NASA News
Establishing a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm
In April 2026, NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) initiated a working group to review updated VTE case information, additional data gathered revealing altered blood flow status within a cohort of astronauts, and discuss progress of research and clinical activities intended to mitigate the risk of VTE during spaceflight with new evidence-based clinical practice recommendations.
RecommendationsThe following is a summary of the working group’s recommendations:
- The working group’s conclusions emphasized that stasis in the left internal jugular vein (IJV) is consistently viewed as a dominant risk factor for VTE in microgravity, though there is active debate regarding the relative contributions of slow qualitative flow, endothelial factors and/or retrograde flow.
- Limitations of current in-flight ultrasound capabilities to accurately measure stasis/slow flow was cited as a concern, especially if using only stasis as a factor for indicating the need for prophylaxis.
- Additional review of assessing stasis with ultrasound in-flight was recommended.
- After reviewing the risk factors, additional discussions following the working group led to the majority of the panel agreeing that stasis and retrograde flow warranted use of prophylaxis.
- The working group also recommended assessing all other risk factors other than stasis to also determine when prophylaxis is warranted.
- Based on a literature review and summary of the panel contributions, a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm was developed, which includes providing anticoagulation prophylaxis for stasis alone, or a combination of other thrombosis risk factors that are weighted by terrestrial literature.
NASA initially formed a working group in October 2024 after diagnosing venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) in astronauts during ISS missions. Experts reviewed case data, updated Clinical Practice Guidelines, and examined possible causes.
Read more about the outcomes of the meeting here Approximate location of identified thrombi in crewmembers.Source: Modified from Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis – University of Colorado Denver Share Details Last Updated Jul 19, 2026 Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics OCHMO Mission-Enabling AssessmentsMission-enabling assessment plays a crucial role in NASA’s long-term success by addressing essential questions requiring rapid response to support further…
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Human Spaceflight StandardsThe Human Spaceflight & Aviation Standards Team continually works with programs to provide the best standards and implementation documentation to…
Human Spaceflight and Aviation StandardsThe Human Spaceflight and Aviation Standards Team continuously works with subject matter experts and with each space flight program to…
NASA Awards Facilities Support Services Contract for Ames Research Center
CONTRACT RELEASE
NASA has selected Chugach Intelligence Solutions LLC to provide comprehensive operations, maintenance, and repair services for NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
The Ames Facilities Support Services II contract ensures that the center’s historic and specialized facilities are properly maintained, fully operational, and capable of supporting the agency’s missions and tenant partners in the NASA Research Park.
The hybrid contract has a five-year period of performance, consisting of a 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods, with the possibility of a six-month extension. The performance period is expected to begin Thursday, Aug. 13. The contract includes cost-plus-award-fee core requirements, firm-fixed-price phase-in, and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity task orders, providing flexibility to address both routine and emergent facility needs. The award has a maximum potential value of approximately $158 million, inclusive of all options and total indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity ceiling value.
For more information about NASA and its missions, visit:
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Jeanne Neal
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, Calif.
650-604-4789
jeanne.c.neal@nasa.gov
NASA’s Chandra and IXPE Study Pulsar in Lighthouse Nebula
This composite image, released on July 9, 2026, shows the region around a pulsar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field that spins incredibly fast – within the Lighthouse nebula. The image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, X-rays from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) in blue, and radio emission captured by the Australia Compact Telescope Array in green.
Scientists used IXPE – for the first time ever – to directly measure the magnetic fields of the pulsar. The results provide new insight into the structure of some of the most extreme objects in the cosmos, as NASA continues to explore the secrets of how the universe works. A paper describing the results published July 9 in the Astrophysical Journal.
Read more about this novel use of IXPE.
Image credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./J. Dinsmore et al.; IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Dinsmore et al., Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Optical: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
La NASA invita a los medios de comunicación al lanzamiento del telescopio espacial Roman
Read this release in English here.
Ya está abierto el plazo de acreditación de los medios de comunicación para el lanzamiento de la misión del telescopio espacial Nancy Grace Roman de la NASA.
El lanzamiento del telescopio Roman está programado para no antes de las 7:20 a.m. (hora del este) del domingo 30 de agosto, a bordo de un cohete Falcon Heavy de SpaceX, desde el Complejo de Lanzamiento 39A en el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida. Este observatorio, que lleva el nombre de la primera astrónoma jefa de la NASA, ofrecerá una visión profunda y panorámica del cosmos, generando imágenes nunca antes vistas que revolucionarán nuestra comprensión del universo.
Los medios interesados en asistir al lanzamiento deben presentar su solicitud antes de los siguientes plazos:
- Los representantes de medios de comunicación internacionales sin ciudadanía estadounidense deben presentar su solicitud antes de las 11:59 p.m. del domingo 26 de julio.
- Los medios de comunicación de Estados Unidos y los ciudadanos estadounidenses que representen a organizaciones de medios internacionales deben presentar su solicitud antes de las 11:59 p.m. del jueves 30 de julio.•
Todas las solicitudes de acreditación deben ser enviadas en línea a través del sitio web:
La política de acreditación de medios de la NASA está disponible en línea. Para consultas sobre la acreditación o para solicitudes logísticas especiales, envíe un correo electrónico a: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
Para otras consultas, comuníquese con la sala de prensa del Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA al teléfono: 321-867-2468.
Para obtener más información sobre esta misión, visite el sitio:
https://www.ciencia.nasa.gov/roman
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Alise Fisher / María José Viñas
Sede central de la NASA, Washington
202-385-1287
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart
Centro Espacial Kennedy, Florida
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
Claire Andreoli
Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA, Greenbelt, Maryland
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA Invites Media to Roman Space Telescope, Crew-13 Launches
Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the agency’s SpaceX Crew-13 missions, both targeting launch in the coming months.
The Roman telescope is slated to launch no earlier than 7:20 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The observatory, named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, will have a deep, panoramic view of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is seen here in the clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where the observatory was built and tested. Roman’s vast, deep surveys will explore dark matter, dark energy, exoplanets, and almost anything from our own solar system to galaxies at the edge of the observable universe.Credit: NASA/Jolearra TshiteyaCrew-13 is scheduled to launch no earlier than mid-September from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission will carry NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov to the International Space Station for a science and research expedition. This will be NASA’s 13th commercial crew rotation mission with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 members are pictured in their pressure suits seated inside a mockup Dragon spacecraft during a preflight training session at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. From left to right, Roscosmos Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronauts Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk. Credit: SpaceXMedia interested in attending either or both launches must apply by the following deadlines:
- International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 26.
- U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media organizations must apply by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, July 30.
All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation or special logistical requests, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
For other questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
For more information about these missions, visit:
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Alise Fisher (Roman) / Joshua Finch (Crew-13)
Headquarters, Washington
202-385-1287 / 202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart (Roman) / Steve Siceloff (Crew-13)
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-747-8310 / 321-867-2468
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov / steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
Claire Andreoli (Roman)
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Details of Martian Surface During Flyby
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Details of Martian Surface During Flyby
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Captured by the multispectral imager instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is an enhanced-color mosaic created from four individual images acquired on May 15, 2026, during the spacecraft’s flyby of Mars.
Psyche was traveling from right to left (northeast to southwest on Mars) during the six minutes that it took to acquire the images for this mosaic, and the pixel scale resolution varies from 381 meters per pixel on the right to 440 meters per pixel on the left. The imager used its near-infrared, green, and blue filters, which helped to reveal highly contrasting craters, ridges, wind streaks, and volcanic plains materials on the surface.
The mosaic covers part of the Iapygia region of the rugged southern highlands of Mars, from approximately 62 degrees east to 78 degrees east longitude and 4 degrees north to 14 degrees south latitude. The largest crater, just below center, is called Fournier and is about 71 miles (114 kilometers) in diameter. The linear feature running from top to bottom of the mosaic just left of center is part of a long irregular cliff (or scarp) system called Oenotria Scopuli, which is part of the circular structure of the large Isidis impact basin to the northeast of this area.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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NASA Welcomes Mauritius as 70th Artemis Accords Signatory
The Republic of Mauritius has officially joined the global coalition committed to responsible space exploration, becoming the newest signatory and seventh African country to join the Artemis Accords. NASA’s Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson contributed video remarks for a signing ceremony on Friday, in the island nation’s city of Ébène.
“We are honored to welcome Mauritius to the Artemis Accords community and look forward to working together in the years ahead,” said Anderson. “Together, we are creating the foundation for future exploration while ensuring that space remains peaceful, accessible, and beneficial for all. America will return to the Moon and ignite the Golden Age of exploration and discovery. That work requires capable partners and a shared commitment to responsible exploration.”
Mauritius’ Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Research Navindsing Jugmohunsing signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the country. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Sarah Troutman and U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Mauritius Craig Halbmaier were present to witness the signing.
“The accession of Mauritius to the Artemis Accords marks a defining chapter in our New Space journey,” said Jugmohunsing. “As a Small Island Developing State in the Indian Ocean, we are committed to ensuring that space serves humanity by protecting our oceans and coastlines and amplifying the voices of nations like ours. Mauritius stands ready to help shape the future of space governance while unlocking new opportunities for innovation and partnership.”
NASA first engaged with Mauritius through its early global mapping efforts, owing to the nation’s strategic location. Between 1965 and 1980, NASA used several satellite missions to collect global measurements of Earth’s size and shape. As part of that work, NASA sent teams to Mauritius and other international tracking stations that supported satellite photography for geodetic analysis. Their observations strengthened the navigation technologies used from Apollo to Artemis and helped lay the foundation for the partnership reaffirmed today by the Artemis Accords.
In 2020, NASA and the Department of State joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies. They introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety and coordination between like-minded nations as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, committing nations to:
- explore peaceably and transparently
- render aid to those in need
- enable access to scientific data
- ensure activities do not interfere with those of others
- preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices
Five years later, President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy directed NASA to establish a sustained lunar outpost. With this Moon Base, NASA is putting the principles of the Artemis Accords into practice, inviting every signatory including now Mauritius to take part in the endeavor.
More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.
Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
Share Details Last Updated Jul 17, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsA Tide-Fueled Trove of Biodiversity in Guinea-Bissau
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NASA Welcomes Serbia as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory
The Republic of Serbia signed the Artemis Accords Thursday during a ceremony hosted by NASA at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington, becoming the 69th nation to join a large community of like-minded nations committed to the peaceful, transparent, and responsible exploration of space.
“Serbia’s connection to NASA reaches back to the Apollo program, when the work of Serbian engineers helped make some of humanity’s greatest achievements in space possible,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson. “Among them was Milojko ‘Mike’ Vučelić, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the critical role he played in bringing the Apollo 13 crew safely home. Their story stands as a reminder that the greatest achievements in space are made possible by talented people working together.”
The broader team of Serbian American engineers played key roles during the Apollo era across systems engineering, propulsion, power systems, spacecraft docking, electronics reliability, and mission coordination. Their expertise supported critical functions ranging from lunar landing analysis to safe spacecraft docking.
Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Đurić signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the country.
“The great beyond has always inspired humanity to achieve its greatest feats — from the Roman ‘per aspera ad astra’ to Norman Vincent Peale’s belief that if we aim for the Moon, we will at least land among the stars,” said Đurić. “Those words feel especially fitting today. We come from a nation of great minds like Nikola Tesla and Milutin Milanković, but also from the legacy of David Vujic, one of the pioneers of the Apollo missions and a member of the ‘Serbian Seven,’ a group of engineers and technicians whose contributions to NASA helped make the Moon landing possible. In that spirit, we owe it to both our brave ancestors and our children to keep pushing toward new frontiers — to explore, to inspire one another, and to dare even greater things.”
By signing the Artemis Accords, nations open the door to opportunities for future lunar exploration with NASA, such as providing science and technology payloads for the U.S.-led Moon Base and CubeSats for upcoming Artemis missions, advancing humanity’s return to the Moon, and shaping the Golden Age of space exploration and innovation.
Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the United States Dragan Šutanovac; State Secretary for Serbia’s Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Marija Gnjatović; and U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Wesley Brooks all participated in Serbia’s signing ceremony.
In 2020, NASA and the Department of State joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies. They introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety and coordination between nations as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, committing nations to:
- explore peaceably and transparently
- render aid to those in need
- enable access to scientific data
- ensure activities do not interfere with those of others
- preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices
Five years later, President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy directed NASA to establish a sustained lunar outpost. With this Moon Base, NASA is putting the principles of the Artemis Accords into practice, inviting every signatory to take part in the endeavor.
More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.
Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
Share Details Last Updated Jul 16, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA Study Finds Near-Earth Asteroid Is Actually Comet
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This artist’s concept depicts a near-Earth asteroid with an elongated orbit. A few objects such as these can exhibit significant perturbations in their motion around the Sun and, like the asteroid 1998 SH2, could turn out to be regular comets with a weak tail and coma (the gas and dust around a comet’s nucleus).NASA/JPL-CaltechNew research led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has revealed the identity of a puzzling near-Earth object by precisely tracking its motion through space and using powerful observatories that image faint celestial objects.
This object has a dual personality: Past images hadn’t revealed obvious cometlike activity, suggesting it might be an asteroid, but its motion recently proved to be irregular like that of a comet. The scientists detailed their findings in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The puzzle began on Aug. 28, 2025, when the object, provisionally known as the asteroid 1998 SH2, passed safely within 2 million miles (3 million kilometers) of our planet during its 4½-year orbit around the Sun. Researchers looking to observe 1998 SH2 with NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) planetary radar system had calculated its position using data from previous orbits and factored in the effects that the gravity of the Sun and planets would have on its path. But when 1998 SH2 didn’t show up where they expected, they realized that something unanticipated had been influencing the object’s motion.
Object trackingBy using optical astrometry to precisely measure the object’s position in the sky, the researchers were able to identify the cause.
“After we measured the nongravitational perturbations affecting the motion of 1998 SH2 and recognized they weren’t compatible with the object being an asteroid, we suspected the object could be an active comet,” said Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer with NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at JPL and study lead.
Although 1998 SH2’s orbit around the Sun had been well-tracked from 1998 to 2016, the object had completed two solar orbits without additional observations by telescopes until the 2025 DSN attempts. Analyzing all observations collected since the object’s discovery in 1998, researchers determined the perturbations to 1998 SH2’s motion and hypothesized that the object may be generating a small thrust by venting gas into space, causing it to deviate from its predicted path.
This venting results from the Sun heating ice mixed with rocky material, turning the ice into a gas. With regular comets, this activity forms a trademark bright tail and coma — the gas and dust surrounding a comet’s nucleus. But when an object produces gas and dust in much smaller quantities, its tail and coma may not be detectable to most observatories.
Tail, coma emergeThe August 2025 close approach to Earth of 1998 SH2 provided the perfect opportunity for the paper’s authors to gather observational evidence of visible cometary activity. They reached out to astronomers at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, a 3.6-meter (12-foot) optical/infrared telescope near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the 1.5-meter (5-foot) European Southern Observatory’s Danish Telescope in La Silla, Chile, to observe. Astronomers at the powerful European Southern Observatory’s 8.2-meter (27-foot) Very Large Telescope on the Chilean mountain Cerro Paranal also tracked the object.
“The images we collected from these observatories showed a weak but clear tail, thus confirming that 1998 SH2 is, in fact, a comet,” said Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer with the European Southern Observatory and coauthor of the study. “That’s how science works — you form a hypothesis, and you set out to test it. This data is exactly what was needed to confirm our hypothesis that 1998 SH2 was a comet.”
As an outcome of the investigation, 1998 SH2 will receive an additional comet provisional designation, P/1998 SH2.
Planetary defense implicationsThe research also sheds light on another, even more unusual, class of objects called dark comets. Like 1998 SH2, dark comets exhibit significant irregularities, or perturbations, in their trajectory but lack other visible evidence of comet activity — there’s no coma, tail, or visible outgassing. These enigmatic objects fall into two distinct populations: larger ones with orbits similar to those of Jupiter-family comets (short period comets with highly elliptical, or eccentric, orbits), and smaller ones that orbit closer to the Sun. Since the 2016 discovery of the first dark comet, about a dozen more have been identified.
The paper’s authors suggest that many of the larger dark comets, which have orbits like 1998 SH2’s, could turn out to be regular comets if astronomers get the right opportunity to observe them with powerful telescopes capable of imaging incredibly faint objects. And by analyzing the motion of all near-Earth objects using precision astrometry data, researchers may reveal more comets that were previously designated as asteroids if they exhibit cometlike nongravitational perturbations.
“This work shows the importance of continuously tracking near-Earth objects,” said Farnocchia. “Because of outgassing, the motion of comets is more significantly perturbed than that of asteroids. Detecting these perturbations can be an important diagnostic tool for planetary defense that will help understand which objects may be comets rather than asteroids, how their orbits evolve, and how that influences their Earth impact risks.”
Hunting for near-Earth objectsNASA’s upcoming Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor will collect data that can be used to support this effort. The first space survey telescope to be built for planetary defense, this next-generation mission will seek out some of the hardest-to-find near-Earth objects, such as dark asteroids and comets that don’t reflect much visible light.
NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, the Goldstone Solar System Radar Group, and NEO Surveyor all are managed by JPL and supported by the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office in Washington. Caltech in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. The DSN receives programmatic oversight from the SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program office, also at NASA headquarters.
More information about planetary radar, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, and near-Earth objects can be found at:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroid-watch
News Media Contacts
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Share Details Last Updated Jul 16, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 6 min read NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient AsteroidsA meteorite recovered immediately upon its fall to Earth on July 16, 2024, is helping…
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Young Galaxy Cluster
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope takes us 4.4 billion years in the past with this July 3, 2026, image of a young galaxy cluster, MACS J0553.4-3342. The cluster is composed of two actively merging sub-clusters, roughly equal in mass. Each sub-cluster is anchored on an immensely bright and massive elliptical galaxy, easily identifiable as the two brightest points in the center of this scene with the largest glowing halos around them.
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, S. Fujimoto
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NASA Uses Subscale Aircraft to Accelerate Flight Innovation
Testing new aerospace concepts in flight remains one of NASA’s most effective ways to advance knowledge and reduce risk.
The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, supports this mission by using small, remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft as cost‑effective platforms to mature innovative ideas, accelerate learning, and enable smoother transitions to full‑scale flight.
When experiments require a flight platform, several NASA remotely piloted aircraft are available: the Alta‑X quadrotor; the Dryden Remotely Operated Integrated Drone (DROID) with its 10‑foot wingspan; and the Multi‑Use Cub, a 14‑foot‑span fixed‑wing aircraft with an expandable payload capacity for flight experiments. For electric vertical takeoff and landing testing, the HQ‑90 quadrotor provides an additional option.
Once aircraft and experiments are cleared for operations, laboratory pilots support the mission, including ground operations and flight activities.
Justin Link, left, holds the subscale aircraft in place, while Justin Hall manages engine speed during preliminary engine tests on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Link is a pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems at the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory and Hall is the chief pilot.NASA/Christopher LC Clark Flight expertiseEach staff member serves as an experienced and certified subscale aircraft pilot and is prepared to fly unique one-of-a-kind or modified commercial aircraft wherever the mission requires.
NASA’s FireSense project conducted flights in the Geneva State Forest, located about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. NASA Armstrong flight research staff integrated the instrument onto an Alta-X drone and tested the system before deployment. Two team members then transported the drone and sensor to the forest, prepared the vehicle for flight, and operated it during the mission. The NASA sensor was flown on the drone to demonstrate how remotely piloted aircraft can gather localized weather data that influences smoke movement and fire behavior. This information may help operational agencies improve wildfire decision-making and better allocate firefighters and resources.
Other missions occur closer to NASA Armstrong, such as the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy (EPIC) project. EPIC involved air‑launching a capsule containing a parachute and flexible sensor from the Alta‑X. Laboratory staff piloted the flights, supported flight operations, and worked with the EPIC team to design and integrate the parachute‑drop mechanism and safety system into the aircraft.
These tests demonstrated that a flexible sensor could help researchers study supersonic parachutes. Continuation of this work can help fill gaps in computer models, making supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.
Justin Link, left, pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, and Justin Hall, chief pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, install weather instruments on NASA’s Alta X drone at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Members of the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory used the Alta X to support the agency’s FireSense project in March 2025 for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama.NASA/Steve Freeman Advancing challenging researchThe Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory uses rapid design and testing capabilities to help small aircraft fly big ideas. These concepts could lead to future breakthroughs that support NASA’s missions across aeronautics, science, and exploration.
For decades, NASA and its partners have advanced Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology. The research demonstrated an autopilot could detect and recover from an imminent ground collision – a capability now helping save lives in high‑performance U.S. military jets. NASA Armstrong had key roles in that work and developed a simplified version, the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, which was installed on the DROID for testing.
The system demonstrated on the DROID — developed to assist general aviation pilots as well as remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft — performed well and led to further research toward a version that provides alerts and steering cues. The NASA Armstrong Technology Transfer Office is working to license the technology for U.S. businesses to develop the system as a commercial product.
The Prandtl‑D (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag) flying‑wing glider was also designed, fabricated, and flown at NASA Armstrong. Researchers found that its twisted wing design could reduce drag and generate thrust at the wingtips, advancing concepts that may support greater fuel economy for future aircraft. The original Prandtl‑D is now part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection in Washington, and the Prandtl-D3 is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Researchers continue developing the next generation of the design in the laboratory.
A wide range of capabilities in the laboratory help transform promising concepts into flight-ready test structures. These include rapid prototyping using traditional and advanced 3D manufacturing techniques, as well as composite and conventional fabrication processes. The team of engineers and technicians also provides custom component design and specialized fabrication to meet unique research needs.
The laboratory supports electrical and mechanical design, hardware and software integration, and the safety and flight-readiness processes required for successful missions. Additional technical facilities, such as the Experimental Fabrication Branch and the Environmental Laboratory at NASA Armstrong, further enhance these capabilities. Together, they support development, testing, and validation activities that advance NASA’s aeronautics and exploration goals.
Deborah Jackson, Al Bowers and Abbigail Waddell successfully launch the subscale Prandtl-D 3C glider.NASA Share Details Last Updated Jul 15, 2026 EditorDede DiniusContactJay Levinejay.levine-1@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Study Points to Smoother Air Taxi Rides Article 3 days ago 3 min read A Day of Flight Testing at NASA Armstrong Article 2 weeks ago 6 min read NASA’s Newest Wind Tunnel Builds on Legacy of Innovation Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAArmstrong Flight Research Center
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NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids
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NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids C1 clasts in Hillsborough: On the left is a back-scattered electron image with two C1 748 clasts circled. On the right, an X-ray map of the same area as (A), indicating Na enrichment in 749 of the C1 clasts relative to the bulk of Hillsborough. Credit: NASA/SETIA meteorite recovered immediately upon its fall to Earth on July 16, 2024, is helping NASA scientists uncover new clues about ancient water, the chemical evolution of primitive asteroids, and the ingredients that may have helped make life possible throughout the early solar system.
This rapid recovery began when an amateur astronomer in New Jersey quickly recognized that a newly fallen meteorite had landed on his property. Recognizing its scientific value and wearing protective gloves, he collected the fragments and stored them in aluminum foil and glass containers, which preserved delicate minerals and organic compounds that are often altered by moisture, weather, and contamination.
As the meteorite fell to Earth, cameras across New Jersey captured its fiery passage through the atmosphere. Scientists used these observations to reconstruct the fireball’s trajectory and, after recovering the meteorite, combined this data with laboratory analyses to determine where in the solar system the rock most likely originated. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, researchers found evidence that ancient salty water altered minerals within the meteorite’s parent asteroid, preserving unique minerals and a rich inventory of organic compounds.
“When we have both a documented fireball and a quick recovery of its meteorite, we can learn not only what the rock is made of, but where it came from in the asteroid belt,” said Peter Jenniskens, meteor astronomer at both NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and the SETI Institute, and lead author of the study.
Combined radar detections from the Hillsborough meteorite fall. The green line shows the fireball’s projected path, while colored radar signatures show falling meteorite fragments drifting east-northeast with prevailing winds. Credit: NASA/Marc FriesNamed for the township where it was recovered, the Hillsborough meteorite belongs to a class of carbon-rich meteorites known as CM carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive rocks preserve some of the oldest materials in the solar system, recording the chemical processes that shaped asteroids more than 4.5 billion years ago.
While examining the unusually pristine meteorite, researchers found a mosaic of tiny broken-up rocks and noticed that some contained unusually high concentrations of sodium — an unexpected finding for this type of meteorite. The surprising signal prompted a closer investigation using powerful electron microscopes that allowed scientists to examine the meteorite from the millimeter scale down to individual atoms. By combining observations across multiple scales, researchers reconstructed the history of the minerals and the fluids that once flowed through them.
These analyses revealed microscopic fractures filled with sodium-rich material left behind by ancient brines. Unlike pure water, brines contain dissolved salts that allow them to transport elements and chemically alter the rocks they move through. In the case of the Hillsborough sample, those ancient fluids altered the asteroid’s minerals and left behind chemical evidence that remained preserved for billions of years.
Scientists were also able to detect fragile sodium-carbonate salts that normally react with moisture in Earth’s atmosphere before they can be studied. Jangmi Han, a paper co-author and mineralogist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, identified evidence of ancient brines preserved within microscopic fractures. Similar salts were identified in samples returned from the asteroids Bennu and Ryugu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. However,Hillsborough marks the first time the salts have been identified in a CM carbonaceous chondrite meteorite, offering a new glimpse into the surfaces of the primitive asteroids that produced these meteorites.
Together, these findings suggest that ancient, salt-rich brines were more widespread among primitive asteroids than previously recognized, and provide scientists with new opportunities to compare how water altered different asteroid bodies across the early solar system.
“The chips of the most salt-rich bits of this meteorite are quite comparable to the samples returned by the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx missions,” said Mike Zolensky, a meteorite researcher at NASA Johnson and co-author of the study. “They’re not identical. They’re different in some very interesting ways, but they’ve seen very similar processes.”
Following the history of water through the solar system is an essential part of understanding the origin of life.Mike Zolensky
Meteorite Researcher
Scientists expected Hillsborough to contain a rich suite of organic compounds because it is a CM carbonaceous chondrite. What made the meteorite exceptional was how quickly it was recovered, allowing researchers to study those compounds before prolonged exposure to Earth’s environment could contaminate the sample.
“One of the big surprises for me when we analyzed a small chip of the Hillsborough meteorite was the complexity of amino acids and other organic compounds,” said Danny Glavin, senior scientist in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author of the study.
Its diversity of amino acids and other organic compounds is, comparable to the Murchison meteorite, a nearly 100-kilogram carbonaceous chondrite that fell in Australia in 1969 and became the benchmark for extraterrestrial organic chemistry.
“It’s just more proof that the chemical building blocks of life could have been delivered — and are still being delivered — to Earth today by these carbonaceous asteroid fragments,” said Glavin, who was a co-investigator on OSIRIS-REx, leading an international team that studied the organic composition of the samples delivered to Earth from asteroid Bennu in 2023.
Understanding the Hillsborough meteorite required expertise from multiple scientific disciplines.
Astronomers reconstructed the meteorite’s journey through space, finding evidence that it may have originated from the Erigone asteroid family in the inner asteroid belt, home to the asteroid Donaldjohanson, which was visited in 2025 by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. Mineralogists identified evidence of ancient brines preserved within microscopic fractures, while organic chemists analyzed the meteorite’s inventory of amino acids and other organic compounds.
“Together, those complementary studies are helping scientists build one of the clearest pictures yet of how primitive asteroids such as the asteroid Erigone evolved chemically over billions of years,” said Jenniskens.
Researchers continue to study the Hillsborough meteorite, revealing new details about how water transformed primitive asteroids and shaped the early solar system.
By tracing the history of water on primitive asteroids, scientists are learning how water and the chemical ingredients for life were distributed throughout the early solar system.
“If you follow the water through the solar system, you’re actually following life,” Zolensky said. “Following the history of water through the solar system is an essential part of understanding the origin of life.”
For more information on NASA’s astromaterials research and exploration, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/astromaterials
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 / 240-419-1732
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Victoria Segovia
NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111
victoria.segovia@nasa.gov
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How NASA’s Artemis III Lander Test Will Pave Way for Moon Landings
Before Artemis astronauts land on the Moon’s surface in 2028, NASA will conduct the Artemis III demonstration mission in 2027, allowing teams on Earth and in orbit to practice rendezvous and docking operations between commercial human landing systems and the Orion spacecraft. Data from that mission, along with future uncrewed demonstration missions at the Moon, will support astronaut safety and mission success for crewed lunar landings.
NASA is working with two American companies to develop the human landing systems that will safely transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface and back for future Artemis missions. For Artemis III, both SpaceX and Blue Origin will fly test versions, or test articles, of the crewed landers that will be used for future Moon landings. The lander test articles will launch by commercial rockets, while the Artemis III crew will launch to low Earth orbit in Orion atop the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.
Stage setting for crewed flightsNASA and the human landing system providers have been working closely together to plan and determine capabilities for the Artemis III mission. With missions fast approaching, both SpaceX and Blue Origin are optimizing hardware availability and capability. SpaceX plans to use the company’s latest version of Starship and basis of the future Starship HLS, called Version 3, while Blue Origin will test their planned HLS crew cabin, allowing each company to apply lessons learned prior to uncrewed and crewed missions on the Moon.
“Each human landing system provider has taken a different approach to the Artemis III mission,” said Steve Creech, program manager, Human Landing System Program, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Ultimately, SpaceX and Blue Origin have put forward a list of aggressive objectives and goals intended to complement upcoming uncrewed demonstration missions at the Moon so that we can gain both understanding and confidence in the spacecraft and launch vehicles prior to a crewed landing. The lander prototype designs will inform future development efforts and will continue to mature over the next year.”
For the Artemis III mission, the Blue Moon test lander will be based on Blue Origin’s current architecture for its Mark 2 crew lander, incorporating all the major avionics and flight software and control systems to ensure flight operations from this demonstration mission can directly translate to crewed lunar flights. Up to two crew members, donning orange Orion crew survival system suits, will open the hatch to enter the Blue Origin test lander. The production hardware must incorporate many of the same systems and subsystems, including an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), a crew cabin, and avionics.
These artist’s concepts depict Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system test article in Earth orbit and docked with NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of NASA’s upcoming Artemis III demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. Blue Origin These artist’s concepts depict Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system test article in Earth orbit and docked with NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of NASA’s upcoming Artemis III demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. Blue OriginThe Blue Origin lander also will fly with an instrumented lunar surface spacesuit mass simulator. Like the suited “Moonikin” manikin that flew aboard Orion during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, the low-fidelity spacesuit mass simulator will provide real-time feedback about the environment within the Blue Moon crew cabin.
SpaceX’s Starship lander test article will use a Starship Version 3, currently in production and testing, with an added docking system installed on the nose of the 171-foot (52-m) spacecraft, enabling NASA and SpaceX to evaluate how the entire integrated stack of Orion and the Starship test lander interact. NASA and SpaceX are identifying controllability and communications tests for the Artemis III mission. Astronauts will not enter the Starship test lander during Artemis III.
These artist’s concepts depict NASA’s Orion spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starship human landing system test article during docking operations as part of NASA’s upcoming Artemis III demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. SpaceX These artist’s concepts depict NASA’s Orion spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starship human landing system test article during docking operations as part of NASA’s upcoming Artemis III demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. SpaceX Launch cadenceNASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin will launch three of the world’s most powerful rockets within a short timeframe of one another, exercising ground processing, launch crews, and facilities as well as control centers, networking, and data exchange at key sites across the country during two separate, back-to-back rendezvous and docking maneuvers between Orion and the lander test articles, before a safe splashdown of the Artemis III crew in Orion.
“Artemis III will be a highly choreographed dance with a demanding launch sequence across multiple launch pads and equally demanding mission operations for our ground and flight crews, making it one of the most complex and ambitious missions NASA has ever undertaken,” said Jeremy Parsons, Artemis program manager. “The demonstration mission will set the stage before our next giant leap. NASA’s expertise in systems engineering and integration, as well as launch and mission operations in low Earth orbit, will bring the mission together.”
For future crewed missions to the Moon, NASA and one of the commercial lander partners will execute a “dual launch campaign,” prepositioning the lander in orbit to await a crewed Orion, launched on SLS. Launching the three rockets in succession of one another for Artemis III offers a unique opportunity to practice launch processing and operations.
Blue Origin’s lander test article is planned to launch first and will be able to loiter in space for up to 30 days, allowing for checkouts in orbit prior to the launch of SLS and Orion from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Blue Origin test article will launch at a set trajectory to meet a designated “parking” orbit for these systems checks.
Artemis III will be a highly choreographed dance with a demanding launch sequence across multiple launch pads and equally demanding mission operations for our ground and flight crews, making it one of the most complex and ambitious missions NASA has ever undertaken.Jeremy Parsons
Artemis program manager
Following the completion of Blue Origin’s rendezvous and docking operations testing and the Artemis III crewed launch on SLS, SpaceX will launch its Starship lander test article to rendezvous with Orion and its crew for its phase of on-orbit testing.
Throughout the Artemis III mission, Orion will fly in a circular orbit. All three rockets will have more launch opportunities than are available for a lunar mission and will be able to reach the designated mission altitude in a single launch.
Docking operationsDuring docking and undocking operations, Orion and the Artemis III crew will use the lander test articles as the targets, while Orion will operate as the chaser spacecraft. This is the same configuration planned for future crew landing mission to the Moon.
NASA will ensure both test landers are mission ready and crew safe prior to Artemis III. These verifications will be based on functional and performance requirements for the test lander designs and hazard controls for hardware and software, ensuring the Artemis III astronauts inside Orion are safe throughout both docking phases of the mission.
SpaceX and Blue Origin have already tested their docking capabilities for their respective landers on the ground. SpaceX’s docking capability was qualified in 2023; Blue Origin conducted development ground testing on its pressurized docking system earlier this year.
A key difference between the docking capabilities of both lander test articles will be the location of docking. Orion will dock along the side of the Blue Moon test lander, adjacent to the crew cabin. Later, Orion will dock nose-to-nose with the giant SpaceX test lander.
Software testing between spacecrafts will help demonstrate that the commercial human landing system prototypes and Orion can meet at a precise time and location in space. When Orion docks with the Blue Moon test lander, the Orion spacecraft’s software will control the docked spacecraft. Meanwhile, the SpaceX test article will control the docked spacecraft for the second portion of the mission. During the docking phases, teams with NASA and the commercial partners will be able to test hardware and software interoperability, as well as dynamics of how the integrated lander-Orion spacecraft moves in space.
Through the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
News Media ContactAmberJacobson
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Anil Menon Launches to Space Station
NASA astronaut candidate Anna Menon and her children watch as a Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio lifted off for the Soyuz MS-29 mission at 7:47 p.m. local time to begin their long-duration stay aboard the orbital outpost.
During his stay on the station, Menon will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth.
Image credit: NASA/John Kraus
Curiosity Finds Evidence of an Ancient Sandstorm
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DescriptionBillions of years ago, an hours-long Martian sandstorm blew so intensely that sand ripples began to climb upon one another as they moved across the surface. These layers of sediment eventually hardened into the multilayered rocks seen in this image, which was taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Dec. 12, 2024, the 4,391st Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Scientists believe this is the first evidence of climbing wind ripple strata on the Red Planet. Spotted at a location nicknamed “Jawbone Canyon,” these rocks are a rare time capsule preserving a dramatic wind event early in Martian history. A paper detailing the discovery was featured on the cover of the journal Geology on July 1, 2026.
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Provides Sweeping View of Broom Point
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DescriptionThis view looking back up at the outside lip of the 490-foot-tall (150-meter-tall) rim of Jezero Crater was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance on May 15, 2025, the 1,505th day, or sol, of the rover’s mission to Mars.
The bright-colored rocks exposed across the slope, running from middle left to middle right of the image, belong to a formation the science team calls the “Broom Point member,” a 245-foot-thick (75-meter-thick) stack of ancient rock. This sequence of layered bedrock is likely more than 3.9 billion years old, making it among the oldest terrain ever examined by a Mars rover. Evidence uncovered by Perseverance indicates this thick section of rock was built by repeated asteroid strikes, with layers tilting at nearly vertical angles exceeding 80 degrees due to the subsequent colossal impacts that created the Isidis Basin and Jezero Crater.
The rover’s tracks are visible in the image, showing Perseverance’s descent of the steep crater rim slope.
Figure AFigure A includes annotations:
- Dashed yellow lines indicate upper and lower boundaries of the Broom Point member
- Black lines indicate rover traverses
- White circles indicate locations rover stopped for science collection
- Red icons indicate locations of cored samples collected by Perseverance: “Bell Island” on April 22, 2025 (Sol 1,483) and “Main River” on March 10, 2025 (Sol 1,441)
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.
For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/
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Perseverance’s Trip to ‘Broom Point’
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DescriptionThis orbital map shows the path NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took to get to a location the science team has dubbed the “Broom Point member,” a sequence of layered bedrock likely more than 3.9 billion years old. As planned, the rover landed inside Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. It investigated the crater’s western delta and inlet river valley, Neretva Vallis, before summiting the crater rim in December 2024 following a rim-to-crest climb of 2,620 feet (800 meters).
The Broom Point region is situated on the outer edge of the crater rim and was visited by the rover in mid-2025. The yellow dot indicates location where the rover took a selfie.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.
For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/
JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built MRO and supports its operations. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado.
For more information, visit:
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reads Record of Ancient Mars Impacts
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Perseverance took this selfie at “Witch Hazel Hill” on Jezero Crater’s rim on May 10, 2025. The small dark hole in the rock in front of the rover is the borehole made when the rover collected the “Bell Island” sample. The small puff of dust left of center and below the horizon line is a dust devil.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSNASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has uncovered evidence that a 245-foot-thick (75-meter-thick) stack of ancient rock on the rim of Jezero Crater was built by repeated asteroid impacts. Referred to as the “Broom Point member” by the rover’s science team, this sequence of layered bedrock is likely more than 3.9 billion years old, making it among the oldest terrain ever examined by a Mars rover.
Released Wednesday in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the findings offer a window into one of the most tumultuous chapters in the history of the solar system.
“Since leaving Jezero, Perseverance has been exploring a brand-new frontier, both geographically and geologically — a chapter of Martian time that predates the crater itself,” said Ken Farley, Perseverance deputy project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, California. “On Earth, our earliest geologic history has been fundamentally broken up, deformed, and erased by plate tectonics. Because Mars lacks plate tectonics to recycle its crust, this ancient record remains intact, giving us a rare glimpse into a geological time period that doesn’t exist on our own planet.”
Reading between layersAfter ascending the western rim of Jezero Crater in late 2024, Perseverance began examining surrounding locations with its science instruments. Their data at Broom Point revealed six distinct rock types, including breccias — rocks composed of angular fragments — alternating with layers of fine-grained, pulverized rock dust. Rock fragments within the breccias are pocked with gas-bubble cavities, indicating they were once molten.
The presence of tiny, dark, glassy beads within the layers offered an important clue about how these rocks formed. While volcanoes can produce similar glassy droplets, they rarely occur in such high abundance, pointing to asteroid impacts, instead, as the primary architect. In fact, the largest beads rival those flung out by the dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid’s impact on Earth.
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured its own tracks descending from the rim of Jezero Crater. The bright-colored rocks running from middle left to middle right of the image, a formation dubbed the “Broom Point member,” are likely more than 3.9 billion years old, making them among the oldest terrain ever examined by a Mars rover.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSThe repetition of these distinct rock types multiple times throughout this thick sequence of rock indicates that high-energy impact events happened again and again across this region of early Mars.
“The different rock layers are a record of variable-sized impacts occurring at different distances from where this rock sequence was accumulating,” said Alex Jones, a Ph.D. student in planetary geology at Imperial College London and lead author of the paper. “Some large impacts took place very far away, some small impacts nearby. Their debris all ended up landing here, constructing this thick section of rock.”
How these layers formed may suggest an interaction with water or ice. Several of the layers look like they may have been formed by fast, ground-hugging debris flows. On Earth, these powerful, fluidlike surges can occur when molten rock hits water or ice that instantly flashes into steam.
Cosmic one-two punchSome of Broom Point’s layers tilt at angles exceeding 80 degrees — nearly vertical — which is far too steep to be caused by the impact that created Jezero Crater.
Instead, scientists suspect a cosmic “one-two punch” shaped this landscape long ago. First, a colossal asteroid impact created the 1,200-mile-wide (1,900-kilometer-wide) Isidis Basin, one of the largest impact basins on Mars, upending and tilting the once-flat rock layers. Later, a second asteroid likely struck, forming Jezero Crater, which measures 28 miles (45 kilometers) across. This second impact fractured and uplifted the already-tilted rocks into the dramatic formations the rover sees today.
To pin down exactly when these events took place, the Perseverance team collected two core samples, dubbed “Bell Island” and “Main River.” If a future mission were to return them to Earth, laboratory dating could determine when and how often impacts were occurring on early Mars — and, by extension, the infant Earth, whose own early impact record has been erased by billions of years of plate tectonics.
“During this violent era, it wasn’t rain or snow falling from the sky, but an almost constant barrage of molten rock droplets and pulverized dust kicked up by asteroid impacts,” said Jones. “If we can pin down the ages of these layers, it would be like reading a cosmic weather report from 4 billion years ago.”
This orbital map shows the path NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took from its 2021 landing site in Jezero Crater to the “Broom Point” location in mid-2025.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MRO/HIRISE/UA/ICL More about PerseveranceNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Arizona State University leads the operations of the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras. SuperCam is led by Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument’s Body Unit was developed. The rover’s SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument was built at NASA JPL, and its WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera was built at Malin Space Science Systems.
For more information on NASA’s Perseverance, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance
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DC Agle
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agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
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