NASA

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Information provided by the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) will help to protect and inform communities around the world. The data will aid in managing agricultural fields, monitoring volcanoes, and tracking land-based ice including glaciers.NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Data from NISAR will map changes to Earth’s surface, helping improve crop management, natural hazard monitoring, and tracking of sea ice and glaciers.

A new U.S.-India satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will provide high-resolution data enabling scientists to comprehensively monitor the planet’s land and ice surfaces like never before, building a detailed record of how they shift over time. Hailed as a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during their visit in Washington in February, the NISAR launch will advance U.S.-India cooperation and benefit the U.S. in the areas of disaster response and agriculture.

As the first joint satellite mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between the two space agencies. Years in the making, the launch of NISAR builds on a strong heritage of successful programs, including Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Axiom Mission 4, which saw ISRO and NASA astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station for the first time.

The information NISAR provides will help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor agricultural fields, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The satellite will also provide key global observations of changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, as well as forests and wetlands.

The NISAR mission is slated to launch no earlier than July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Here are five things to know about NISAR:

1. The NISAR satellite will provide a 3D view of Earth’s land and ice.

Two synthetic aperture radars (SARs) aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet’s surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth’s surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 39 feet (12 meters) across. The satellite’s ability to “see” through clouds and light rain, day and night, will enable data users to continuously monitor earthquake- and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing. It also will offer unprecedented coverage of Antarctica, information that will help with studying how the continent’s ice sheet changes over time.

2. Data from NISAR will provide critical insights to help governments and decision-makers plan for natural and human-caused hazards.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and aging infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth’s surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a possible disaster. For earthquakes, NISAR will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. The satellite will be able to monitor the area around thousands of volcanoes, detecting land movement that could be a precursor to an eruption. When it comes to infrastructure such as levees, aqueducts, and dams, NISAR data collected over time can help managers detect if nearby land motion could jeopardize key structures, and then assess the integrity of those facilities.

3. The most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA or ISRO mission, NISAR will generate more data on a daily basis than any previous Earth satellite from either agency.

About the length of a pickup truck, NISAR’s main body contains a dual-radar payload — an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system is sensitive to land and ice features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. By including both radars on one spacecraft — a first — NISAR will be more capable than previous SAR missions. These two radars, one from NASA and one from ISRO, and the data they will produce, exemplify how collaboration between spacefaring allies can achieve more than either would alone.

NISAR press kit

The radars will generate about 80 terabytes of data products per day over the course of NISAR’s prime mission. That’s roughly enough data to fill about 150 512-gigabyte hard drives each day. The information will be processed, stored, and distributed via the cloud — and accessible to all.

This artist’s concept depicts the NISAR satellite in orbit over central and Northern California. The spacecraft will survey all of Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days.NASA/JPL-Caltech

4. The NISAR mission will help monitor ecosystems around the world.

The mission’s two radars will monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days. Their near-comprehensive coverage will include areas not previously covered by other Earth-observing radar satellites with such frequency. The NISAR satellite’s L-band radar penetrates deep into forest canopies, providing insights into forest structure, while the S-band radar is ideal for monitoring crops. The NISAR data will help researchers assess how forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and permafrost change over time.

5. The NISAR mission marks the first collaboration between NASA and ISRO on a project of this scale and marks the next step in a long line of Earth-observing SAR missions.

The NISAR satellite features components developed on opposite sides of the planet by engineers from ISRO and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working together. The S-band radar was built at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, while JPL built the L-band radar in Southern California. After engineers from JPL and ISRO integrated NISAR’s instruments with a modified ISRO I3K spacecraft bus and tested the satellite, ISRO transported NISAR to Satish Dhawan Space Centre in May 2025 to prepare it for launch.

The SAR technique was invented in the U.S. in 1952 and now countries around the globe have SAR satellites for a variety of missions. NASA first used the technique with a space-based satellite in 1978 on the ocean-observing Seasat, which included the first spaceborne SAR instrument for scientific observations. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India.

More About NISAR

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and provided the L-band SAR. JPL also provided the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the Near Space Network, which will receive NISAR’s L-band data.

The ISRO Space Applications Centre is providing the mission’s S-band SAR. The U R Rao Satellite Centre is providing the spacecraft bus. The rocket is from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, launch services are through Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and satellite mission operations are by the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network. The National Remote Sensing Centre is responsible for S-band data reception, operational products generation, and dissemination.

To learn more about NISAR, visit:

https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/

How New NASA, India Satellite NISAR Will See Earth Powerful New US-Indian Satellite Will Track Earth’s Changing Surface NASA-ISRO Radar Mission to Provide Dynamic View of Forests, Wetlands NASA-ISRO Mission Will Map Farmland From Planting to Harvest News Media Contacts

Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 626-491-1943
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov

2025-090

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Details Last Updated Jul 21, 2025 Related Terms

• NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar)
• Earth Science
• Earth Surface & Interior
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Bring NASA Science into Your Library!

Calling all librarians! NASA sponsors dozens of research projects that need help from you and the people in your community. These projects invite everyone who’s interested to collaborate with scientists, investigating mysteries from how star systems form to how our planet sustains life. You can help by making observations with your cell phone or by studying fresh data on your laptop from spacecraft like the James Webb Space Telescope. You might discover a near-Earth asteroid or a new food option for astronauts.  Participants learn new skills and meet scientists and other people around the world with similar interests. 

Interested in sharing these opportunities with your patrons? Join us on August 26, 2025 at 1 p.m. EST for a 1-hour online information session.  A librarian and a participatory science professional will provide you with a NASA Citizen Science Librarian Starter Kit and answer all your questions. The kit includes everything you need to host a NASA Science Program for patrons of all ages. 

• Editable poster to advertise event
• Event prep guide (for the host and for the space)
• Community connection ideas 
• Editable event agenda
• Handout for participants

Scan the QR code above or go to https://shorturl.at/tKfTt to register for the session.

Kara Reiman, Librarian and Educator (Left) and Sarah Kirn, Participatory Science Strategist, NASA (Right) Share

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Interested in sharing these opportunities with your patrons? Join us on August 26, 2025 at 1 p.m. EST for a 1-hour online information session.  A librarian and a participatory science professional will provide you with a NASA Citizen Science Librarian Starter Kit and answer all your questions. The kit includes everything you need to host a NASA Science Program for patrons of all ages. 

• Editable poster to advertise event
• Event prep guide (for the host and for the space)
• Community connection ideas 
• Editable event agenda
• Handout for participants

Scan the QR code above or go to https://shorturl.at/tKfTt to register for the session.

Kara Reiman, Librarian and Educator (Left) and Sarah Kirn, Participatory Science Strategist, NASA (Right) Share

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A lifelong baseball fan, Catherine Staggs set out with her family to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums across the United States. That love of the game eventually led them to settle in Houston about eight years ago – a choice that helped lead Staggs to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she is a contracting officer for the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Through CLPS, she helps manage the contracts with commercial companies delivering science and technology to the Moon. These efforts support NASA’s Artemis campaign and lay the groundwork for continuous human presence on the lunar surface.

Official portrait of Catherine Staggs.NASA

She joined NASA as a civil servant in 2018, but Staggs’ career in the federal government stretches back to her college days. She completed an accounting co-op with the Department of Defense as a student at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, and secured a full-time accounting position with the agency following her graduation. She transitioned to a business financial manager position supporting U.S. Marine Corps projects while earning an MBA from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. “That position is where I started to dabble in contracting,” she said.

Staggs moved to Texas in 2014 to be closer to her boyfriend – now husband – who was stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen. She was hired as a contract compliance manager for a small, Killeen-based business that specialized in government contracts, officially launching her career in contracting. When Staggs’ husband retired from the Army, the couple decided to move to Houston because they loved to watch the Houston Astros play ball. Staggs continued working for the contracting company from her new home but missed meeting new people and collaborating with colleagues in person.

“I applied for a contract specialist job with NASA to get back into the office, and the rest is history,” she said.

Her current role at Johnson involves managing the administrative contract functions for the 13 base contracts that support CLPS, which are valued at $2.6 billion. She is also the contracting officer for Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission-3 and helps to train and develop up-and-coming contract specialists. “I love to see the development each contract specialist has over their career,” she said. “My first Pathways intern is now working full-time for NASA as a contract specialist, and they are working to become a limited warrant contracting officer.”

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) procurement team celebrates the lunar landing of Intuitive Machines’ second CLPS flight at Ellington Field on March 6, 2025. Front row, from left: Doug York, Josh Smith, Tasha Beasley, Aubrie Henspeter, Jennifer Ariens, Catherine Staggs, and Shayla Martin. Back row: John Trahan.NASA

Her training experience provides valuable perspective on new team members. “Everyone starts at the bottom, not knowing what they don’t know,” she said. “We all have a beginning, and we need to remember that as we welcome new employees.”

Staggs said that navigating change has at times been difficult in her career, but she strives to remain flexible and open to adjusting work and life to meet the needs of the mission. “My time at NASA has helped develop my leadership skills through confidence in myself and my team,” she said.

Catherine Staggs received a 2023 Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award. From left: Johnson Acting Center Director Steve Koerner, Jeremy Staggs, AJ Staggs, Catherine Staggs, NASA Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche. NASA

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A lifelong baseball fan, Catherine Staggs set out with her family to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums across the United States. That love of the game eventually led them to settle in Houston about eight years ago – a choice that helped lead Staggs to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she is a contracting officer for the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Through CLPS, she helps manage the contracts with commercial companies delivering science and technology to the Moon. These efforts support NASA’s Artemis campaign and lay the groundwork for continuous human presence on the lunar surface.

Official portrait of Catherine Staggs.NASA

She joined NASA as a civil servant in 2018, but Staggs’ career in the federal government stretches back to her college days. She completed an accounting co-op with the Department of Defense as a student at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, and secured a full-time accounting position with the agency following her graduation. She transitioned to a business financial manager position supporting U.S. Marine Corps projects while earning an MBA from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. “That position is where I started to dabble in contracting,” she said.

Staggs moved to Texas in 2014 to be closer to her boyfriend – now husband – who was stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen. She was hired as a contract compliance manager for a small, Killeen-based business that specialized in government contracts, officially launching her career in contracting. When Staggs’ husband retired from the Army, the couple decided to move to Houston because they loved to watch the Houston Astros play ball. Staggs continued working for the contracting company from her new home but missed meeting new people and collaborating with colleagues in person.

“I applied for a contract specialist job with NASA to get back into the office, and the rest is history,” she said.

Her current role at Johnson involves managing the administrative contract functions for the 13 base contracts that support CLPS, which are valued at $2.6 billion. She is also the contracting officer for Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission-3 and helps to train and develop up-and-coming contract specialists. “I love to see the development each contract specialist has over their career,” she said. “My first Pathways intern is now working full-time for NASA as a contract specialist, and they are working to become a limited warrant contracting officer.”

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) procurement team celebrates the lunar landing of Intuitive Machines’ second CLPS flight at Ellington Field on March 6, 2025. Front row, from left: Doug York, Josh Smith, Tasha Beasley, Aubrie Henspeter, Jennifer Ariens, Catherine Staggs, and Shayla Martin. Back row: John Trahan.NASA

Her training experience provides valuable perspective on new team members. “Everyone starts at the bottom, not knowing what they don’t know,” she said. “We all have a beginning, and we need to remember that as we welcome new employees.”

Staggs said that navigating change has at times been difficult in her career, but she strives to remain flexible and open to adjusting work and life to meet the needs of the mission. “My time at NASA has helped develop my leadership skills through confidence in myself and my team,” she said.

Catherine Staggs received a 2023 Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award. From left: Johnson Acting Center Director Steve Koerner, Jeremy Staggs, AJ Staggs, Catherine Staggs, NASA Acting Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche. NASA

She looks forward to mentoring the Artemis Generation and sharing her contracting knowledge with new team members. She also anticipates crossing more baseball stadiums off her family’s list this summer.  

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA’s Athena Economical Payload Integration Cost mission, or Athena EPIC, is a test launch for an innovative, scalable space vehicle design to support future missions. The small satellite platform is engineered to share resources among the payloads onboard by managing routine functions so the individual payloads don’t have to.

This technology results in lower costs to taxpayers and a quicker path to launch.

Fully integrated, the Athena EPIC satellite undergoes performance testing in a NovaWurks cleanroom to prepare the sensor for launch. The optical module payload element may be seen near the top of the instrument with the single small telescope.NovaWurks

“Increasing the speed of discovery is foundational to NASA. Our ability to leverage access to innovative space technologies across federal agencies through industry partners is the future,” said Clayton Turner, Associate Administrator for Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. “Athena EPIC is a valuable demonstration of the government at its best — serving humankind to advance knowledge with existing hardware configured to operate with new technologies.”

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the U.S. Space Force are government partners for this demo mission. Athena EPIC’s industry partner, NovaWurks, provided the space vehicle, which utilizes a small satellite platform assembled with a Hyper-Integrated Satlet, or HISat.

Engineers at NovaWurks in Long Beach prepare to mount the optical payload subassembly (center, silver) consisting of the payload optical module and single telescope mounted between gimbals on each of two HISats on either side of the module which will allow scanning across the Earth’s surface.NovaWurks

The HISat instruments are similar in nature to a child’s toy interlocking building blocks. They’re engineered to be built into larger structures called SensorCraft. Those SensorCraft can share resources with multiple payloads and conform to different sizes and shapes to accommodate them. This easily configurable, building-block architecture allows a lot of flexibility with payload designs and concepts, ultimately giving payload providers easier, less expensive access to space and increased maneuverability between multiple orbits.

Scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, designed and built the Athena sensor payload, which consists of an optical module, a calibration module, and a newly developed sensor electronics assembly. Athena EPIC’s sensor was built with spare parts from NASA’s CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) mission. Several different generations of CERES satellite and space station instruments have tracked Earth’s radiation budget.

“Instead of Athena carrying its own processor, we’re using the processors on the HISats to control things like our heaters and do some of the control functions that typically would be done by a processor on our payload,” said Kory Priestley, principal investigator for Athena EPIC from NASA Langley. “So, this is merging an instrument and a satellite platform into what we are calling a SensorCraft. It’s a more integrated approach. We don’t need as many capabilities built into our key instrument because it’s being brought to us by the satellite host. We obtain greater redundancy, and it simplifies our payload.”

The fully assembled and tested Athena EPIC satellite which incorporates eight HISats mounted on a mock-up of a SpaceX provided launch pedestal which will hold Athena during launch.NovaWurks

This is the first HISat mission led by NASA. Traditional satellites, like the ones that host the CERES instruments — are large, sometimes the size of a school bus, and carry multiple instruments. They tend to be custom units built with all of their own hardware and software to manage control, propulsion, cameras, carousels, processors, batteries, and more, and sometimes even require two of everything to guard against failures in the system. All of these factors, plus the need for a larger launch vehicle, significantly increase costs.

This transformational approach to getting instruments into space can reduce the cost from billions to millions per mission.  “Now we are talking about something much smaller — SensorCraft the size of a mini refrigerator,” said Priestley. “If you do have failures on orbit, you can replace these much more economically. It’s a very different approach moving forward for Earth observation.”

The Athena EPIC satellite is shown here mounted onto a vibration table during pre-launch environmental testing. The optical payload is located at the top in this picture with the two solar arrays, stowed for launch, flanking the lower half sides of the satellite.NovaWurks

Athena EPIC is scheduled to launch July 22 as a rideshare on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The primary NASA payload on the launch will be the TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission. The TRACERS mission is led by the University of Iowa for NASA’s Heliophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Earth Science Division also provided funding for Athena EPIC.

“Langley Research Center has long been a leader in developing remote sensing instruments for in-orbit satellites. As satellites become smaller, a less traditional, more efficient path to launch is needed in order to decrease complexity while simultaneously increasing the value of exploration, science, and technology measurements for the Nation,” added Turner.

For more information on NASA’s Athena EPIC mission:

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

About the AuthorCharles G. HatfieldScience Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center

Share

Details Last Updated Jul 20, 2025 ContactCharles G. Hatfieldcharles.g.hatfield@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms

• Langley Research Center
• Earth
• Earth Science Division
• Earth's Atmosphere
• General
• Science Mission Directorate
• TRACERS

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA’s Athena Economical Payload Integration Cost mission, or Athena EPIC, is a test launch for an innovative, scalable space vehicle design to support future missions. The small satellite platform is engineered to share resources among the payloads onboard by managing routine functions so the individual payloads don’t have to.

This technology results in lower costs to taxpayers and a quicker path to launch.

Fully integrated, the Athena EPIC satellite undergoes performance testing in a NovaWurks cleanroom to prepare the sensor for launch. The optical module payload element may be seen near the top of the instrument with the single small telescope.NovaWurks

“Increasing the speed of discovery is foundational to NASA. Our ability to leverage access to innovative space technologies across federal agencies through industry partners is the future,” said Clayton Turner, Associate Administrator for Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. “Athena EPIC is a valuable demonstration of the government at its best — serving humankind to advance knowledge with existing hardware configured to operate with new technologies.”

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the U.S. Space Force are government partners for this demo mission. Athena EPIC’s industry partner, NovaWurks, provided the space vehicle, which utilizes a small satellite platform assembled with a Hyper-Integrated Satlet, or HISat.

Engineers at NovaWurks in Long Beach prepare to mount the optical payload subassembly (center, silver) consisting of the payload optical module and single telescope mounted between gimbals on each of two HISats on either side of the module which will allow scanning across the Earth’s surface.NovaWurks

The HISat instruments are similar in nature to a child’s toy interlocking building blocks. They’re engineered to be built into larger structures called SensorCraft. Those SensorCraft can share resources with multiple payloads and conform to different sizes and shapes to accommodate them. This easily configurable, building-block architecture allows a lot of flexibility with payload designs and concepts, ultimately giving payload providers easier, less expensive access to space and increased maneuverability between multiple orbits.

Scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, designed and built the Athena sensor payload, which consists of an optical module, a calibration module, and a newly developed sensor electronics assembly. Athena EPIC’s sensor was built with spare parts from NASA’s CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) mission. Several different generations of CERES satellite and space station instruments have tracked Earth’s radiation budget.

“Instead of Athena carrying its own processor, we’re using the processors on the HISats to control things like our heaters and do some of the control functions that typically would be done by a processor on our payload,” said Kory Priestley, principal investigator for Athena EPIC from NASA Langley. “So, this is merging an instrument and a satellite platform into what we are calling a SensorCraft. It’s a more integrated approach. We don’t need as many capabilities built into our key instrument because it’s being brought to us by the satellite host. We obtain greater redundancy, and it simplifies our payload.”

The fully assembled and tested Athena EPIC satellite which incorporates eight HISats mounted on a mock-up of a SpaceX provided launch pedestal which will hold Athena during launch.NovaWurks

This is the first HISat mission led by NASA. Traditional satellites, like the ones that host the CERES instruments — are large, sometimes the size of a school bus, and carry multiple instruments. They tend to be custom units built with all of their own hardware and software to manage control, propulsion, cameras, carousels, processors, batteries, and more, and sometimes even require two of everything to guard against failures in the system. All of these factors, plus the need for a larger launch vehicle, significantly increase costs.

This transformational approach to getting instruments into space can reduce the cost from billions to millions per mission.  “Now we are talking about something much smaller — SensorCraft the size of a mini refrigerator,” said Priestley. “If you do have failures on orbit, you can replace these much more economically. It’s a very different approach moving forward for Earth observation.”

The Athena EPIC satellite is shown here mounted onto a vibration table during pre-launch environmental testing. The optical payload is located at the top in this picture with the two solar arrays, stowed for launch, flanking the lower half sides of the satellite.NovaWurks

Athena EPIC is scheduled to launch July 22 as a rideshare on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The primary NASA payload on the launch will be the TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission. The TRACERS mission is led by the University of Iowa for NASA’s Heliophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Earth Science Division also provided funding for Athena EPIC.

“Langley Research Center has long been a leader in developing remote sensing instruments for in-orbit satellites. As satellites become smaller, a less traditional, more efficient path to launch is needed in order to decrease complexity while simultaneously increasing the value of exploration, science, and technology measurements for the Nation,” added Turner.

For more information on NASA’s Athena EPIC mission:

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

About the AuthorCharles G. HatfieldScience Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center

Share

Details Last Updated Jul 20, 2025 ContactCharles G. Hatfieldcharles.g.hatfield@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms

• Langley Research Center
• Earth
• Earth Science Division
• Earth's Atmosphere
• General
• Science Mission Directorate
• TRACERS

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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4602-4603: On Top of the Ridge NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image looking along the ridge it is exploring during its planned activities for July 16, 2025. Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on July 15 — Sol 4600, or Martian day 4,600 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 17:12:14 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025

As we hoped, we successfully climbed the 11-meter ramp (about 36 feet) and have arrived at the top of the ridge and the start of the main boxwork region. This means we’re moving into the next phase of the boxwork campaign, which is all about assessing these features and how we can navigate our way through them, and learning everything we can about their composition.

In support of that, we’re taking a good look around at the boxwork ridges with both ChemCam and Mastcam. Both instruments are taking mosaics of the more distant ridges to get a broader view of their features. A bit closer in, Mastcam has three more mosaics: two looking at different views of “El Corral” and “Chapare,” both of which we saw in Monday’s plan, and “Meson,” which is the ridge we’ll be heading for in today’s 15-meter drive (about 49 feet).

It’s not all looking ahead, though. The workspace in front of us has a lot to offer as well. Mastcam will be turning its sights to some nearby linear features. Our workspace is also full of nodular bedrock, which is getting lots of up-close attention. ChemCam will be turning its LIBS laser on a target called “Altamora,” and MAHLI and APXS will be examining another target called “Nocarane.”

With all the geological excitement, we can still manage to squeeze in some time to keep an eye on the environment. Though we don’t always mention them, REMS, RAD, and DAN are always there working steadily away to build up our understanding of Mars’ environment. We’ll also round out the plan with a suprahorizon cloud movie and a 360-degree dust-devil survey.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

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2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4600-4601: Up and Over the Sand Covered Ramp

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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4602-4603: On Top of the Ridge NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image looking along the ridge it is exploring during its planned activities for July 16, 2025. Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on July 15 — Sol 4600, or Martian day 4,600 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 17:12:14 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025

As we hoped, we successfully climbed the 11-meter ramp (about 36 feet) and have arrived at the top of the ridge and the start of the main boxwork region. This means we’re moving into the next phase of the boxwork campaign, which is all about assessing these features and how we can navigate our way through them, and learning everything we can about their composition.

In support of that, we’re taking a good look around at the boxwork ridges with both ChemCam and Mastcam. Both instruments are taking mosaics of the more distant ridges to get a broader view of their features. A bit closer in, Mastcam has three more mosaics: two looking at different views of “El Corral” and “Chapare,” both of which we saw in Monday’s plan, and “Meson,” which is the ridge we’ll be heading for in today’s 15-meter drive (about 49 feet).

It’s not all looking ahead, though. The workspace in front of us has a lot to offer as well. Mastcam will be turning its sights to some nearby linear features. Our workspace is also full of nodular bedrock, which is getting lots of up-close attention. ChemCam will be turning its LIBS laser on a target called “Altamora,” and MAHLI and APXS will be examining another target called “Nocarane.”

With all the geological excitement, we can still manage to squeeze in some time to keep an eye on the environment. Though we don’t always mention them, REMS, RAD, and DAN are always there working steadily away to build up our understanding of Mars’ environment. We’ll also round out the plan with a suprahorizon cloud movie and a 360-degree dust-devil survey.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Share

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Details

Last Updated

Jul 18, 2025

Related Terms

• Blogs

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2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4600-4601: Up and Over the Sand Covered Ramp

Article


3 days ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4597-4599: Wide Open Spaces

Article


3 days ago

3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4595-4596: Just Another Beautiful Day on Mars

Article


3 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…

All Mars Resources

Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

4 Min Read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Credits: NASA/Kathy Henkel

In the vacuum of space, where temperatures can plunge to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit, it might seem like keeping things cold would be easy. But the reality is more complex for preserving ultra-cold fluid propellants – or fuel – that can easily overheat from onboard systems, solar radiation, and spacecraft exhaust. The solution is a method called cryogenic fluid management, a suite of technologies that stores, transfers, and measures super cold fluids for the surface of the Moon, Mars, and future long-duration spaceflight missions.

Super cold, or cryogenic, fluids like liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are the most common propellants for space exploration. Despite its chilling environment, space has a “hot” effect on these propellants because of their low boiling points – about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit for liquid hydrogen and about minus 298 for liquid oxygen – putting them at risk of boiloff.

In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant.

“Technologies for reducing propellant loss must be implemented for successful long-duration missions to deep space like the Moon and Mars,” said Kathy Henkel, acting manager of NASA’s Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project, based at NASA Marshall. “Two-stage cooling prevents propellant loss and successfully allows for long-term storage of propellants whether in transit or on the surface of a planetary body.”

The new technique, known as “tube on tank” cooling, integrates two cryocoolers, or cooling devices, to keep propellant cold and thwart multiple heat sources. Helium, chilled to about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit, circulates through tubes attached to the outer wall of the propellant tank.

NASA’s two-stage cooling testing setup sits in a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Tom Perrin The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel

Teams installed the propellant tank in a test stand at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaches the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system.

To prevent dangerous pressure buildup in the propellant tank in current spaceflight systems, boiloff vapors must be vented, resulting in the loss of valuable fuel. Eliminating such propellant losses is crucial to the success of NASA’s most ambitious missions, including future crewed journeys to Mars, which will require storing large amounts of cryogenic propellant in space for months or even years. So far, cryogenic fuels have only been used for missions lasting less than a week.  

“To go to Mars and have a sustainable presence, you need to preserve cryogens for use as rocket or lander return propellant,” Henkel said. “Rockets currently control their propellant through margin, where larger tanks are designed to hold more propellant than what is needed for a mission. Propellant loss isn’t an issue with short trips because the loss is factored into this margin. But, human exploration missions to Mars or longer stays at the Moon will require a different approach because of the very large tanks that would be needed.”

The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities.

Learn more about cryogenic fluid management:

go.nasa.gov/cfm

Share

Details Last Updated Jul 19, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms

• Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM)
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Space Technology Mission Directorate
• Technology Demonstration
• Technology Demonstration Missions Program

Explore More 3 min read NASA-Derived Textiles are Touring France by Bike Article 3 days ago 3 min read Registration Opens for 2025 NASA International Space Apps Challenge Article 4 days ago 2 min read Ejection Mechanism Design for the SPEED Test Architecture Challenge Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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4 Min Read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Credits: NASA/Kathy Henkel

In the vacuum of space, where temperatures can plunge to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit, it might seem like keeping things cold would be easy. But the reality is more complex for preserving ultra-cold fluid propellants – or fuel – that can easily overheat from onboard systems, solar radiation, and spacecraft exhaust. The solution is a method called cryogenic fluid management, a suite of technologies that stores, transfers, and measures super cold fluids for the surface of the Moon, Mars, and future long-duration spaceflight missions.

Super cold, or cryogenic, fluids like liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are the most common propellants for space exploration. Despite its chilling environment, space has a “hot” effect on these propellants because of their low boiling points – about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit for liquid hydrogen and about minus 298 for liquid oxygen – putting them at risk of boiloff.

In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant.

“Technologies for reducing propellant loss must be implemented for successful long-duration missions to deep space like the Moon and Mars,” said Kathy Henkel, acting manager of NASA’s Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project, based at NASA Marshall. “Two-stage cooling prevents propellant loss and successfully allows for long-term storage of propellants whether in transit or on the surface of a planetary body.”

The new technique, known as “tube on tank” cooling, integrates two cryocoolers, or cooling devices, to keep propellant cold and thwart multiple heat sources. Helium, chilled to about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit, circulates through tubes attached to the outer wall of the propellant tank.

NASA’s two-stage cooling testing setup sits in a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Tom Perrin The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel

Teams installed the propellant tank in a test stand at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaches the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system.

To prevent dangerous pressure buildup in the propellant tank in current spaceflight systems, boiloff vapors must be vented, resulting in the loss of valuable fuel. Eliminating such propellant losses is crucial to the success of NASA’s most ambitious missions, including future crewed journeys to Mars, which will require storing large amounts of cryogenic propellant in space for months or even years. So far, cryogenic fuels have only been used for missions lasting less than a week.  

“To go to Mars and have a sustainable presence, you need to preserve cryogens for use as rocket or lander return propellant,” Henkel said. “Rockets currently control their propellant through margin, where larger tanks are designed to hold more propellant than what is needed for a mission. Propellant loss isn’t an issue with short trips because the loss is factored into this margin. But, human exploration missions to Mars or longer stays at the Moon will require a different approach because of the very large tanks that would be needed.”

The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities.

Learn more about cryogenic fluid management:

go.nasa.gov/cfm

Share

Details Last Updated Jul 19, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms

• Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM)
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Space Technology Mission Directorate
• Technology Demonstration
• Technology Demonstration Missions Program

Explore More 3 min read NASA-Derived Textiles are Touring France by Bike Article 3 days ago 3 min read Registration Opens for 2025 NASA International Space Apps Challenge Article 4 days ago 2 min read Ejection Mechanism Design for the SPEED Test Architecture Challenge Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This woman is wearing an Ekoï jersey made from Outlast. The phase-change materials incorporated into the fabric help the wearer stay comfortable in any temperature. Credit: Ekoï

During the Tour de France, athletes have to maintain a constant speed while bike riding for dozens of miles through cold rains and summer heat. These cyclists need gear that adapts to the different environments they encounter. One company is using a material with NASA origins to ensure these athletes stay comfortable while taking their grand tours.

Phase-change materials use basic properties of matter to maintain a steady temperature. When a substance melts from a solid to a liquid, the material absorbs heat, and when it becomes solid again, it releases that heat. In the 1980s, Triangle Research Corporation received a NASA Small Business Innovation Research award to explore how phase-change materials could be incorporated into textiles to control temperatures in spacesuit gloves. By placing phase-change materials in small capsules woven throughout a textile, these temperature-regulating properties can be tuned to the comfort of the human body. While these textiles weren’t incorporated into any gloves flown on NASA missions, they formed the basis for a new product, sold under the name Outlast.

Spacesuit gloves have to be both dexterous enough to use tools and insulating enough to protect against the temperature extremes of working in space. Working with industry, NASA explored the use of phase-change materials for these purposes, which was later commercialized under the name Outlast.Credit: NASA

Outlast has since become one of the most widely distributed temperature-regulating fabrics, found in products such as bedding, loungewear, and office chairs. It has seen especially extensive use in activewear, ranging from jogging clothes to professional sports gear. 

Founded in 2001 and based in Fréjus, France, the company Ekoï makes clothing and accessories for cyclists, particularly those who bike competitively. The company first encountered Outlast at the Performance Days fabric trade fair in Munich, Germany, and was impressed with its capabilities as well as its NASA heritage.

“When you say NASA, it’s always impressive.” said Celine Milan, director of textiles at Ekoï. “At the beginning we were even saying in here in our offices, ‘Wow, this technology was developed by NASA.’ It’s on another level.”

Ekoi’s Outlast line officially launched in July 2022, during that year’s Tour de France. Over the course of that race, the company found it improved cyclists’ performance in the event’s mountain stages, where elevation changes mean wide swings in temperature. It also improved athletes’ aerodynamics, as their jerseys could stay closed in warmer environments, rather than opening them to let in wind.

Today, Ekoï sells several products that incorporate Outlast materials, including jerseys, gloves, and socks. These products are internationally known for their NASA heritage. Whether engineering for astronaut’s comfort in space or competitive athletes, NASA aims for excellence. 

Learn more about NASA’s Spinoff Technologies: https://spinoff.nasa.gov/

Read More Share

Details Last Updated Jul 18, 2025 Related Terms

• Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
• Spinoffs
• Technology Transfer

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3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This woman is wearing an Ekoï jersey made from Outlast. The phase-change materials incorporated into the fabric help the wearer stay comfortable in any temperature. Credit: Ekoï

During the Tour de France, athletes have to maintain a constant speed while bike riding for dozens of miles through cold rains and summer heat. These cyclists need gear that adapts to the different environments they encounter. One company is using a material with NASA origins to ensure these athletes stay comfortable while taking their grand tours.

Phase-change materials use basic properties of matter to maintain a steady temperature. When a substance melts from a solid to a liquid, the material absorbs heat, and when it becomes solid again, it releases that heat. In the 1980s, Triangle Research Corporation received a NASA Small Business Innovation Research award to explore how phase-change materials could be incorporated into textiles to control temperatures in spacesuit gloves. By placing phase-change materials in small capsules woven throughout a textile, these temperature-regulating properties can be tuned to the comfort of the human body. While these textiles weren’t incorporated into any gloves flown on NASA missions, they formed the basis for a new product, sold under the name Outlast.

Spacesuit gloves have to be both dexterous enough to use tools and insulating enough to protect against the temperature extremes of working in space. Working with industry, NASA explored the use of phase-change materials for these purposes, which was later commercialized under the name Outlast.Credit: NASA

Outlast has since become one of the most widely distributed temperature-regulating fabrics, found in products such as bedding, loungewear, and office chairs. It has seen especially extensive use in activewear, ranging from jogging clothes to professional sports gear. 

Founded in 2001 and based in Fréjus, France, the company Ekoï makes clothing and accessories for cyclists, particularly those who bike competitively. The company first encountered Outlast at the Performance Days fabric trade fair in Munich, Germany, and was impressed with its capabilities as well as its NASA heritage.

“When you say NASA, it’s always impressive.” said Celine Milan, director of textiles at Ekoï. “At the beginning we were even saying in here in our offices, ‘Wow, this technology was developed by NASA.’ It’s on another level.”

Ekoi’s Outlast line officially launched in July 2022, during that year’s Tour de France. Over the course of that race, the company found it improved cyclists’ performance in the event’s mountain stages, where elevation changes mean wide swings in temperature. It also improved athletes’ aerodynamics, as their jerseys could stay closed in warmer environments, rather than opening them to let in wind.

Today, Ekoï sells several products that incorporate Outlast materials, including jerseys, gloves, and socks. These products are internationally known for their NASA heritage. Whether engineering for astronaut’s comfort in space or competitive athletes, NASA aims for excellence. 

Learn more about NASA’s Spinoff Technologies: https://spinoff.nasa.gov/

Read More Share

Details Last Updated Jul 18, 2025 Related Terms

• Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
• Spinoffs
• Technology Transfer

Explore More 3 min read Comet-Catching NASA Technology Enables Exotic Works of Art  Article 1 month ago 2 min read NASA Tech Gives Treadmill Users a ‘Boost’  

Creators of the original antigravity treadmill continue to advance technology with new company.

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SBIR/STTR Phase I

Solar System

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy cluster Abell 209.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy cluster Abell 209.ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Postman, P. Kelly

A massive, spacetime-warping cluster of galaxies is the setting of today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy cluster in question is Abell 209, located 2.8 billion light-years away in the constellation Cetus (the Whale).

This Hubble image of Abell 209 shows more than a hundred galaxies, but there’s more to this cluster than even Hubble’s discerning eye can see. Abell 209’s galaxies are separated by millions of light-years, and the seemingly empty space between the galaxies is filled with hot, diffuse gas that is visible only at X-ray wavelengths. An even more elusive occupant of this galaxy cluster is dark matter: a form of matter that does not interact with light. Dark matter does not absorb, reflect, or emit light, effectively making it invisible to us. Astronomers detect dark matter by its gravitational influence on normal matter. Astronomers surmise that the universe is comprised of 5% normal matter, 25% dark matter, and 70% dark energy.

Hubble observations, like the ones used to create this image, can help astronomers answer fundamental questions about our universe, including mysteries surrounding dark matter and dark energy. These investigations leverage the immense mass of a galaxy cluster, which can bend the fabric of spacetime itself and create warped and magnified images of background galaxies and stars in a process called gravitational lensing.

While this image lacks the dramatic rings that gravitational lensing can sometimes create, Abell 209 still shows subtle signs of lensing at work, in the form of streaky, slightly curved galaxies within the cluster’s golden glow. By measuring the distortion of these galaxies, astronomers can map the distribution of mass within the cluster, illuminating the underlying cloud of dark matter. This information, which Hubble’s fine resolution and sensitive instruments help to provide, is critical for testing theories of how our universe evolved.

Text Credit: ESA/Hubble

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Postman, P. Kelly

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy cluster Abell 209.ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Postman, P. Kelly

A massive, spacetime-warping cluster of galaxies is the setting of today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy cluster in question is Abell 209, located 2.8 billion light-years away in the constellation Cetus (the Whale).

This Hubble image of Abell 209 shows more than a hundred galaxies, but there’s more to this cluster than even Hubble’s discerning eye can see. Abell 209’s galaxies are separated by millions of light-years, and the seemingly empty space between the galaxies is filled with hot, diffuse gas that is visible only at X-ray wavelengths. An even more elusive occupant of this galaxy cluster is dark matter: a form of matter that does not interact with light. Dark matter does not absorb, reflect, or emit light, effectively making it invisible to us. Astronomers detect dark matter by its gravitational influence on normal matter. Astronomers surmise that the universe is comprised of 5% normal matter, 25% dark matter, and 70% dark energy.

Hubble observations, like the ones used to create this image, can help astronomers answer fundamental questions about our universe, including mysteries surrounding dark matter and dark energy. These investigations leverage the immense mass of a galaxy cluster, which can bend the fabric of spacetime itself and create warped and magnified images of background galaxies and stars in a process called gravitational lensing.

While this image lacks the dramatic rings that gravitational lensing can sometimes create, Abell 209 still shows subtle signs of lensing at work, in the form of streaky, slightly curved galaxies within the cluster’s golden glow. By measuring the distortion of these galaxies, astronomers can map the distribution of mass within the cluster, illuminating the underlying cloud of dark matter. This information, which Hubble’s fine resolution and sensitive instruments help to provide, is critical for testing theories of how our universe evolved.

Text Credit: ESA/Hubble

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Postman, P. Kelly

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya YuiSpaceX

Four crew members are preparing to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the orbiting laboratory.

During the mission, Crew-11 also will contribute to NASA’s Artemis campaign by simulating Moon landing scenarios that astronauts may encounter near the lunar South Pole, showing how the space station helps prepare crews for deep space human exploration. The simulations will be performed before, during, and after their mission using handheld controllers and multiple screens to identify how changes in gravity affect spatial awareness and astronauts’ ability to pilot spacecraft, like a lunar lander.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will lift off no earlier than 12:09 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 31, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a long-duration mission. The cadre will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, which previously flew NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, Crew-2, Crew-6, and Crew-8 missions, as well as private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 1.

The flight is the 11th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Overall, the Crew-11 mission is the 16th crewed Dragon flight to the space station, including Demo-2 in 2020 and 11 operational crew rotations for NASA, as well as four private astronaut missions.

As support teams progress through Dragon preflight milestones for Crew-11, they also are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight. Once all rocket and spacecraft system checkouts are complete and all components are certified for flight, teams will mate Dragon to Falcon 9 in SpaceX’s hangar at the launch site. The integrated spacecraft and rocket will then be rolled to the pad and raised vertically for the crew’s dry dress rehearsal and an integrated static fire test before launch.

Meet Crew-11 The official crew portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 members. Front row, from left, are Pilot Mike Fincke and Commander Zena Cardman, both NASA astronauts. In the back from left, are Mission Specialists Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)NASA/Robert Markowitz

Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, Cardman will conduct her first spaceflight. The Williamsburg, Virginia, native holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of selection, she was pursuing a doctorate in geosciences. Cardman’s geobiology and geochemical cycling research focused on subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning. Follow @zenanaut on X and @zenanaut on Instagram.

This mission will be Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station, having logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. Throughout the past decade, Fincke has applied his expertise to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, advancing the development and testing of Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft toward operational certification. The Emsworth, Pennsylvania, native is a graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and holds bachelors’ degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in both aeronautics and astronautics, as well as Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. He also has a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in California. Fincke is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with more than 2,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft. Follow @AstroIronMike on X and Instagram.

With 142 days in space, this mission will be Yui’s second trip to the space station. After his selection as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, Yui flew as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle using the station’s robotic arm. In addition to constructing a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, he conducted a total of 21 experiments for JAXA. In November 2016, Yui was assigned as chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. He graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency (currently the Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Yui joined the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense as a lieutenant colonel. Follow @astro_kimiya on X.

The mission will be Platonov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, Platonov earned a degree in engineering from Krasnodar Air Force Academy in aircraft operations and air traffic management. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in state and municipal management in 2016 from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, he has experience in piloting aircraft, zero gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.

Mission Overview From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui pictured after participating in a training simulation inside a mockup at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in HoustonNASA/Robert Markowitz

Following liftoff, Falcon 9 will accelerate Dragon to approximately 17,500 mph. Once in orbit, the crew, NASA, and SpaceX mission control will monitor a series of maneuvers that will guide Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can pilot it manually, if necessary.

After docking, Crew-11 will be welcomed aboard the station by the seven-member Expedition 73 crew, before conducting a short handover period on research and maintenance activities with the departing Crew-10 crew members. Then, NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will undock from the space station and return to Earth. Ahead of Crew-10’s return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California before departure from the station.

Cardman, Fincke, and Yui will conduct scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Participating crew members will simulate lunar landings, test strategies to safeguard vision, and advance other human spaceflight studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program. The crew also will study plant cell division and microgravity’s effects on bacteria-killing viruses, as well as perform experiments to produce a higher volume of human stem cells and generate on-demand nutrients.

While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-11 will welcome a Soyuz spacecraft in November with three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Chris Williams.  They also will bid farewell to the Soyuz carrying NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. The crew also is expected to see the arrival of the Dragon, Roscosmos Progress spacecraft, and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft to resupply the station.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission will be aboard the International Space Station on Nov. 2, when the orbiting laboratory surpasses 25 years of a continuous human presence. Since the first crew expedition arrived, the space station has enabled more than 4,000 groundbreaking experiments in the unique microgravity environment, while becoming a springboard for building a low Earth orbit economy and preparing for NASA’s future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya YuiSpaceX

Four crew members are preparing to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the orbiting laboratory.

During the mission, Crew-11 also will contribute to NASA’s Artemis campaign by simulating Moon landing scenarios that astronauts may encounter near the lunar South Pole, showing how the space station helps prepare crews for deep space human exploration. The simulations will be performed before, during, and after their mission using handheld controllers and multiple screens to identify how changes in gravity affect spatial awareness and astronauts’ ability to pilot spacecraft, like a lunar lander.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will lift off no earlier than 12:09 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 31, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a long-duration mission. The cadre will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, which previously flew NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, Crew-2, Crew-6, and Crew-8 missions, as well as private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 1.

The flight is the 11th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Overall, the Crew-11 mission is the 16th crewed Dragon flight to the space station, including Demo-2 in 2020 and 11 operational crew rotations for NASA, as well as four private astronaut missions.

As support teams progress through Dragon preflight milestones for Crew-11, they also are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight. Once all rocket and spacecraft system checkouts are complete and all components are certified for flight, teams will mate Dragon to Falcon 9 in SpaceX’s hangar at the launch site. The integrated spacecraft and rocket will then be rolled to the pad and raised vertically for the crew’s dry dress rehearsal and an integrated static fire test before launch.

Meet Crew-11 The official crew portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 members. Front row, from left, are Pilot Mike Fincke and Commander Zena Cardman, both NASA astronauts. In the back from left, are Mission Specialists Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos and Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)NASA/Robert Markowitz

Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, Cardman will conduct her first spaceflight. The Williamsburg, Virginia, native holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of selection, she was pursuing a doctorate in geosciences. Cardman’s geobiology and geochemical cycling research focused on subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning. Follow @zenanaut on X and @zenanaut on Instagram.

This mission will be Fincke’s fourth trip to the space station, having logged 382 days in space and nine spacewalks during Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2008, and STS-134 in 2011, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour. Throughout the past decade, Fincke has applied his expertise to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, advancing the development and testing of Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft toward operational certification. The Emsworth, Pennsylvania, native is a graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and holds bachelors’ degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in both aeronautics and astronautics, as well as Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. He also has a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in California. Fincke is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with more than 2,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft. Follow @AstroIronMike on X and Instagram.

With 142 days in space, this mission will be Yui’s second trip to the space station. After his selection as a JAXA astronaut in 2009, Yui flew as a flight engineer for Expedition 44/45 and became the first Japanese astronaut to capture JAXA’s H-II Transfer Vehicle using the station’s robotic arm. In addition to constructing a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, he conducted a total of 21 experiments for JAXA. In November 2016, Yui was assigned as chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group. He graduated from the School of Science and Engineering at the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He later joined the Air Self-Defense Force at the Japan Defense Agency (currently the Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Yui joined the Air Staff Office at the Ministry of Defense as a lieutenant colonel. Follow @astro_kimiya on X.

The mission will be Platonov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, Platonov earned a degree in engineering from Krasnodar Air Force Academy in aircraft operations and air traffic management. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in state and municipal management in 2016 from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned as a test cosmonaut in 2021, he has experience in piloting aircraft, zero gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.

Mission Overview From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui pictured after participating in a training simulation inside a mockup at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in HoustonNASA/Robert Markowitz

Following liftoff, Falcon 9 will accelerate Dragon to approximately 17,500 mph. Once in orbit, the crew, NASA, and SpaceX mission control will monitor a series of maneuvers that will guide Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can pilot it manually, if necessary.

After docking, Crew-11 will be welcomed aboard the station by the seven-member Expedition 73 crew, before conducting a short handover period on research and maintenance activities with the departing Crew-10 crew members. Then, NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will undock from the space station and return to Earth. Ahead of Crew-10’s return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California before departure from the station.

Cardman, Fincke, and Yui will conduct scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Participating crew members will simulate lunar landings, test strategies to safeguard vision, and advance other human spaceflight studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program. The crew also will study plant cell division and microgravity’s effects on bacteria-killing viruses, as well as perform experiments to produce a higher volume of human stem cells and generate on-demand nutrients.

While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-11 will welcome a Soyuz spacecraft in November with three new crew members, including NASA astronaut Chris Williams.  They also will bid farewell to the Soyuz carrying NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. The crew also is expected to see the arrival of the Dragon, Roscosmos Progress spacecraft, and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft to resupply the station.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission will be aboard the International Space Station on Nov. 2, when the orbiting laboratory surpasses 25 years of a continuous human presence. Since the first crew expedition arrived, the space station has enabled more than 4,000 groundbreaking experiments in the unique microgravity environment, while becoming a springboard for building a low Earth orbit economy and preparing for NASA’s future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station