, future crew will use a lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, to travel away from their landing zone. NASA previously awarded three companies feasibility studies for developing LTV, followed by a request for proposals earlier this year. The agency is expected to make an award soon to develop, deliver, and demonstrate LTV on the lunar surface later this decade. The agency also selected two science instruments that will be included on the LTV to study the Moon’s surface composition and scout for potential resources.
• For operations around the Moon, NASA and its partners continued to develop Gateway to support missions between lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface. Construction and production of the first two elements, a power and propulsion system and habitation element, each progressed, as did development and testing of potential science and technology demonstrations operated from Gateway. International partners also continued work that may contribute technology to support those elements, as well as additional habitation capabilities and an airlock.
• This past year, NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium team collaborated with over 3,900 members from academia, industry, and government on key lunar surface capabilities. Members from across the U.S. and 71 countries participated in two biannual meetings, three lunar surface workshops, and monthly topic meetings, resulting in 10 studies, four reports, and nine conference presentations. 

Building on previous missions and planning for the future, NASA will conduct more science and technology demonstrations on and around the Moon than ever before. Work toward effort included:

• Selected a suite of science studies for the Artemis II mission, including studies that focus on astronauts’ health.
• Launched two CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flights with NASA as a key customer, including Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission One, which landed on the Moon March 2, and Intuitive Machines’ Nova C lunar lander, which touched down on March 6.
  • Experiments and tech demos aboard these flights included an electrodynamic dust shield, lunar navigation system, high-performance computing, collection of more than 9,000 first-of-a-kind images of the lunar lander’s engine plumes, and more.
• For future CLPS flights, NASA awarded Blue Origin a task order with an option to deliver the agency’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) to the lunar South Pole in late 2027, as well as awarded Firefly another flight, slated for 2030.
• Teams studied regolith (lunar dirt and rocks) in a simulated lunar gravity environment and tested how solid materials catch fire in space.
• The agency’s 55-pound CubeSat in lunar orbit, CAPSTONE, exceeded 1,000 days in space, serving as a testbed for autonomous navigation and in-space communications.
• Published findings from this Artemis I experiment highlighting why green algae may be a very good deep space travel companion.

NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class on Sept. 22, 2025. The 10 candidates, pictured here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are: U.S. Army CW3 Ben Bailey, Anna Menon, Rebecca Lawler, Katherine Spies, U.S. Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, Dr. Lauren Edgar, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, Yuri Kubo, Dr. Imelda Muller, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann.Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

Technological and scientific steps toward humanity’s next giant leap on the Red Planet include:

• Launched a pair of spacecraft, known as ESCAPADE, on a mission to Mars, arriving in September 2027, to study how its magnetic environment is impacted by the Sun. This data will better inform our understanding of space weather, which is important to help minimize the effects of radiation for future missions with crew.
• NASA announced Steve Sinacore, from the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, to lead the nation’s fission surface power efforts.
• Selected participants for a second yearlong ground-based simulation of a human mission to Mars, which began in October, as well as tested a new deep space inflatable habitat concept.
• Completed the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, which exceeded all of its technical goals after two years. This type of laser communications has the potential to support high-bandwidth connections for long duration crewed missions in deep space.
• NASA completed its fourth Entry Descent and Landing technology test in three months, accelerating innovation to achieve precision landings on Mars’ thin atmosphere and rugged terrain. 
• Other research to support long-duration missions in deep space include how fluids behave in space, farming space crops, and quantum research.

Through the Artemis Accords, seven new nations have joined the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, in a voluntary commitment to the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With nearly 60 signatories, more countries are expected to sign in the coming months and years. 

• New nations joining America, a founding member in 2020, in signing the accords this year included Bangladesh, Finland, Norway, and Senegal, as well as Hungary, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
• A NASA delegation participated in the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia. During the congress, NASA co-chaired the Artemis Accords Principals’ Meeting, bringing together dozens of nations furthering discussions on their implementation. 

Finally, NASA engaged the public to join its missions to the Moon and Mars through a variety of activities. The agency sought names from people around the world to fly their name on a SD card aboard Orion during the Artemis II mission. NASA also sponsored a global challenge to design the spacecraft’s zero gravity indicator, announcing 25 finalists this year for the mascot design. Artemis II crew members are expected to announce a winner soon.

NASA’s gold standard science benefits humanity

In addition to conducting science at the Moon and Mars to further human exploration in the solar system, the agency continues its quest in the search for life, and its scientific work defends the planet from asteroids, advances wildfire monitoring from its satellites, studies the Sun, and more.

• Garnering significant interest this year, NASA has coordinated a solar system-wide observation campaign to follow comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. To date, 12 NASA spacecraft and space-based telescopes have captured and processed imagery of the comet since its discovery in the summer.

Astrobiology

• A Perseverance sample found on Mars potentially contain biosignatures, a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires additional data and studying before any conclusions can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
• NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date.
• Teams also are working to develop technologies for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, and the agency now has tallied 6,000 exoplanets.
• Samples from asteroid Bennu revealed sugars, amino acids, and other life-building molecules.

Planetary Defense

• In defense of Earth and protecting humanity, NASA has continued to monitor a near-Earth object that triggered potential impact notifications.
• Scientists have worked to calculate more precise impact models, noting the asteroid, which poses no significant threat to Earth, has only a 0.0004% chance of hitting our planet. An international satellite determined NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) released 35.5 million pounds of dust and rock from the mission’s impact in 2022.
• Other data collection and missions helped inform knowledge of geomagnetic storms, flooding in Texas, tsunami waves in real-time, improved hurricane forecasting and ocean monitoring, high-resolution water resources for farmers and ranchers, and more.
• NASA also advanced wildfire detection, improved lunar reflectance calibration, and studied heat-trapping processes. 

Heliophysics

• In addition to the ESCAPADE mission, NASA also launched five other heliophysics missions to study the Sun and space weather, including PUNCH, EZIE, TRACERS, IMAP, and the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. 

In addition to launching the NISAR mission, here are other key science moments:

• Completion of NASA’s next flagship observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is done, with final testing underway. The telescope will help answer questions about dark energy and exoplanets and will be ready to launch as early as fall of 2026.
• The agency’s newest operating flagship telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, now in its third year, continued to transform our understanding of the universe, and Hubble celebrated its 35th year with a 2.5-gigapixel Andromeda galaxy mosaic.
• Juno found a massive, hyper-energetic volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io.
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe team shared new images of the Sun’s atmosphere, taken closer to the star than ever captured before.
• Lucy completed a successful rehearsal flyby of the asteroid Donaldjohanson.
• The agency’s SPHEREx space telescope is creating the first full-sky map in 102 infrared colors.
• NASA space telescopes including Chandra X-ray Observatory, IXPE, Fermi, Swift, and NuSTAR continued to reveal secrets in the universe from record-setting black holes to the first observations of the cosmos’ most magnetic objects.

NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission launched on Nov. 13, 2025, atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.Credit: Blue Origin

25 years of continuous presence in low Earth orbit

In 2025, the International Space Station celebrated 25 years of continuous human presence, a milestone achievement underscoring its role as a beacon of global cooperation in space. The orbital laboratory supported thousands of hours of groundbreaking research in microgravity in 2025, advancing commercial space development and preparing for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

• For the first time, all eight docking ports were occupied by visiting spacecraft to close out the year, demonstrating the strength of NASA’s commercial and international partnerships. Twenty-five people from six countries lived and worked aboard the station this year. In all, 12 spacecraft visited the space station in 2025, including seven cargo missions delivering more than 50,000 pounds of science, tools, and critical supplies to the orbital complex.  

Research aboard the International Space Station continues to benefit life on Earth and support deep space exploration.

• Several studies with Crew-10 and Crew 11 aimed at understanding how the human body adapts to spaceflight, including a new study to assess astronauts’ performance, decision making, and piloting capabilities during simulated lunar landings. 
• In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an early-stage cancer treatment, supported by research aboard the space station, that could reduce costs and shorten treatment times for patients.
• Scientists also published findings in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as astronaut piloting performance after long missions, the use of biologically derived materials to shield against space radiation, robotic telesurgery in space, and how spaceflight affects stem cells, all advancing our understanding of human physiology in space and on Earth.
• Researchers 3D-printed medical implants with potential to support nerve repair; advanced work toward large-scale, in-space semiconductor manufacturing; and researched the production of medical components with increased stability and biocompatibility that could improve medication delivery.

Additional notable space operations accomplishments included:

• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore returned in March after a long-duration mission, including more than eight months for Williams and Wilmore. The trio completed more than 150 scientific experiments and 900 hours of research during the stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. Williams also conducted two spacewalks, setting a new female spacewalking record with 62 hours, 6 minutes, and ranking her fourth all-time in spacewalk duration. 
• NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned in April with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, concluding a seven-month mission. Pettit, who turned 70 the day of his return, completed 400 hours of research during his flight, and has now logged 590 days in space across four missions. 
• SpaceX Dragon cargo missions 32 and 33 launched in April and August, delivering more than 11,700 pounds of cargo, while SpaceX 33 tested a new capability to help maintain the altitude of station.  
• Axiom Mission 4, the fourth private astronaut mission to the space station, concluded in July, furthering NASA’s efforts to support and advance commercial operations in low Earth orbit. 
• NASA SpaceX Crew-11 mission launched in August with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard. The crew remains aboard the space station where they are conducting long-duration research to support deep space exploration and benefit life on Earth. 
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission completed more than 600 hours of research before returning in August, when they became the first crewed SpaceX mission for NASA to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.  
• In September, the first Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft arrived, delivering more than 11,000 pounds of cargo, including research supporting Artemis and Mars exploration. 
• NASA Glenn researchers tested handheld X-ray devices that could help astronauts quickly check for injuries or equipment problems during future space missions. 
• For nearly six years, NASA’s BioNutrients project has studied how to produce essential nutrients to support astronaut health during deep space missions, where food and vitamins have limited shelf lives. With its third experiment now aboard the International Space Station, the research continues to advance preparations for long-duration spaceflight.
• NASA astronaut Chris Williams arrived with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev for an eight-month science mission aboard the station. Following their arrival, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim returned home, concluding his own eight-month mission. 

NASA has worked with commercial companies to advance development of privately owned and operated space stations in low Earth orbit from which the agency, along with other customers, can purchase services and stimulate the growth of commercial activities in microgravity. This work is done in advance of the International Space Station’s retirement in 2030.

Among the many achievements made by our partners, recent advancements include:

• Axiom Space has completed critical design review, machining activities, and the final welds, moving to testing for the primary structure of Axiom Station’s first module.
• Starlab completed five development and design milestones focused on reviews of its preliminary design and safety, as well as spacecraft mockup and procurement plans.
• Completed testing of the trace contaminant control system for Vast’s Haven-1 space station using facilities at NASA Marshall, confirming the system can maintain a safe and healthy atmosphere.
• Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef completed a human-in-the-loop testing milestone using individual participants or small groups to perform day-in-the-life walkthroughs in life-sized mockups of major station components. 
• The agency also continues to support the design and development of space stations and technologies through agreements with Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, and ThinkOrbital.

On Nov. 2, 2025, the International Space Station celebrated 25 years of continuous human presence. Here, clouds swirl over the Gulf of Alaska and underneath the aurora borealis blanketing Earth’s horizon in this photograph from the space station as it orbited 261 miles above on March 12, 2025.Credit: NASA

Pioneering aviation research 

This year saw a major triumph for NASA’s aviation researchers, as its X-59 one-of-a-kind quiet supersonic aircraft made its historic first flight Oct 28. NASA test pilot Nils Larson flew the X-59 for 67 minutes up to an altitude of about 12,000 feet and an approximate top speed of 230 mph, precisely as planned. The flight capped off a year of engine testing including afterburner testing, taxi testing, and simulated flights from the ground — all to make sure first flight went safely and smoothly. The X-59 team will now focus on preparing for a series of flight tests where the aircraft will operate at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds. This flight test phase will ensure the X-59 meets performance and safety expectations. NASA’s Quesst mission also began testing the technologies that they will use to measure the X-59’s unique shock waves and study its acoustics during future mission phases.  

Researchers also made other major strides to further aviation technologies that will benefit the public and first responders, including live flight testing of a new portable airspace management system with the potential to greatly improve air traffic awareness during wildland fire operations.  

During the past year, the agency’s aeronautics researchers also: 

• Conducted live flight testing with aircraft performing simulated wildland fire response using NASA’s new portable airspace management system known as Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project. 
• Used NASA’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel in Virginia to test the performance of rotors designed for NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft, which will explore Saturn’s moon, Titan. 
• Performed wind tunnel tests to see how icing could affect longer, thinner wings on future airliners and to evaluate a tiltwing design likely to see wide usage in advanced air mobility vehicles. 
• Tested NASA-designed ultralight aerogel antennas that could be embedded into aircraft skin for more aerodynamic, reliable, satellite communications. 
• Worked to advance the airborne transportation of people and goods, including a collaboration with the Department of War to advance capabilities for long-distance cargo drones; a partnership to test a tool for remotely piloted urban air transportation; flight tests with partners exploring large-scale drone cargo flights; and work with ResilienX to enhance preflight planning for safer future skies. 
• Performed research to help with the integration of air taxis and similar future aircraft, such as producing real-world data to help understand their flight dynamics; dropping a full-scale fuselage model to test its materials upon impact; collecting to evaluate strategies for urban airspace integration; investigating passenger comfort; and testing 5G-based aviation network technology to boost air taxi connectivity. Evaluated a system that would help prevent collisions between air taxis and other future aircraft in urban environments.  
• Made advances to unsteady pressure sensitive paint wind tunnel technology, allowing it to measure air pressure on miniature aircraft and rocket models 10,000 times faster with 1,000 times higher resolution. 
• Collected data on mixed reality systems that allow users to interact with physical flight simulators while wearing virtual reality headsets.  
• Developed the GlennICE tool for U.S. researchers and aircraft developers to integrate icing-related considerations into aircraft design. 
• Supported research for safer and smoother airline and airport operations, including; developing a preflight rerouting tool to actively curb commercial airline delays and save fuel; demonstrating a unique air traffic management concept for safer aircraft operate at higher altitudes; and hosting technology testing to make runway taxiing safer and more efficient.
• Adapted technology that can measure temperature and strain on high-speed air vehicles for hypersonic flights at speeds greater than Mach 5. 
• Provided funding for 14 university teams to build innovative new compact emergency response aircraft; issued new awards for university teams to participate in real-world aviation challenges, including the program’s first to a community college. NASA also named winners in the 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies competition, as well as selected new student teams for the University Leadership Initiative. 

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing.Credit: NASA/Lori Losey

Technologies that advance exploration, support growing space economies

From spinoff technologies on Earth to accelerating development of technologies in low Earth orbit and at the Moon and Mars, NASA develops, demonstrates, and transfer new space technologies that benefit the agency, private companies, and other government agencies and missions.

Accomplishments by NASA and our partners in 2025 included:

• NASA and Teledyne Energy Systems Inc. demonstrated a next-generation fuel cell system aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard mission, proving it can deliver reliable power in the microgravity environment of space. 
• Varda Space Industries licensed cutting-edge heatshield material from NASA, allowing it to be produced commercially for the company’s capsule containing a platform to process pharmaceuticals in microgravity. Through this commercial collaboration NASA is making entry system materials more readily available to the U.S. space economy and advancing the industries that depend on it. 
• The maiden flight of UP Aerospace’s Spyder hypersonic launch system demonstrated the U.S. commercial space industry’s capacity to test large payloads (up to 400 pounds) at five times the speed of sound. NASA’s support of Spyder’s development helped ensure the availability of fast-turnaround, lower cost testing services for U.S. government projects focused on space exploration and national security.  
• The NASA Integrated Rotating Detonation Engine System completed a test series for its first rotating detonation rocket engine technology thrust chamber assembly unit.
• NASA successfully completed its automated space traffic coordination objectives between the agency’s four Starling spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. The Starling demonstration matured autonomous decision-making capabilities for spacecraft swarms using Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy software, developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.  
• NASA announced an industry partnership to design the Fly Foundational Robots mission to demonstrate use of Motiv Space Systems’ robotic arm aboard a hosted orbital flight test with Astro Digital. 
• The third spacecraft in the R5 (Realizing Rapid, Reduced-cost high-Risk Research) demonstration series launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission. This series of small satellites leverage terrestrial commercial off-the-shelf hardware to enable affordable, rapid orbital flight tests of rendezvous and proximity operations payloads. 
• Pieces of webbing material, known as Zylon, which comprise the straps of NASA’s HIAD (Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator) aeroshell, launched to low Earth orbit aboard the Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for a trip that will help researchers characterize how the material responds to long-duration exposure to the harsh vacuum of space. 
• The DUPLEX CubeSat developed by CU Aerospace deployed from the International Space Station to demonstrate two commercial micro-propulsion technologies for affordable small spacecraft propulsion systems. 

Harnessing NASA’s brand power in real life, online

As one of the most recognized global brands and most followed on social media, NASA amplified its reach through force-multiplying engagement activities that generate excitement and support for the agency’s missions and help foster a Golden Age of innovators and explorers.

From collaborations with sport organizations and players to partnerships with world-renowned brands, these activities provide low-cost, high-impact avenues to engage an ever-expanding audience and reinforce NASA’s position as the world’s premier space agency. Engagement highlights from 2025 include: 

• Second Lady Usha Vance also kicked off her summer reading challenge at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, encouraging youth to seek adventure, imagination, and discovery in books, a sentiment close to NASA and everyone the agency inspires.
• Reached nearly 5 million people through participation in hybrid and in-person events across the agency, including the White House’s Summer Reading Challenge, Open Sauce 2025, the Expedition 71 and 72 postflight visits, featuring NASA astronauts recently returned from missions aboard the space station, and more. 
• Participated in a variety of space policy conferences to include Space Symposium and the International Aeronautical Congress highlighting America’s leadership in human exploration to the Moon and Mars, responsible exploration under the Artemis Accords, and support for the commercial space sector.

In 2025, NASA also consolidated its social media accounts to improve clarity, compliance, and strategic alignment. After streamlining the number of active accounts, the agency grew its total following on these accounts by more than eight million, reaching nearly 367 million followers. 

 
Other digital highlights included:

• In 2025, NASA expanded access to its NASA+ streaming service by launching a free, ad-supported channel on Prime Video and announcing a new partnership with Netflix to stream live programming, including rocket launches and spacewalks, making its missions more accessible to global audiences and inspiring the next generation of explorers. As of November 2025, viewers have streamed more than 7.7 million minutes of NASA content on the Prime Video FAST channel.
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 return from the space station drew over 2.5 million live viewers, making it the agency’s most-watched event of 2025.
• NASA aired live broadcasts for 17 launches in 2025, which have a combined 3.7 million views while live. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 and NISAR launches have the most views on YouTube, while crewed launches (Crew-10, Crew-11, and Axiom Mission 4) were the most-viewed while the broadcast was live. 
• The agency’s YouTube livestreams in 2025 surpassed 18.8 million total live views. The agency’s YouTube channel has more than 50.4 million total views for the year. 
• The agency’s podcasts were downloaded more than 2 million times in 2025 by more than 750,000 listeners.
• Increased content production nearly tenfold for its science-focused website in Spanish, Ciencia de la NASA, and grew the website’s page views by 24% and visitor numbers by 25%. NASA’s Spanish language social media accounts experienced a 17% growth in followers in 2025.
• The number of subscribers to NASA’s flagship and Spanish newsletters total more than 4.6 million. 
• NASA earned a spot on The Webby 30, a curated list celebrating 30 companies and organizations that have shaped the digital landscape. 
• More than 2.9 million viewers watched 38,400 hours of NASA’s on-demand streaming service NASA+ in 2025. November marked two years since NASA+ debuted. 
• Premiered “Planetary Defenders,” a new documentary that follows the dedicated team behind asteroid detection and planetary defense. The film debuted at an event at the agency’s headquarters with digital creators, interagency and international partners, and now is streaming on NASA+, YouTube, and X. In its first 24 hours, it saw 25,000 views on YouTube – 75% above average – and reached 4 million impressions on X.  
• “Cosmic Dawn,” a feature-length documentary following the creation of the James Webb Space Telescope, was released this year. The film has been viewed 1.6 million times on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Among agency awards:

• NASA’s broadcast of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse won multiple Emmy Awards.
• Received six Webby Awards and six People’s Voice Awards across platforms — recognition of America’s excellence in digital engagement and public communication. 

Learn more about NASA’s missions online at:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Bethany Stevens / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Dec 16, 2025 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• General
• Aeronautics
• Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
• Artemis
• Artemis 2
• Artemis Accords
• Commercial Crew
• Commercial Space
• Earth
• Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
• Humans in Space
• International Space Station (ISS)
• ISS Research
• NASA Centers & Facilities
• Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR)
• People of NASA
• Science Mission Directorate
• Social Media
• Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Space Technology Mission Directorate
• The Solar System
• The Universe

Artemis II NASA astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 20, 2023. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

With a second Trump Administration at the helm in 2025, NASA marked significant progress toward the Artemis II test flight early next year, which is the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years, as well as built upon its momentum toward a human return to the lunar surface in preparation to send the first astronauts — Americans — to Mars.

As part of the agency’s Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA and its partners landed two robotic science missions on the Moon; garnered more signatories for the Artemis Accords with 59 nations now agreeing to safe, transparent, and responsible lunar exploration; as well as advanced a variety of medical and technological experiments for long-duration space missions like hand-held X-ray equipment and navigation capabilities.

NASA also led a variety of science discoveries, including launching a joint satellite mission with India to regularly monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces, as well as identifying and tracking the third interstellar object in our solar system; achieved 25 continuous years of human presence aboard the International Space Station; and, for the first time, flew a test flight of the agency’s X-59 supersonic plane that will help revolutionize air travel.

Sean Duffy, named by President Trump, is serving as the acting administrator while NASA awaits confirmation of Jared Isaacman to lead the agency. Isaacman’s nomination hearing took place in early December, and his nomination was passed out of committee with bipartisan support. The full Senate will consider Isaacman’s nomination soon. President Trump also nominated Matt Anderson to serve as deputy administrator, and Greg Autry to serve as chief financial officer, both of whom are awaiting confirmation hearings. NASA named Amit Kshatriya to associate administrator, the agency’s highest-ranking civil servant position.

Key accomplishments by NASA in 2025 include:

Astronauts exploring Moon, Mars is on horizon

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build upon our foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars. The Artemis II test flight is the first flight with crew under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is slated to launch in early 2026. The mission will help confirm systems and hardware for future lunar missions, including Artemis III’s astronaut lunar landing.

NASA also introduced 10 new astronaut candidates in September, selected from more than 8,000 applicants. The class is undertaking nearly two years of training for future missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. 

Progress to send the first crews around the Moon and on the lunar surface under Artemis includes:

• NASA completed stacking of its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II. Teams integrated elements manufactured across the country at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including the rocket’s boosters and core stage, as well as Orion’s stage adapter and launch abort system, to name a few.
• Ahead of America’s 250th birthday next year, the SLS rocket’s twin-pair of solid rocket boosters showcases the America 250 emblem.
• The Artemis II crew participated in more than 30 mission simulations alongside teams on the ground, ensuring the crew and launch, flight, and recovery teams are prepared for any situation that may arise during the test flight. Soon, crew will don their survival suits and get strapped into Orion during a countdown demonstration test, serving as a dress rehearsal for launch day.
• The agency worked with the Department of War to conduct a week-long underway recovery test in preparation to safely collect the Artemis II astronauts after they splashdown following their mission.
• To support later missions, teams conducted a booster firing test for future rocket generations, verified new RS-25 engines, test-fired a new hybrid rocket motor to help engineering teams better understand the physics of rocket exhaust and lunar landers, as well using various mockups to test landing capabilities in various lighting conditions. Teams also conducted human-in-the-loop testing in Japan with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) with a rover mockup from their agency.
• NASA also continued work with Axiom Space, to develop and test the company’s spacesuit, including completing a test run at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson ahead of using the suit for Artemis training. The spacesuit will be worn by Artemis astronauts during the Artemis III mission to the lunar South Pole.
• On the Moon, future crew will use a lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, to travel away from their landing zone. NASA previously awarded three companies feasibility studies for developing LTV, followed by a request for proposals earlier this year. The agency is expected to make an award soon to develop, deliver, and demonstrate LTV on the lunar surface later this decade. The agency also selected two science instruments that will be included on the LTV to study the Moon’s surface composition and scout for potential resources.
• For operations around the Moon, NASA and its partners continued to develop Gateway to support missions between lunar orbit and the Moon’s surface. Construction and production of the first two elements, a power and propulsion system and habitation element, each progressed, as did development and testing of potential science and technology demonstrations operated from Gateway. International partners also continued work that may contribute technology to support those elements, as well as additional habitation capabilities and an airlock.
• This past year, NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium team collaborated with over 3,900 members from academia, industry, and government on key lunar surface capabilities. Members from across the U.S. and 71 countries participated in two biannual meetings, three lunar surface workshops, and monthly topic meetings, resulting in 10 studies, four reports, and nine conference presentations. 

Building on previous missions and planning for the future, NASA will conduct more science and technology demonstrations on and around the Moon than ever before. Work toward effort included:

• Selected a suite of science studies for the Artemis II mission, including studies that focus on astronauts’ health.
• Launched two CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flights with NASA as a key customer, including Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission One, which landed on the Moon March 2, and Intuitive Machines’ Nova C lunar lander, which touched down on March 6.
  • Experiments and tech demos aboard these flights included an electrodynamic dust shield, lunar navigation system, high-performance computing, collection of more than 9,000 first-of-a-kind images of the lunar lander’s engine plumes, and more.
• For future CLPS flights, NASA awarded Blue Origin a task order with an option to deliver the agency’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) to the lunar South Pole in late 2027, as well as awarded Firefly another flight, slated for 2030.
• Teams studied regolith (lunar dirt and rocks) in a simulated lunar gravity environment and tested how solid materials catch fire in space.
• The agency’s 55-pound CubeSat in lunar orbit, CAPSTONE, exceeded 1,000 days in space, serving as a testbed for autonomous navigation and in-space communications.
• Published findings from this Artemis I experiment highlighting why green algae may be a very good deep space travel companion.

NASA announced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class on Sept. 22, 2025. The 10 candidates, pictured here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are: U.S. Army CW3 Ben Bailey, Anna Menon, Rebecca Lawler, Katherine Spies, U.S. Air Force Maj. Cameron Jones, Dr. Lauren Edgar, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, Yuri Kubo, Dr. Imelda Muller, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann.Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

Technological and scientific steps toward humanity’s next giant leap on the Red Planet include:

• Launched a pair of spacecraft, known as ESCAPADE, on a mission to Mars, arriving in September 2027, to study how its magnetic environment is impacted by the Sun. This data will better inform our understanding of space weather, which is important to help minimize the effects of radiation for future missions with crew.
• NASA announced Steve Sinacore, from the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, to lead the nation’s fission surface power efforts.
• Selected participants for a second yearlong ground-based simulation of a human mission to Mars, which began in October, as well as tested a new deep space inflatable habitat concept.
• Completed the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, which exceeded all of its technical goals after two years. This type of laser communications has the potential to support high-bandwidth connections for long duration crewed missions in deep space.
• NASA completed its fourth Entry Descent and Landing technology test in three months, accelerating innovation to achieve precision landings on Mars’ thin atmosphere and rugged terrain. 
• Other research to support long-duration missions in deep space include how fluids behave in space, farming space crops, and quantum research.

Through the Artemis Accords, seven new nations have joined the United States, led by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, in a voluntary commitment to the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With nearly 60 signatories, more countries are expected to sign in the coming months and years. 

• New nations joining America, a founding member in 2020, in signing the accords this year included Bangladesh, Finland, Norway, and Senegal, as well as Hungary, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
• A NASA delegation participated in the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia. During the congress, NASA co-chaired the Artemis Accords Principals’ Meeting, bringing together dozens of nations furthering discussions on their implementation. 

Finally, NASA engaged the public to join its missions to the Moon and Mars through a variety of activities. The agency sought names from people around the world to fly their name on a SD card aboard Orion during the Artemis II mission. NASA also sponsored a global challenge to design the spacecraft’s zero gravity indicator, announcing 25 finalists this year for the mascot design. Artemis II crew members are expected to announce a winner soon.

NASA’s gold standard science benefits humanity

In addition to conducting science at the Moon and Mars to further human exploration in the solar system, the agency continues its quest in the search for life, and its scientific work defends the planet from asteroids, advances wildfire monitoring from its satellites, studies the Sun, and more.

• Garnering significant interest this year, NASA has coordinated a solar system-wide observation campaign to follow comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. To date, 12 NASA spacecraft and space-based telescopes have captured and processed imagery of the comet since its discovery in the summer.

Astrobiology

• A Perseverance sample found on Mars potentially contain biosignatures, a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires additional data and studying before any conclusions can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
• NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date.
• Teams also are working to develop technologies for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, and the agency now has tallied 6,000 exoplanets.
• Samples from asteroid Bennu revealed sugars, amino acids, and other life-building molecules.

Planetary Defense

• In defense of Earth and protecting humanity, NASA has continued to monitor a near-Earth object that triggered potential impact notifications.
• Scientists have worked to calculate more precise impact models, noting the asteroid, which poses no significant threat to Earth, has only a 0.0004% chance of hitting our planet. An international satellite determined NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirect Test) released 35.5 million pounds of dust and rock from the mission’s impact in 2022.
• Other data collection and missions helped inform knowledge of geomagnetic storms, flooding in Texas, tsunami waves in real-time, improved hurricane forecasting and ocean monitoring, high-resolution water resources for farmers and ranchers, and more.
• NASA also advanced wildfire detection, improved lunar reflectance calibration, and studied heat-trapping processes. 

Heliophysics

• In addition to the ESCAPADE mission, NASA also launched five other heliophysics missions to study the Sun and space weather, including PUNCH, EZIE, TRACERS, IMAP, and the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. 

In addition to launching the NISAR mission, here are other key science moments:

• Completion of NASA’s next flagship observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is done, with final testing underway. The telescope will help answer questions about dark energy and exoplanets and will be ready to launch as early as fall of 2026.
• The agency’s newest operating flagship telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, now in its third year, continued to transform our understanding of the universe, and Hubble celebrated its 35th year with a 2.5-gigapixel Andromeda galaxy mosaic.
• Juno found a massive, hyper-energetic volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io.
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe team shared new images of the Sun’s atmosphere, taken closer to the star than ever captured before.
• Lucy completed a successful rehearsal flyby of the asteroid Donaldjohanson.
• The agency’s SPHEREx space telescope is creating the first full-sky map in 102 infrared colors.
• NASA space telescopes including Chandra X-ray Observatory, IXPE, Fermi, Swift, and NuSTAR continued to reveal secrets in the universe from record-setting black holes to the first observations of the cosmos’ most magnetic objects.

NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission launched on Nov. 13, 2025, atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.Credit: Blue Origin

25 years of continuous presence in low Earth orbit

In 2025, the International Space Station celebrated 25 years of continuous human presence, a milestone achievement underscoring its role as a beacon of global cooperation in space. The orbital laboratory supported thousands of hours of groundbreaking research in microgravity in 2025, advancing commercial space development and preparing for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

• For the first time, all eight docking ports were occupied by visiting spacecraft to close out the year, demonstrating the strength of NASA’s commercial and international partnerships. Twenty-five people from six countries lived and worked aboard the station this year. In all, 12 spacecraft visited the space station in 2025, including seven cargo missions delivering more than 50,000 pounds of science, tools, and critical supplies to the orbital complex.  

Research aboard the International Space Station continues to benefit life on Earth and support deep space exploration.

• Several studies with Crew-10 and Crew 11 aimed at understanding how the human body adapts to spaceflight, including a new study to assess astronauts’ performance, decision making, and piloting capabilities during simulated lunar landings. 
• In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an early-stage cancer treatment, supported by research aboard the space station, that could reduce costs and shorten treatment times for patients.
• Scientists also published findings in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as astronaut piloting performance after long missions, the use of biologically derived materials to shield against space radiation, robotic telesurgery in space, and how spaceflight affects stem cells, all advancing our understanding of human physiology in space and on Earth.
• Researchers 3D-printed medical implants with potential to support nerve repair; advanced work toward large-scale, in-space semiconductor manufacturing; and researched the production of medical components with increased stability and biocompatibility that could improve medication delivery.

Additional notable space operations accomplishments included:

• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore returned in March after a long-duration mission, including more than eight months for Williams and Wilmore. The trio completed more than 150 scientific experiments and 900 hours of research during the stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. Williams also conducted two spacewalks, setting a new female spacewalking record with 62 hours, 6 minutes, and ranking her fourth all-time in spacewalk duration. 
• NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned in April with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, concluding a seven-month mission. Pettit, who turned 70 the day of his return, completed 400 hours of research during his flight, and has now logged 590 days in space across four missions. 
• SpaceX Dragon cargo missions 32 and 33 launched in April and August, delivering more than 11,700 pounds of cargo, while SpaceX 33 tested a new capability to help maintain the altitude of station.  
• Axiom Mission 4, the fourth private astronaut mission to the space station, concluded in July, furthering NASA’s efforts to support and advance commercial operations in low Earth orbit. 
• NASA SpaceX Crew-11 mission launched in August with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov aboard. The crew remains aboard the space station where they are conducting long-duration research to support deep space exploration and benefit life on Earth. 
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission completed more than 600 hours of research before returning in August, when they became the first crewed SpaceX mission for NASA to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.  
• In September, the first Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft arrived, delivering more than 11,000 pounds of cargo, including research supporting Artemis and Mars exploration. 
• NASA Glenn researchers tested handheld X-ray devices that could help astronauts quickly check for injuries or equipment problems during future space missions. 
• For nearly six years, NASA’s BioNutrients project has studied how to produce essential nutrients to support astronaut health during deep space missions, where food and vitamins have limited shelf lives. With its third experiment now aboard the International Space Station, the research continues to advance preparations for long-duration spaceflight.
• NASA astronaut Chris Williams arrived with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev for an eight-month science mission aboard the station. Following their arrival, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim returned home, concluding his own eight-month mission. 

NASA has worked with commercial companies to advance development of privately owned and operated space stations in low Earth orbit from which the agency, along with other customers, can purchase services and stimulate the growth of commercial activities in microgravity. This work is done in advance of the International Space Station’s retirement in 2030.

Among the many achievements made by our partners, recent advancements include:

• Axiom Space has completed critical design review, machining activities, and the final welds, moving to testing for the primary structure of Axiom Station’s first module.
• Starlab completed five development and design milestones focused on reviews of its preliminary design and safety, as well as spacecraft mockup and procurement plans.
• Completed testing of the trace contaminant control system for Vast’s Haven-1 space station using facilities at NASA Marshall, confirming the system can maintain a safe and healthy atmosphere.
• Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef completed a human-in-the-loop testing milestone using individual participants or small groups to perform day-in-the-life walkthroughs in life-sized mockups of major station components. 
• The agency also continues to support the design and development of space stations and technologies through agreements with Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, and ThinkOrbital.

On Nov. 2, 2025, the International Space Station celebrated 25 years of continuous human presence. Here, clouds swirl over the Gulf of Alaska and underneath the aurora borealis blanketing Earth’s horizon in this photograph from the space station as it orbited 261 miles above on March 12, 2025.Credit: NASA

Pioneering aviation research 

This year saw a major triumph for NASA’s aviation researchers, as its X-59 one-of-a-kind quiet supersonic aircraft made its historic first flight Oct 28. NASA test pilot Nils Larson flew the X-59 for 67 minutes up to an altitude of about 12,000 feet and an approximate top speed of 230 mph, precisely as planned. The flight capped off a year of engine testing including afterburner testing, taxi testing, and simulated flights from the ground — all to make sure first flight went safely and smoothly. The X-59 team will now focus on preparing for a series of flight tests where the aircraft will operate at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds. This flight test phase will ensure the X-59 meets performance and safety expectations. NASA’s Quesst mission also began testing the technologies that they will use to measure the X-59’s unique shock waves and study its acoustics during future mission phases.  

Researchers also made other major strides to further aviation technologies that will benefit the public and first responders, including live flight testing of a new portable airspace management system with the potential to greatly improve air traffic awareness during wildland fire operations.  

During the past year, the agency’s aeronautics researchers also: 

• Conducted live flight testing with aircraft performing simulated wildland fire response using NASA’s new portable airspace management system known as Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project. 
• Used NASA’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel in Virginia to test the performance of rotors designed for NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft, which will explore Saturn’s moon, Titan. 
• Performed wind tunnel tests to see how icing could affect longer, thinner wings on future airliners and to evaluate a tiltwing design likely to see wide usage in advanced air mobility vehicles. 
• Tested NASA-designed ultralight aerogel antennas that could be embedded into aircraft skin for more aerodynamic, reliable, satellite communications. 
• Worked to advance the airborne transportation of people and goods, including a collaboration with the Department of War to advance capabilities for long-distance cargo drones; a partnership to test a tool for remotely piloted urban air transportation; flight tests with partners exploring large-scale drone cargo flights; and work with ResilienX to enhance preflight planning for safer future skies. 
• Performed research to help with the integration of air taxis and similar future aircraft, such as producing real-world data to help understand their flight dynamics; dropping a full-scale fuselage model to test its materials upon impact; collecting to evaluate strategies for urban airspace integration; investigating passenger comfort; and testing 5G-based aviation network technology to boost air taxi connectivity. Evaluated a system that would help prevent collisions between air taxis and other future aircraft in urban environments.  
• Made advances to unsteady pressure sensitive paint wind tunnel technology, allowing it to measure air pressure on miniature aircraft and rocket models 10,000 times faster with 1,000 times higher resolution. 
• Collected data on mixed reality systems that allow users to interact with physical flight simulators while wearing virtual reality headsets.  
• Developed the GlennICE tool for U.S. researchers and aircraft developers to integrate icing-related considerations into aircraft design. 
• Supported research for safer and smoother airline and airport operations, including; developing a preflight rerouting tool to actively curb commercial airline delays and save fuel; demonstrating a unique air traffic management concept for safer aircraft operate at higher altitudes; and hosting technology testing to make runway taxiing safer and more efficient.
• Adapted technology that can measure temperature and strain on high-speed air vehicles for hypersonic flights at speeds greater than Mach 5. 
• Provided funding for 14 university teams to build innovative new compact emergency response aircraft; issued new awards for university teams to participate in real-world aviation challenges, including the program’s first to a community college. NASA also named winners in the 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies competition, as well as selected new student teams for the University Leadership Initiative. 

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft lifts off for its first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft’s first flight marks the start of flight testing for NASA’s Quesst mission, the result of years of design, integration, and ground testing.Credit: NASA/Lori Losey

Technologies that advance exploration, support growing space economies

From spinoff technologies on Earth to accelerating development of technologies in low Earth orbit and at the Moon and Mars, NASA develops, demonstrates, and transfer new space technologies that benefit the agency, private companies, and other government agencies and missions.

Accomplishments by NASA and our partners in 2025 included:

• NASA and Teledyne Energy Systems Inc. demonstrated a next-generation fuel cell system aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard mission, proving it can deliver reliable power in the microgravity environment of space. 
• Varda Space Industries licensed cutting-edge heatshield material from NASA, allowing it to be produced commercially for the company’s capsule containing a platform to process pharmaceuticals in microgravity. Through this commercial collaboration NASA is making entry system materials more readily available to the U.S. space economy and advancing the industries that depend on it. 
• The maiden flight of UP Aerospace’s Spyder hypersonic launch system demonstrated the U.S. commercial space industry’s capacity to test large payloads (up to 400 pounds) at five times the speed of sound. NASA’s support of Spyder’s development helped ensure the availability of fast-turnaround, lower cost testing services for U.S. government projects focused on space exploration and national security.  
• The NASA Integrated Rotating Detonation Engine System completed a test series for its first rotating detonation rocket engine technology thrust chamber assembly unit.
• NASA successfully completed its automated space traffic coordination objectives between the agency’s four Starling spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. The Starling demonstration matured autonomous decision-making capabilities for spacecraft swarms using Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy software, developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.  
• NASA announced an industry partnership to design the Fly Foundational Robots mission to demonstrate use of Motiv Space Systems’ robotic arm aboard a hosted orbital flight test with Astro Digital. 
• The third spacecraft in the R5 (Realizing Rapid, Reduced-cost high-Risk Research) demonstration series launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission. This series of small satellites leverage terrestrial commercial off-the-shelf hardware to enable affordable, rapid orbital flight tests of rendezvous and proximity operations payloads. 
• Pieces of webbing material, known as Zylon, which comprise the straps of NASA’s HIAD (Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator) aeroshell, launched to low Earth orbit aboard the Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for a trip that will help researchers characterize how the material responds to long-duration exposure to the harsh vacuum of space. 
• The DUPLEX CubeSat developed by CU Aerospace deployed from the International Space Station to demonstrate two commercial micro-propulsion technologies for affordable small spacecraft propulsion systems. 

Harnessing NASA’s brand power in real life, online

As one of the most recognized global brands and most followed on social media, NASA amplified its reach through force-multiplying engagement activities that generate excitement and support for the agency’s missions and help foster a Golden Age of innovators and explorers.

From collaborations with sport organizations and players to partnerships with world-renowned brands, these activities provide low-cost, high-impact avenues to engage an ever-expanding audience and reinforce NASA’s position as the world’s premier space agency. Engagement highlights from 2025 include: 

• Second Lady Usha Vance also kicked off her summer reading challenge at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, encouraging youth to seek adventure, imagination, and discovery in books, a sentiment close to NASA and everyone the agency inspires.
• Reached nearly 5 million people through participation in hybrid and in-person events across the agency, including the White House’s Summer Reading Challenge, Open Sauce 2025, the Expedition 71 and 72 postflight visits, featuring NASA astronauts recently returned from missions aboard the space station, and more. 
• Participated in a variety of space policy conferences to include Space Symposium and the International Aeronautical Congress highlighting America’s leadership in human exploration to the Moon and Mars, responsible exploration under the Artemis Accords, and support for the commercial space sector.

In 2025, NASA also consolidated its social media accounts to improve clarity, compliance, and strategic alignment. After streamlining the number of active accounts, the agency grew its total following on these accounts by more than eight million, reaching nearly 367 million followers. 

 
Other digital highlights included:

• In 2025, NASA expanded access to its NASA+ streaming service by launching a free, ad-supported channel on Prime Video and announcing a new partnership with Netflix to stream live programming, including rocket launches and spacewalks, making its missions more accessible to global audiences and inspiring the next generation of explorers. As of November 2025, viewers have streamed more than 7.7 million minutes of NASA content on the Prime Video FAST channel.
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 return from the space station drew over 2.5 million live viewers, making it the agency’s most-watched event of 2025.
• NASA aired live broadcasts for 17 launches in 2025, which have a combined 3.7 million views while live. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 and NISAR launches have the most views on YouTube, while crewed launches (Crew-10, Crew-11, and Axiom Mission 4) were the most-viewed while the broadcast was live. 
• The agency’s YouTube livestreams in 2025 surpassed 18.8 million total live views. The agency’s YouTube channel has more than 50.4 million total views for the year. 
• The agency’s podcasts were downloaded more than 2 million times in 2025 by more than 750,000 listeners.
• Increased content production nearly tenfold for its science-focused website in Spanish, Ciencia de la NASA, and grew the website’s page views by 24% and visitor numbers by 25%. NASA’s Spanish language social media accounts experienced a 17% growth in followers in 2025.
• The number of subscribers to NASA’s flagship and Spanish newsletters total more than 4.6 million. 
• NASA earned a spot on The Webby 30, a curated list celebrating 30 companies and organizations that have shaped the digital landscape. 
• More than 2.9 million viewers watched 38,400 hours of NASA’s on-demand streaming service NASA+ in 2025. November marked two years since NASA+ debuted. 
• Premiered “Planetary Defenders,” a new documentary that follows the dedicated team behind asteroid detection and planetary defense. The film debuted at an event at the agency’s headquarters with digital creators, interagency and international partners, and now is streaming on NASA+, YouTube, and X. In its first 24 hours, it saw 25,000 views on YouTube – 75% above average – and reached 4 million impressions on X.  
• “Cosmic Dawn,” a feature-length documentary following the creation of the James Webb Space Telescope, was released this year. The film has been viewed 1.6 million times on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Among agency awards:

• NASA’s broadcast of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse won multiple Emmy Awards.
• Received six Webby Awards and six People’s Voice Awards across platforms — recognition of America’s excellence in digital engagement and public communication. 

Learn more about NASA’s missions online at:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Bethany Stevens / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Dec 16, 2025 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• General
• Aeronautics
• Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
• Artemis
• Artemis 2
• Artemis Accords
• Commercial Crew
• Commercial Space
• Earth
• Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
• Humans in Space
• International Space Station (ISS)
• ISS Research
• NASA Centers & Facilities
• Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR)
• People of NASA
• Science Mission Directorate
• Social Media
• Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Space Technology Mission Directorate
• The Solar System
• The Universe

2 min read

How Small Is Too Small? Volunteers Help NASA Test Lake Monitoring From Space Jen Oden, Snohomish County Water Quality Specialist, and Megan Lane, LOCSS team member, report a lake height measurement at Flowing Lake, Snohomish County, Washington. Visit locss.org to contact the team or to get involved!Grant Parkins, 2018

Volunteers participating in the Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites (LOCSS) project have been collecting water level data in lakes since 2017. Now, the LOCSS team has used these data to examine the accuracy of water level measurements made from space. The results, published in GIScience & Remote Sensing, showed that modern satellites with special instruments called nadir altimeters can capture water level variation with relatively high accuracy even for lakes smaller than one square kilometer.  These measurements are crucial for scientific research and resource management.

“We can look at the wetland now with different eyes,” said Nelsi Durán, a volunteer from Ciénaga La Musanda, Colombia. (Translated from Spanish).

The work done by LOCSS volunteers also helped reveal where satellite-based lake water level measurements can go wrong. Water level variability turns out to be an important factor. Relatively small lakes with a high lake level variability can be measured from space, but lakes where the water level seldom changes yielded measurements with lower accuracy. 

The LOCSS project has included 274 lakes in 10 countries (USA, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kenya, Spain, France, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), so far. Since the project started, more than 10,000 citizen scientists have reported water level measurements to the project. 

“We chose to work with the LOCSS team, because it is important for us to try to widen our understanding of how our environments change over time,” said Dan Grigas, an ecologist at Forest Preserve District, DuPage County, Illinois. “This includes how changes in climate patterns in both the near-term and long-term can affect freshwater ecology. This program also allows for and relies on citizen scientists to participate, which strengthens the relationships among government agencies, the people they serve, and the environments that we all treasure.” 
Are you passionate about understanding our planet and its precious water resources? Visit locss.org and look for a participating lake near you!

Learn More and Get Involved Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites

Take measurements of lake heights and surface areas to reveal how their water volumes are changing!

Facebook logo @nasascience_ @nasascience_ Instagram logo @nasascience_ Linkedin logo @nasascience_ Share

Details Last Updated Dec 16, 2025 Related Terms

• Citizen Science

Explore More 2 min read New Software from the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative

Eighty-two volunteer teams with the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative spent the day spread across…

Article 6 days ago 3 min read Eclipse Soundscapes Volunteers Empower Others to Get Involved in Scientific Discovery, Post-Eclipse Article 2 weeks ago 1 min read NASA is Grateful for Citizen Scientists

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2 min read

How Small Is Too Small? Volunteers Help NASA Test Lake Monitoring From Space Jen Oden, Snohomish County Water Quality Specialist, and Megan Lane, LOCSS team member, report a lake height measurement at Flowing Lake, Snohomish County, Washington. Visit locss.org to contact the team or to get involved!Grant Parkins, 2018

Volunteers participating in the Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites (LOCSS) project have been collecting water level data in lakes since 2017. Now, the LOCSS team has used these data to examine the accuracy of water level measurements made from space. The results, published in GIScience & Remote Sensing, showed that modern satellites with special instruments called nadir altimeters can capture water level variation with relatively high accuracy even for lakes smaller than one square kilometer.  These measurements are crucial for scientific research and resource management.

“We can look at the wetland now with different eyes,” said Nelsi Durán, a volunteer from Ciénaga La Musanda, Colombia. (Translated from Spanish).

The work done by LOCSS volunteers also helped reveal where satellite-based lake water level measurements can go wrong. Water level variability turns out to be an important factor. Relatively small lakes with a high lake level variability can be measured from space, but lakes where the water level seldom changes yielded measurements with lower accuracy. 

The LOCSS project has included 274 lakes in 10 countries (USA, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kenya, Spain, France, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), so far. Since the project started, more than 10,000 citizen scientists have reported water level measurements to the project. 

“We chose to work with the LOCSS team, because it is important for us to try to widen our understanding of how our environments change over time,” said Dan Grigas, an ecologist at Forest Preserve District, DuPage County, Illinois. “This includes how changes in climate patterns in both the near-term and long-term can affect freshwater ecology. This program also allows for and relies on citizen scientists to participate, which strengthens the relationships among government agencies, the people they serve, and the environments that we all treasure.” 
Are you passionate about understanding our planet and its precious water resources? Visit locss.org and look for a participating lake near you!

Learn More and Get Involved Lake Observations by Citizen Scientists and Satellites

Take measurements of lake heights and surface areas to reveal how their water volumes are changing!

Facebook logo @nasascience_ @nasascience_ Instagram logo @nasascience_ Linkedin logo @nasascience_ Share

Details Last Updated Dec 17, 2025 Related Terms

• Citizen Science

Explore More 2 min read New Software from the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative

Eighty-two volunteer teams with the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative spent the day spread across…

Article 1 week ago 3 min read Eclipse Soundscapes Volunteers Empower Others to Get Involved in Scientific Discovery, Post-Eclipse Article 2 weeks ago 1 min read NASA is Grateful for Citizen Scientists

This Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for you!

Article 3 weeks ago

6 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

A time-lapse video recorded at JPL in October shows engineers and technicians moving and attaching a full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander on top of two lunar orbiters. The full stack was then subjected to a vibration test that mimics the violent action of rocket launch.NASA/JPL-Caltech

The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA’s twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud noises, and testing in these facilities mimics those conditions to help ensure mission hardware can survive the ordeal. The latest spacecraft to get this treatment are Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 vehicles, set to launch to the Moon’s far side next year. 

The Environmental Test Laboratory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is where dozens of robotic spacecraft have been subjected to powerful jolts, extended rattling, high-decibel blasts of sound, and frigid and scorching temperatures, among other trials. Constructed in the 1960s and modernized over the years, the facilities have prepared every NASA spacecraft built or assembled at JPL for the rigors of space, from the Ranger spacecraft of the dawning Space Age to the Perseverance Mars rover to Europa Clipper, currently en route to the Jupiter system.  

That legacy, and the decades of accumulated experience of the Environmental Test Laboratory team at JPL, is also supporting industry efforts to return to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and its Artemis campaign, which will bring astronauts back to the lunar surface.  

In recent months, a full-scale model of Firefly’s uncrewed Blue Ghost Mission 2 spacecraft was put through its paces by the experts in the lab’s vibration and acoustic testing facilities. Lessons learned with this model, called a structural qualification unit, will be applied to upcoming testing of the spacecraft that will fly to the Moon as early as 2026 through NASA’s CLPS. 

“There’s a lot of knowledge gained over the years, passed from one generation of JPL engineers to another, that we bring to bear to support our own missions as well as commercial efforts,” said Michel William, a JPL engineer in the Environmental Test Laboratory who led the testing. “The little details that go into getting these tests right — nobody teaches you that in school, and it’s such a critical piece of space launch.”  

Engineers and technicians secure a full-scale model of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander atop the other spacecraft that make up the company’s second delivery to the lunar surface. Environmental testing for the spacecraft took place in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in October. NASA/JPL-Caltech Testing just right 

The Environmental Test Laboratory team led environmental testing for Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander in 2024, and seeing the spacecraft achieve a soft Moon landing in March was a point of pride for them. Firefly’s next CLPS delivery debuts a dual-spacecraft configuration and hosts multiple international payloads, with the company’s Elytra Dark orbital vehicle stacked below the Blue Ghost lunar lander. Standing 22 feet (6.9 meters) high, the full structure is more than three times as tall as the Mission 1 lander. 

This fall, a structural qualification model of the full stack was clamped to a “shaker table” inside a clean room at JPL and repeatedly rattled in three directions while hundreds of sensors monitored the rapid movement. Then, inside a separate acoustic testing chamber, giant horns blared at it from openings built into the room’s 16-inch-thick (41-centimeter-thick) concrete walls. The horns use compressed nitrogen gas to pummel spacecraft with up to 153 decibels, noise loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in a human.  

Each type of test involves several increasingly intense iterations. Between rounds, JPL’s dynamics environment experts analyze the data to compare what the spacecraft experienced to computer model predictions. Sometimes a discrepancy leads to hardware modifications, sometimes a tweak to the computer model. Engineers and technicians are careful to push the hardware, but not too far. 

“You can either under-test or over-test, and both are bad,” William said. “If you over-test, you can break your hardware. If you under-test, it can break on the rocket. It’s a fine line.” 

Watch how JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory preps spacecraft

Since the model isn’t itself launching to the Moon, Firefly’s recent Environmental Test Laboratory visit didn’t include several types of trials that are generally completed only for flight hardware. A launchpad-bound spacecraft would undergo electromagnetic testing to ensure that signals from its electronic parts don’t interfere with one another. And, in what is probably the most well-known environmental test, flight-bound hardware is baked or chilled at extreme temperatures in a thermal vacuum chamber from which all the air is sucked out. The multiple thermal vacuum chamber facilities at JPL include two large historic “space simulators” built within NASA’s first few years of existence: a chamber that’s 10 feet in diameter and another that’s 25 feet across. 

A full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 lunar lander is prepared for delivery into a clean room at JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory in September. NASA/JPL-Caltech Technicians and engineers at JPL ready a fixture that will attach a full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 lunar lander, visible in the background, to a “shaker table” that tests a spacecraft’s readiness to survive the stresses of launch.NASA/JPL-Caltech Qualifying for launch 

The completion of Environmental Test Laboratory testing on Firefly’s structural qualification model helps prove the spacecraft will survive its ride out of Earth’s atmosphere aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 team is now turning its focus to completing assembly and testing of the flight hardware for launch. 

Once at the Moon, the Blue Ghost lander will touch down on the far side, delivering its payloads to the surface. Those include LuSEE-Night, a radio telescope that is a joint effort by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. A payload developed at JPL called User Terminal will test a compact, low-cost S-band radio communications system that could enable future far-side missions to talk to each other and to relay orbiters.  

Meantime, Firefly’s Elytra Dark orbital vehicle will have deployed into lunar orbit ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Lunar Pathfinder communications satellite — a payload on which NASA is collaborating. Both vehicles will remain in orbit and able to relay data from the far-side surface back to Earth.  

“Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 will deliver both NASA and international commercial payloads to further prove out technologies for Artemis and help enable a long-term presence on the Moon,” said Ray Allensworth, Firefly’s spacecraft program director. “The extensive spacecraft environmental testing we did at JPL for Mission 1 was a critical step in Firefly’s test campaign for our historic lunar mission. Now we’re collaborating again to support a successful repeat on the Moon that will unlock even more insights for future robotic and human missions.” 

News Media Contact 

Melissa Pamer 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
626-314-4928 
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov 

2025-141

Share

Details Last Updated Dec 16, 2025 Related Terms

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
• Earth's Moon

Explore More 3 min read One of NASA’s Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image Article 9 hours ago 5 min read NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite Article 11 hours ago 3 min read NASA’s Webb, Curiosity Named in TIME’s Best Inventions Hall of Fame

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6 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

A time-lapse video recorded at JPL in October shows engineers and technicians moving and attaching a full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander on top of two lunar orbiters. The full stack was then subjected to a vibration test that mimics the violent action of rocket launch.NASA/JPL-Caltech

The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA’s twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud noises, and testing in these facilities mimics those conditions to help ensure mission hardware can survive the ordeal. The latest spacecraft to get this treatment are Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 vehicles, set to launch to the Moon’s far side next year. 

The Environmental Test Laboratory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is where dozens of robotic spacecraft have been subjected to powerful jolts, extended rattling, high-decibel blasts of sound, and frigid and scorching temperatures, among other trials. Constructed in the 1960s and modernized over the years, the facilities have prepared every NASA spacecraft built or assembled at JPL for the rigors of space, from the Ranger spacecraft of the dawning Space Age to the Perseverance Mars rover to Europa Clipper, currently en route to the Jupiter system.  

That legacy, and the decades of accumulated experience of the Environmental Test Laboratory team at JPL, is also supporting industry efforts to return to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and its Artemis campaign, which will bring astronauts back to the lunar surface.  

In recent months, a full-scale model of Firefly’s uncrewed Blue Ghost Mission 2 spacecraft was put through its paces by the experts in the lab’s vibration and acoustic testing facilities. Lessons learned with this model, called a structural qualification unit, will be applied to upcoming testing of the spacecraft that will fly to the Moon as early as 2026 through NASA’s CLPS. 

“There’s a lot of knowledge gained over the years, passed from one generation of JPL engineers to another, that we bring to bear to support our own missions as well as commercial efforts,” said Michel William, a JPL engineer in the Environmental Test Laboratory who led the testing. “The little details that go into getting these tests right — nobody teaches you that in school, and it’s such a critical piece of space launch.”  

Engineers and technicians secure a full-scale model of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander atop the other spacecraft that make up the company’s second delivery to the lunar surface. Environmental testing for the spacecraft took place in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in October. NASA/JPL-Caltech Testing just right 

The Environmental Test Laboratory team led environmental testing for Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander in 2024, and seeing the spacecraft achieve a soft Moon landing in March was a point of pride for them. Firefly’s next CLPS delivery debuts a dual-spacecraft configuration and hosts multiple international payloads, with the company’s Elytra Dark orbital vehicle stacked below the Blue Ghost lunar lander. Standing 22 feet (6.9 meters) high, the full structure is more than three times as tall as the Mission 1 lander. 

This fall, a structural qualification model of the full stack was clamped to a “shaker table” inside a clean room at JPL and repeatedly rattled in three directions while hundreds of sensors monitored the rapid movement. Then, inside a separate acoustic testing chamber, giant horns blared at it from openings built into the room’s 16-inch-thick (41-centimeter-thick) concrete walls. The horns use compressed nitrogen gas to pummel spacecraft with up to 153 decibels, noise loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in a human.  

Each type of test involves several increasingly intense iterations. Between rounds, JPL’s dynamics environment experts analyze the data to compare what the spacecraft experienced to computer model predictions. Sometimes a discrepancy leads to hardware modifications, sometimes a tweak to the computer model. Engineers and technicians are careful to push the hardware, but not too far. 

“You can either under-test or over-test, and both are bad,” William said. “If you over-test, you can break your hardware. If you under-test, it can break on the rocket. It’s a fine line.” 

Watch how JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory preps spacecraft

Since the model isn’t itself launching to the Moon, Firefly’s recent Environmental Test Laboratory visit didn’t include several types of trials that are generally completed only for flight hardware. A launchpad-bound spacecraft would undergo electromagnetic testing to ensure that signals from its electronic parts don’t interfere with one another. And, in what is probably the most well-known environmental test, flight-bound hardware is baked or chilled at extreme temperatures in a thermal vacuum chamber from which all the air is sucked out. The multiple thermal vacuum chamber facilities at JPL include two large historic “space simulators” built within NASA’s first few years of existence: a chamber that’s 10 feet in diameter and another that’s 25 feet across. 

A full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 lunar lander is prepared for delivery into a clean room at JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory in September. NASA/JPL-Caltech Technicians and engineers at JPL ready a fixture that will attach a full-scale model of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 lunar lander, visible in the background, to a “shaker table” that tests a spacecraft’s readiness to survive the stresses of launch.NASA/JPL-Caltech Qualifying for launch 

The completion of Environmental Test Laboratory testing on Firefly’s structural qualification model helps prove the spacecraft will survive its ride out of Earth’s atmosphere aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 team is now turning its focus to completing assembly and testing of the flight hardware for launch. 

Once at the Moon, the Blue Ghost lander will touch down on the far side, delivering its payloads to the surface. Those include LuSEE-Night, a radio telescope that is a joint effort by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. A payload developed at JPL called User Terminal will test a compact, low-cost S-band radio communications system that could enable future far-side missions to talk to each other and to relay orbiters.  

Meantime, Firefly’s Elytra Dark orbital vehicle will have deployed into lunar orbit ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Lunar Pathfinder communications satellite — a payload on which NASA is collaborating. Both vehicles will remain in orbit and able to relay data from the far-side surface back to Earth.  

“Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 will deliver both NASA and international commercial payloads to further prove out technologies for Artemis and help enable a long-term presence on the Moon,” said Ray Allensworth, Firefly’s spacecraft program director. “The extensive spacecraft environmental testing we did at JPL for Mission 1 was a critical step in Firefly’s test campaign for our historic lunar mission. Now we’re collaborating again to support a successful repeat on the Moon that will unlock even more insights for future robotic and human missions.” 

News Media Contact 

Melissa Pamer 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
626-314-4928 
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov 

2025-141

Share

Details Last Updated Dec 16, 2025 Related Terms

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
• Earth's Moon

Explore More 3 min read One of NASA’s Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image Article 5 hours ago 5 min read NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite Article 7 hours ago 3 min read NASA’s Webb, Curiosity Named in TIME’s Best Inventions Hall of Fame

Two icons of discovery, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Curiosity rover, have earned…

Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

The goal of the CLPS project is to enable rapid, frequent, and affordable access to the lunar surface by helping…

Earth’s Moon

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Where does the Sun end and the solar wind begin? Scientists have mapped the dynamic magnetic edge that bounds our star.

The post Scientists Map the Sun’s Magnetic “Surface” appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Clockwise from left, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Mike Fincke pose for a playful portrait through a circular opening in a hatch thermal cover aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 18, 2025.

NASA/Jonny Kim

Clockwise from left, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Mike Fincke pose for a playful portrait through a circular opening in a hatch thermal cover aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 18, 2025.

The cover provides micrometeoroid and orbital debris protection while maintaining cleanliness and pressure integrity in the vestibule between Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft and the orbital outpost. The opening allows for visual inspection of hatch alignment, access to the hatch handle or pressure equalization valve, and visibility for sensors or cameras during berthing operations.

Kim recently returned to Earth after 245 days in space aboard the orbital laboratory. Yui, Cardman, and Fincke remain aboard the space station, with Fincke as commander.

Image credit: NASA/Jonny Kim

NASA/Jonny Kim

Clockwise from left, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Mike Fincke pose for a playful portrait through a circular opening in a hatch thermal cover aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 18, 2025.

The cover provides micrometeoroid and orbital debris protection while maintaining cleanliness and pressure integrity in the vestibule between Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft and the orbital outpost. The opening allows for visual inspection of hatch alignment, access to the hatch handle or pressure equalization valve, and visibility for sensors or cameras during berthing operations.

Kim recently returned to Earth after 245 days in space aboard the orbital laboratory. Yui, Cardman, and Fincke remain aboard the space station, with Fincke as commander.

Image credit: NASA/Jonny Kim

The Arctic has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, a new report shows, as temperatures skyrocket and ice rapidly melts

A novel influenza variant called subclade K appears to be driving an uptick in cases and hospitalizations throughout the U.S. and other countries

When we gaze up at the night sky, we assume that what we're seeing is a representative population of similar stars at similar distances. But it's not. The stars we see are a mixture of massive and small, distant and near. In fact, we can't even see our closest neighbour, Proxima Centauri. We see these stars because they have large observational signals, and that illustrates one of the problems in astronomy.