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NASA's Chandra Reveals Star's Inner Conflict Before Explosion - https://chandra.si.edu/press/25_releases/press_082825.html

Life is complicated, and not just in a philosophical sense. But one simple thing we know about life is that it requires energy, and to get that energy it needs certain fundamental elements. A new paper in preprint on arXiv from Giovanni Covone and Donato Giovannelli from the University of Naples discusses how we might use that constraint to narrow our search for stars and planets that could potentially harbor life. To put it simply, if it doesn’t have many of the constituent parts of the “building blocks” of life, then life probably doesn't exist there.

Deep in the constellation Scorpius, about 3,400 light years from Earth, a spectacular cosmic butterfly is revealing fundamental secrets about how worlds like our own came to exist. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have peered into the heart of the Butterfly Nebula and discovered clues that could transform our understanding of rocky planet formation.

Warmer temperatures are associated with higher consumption of sugary beverages and frozen treats, raising concerns about long-term health effects

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft awaits its capture by the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, commanded by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick on Aug. 6, 2024.Credit: NASA

NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 6:11 p.m. EDT, Sunday, Sept. 14, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23.

Watch the agency’s launch and arrival coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft, carried on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission will be the first flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft.

Following arrival, astronauts aboard the space station will use the Canadarm2 to grapple Cygnus XL on Wednesday, Sept. 17, before robotically installing the spacecraft to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading.

Highlights of space station research and technology demonstrations, facilitated by delivery aboard this Cygnus XL, include materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space and equipment to develop improvements for cryogenic fuel tanks. The spacecraft also will deliver a specialized UV light system to prevent the growth of microbe communities that form in water systems and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.

Media interested in speaking to a science subject matter expert should contact Sandra Jones at: sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available on the agency’s website.

The Cygnus XL spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until March before it departs and burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Northrop Grumman has named the spacecraft the S.S. William “Willie” McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut who perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident.

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Wednesday, Sept. 10:
1 p.m. – International Space Station National Laboratory Science Webinar with the following participants:

• Dr. Liz Warren, associate chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Research Office
• Phillip Irace, science program director, International Space Station National Laboratory
• Paul Westerhoff, regents professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University
• Robert Garmise, director of formulation development; exploratory biopharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers Squibb
• Joel Sercel, founder and CEO, TransAstra Corporation and Mike Lewis, senior vice president, customer innovation, Voyager Technologies
• Mohammad Kassemi, research professor, Case Western University

Media who wish to participate must register for Zoom access no later than one hour before the start of the webinar.

The webinar will be recorded and shared to the International Space Station National Lab’s YouTube channel following the event. Ask questions in advance using social accounts @ISS_CASIS and @Space_Station.

Friday, Sept 12

11:30 a.m. – Prelaunch media teleconference with the following participants:

• Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
• Dr. Liz Warren, associate chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Research Office
• Ryan Tintner, vice president, Civil Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
• Jared Metter, director, Flight Reliability, SpaceX

Media who wish to participate by phone must request dial-in information by 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 11, by contacting the NASA Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website and YouTube.

Sunday, Sept. 14:

5:50 p.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+ and Amazon Prime

6:11 p.m. – Launch

Wednesday, Sept. 17:

5 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+ and Amazon Prime

6:35 a.m. – Capture

8 a.m. – Installation coverage begins on NASA+ and Amazon Prime

NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 5:50 p.m. on Sept. 14, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates.

Attend Launch Virtually

Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.

Watch, Engage on Social Media

Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
 
X: @NASA, @NASASpaceOps, @NASAKennedy, @Space_Station, @ISS_CASIS

Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab

Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab

Coverage en Espanol

Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for additional mission coverage.

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.

Learn more about the mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-23/

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

Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-876-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Sep 08, 2025 EditorLauren E. LowLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply
• Commercial Resupply
• International Space Station (ISS)
• ISS Research

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on September 10, 2021, the 198th Martian day, or sol of its mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 10, to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper.

The sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” was collected in July 2024 from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.

Audio and visuals of the call will stream on the agency’s website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants in the teleconference include:

• Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy
• Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Lindsay Hays, Senior Scientist for Mars Exploration, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
• Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance Project Scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California
• Joel Hurowitz, planetary scientist, Stony Brook University, New York

To ask questions by phone, members of the media must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the event to: rexana.v.vizza@jpl.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

Since landing in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater in February 2021, Perseverance has collected 30 samples. The rover still has six empty sample tubes to fill, and it continues to collect detailed information about geologic targets that it hasn’t sampled by using its abrasion tool. Among the rover’s science instruments is a weather station that provides environmental information for future human missions, as well as swatches of spacesuit material so that NASA can study how it fares on Mars.

Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

To learn more about Perseverance visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/perseverance

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Bethany Stevens / Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov

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

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Details Last Updated Sep 08, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Perseverance (Rover)
• Mars
• Mars 2020
• Planetary Science Division
• Science Mission Directorate

The company is hoping to keep their momentum.

Constant loss of smell, facial pain and a blocked nose are a reality for the 10 per cent of people living with chronic rhinosinusitis, a disease long-neglected by research. Targeting the nasal microbiome, though, is offering hope

Constant loss of smell, facial pain and a blocked nose are a reality for the 10 per cent of people living with chronic rhinosinusitis, a disease long-neglected by research. Targeting the nasal microbiome, though, is offering hope

People who made the greatest gains in muscle power over eight weeks of resistance training also improved the balance of bacteria in their gut

People who made the greatest gains in muscle power over eight weeks of resistance training also improved the balance of bacteria in their gut

The arguments made by AI safety researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares in If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies are superficially appealing but fatally flawed, says Jacob Aron

The arguments made by AI safety researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares in If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies are superficially appealing but fatally flawed, says Jacob Aron

Florida may soon become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren, setting the stage for deadly infections to make a comeback

Florida may soon become the first state to end all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren, setting the stage for deadly infections to make a comeback

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is pictured inside the cupola, the International Space Station's "window to the world," as the orbiting lab flew 263 miles above southeastern England on Oct. 1, 2022.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is pictured inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world,” as the orbiting lab flew 263 miles above southeastern England on Oct. 1, 2022.NASA/Frank Rubio

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio poses for a picture in the International Space Station’s cupola on Oct. 1, 2022.

Rubio was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. He trained as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 68 crew. Rubio, along with cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin of Roscosmos, launched Sept. 21, 2022, on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the space station.

While aboard the orbital laboratory, Rubio and his fellow crew members conducted dozens of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, including growing tomato plants to study hydroponic and aeroponic techniques, participating in crew health experiments, and studying how materials react in microgravity. Research like this and other activity on the orbital outpost will inform long-duration missions like Artemis and future human expeditions to Mars.

Rubio spent 371 days in space, surpassing NASA’s single spaceflight record for continuous days in space made by astronaut Mark Vande Hei. Rubio and his crewmates landed in Kazakhstan on Sept. 27, 2023. Rubio’s mission is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history.

Image credit: NASA/Frank Rubio

The planet TRAPPIST-1e lies in its star’s Goldilocks zone, where water remains liquid – and an analysis suggests it might have a nitrogen-rich atmosphere like Earth’s