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With wildfires happening more often and burning more area, homes need to be “hardened” to make them more fire-resistant

The Big Wheel, discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope, formed just 2 billion years after the big bang - surprisingly early for a spiral galaxy of a similar size to our Milky Way

The Big Wheel, discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope, formed just 2 billion years after the big bang - surprisingly early for a spiral galaxy of a similar size to our Milky Way

The EPA rolls back regulations, NASA launches two exciting missions, and we discuss the surprising way whale urine moves nitrogen across the ocean.

Surveys that ask thousands of people how they spend their time have revealed some surprising activities that seem to make any given day a good one

Surveys that ask thousands of people how they spend their time have revealed some surprising activities that seem to make any given day a good one

Researchers examining seismic data recorded on Mars say the have found evidence supporting the presence of liquid water deep inside the Red Planet.

When Betelgeuse goes off, it's going to be the show of a lifetime. But it’s not going to hurt us.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for a portrait inside the vestibule between the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. Clockwise from left, are NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.NASA

NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17.

NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are completing a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return time-sensitive research to Earth.

Mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will confirm the specific splashdown location closer to the Crew-9 return.

Watch Crew-9 return activities on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media. For schedule information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

For Crew-9 return, NASA’s live operations coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Monday, March 17

10:45 p.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+

Tuesday, March 18

12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+

1:05 a.m. – Undocking

Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will switch to audio only.

Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume on March 18 on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.

4:45 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+

5:11 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)

5:57 p.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)

7:30 p.m. – Return-to-Earth media conference on NASA+, with the following participants:

• Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Jeff Arend, manager for systems engineering and integration, NASA’s International Space Station, NASA’s International Space Station Office
• Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX

To participate in the briefing media must contact the newsroom at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston  by 5 p.m., March 17, at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online.

Find full mission coverage, NASA’s commercial crew blog, and more information about the Crew-9 mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

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

Kenna Pell / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

Steve Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Mar 16, 2025 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters

Despite their overall similarities, asteroids are usually pretty distinct from one another. Vesta has a very different spectroscopic profile than Psyche, for example. So it might come as no surprise that another of the main asteroids - Pallas - is in a class all its own except for the 300 or so members of its "family" with similar orbital profiles and spectroscopic lines. A new paper from researchers who were then Visiting Astronomers at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) in Haiwi'i took a look at members of that family in the infrared for the first time and compared them to a particular Near-Earth object that might have a similar make-up.

This butterfly shaped nebula is the perfect target for the James Webb Space Telescope to learn more about star formation.

The first private spacecraft mission to Venus, Rocket Lab's Photon Spacecraft, will take on the planet's hellish conditions with the aid of a novel woven heat shield called "HEEET."

The Force is strong with two rare screen-used 'Star Wars' props up for bids this month

A recent image from the Hubble Space Telescope captures a gorgeous spiral galaxy bursting with new star formation.

An audacious NASA mission suggests that dust blown north from Greenland couldhelp explain why Arctic ice is melting even faster than expected.

Earlier this week, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) announced the science objectives for the fourth cycle of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) General Observations program - aka. Cycle 4 GO. In keeping with Webb's major science objectives, many of these programs will focus on the study of the earliest galaxies in the Universe.

Why are there so many cyclones around the north pole of Jupiter?

Ingenuity proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a helicopter can operate on another planet. Over 72 flights, the little quadcopter that could captivated the imagination of space exploration fans everywhere. But, several factors limited it, and researchers at NASA think they can do better. Two papers presented at the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held March 10-14 in The Woodlands, Texas, and led by Pascal Lee of NASA Ames and Derric Loya of the SETI Institute and Colorado Mesa University, describe a use case for that still-under-development helicopter, which they call Nighthawk.