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NASA’s AWE Completes Mission to Study Earth’s Effect on Space Weather
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On May 21, ground controllers powered down NASA’s AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) instrument, bringing the data collection phase of the mission to a successful and scheduled end, surpassing its planned two-year mission.
Installed on the exterior of the International Space Station since November 2023, AWE studied atmospheric gravity waves, which are giant ripples in the atmosphere caused by strong winds flowing over tall mountains or by violent weather events, such as tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. The AWE instrument looked for these waves in colorful bands of light in Earth’s atmosphere, called airglow. Funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division, AWE investigated how atmospheric gravity waves propagate upward to space and contribute to space weather — conditions in space that can disrupt satellites, as well as navigation and communications signals.
“The AWE mission has proven that our atmosphere is not a ceiling, but a living, breathing ocean in the sky,” said Joe Westlake, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “For the first time, we can see how a thunderstorm in the Midwest, a hurricane over Florida, or a wind gust over the Andes sends invisible ripples — atmospheric gravity waves — crashing into the edge of space like waves hitting a shoreline. By mapping these ripples from the International Space Station, we’ve discovered that Earth’s weather doesn’t just end at the clouds, instead it reaches out beyond our planet, shaping the space weather that impacts our orbital economy.”
This artist’s conception depicts the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) scanning the atmosphere from aboard the International Space Station, measuring variations in infrared airglow to track atmospheric gravity waves as they move up from the lower atmosphere into space. Utah State University Space Dynamics LaboratoryDuring AWE’s 30-month residency on the station, the instrument captured four infrared images every second, tallying more than 80 million nighttime images, which is when airglow can be seen. It observed atmospheric gravity waves from numerous extreme weather events, including a tornado outbreak across the central U.S. in May 2024 and Hurricane Helene impacting the gulf coast of Florida in September 2024.
“We’ve seen atmospheric wave signatures associated with major terrestrial events, which provided a clear example of how intense weather systems can generate measurable upper-atmospheric responses,” said AWE’s principal investigator, Ludger Scherliess of Utah State University in Logan.
These events revealed variations in the types of atmospheric gravity waves created by different kinds of storms. For example, when AWE viewed atmospheric gravity waves generated by a thunderstorm in north Texas on May 26, 2024, it saw they were smaller and more irregular, with a notable asymmetry from north to south, compared to waves created by storms in the same part of the country earlier that month.
This image from AWE shows concentric atmospheric gravity waves caused by a severe weather event that included a tornado near the U.S.-Mexico border on May 3, 2024. Captured during orbit 2529 of AWE’s stay on the International Space Station, the image shows waves spreading across Texas and Mexico in near-perfect circles, a sight rarely observed with such clarity prior to the AWE mission. NASA/Utah State UniversityIt is important to understand variations in the density of plasma, which is electrically charged gas, in Earth’s upper atmosphere instigated by atmospheric gravity waves, because these variations can disrupt radio signals traveling between satellites and the ground, and from satellite to satellite, degrading the accuracy and reliability of systems used for navigation, timing, and communications.
In a recent study, AWE measurements also revealed the gravity waves with the greatest influence on the upper atmosphere have small horizontal wavelengths, ranging from 30 to 300 kilometers, which AWE was specifically designed to measure.
With its data-collection phase complete, the AWE instrument was turned off to make way for another science experiment that will take its place on the outside of the space station. Called CLARREO Pathfinder (Calibration Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Pathfinder), the new instrument will take measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon that are five to 10 times more accurate than those from existing sensors. The exchange of instruments is a key part of the space station’s mission and versatility as an orbiting laboratory for various types of research.
As the International Space Station traveled over the southeastern United States on Sept. 26, 2024, AWE observed atmospheric gravity waves generated by Hurricane Helene as the storm slammed into the gulf coast of Florida. The curved bands extending to the northwest of Florida, artificially colored red, yellow, and blue, show changes in brightness (or radiance) in a wavelength of infrared light produced by airglow in Earth’s mesosphere. The small black circles on the continent mark the locations of cities. Utah State UniversityIn the coming days, a robotic arm on the space station, called Canadarm2, will remove the AWE instrument from its location. Soon afterward, the AWE instrument will be loaded into part of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft that will deorbit and burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere. However, all of AWE’s observations will ultimately become available to the public and the scientific community for ongoing research and discovery.
“Data from AWE will continue to be made public for both professional researchers and citizen scientists,” Scherliess said.
Some of this data already is available, including interactive, online visualizations on Utah State University’s website, where AWE’s observations are “painted” in swaths onto a globe or on a map as the space station orbits the planet. Users can rotate the visualizations to view atmospheric gravity waves from different angles.
A still image from an interactive visualization shows AWE data collected over the Western Hemisphere. Utah State UniversityLaunched on Nov. 9, 2023, AWE is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory built the AWE instrument and provided the mission operations center.
Hear more about AWE by listening to episode 334 of NASA’s Houston We Have a Podcast, recorded on Jan. 26, 2024.
By Vanessa Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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NASA Wins Four Telly Awards for Artemis Moon Coverage, More
NASA’s historic Artemis II mission coverage, which connected global audiences to watch the first humans to travel around the Moon in more than half a century, is among the agency’s video productions recognized with four 2026 Telly Awards.
The agency’s continuous, 24/7 livestream of the Artemis II mission, which functioned as both a live event and as a science storytelling experience, combined visuals, real-time mission data, and expert analysis to make a complex spaceflight clear and accessible for an international audience. NASA’s video documentation of mission astronauts and support teams conducting geology training on Earth to prepare for future Artemis missions on the Moon also won a science and technology storytelling award.
In addition, NASA won a screenwriting award for a documentary on the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, narrated by actor John Rhys-Davies.
“By following NASA’s Artemis II coverage in real time on multiple platforms, millions of viewers around the world were able to experience the mission inside the Orion spacecraft and alongside the crew, from lunar flyby to splashdown,” said Brittany Brown, director, Office of Communications Digital and Technology Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Our team’s coordination, from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to the Moon, technical expertise, and around-the-clock dedication turned a single spaceflight mission into a shared, global experience of wonder and inspiration.”
Full list of NASA’s Telly Award wins:
- NASA’s Artemis II: Humanity’s Return to the Moon
Gold Winner, Science and Technology - NASA’s Artemis II: Humanity’s Return to the Moon
Silver Winner, Live Events and Experiences - Preparing for Artemis: NASA’s Geology Training for Lunar Exploration
Silver Winner, Science and Technology - The Fellowship of the Telescopes
Bronze Winner, Craft-Writing
Livestream coverage of the mission and milestones reached NASA’s largest streaming audience ever on its individual platforms, ultimately reaching nearly 290 million combined views across agency and commercial partnership streaming platforms.
Watch all NASA content through a variety of online platforms:
https://www.nasa.gov/ways-to-watch
Share Details Last Updated May 21, 2026 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsHubble Sights Galaxy in Transition
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals an enigmatic galaxy with a bright center and a face that hints at spiral structure, yet it holds no obvious spiral arms. Reddish-brown clumps and filaments of dust partially obscure the galaxy’s full face, while red, blue, and orange light from distant galaxies shines through its diffuse outer regions and dots the inky-black background.
NGC 1266 is a lenticular galaxy located some 100 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus (the Celestial River). Astronomers classify lenticulars as transitional galaxies that represent an evolutionary bridge between spirals and ellipticals. Lenticulars are “lens-shaped” and have a bright central bulge and flattened disk like spirals, but they have no spiral arms and little to no star formation like ellipticals.
Read more about NGC 1266, its interesting features, and why astronomers study galaxies like it.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, K. Alatalo (STScI); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
NASA Welcomes 16th Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson
Matt Anderson was sworn in Thursday as NASA’s 16th deputy administrator by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. The oath was taken during a ceremony held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington.
As NASA deputy administrator, Anderson will help lead the agency’s efforts to execute the President’s national space policy, strengthen America’s leadership in space, and advance NASA’s missions in exploration, science, and aeronautics.
“Matt Anderson brings exactly the kind of operational leadership, technical expertise, and mission focus NASA needs right now,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “His decades of experience across the Air Force, Space Command, and the aerospace industry give him a valuable perspective as we work to strengthen America’s leadership in space and enter the next era of exploration. I’m excited to have him helping lead NASA as we take on the near-impossible and push the boundaries of what we can achieve.”
“I’m deeply honored to serve as the deputy administrator and support the men and women across NASA who carry out some of the most ambitious and important work in the world,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson. “NASA has been entrusted with a mission of enormous strategic, scientific, and economic significance, and delivering on that mission will require disciplined execution, technical excellence, and a strong culture of accountability. I’m grateful to President Trump for the trust and confidence he has placed in me with this nomination, and I look forward to serving alongside Administrator Isaacman and the extraordinary NASA workforce as we strengthen America’s leadership in space and build toward the next golden era of space exploration.”
“NASA succeeds when we pair clear mission goals with empowered teams and disciplined execution,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. “Matt Anderson has spent his career leading in complex operational environments where the stakes are high and mission success depends on trust in the people doing the work. I look forward to working with him as we continue building the capabilities, partnerships, and workforce needed for the challenging missions ahead of us.”
Anderson was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 13, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 18.
Read Anderson’s official biography on the agency’s website:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/matt-anderson
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NASA Highlights 2025 International Space Station Science Results
To dive deeper into the International Space Station research achievements from the past year, browse the 2025 Annual Highlights of Results, which NASA released in May 2026.
In 2025, researchers using the orbital laboratory conducted more than 750 investigations that advanced understanding of life in space, drove innovations to benefit people on Earth, and supported NASA’s exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Results include a study that could protect astronaut performance on future long-duration missions and a biomaterials investigation aimed at advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Miniaturizing surgery The Robotic Surgery Tech Demo device is shown simulating a surgical task with rubber bands on Earth.Virtual IncisionNASA evaluated whether a miniature robotic system could perform surgical tasks in microgravity. Researchers used rubber bands to simulate surgical tasks aboard the space station, allowing them to observe communication delays from Earth and test robotic precision in space during remote operations. Results showed that while timing delays increased the duration of procedures, they had minimal impact on robotic accuracy.
This research demonstrates that precise surgical procedures could one day be performed in space, including at a future lunar base or on Mars. Robotic surgery also offers a compact, reliable option for performing medical procedures in remote places on Earth.
Learn more about the Robotic Surgery Tech Demo
Levitating bone growth Images show calcium phosphate crystals grown in space (left) and on Earth (right). Synthetic bone graft materials developed aboard the International Space Station showed strong support for bone growth and healthy tissue formation.Komlev, Biomedical TechnologyThe Roscosmos investigation Magnetic 3D Bioprinter used magnetic levitation to form complex tissue structures in microgravity with high precision and minimal materials. Researchers used this technique to position calcium crystals into structures that can serve as synthetic bone grafts to promote new bone growth. Samples formed in microgravity showed superior structural organization and a high capacity for bone tissue regeneration. Astronauts experience bone loss in space and may face a higher risk of bone fractures during long-duration exploration missions.
This research could one day allow astronauts to fabricate medical treatments on demand to address skeletal injuries far from Earth.
Melanin infused materials The International Space Station’s robotic manipulator, Dextre, hovers above Materials International Space Station Experiment-13 sample hardware during operations outside the space station.NASANASA examined how prolonged exposure to the vacuum of space affects the performance and durability of materials used in space exploration. Researchers exposed polymers, thermal protection systems, spacesuit components, and radiation-shielding materials to the space environment for six months. The research also tested several biomaterials infused with different types of melanin, a naturally occurring pigment that protects against ultraviolet radiation. The materials infused with fungal melanin showed the greatest resistance to radiation damage.
Biologically derived materials offer a lightweight, sustainable option for radiation shielding during future missions beyond Earth, with potential applications on Earth in medical protection, UV defense, and radiation-resistant structures.
Learn more about the Materials International Space Station Experiment-13-NASA (MISSE-13-NASA) investigation.
Power that endures The All Solid-state Lithium Ion Battery investigation is shown near the top center, mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station on the Japanese Experiment Module exposed facility.NASAA JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) investigation studied the stable operation of all solid-state lithium ion batteries in space, including under extreme temperature swings and vacuum. Compared to conventional lithium ion batteries, these batteries are believed to operate across a wider temperature range, offer greater chemical stability, and provide increased ignition resistance.
Researchers assembled a battery pack from multiple all solid-state lithium ion batteries in space and exposed it to space for 434 days to track performance, degradation, and radiation response. The battery pack showed stable electrical behavior, no signs of degradation, and only a 2% loss in capacity. These results demonstrate that these batteries could provide safer, more reliable power systems for missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as for use in extreme environments on Earth.
Learn more about the Space Demonstration for All Solid-state Lithium Ion Battery investigation.
Runway return Test subject Lance Dean performs a manual control task in the Neurosciences Laboratory’s Motion Simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASANASA continues to study how long-duration spaceflight affects astronauts’ ability to pilot and perform complex tasks after landing. Five experienced astronauts completed simulated aircraft landings before and after their space station missions. The astronauts’ results showed degraded performance after returning to Earth, including higher touchdown speeds and navigational errors. However, most pilots returned to baseline during a second attempt on the same day.
These findings suggest that long-term exposure to microgravity can temporarily diminish critical piloting skills, highlighting the need for countermeasures that help astronauts maintain their abilities after space travel.
Learn more about NASA’s Manual Control investigation.
Tracking electrical phenomena from space Blue lightning flashes illuminate cloud tops near the Pacific coast of central Mexico in June 2025 in an image taken from the International Space Station.NASAThe European Space Agency is studying electrical phenomena that occur above severe thunderstorms, including colorful sprays of energy and light known as sprites, blue jets, and elves. Researchers combined the observations with radio measurements from ground-based receivers to confirm powerful bursts of electricity above thunderstorms can generate enough energy to trigger elves. The team also found a correlation between the brightness of blue flashes and electrical current, improving our ability to model energy transfer between the upper atmosphere and the edge of space.
Tracking this activity could enhance severe weather prediction and deepen understanding of the upper atmosphere, a region critical for satellite operations and communication systems.
Learn more about the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor investigation.
Throughout more than two decades of operations, researchers from more than 110 nations have carried out 4,000-plus experiments, producing over 5,000 scientific publications. Space station research has been cited more than 100,000 times in scientific journals.
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Lunar Robots: NASA Spotlights Moon Base at 2026 FIRST Robotics Competition
Robotics will play a critical role in NASA’s ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, presenting opportunities for the next generation of engineers, technologists, and innovators to contribute to a bold vision for the future.
That was the agency’s message to students, partners, and industry leaders at the 2026 FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, where more than 1,000 student teams convened for exciting competitions and hands-on experiences.
NASA connected directly with the future workforce at the event, engaging more than 51,000 students, parents, and mentors through interactive exhibits and discussions. The agency highlighted its plan to construct a permanent lunar outpost – Moon Base – that will serve as a hub for lunar exploration, scientific research, and technology demonstration, laying the foundation for future missions to Mars and beyond. Phase 1 of NASA’s Moon Base plan centers around a rapid series of robotic and early uncrewed missions to scout, experiment, and prepare for surface operations ahead of crewed Artemis missions. That includes an accelerated cadence of CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) flights, with up to 30 robotic lunar landings targeted for 2027, to expedite the delivery of science and technology payloads including rovers, hoppers, and drones.
NASA’s exhibit included a model of Moon Base, the agency’s plan for a permanent lunar outpost. NASAA Moon Base model was a focal point of NASA’s exhibit. Other displays highlighted key innovations such as:
- Automated Reconfigurable Mission Adaptive Digital Assembly Systems: A modular construction system of small robots and smart algorithms that can autonomously assemble large-scale infrastructure in space, such as solar power, communications, and habitat systems. This system could reduce reliance on launching fully assembled hardware from Earth, supporting sustainable deep space exploration.
- Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration: A trio of small lunar rovers designed to explore together autonomously, collecting data that would be impossible for a single robot to gather. Their success could pave the way for multirobot missions that can help inform future science objectives, navigate hazardous terrain, and support astronaut activities.
- Skyfall Mars Helicopters: Building on the success of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which completed 72 historic flights at Mars’ Jezero Crater, the SkyFall helicopters would also serve as aerial scouts for scientists and mission planners, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.
Multiple NASA centers participated in the event, including Johnson Space Center in Houston; Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Langley Research Center in Virginia; Ames Research Center in California; Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans; Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Each brought unique technologies and expertise to the exhibit floor.
Since 1996, NASA has supported and mentored FIRST Robotics teams across the country. This year, NASA sponsored more than 160 FIRST Robotics Teams – 50 of which also had a NASA mentor. NASA Johnson directly mentored six teams, with two of them making it all the way to the FIRST Championship. Additionally, NASA supported the FIRST Championship with a Mobile Machine Shop where teams could bring broken parts and have NASA machinists help them with repairs. The shop completed over 600 jobs for the teams during the event.
NASA’s presence at the championship not only provides a platform for sharing its ambitious plans but also inspires students to envision themselves as part of the NASA team, working to achieve the near-impossible.
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NASA Announces Winners in University Aeronautics Competition
A South Dakota State University team took first place at NASA’s fifth annual Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, which challenged student teams to address a critical element of U.S. aviation: aircraft maintenance.
This year’s competition, RepAir: Advancing Aircraft Maintenance, asked teams of postsecondary students to develop innovative systems and practices that could advance commercial aircraft maintenance and repair operations by 2035. The competition, sponsored by NASA’s University Innovation project within the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, supported the agency’s objectives of fostering innovative research and strengthening the future aviation workforce.
“This year’s finalists proposed novel ideas to equip companies and their workers with innovative technologies to help keep our nation’s planes airworthy. This is especially critical in a time where flight safety is more commonly in the spotlight and where workforce shortages lead to challenges and opportunities in aviation,” said Steven Holz, associate project manager for NASA’s University Innovation Project and judging panel chair for Gateways to Blue Skies. “Our panel of industry and subject matter experts were excited about the possibilities these concepts could bring, as well as shared insights needed for these teams to push forward for real-world implementation.”
The winning project, WINGMAN, proposed augmented reality safety glasses equipped with voice-controlled manuals, automatic documentation, and photo recognition that could assist aircraft mechanics during routine daily servicing and minor repairs. The glasses would function as the mechanic’s “wingman,” enabling hands-free access to the information and reporting mechanisms required for line inspections.
The WINGMAN team presented their research along with seven finalists at the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum held May 18 and 19 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The forum was judged by subject matter experts from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and industry, including representatives from Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. Students at the forum had the opportunity to network with NASA and industry experts, tour the center, and gain insight into potential careers. The event was livestreamed, and the presentations were recorded.
The winning team members will have the opportunity to intern at one of NASA’s four aeronautics research centers during the 2026-27 academic year, including NASA Langley, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
“It was super exciting to participate in Gateways to Blue Skies, especially with the really interesting concepts this year,” said Owen Diede, WINGMAN team lead. “We couldn’t have done it without the feedback and support from our faculty advisor, Dr. Todd Letcher, as well as our design review committee, Dr. Ruyi Lian and Dr. Cody Christensen. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow, and we are incredibly thankful for the experience.”
Other recognitions included:
- Best Infographic: University of California, Irvine
Air Shield: Aircraft Structural Health Intelligence for Evaluation and Lifecycle Detection - Future Game-Changer: University of Georgia
Quasar: Quantum Sensing Aerial Reporting - Safety Spotlight: South Dakota State University
SPIDER (Surveying Platform and Inspection Device for Enclosed Regions)
The commercial aviation industry is a crucial component of the U.S. economy, yet it faces significant challenges due to a shortage of qualified maintenance workers and increasing demands to keep aircraft running for longer. NASA is dedicated to working with commercial, academic, and government partners to advance the capabilities and performance of U.S. aviation.
The Gateways to Blue Skies Challenge is part of the Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, manages the challenge through the National Institute of Aerospace on behalf of NASA.
For more information about NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, visit:
La NASA informará sobre su estrategia y misiones para la Base Lunar
Read this news release in English here.
La NASA ofrecerá una conferencia de prensa el martes 26 de mayo a las 2 p.m. EDT (hora del este) para compartir los planes para la Base Lunar y destacar los avances hacia una presencia sostenida en la superficie lunar. La sesión informativa para los medios tendrá lugar en la sede central de la agencia en Washington.
Líderes de la agencia hablarán sobre los avances del programa, incluyendo a los nuevos socios de la industria y los planes de la misión. Una vez finalizada la conferencia de prensa, habrá expertos en la materia disponibles para dar entrevistas individuales.
Siga la rueda de prensa en vivo a través de la aplicación NASA+ y el canal de YouTube de la agencia. Descubra cómo ver el contenido de la NASA en diversas plataformas en línea, incluidas las redes sociales (información ofrecida en inglés).
Entre los participantes se encuentran:
- Jared Isaacman, administrador de la NASA
- Lori Glaze, administradora asociada interina, Dirección de Misiones de Desarrollo de Sistemas de Exploración
- Carlos García-Galán, director del programa Base Lunar. García-Galán es hispanohablante.
Los representantes de los medios que no puedan asistir en persona podrán hacer preguntas por teléfono. Para participar en persona o por teléfono, debe confirmar su asistencia a la oficina de prensa de la sede a más tardar a las 11 a.m. del 26 de mayo, enviando un correo a: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. La política de acreditación de medios de la NASA está disponible en línea (en inglés). La NASA impulsa el desarrollo de la Base Lunar, una iniciativa de exploración e infraestructura lunar a largo plazo diseñada para permitir una presencia humana sostenida y una mayor actividad científica y comercial en el Polo Sur lunar.
Como parte de una edad de oro de innovación y exploración, la NASA enviará astronautas en misiones cada vez más difíciles para explorar más de la Luna con fines de descubrimiento científico y beneficios económicos, y para continuar sentando las bases para las primeras misiones tripuladas a Marte.
Para más información sobre las misiones de la NASA, visite:
https://www.nasa.gov (inglés)
https://ciencia.nasa.gov/ (español)
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NASA TechLeap Prize: Robotically Manipulated Payload Challenge
The Robotically Manipulated Payload Challenge — the fifth in the NASA TechLeap Prize series — is a competition to advance persistent infrastructure for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. NASA Flight Opportunities invites applicants to propose a payload that can be manipulated by a robotic arm in low Earth orbit. Up to three winners will each receive up to $500,000 to develop a flight-ready payload. In addition, NASA intends to provide an opportunity for the winning teams to demonstrate their payload in orbit (at no additional cost). These TechLeap payloads will fly aboard an orbital spacecraft that will rendezvous with the Fly Foundational Robots (FFR) platform. The FFR mission is expected to launch in late 2027, and the TechLeap payloads are slated to launch in early 2028.
Across three phases, applicants will move from ideation to payload build over 12 months. The timeline for this challenge is intentionally rapid, with the goal of increasing the pace of space.
Award: Up to three winners may receive up to $500,000 in prizes across three phases
Challenge Open Date: May 20, 2026
Phase 1 Registration Close Date: July 29, 2026
Application Close Date: August 12, 2026
For more information, visit: https://rmpc.nasatechleap.org/
Psyche Spacecraft Completes Mars Flyby
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed its close approach of Mars on May 15, coming within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the planet’s surface. During the flyby, it took this image and others. This representative color image, captured by Psyche’s multispectral imager instrument, features the double-ring crater Huygens and the surrounding heavily cratered southern highlands.
This flyby used a gravity assist from Mars to provide a critical boost in speed and to adjust the spacecraft’s orbital plane without using any onboard propellant, sending it on its way toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit, then map the asteroid and gather science data. If the asteroid proves to be the metallic core of an ancient planetesimal, it could offer a one-of-a-kind window into the interior of rocky planets like Earth.
Learn more about the flyby and see more photos from the event.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
NASA-developed AI Could Help Track Harmful Algae
NASA scientists have developed an artificial intelligence tool to take on a longstanding challenge in ocean waters. In a study recently published in AGU Earth and Space Science, researchers reported the tool was able to fuse data from multiple satellites and detect harmful algal blooms that occurred in western Florida and Southern California.
Severe blooms can pose health risks and cost coastal economies in the United States tens of millions of dollars every year. Areas in Florida such as Tampa Bay and Sarasota have wrestled with the problem for decades. A species called Karenia brevis can thrive in Gulf of America waters, spawning harmful algal blooms that kill wildlife, foul beaches, and sicken swimmers. On the West Coast, blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia have poisoned hundreds of dolphins, California sea lions, and other marine animals in recent years. Toxins from algaecan even enter the air and cause respiratory illness in humans.
To manage the risk, health agencies regularly test waters and issue warnings or beach closures when necessary. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) works with states and other local partners to issue harmful algal bloom forecasts, like weather forecasts, during bloom seasons.
On-site testing requires hours in a boat to manually collect water samples that must be sent to a lab for analysis, taking a day or more and requiring multiple tests. It’s even more challenging to know where to test before a bloom starts spreading.
NASA’s Earth-orbiting satellites already track harmful algal blooms with their unique global view. By bringing together diverse datasets, the new AI tool could serve as a force multiplier to help communities determine where to focus their efforts.
“At the very least, a tool like this can help us know where and when to collect water samples as an algal bloom is starting,” said one of the paper’s coauthors, Michelle Gierach, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It can also drive collaboration between specialists, fostering new ways to conduct the science and deliver decision-support products.”
Today, satellites can detect a variety of clues that signal an algal bloom. A hyperspectral sensor aboard NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, for example, can identify algal communities by their size, shape, and pigment. Other instruments like TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument) pick up on the faint red glow emitted by species such as K. brevis as they photosynthesize.
The study team, consisting of Gierach, Kelly Luis of NASA JPL, and research data scientist Nick LaHaye of Spatial Informatics Group, brought together findings from five space missions or instruments, including PACE and TROPOMI.
The challenge for them was the quantity of raw data involved. How would AI distinguish between deep water and a coastline? Could it recognize a bloom across different data streams? Would it ever be able to handle inputs from both satellites and sensors in the water?
The team developed a self-supervised machine learning system, designed to learn patterns from multiple kinds of satellite data and compare them with field observations. This approach enables AI to recognize relationships between different data sources without needing any labeling in advance.
The system was trained on satellite data collected in 2018 and 2019. Field and lab measurements were then used to add real-world context to the patterns that the system was recognizing. The scientists evaluated the tool’s performance across later time periods in the same geographic areas. Initial results indicate that it can correctly identify and map harmful blooms, including specific species like K. brevis, performing well even in complex coastal waters swirling with sediment, plants, and runoff.
“Applying self-supervised AI to massive streams of satellite data is rapidly becoming a powerful tool for generating actionable ocean intelligence,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, lead program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The team is now improving the tool with more data from more coastlines and expanding tests to other kinds of water bodies, including lakes, with the goal of making it accessible to decision-makers in coming years.
“The aim of this work is to start to bridge technologies to better serve end users and their needs, from aquaculture to tourism,” Luis said. “To do that, we’re going to bring all our NASA assets to the table.”
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Andrew Wang / Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Explore More 2 min read Fire Chars Santa Rosa IslandThe blaze spread across the southern side of the second-largest island in California’s Channel Islands…
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NASA to Provide Update on Moon Base Strategy, Missions
NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 26, to share Moon Base plans and highlight progress toward a sustained presence on the lunar surface. The media briefing will take place at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington.
Leadership will discuss program progress, including new industry partners and mission plans. Subject matter experts will be available for one-on-one interviews after the news conference ends.
Watch live on NASA+ and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
Participants include:
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
- Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
- Carlos García-Galán, program executive, Moon Base
Media unable to attend in person may ask questions by telephone. To participate in person or by phone, media must RSVP to the headquarters newsroom no later than 11 a.m. on May 26, at: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
NASA is advancing development of Moon Base, a long-term lunar exploration and infrastructure initiative designed to enable sustained human presence and expanded scientific and commercial activity at the lunar South Pole.
As part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
For more information about NASA’s missions, visit:
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Bethany Stevens / James Gannon
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / james.h.gannon@nasa.gov
NASA Releases Technology Priorities to Energize Space Industry
NASA released the 2026 Civil Space Shortfall Ranking list on Wednesday, which integrates more than 400 responses from stakeholders including industry organizations, government agencies, and academia. Shortfalls refer to technology areas requiring further development to meet future exploration, science, and other mission needs. The goal of this document is to rank the space community’s most pervasive shortfalls to help guide NASA’s space technology development and investments.
The greatest technological breakthroughs are built on shared vision. At the intersection of government and industry, we’re poised to use this feedback to accelerate high-risk, high-reward technologies, pushing NASA beyond the cutting edge to enable the near impossible.Greg Stover
Acting associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington
As NASA lays the foundation for long-term missions to the Moon and paves the way for human exploration on Mars, the top ranked shortfalls reflect the challenges industry is most eager to solve, such as developing infrastructure and capabilities for assets to operate for extended durations in the lunar environment, providing surface mobility and logistics for crew and assets on planetary surfaces, and developing on-board advanced computing capabilities for space operations.
From this year’s public call for feedback, NASA received 454 total external responses. Each response was considered the input of a single individual, not a consolidated response of the organization they represented. The cross-cutting nature of this feedback underscores the importance of public, private partnership to drive U.S. leadership in space technology and energize the space economy.
“This feedback provides an invaluable dataset,” said Angela Krenn, acting chief architect for NASA Technology. “As our process matures, each round of input helps target our resources, ensuring America’s space industry can tackle tomorrow’s greatest challenges. By tapping into the collective expertise of our stakeholders, we turn their insights into fuel for NASA’s next giant leap.”
The 2026 shortfalls process builds on NASA’s first shortfall ranking, which asked participants to rank 187 civil space shortfalls, resulting in an integrated list of technology priorities. Leveraging the feedback provided by stakeholders, this year’s exercise streamlined the process by consolidating the shortfalls into 32 broader, integrated categories. This restructuring maintains the original content’s depth while creating a more efficient and accessible feedback mechanism for participants.
Using the 2026 shortfalls results, NASA Technology selected 40 primary focus areas for its fiscal year 2026 investments. These focus areas combine the quantitative data of the shortfall rankings with considerations from NASA’s Ignition initiatives, science and technology, while establishing paths for collaboration with industry, ensuring relevance with academia, and leveraging overlaps in interests with other government agencies.
The 40 focus areas include several capabilities to enable NASA’s future lunar infrastructure including: landing at the lunar South Pole exploration sites in various illumination conditions with accuracy; excavating and transporting lunar regolith at a scale relevant for a demonstration mission; and providing low power, thermal management, and actuation for distributed surface assets to survive and operate in the lunar environment. The list of 40 focus areas is available on page 10 of the shortfalls document.
To learn more about the civil space shortfall feedback opportunity and results as well as monitor future feedback opportunities, visit:
www.nasa.gov/civilspaceshortfalls
Share Details Last Updated May 20, 2026 EditorLoura HallLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Bolsters Golden Age of Exploration with Technology Priorities Article 4 months ago 3 min read NASA Releases First Integrated Ranking of Civil Space Challenges Article 2 years agoI Am Artemis: Tim Goddard
Listen to this audio excerpt from Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead:
0:00 / 0:00
Your browser does not support the audio element.At the end of their mission around the Moon, NASA’s Artemis II astronauts were recovered from their Orion spacecraft by a team of U.S. Navy divers and NASA personnel. This included Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead, who helped guide the complex open water recovery of both Orion and the crew members, once they safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
As the open water lead, Goddard is responsible for the design, certification, procurement, and training, for both the NASA and Navy team. He also oversees the hardware and operations that are needed to recover the crew and spacecraft from the open ocean and bring them to safety aboard an amphibious Navy ship after splashdown.
Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead, stands in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Goddard conducts training in the NBL with NASA and U.S. Navy recovery teams to prepare for Orion spacecraft recovery operations. NASA/Rad Sinyak“This is a very complex set of operations,” said Goddard. “We have six small boats in the water. We’re relying on four separate helicopters and the host Navy ship at the same time. We have over 50 folks in the water and in different boats. I have team members underwater, on the surface, and small boats moving all around.”
And that’s just Goddard’s portion of the recovery — the larger operation entails coordination of activities that includes the Navy ship’s operations, communications, vessel traffic, medical needs, aviation operations, and more.
It’s a large orchestration of personnel and hardware to just enable recovery of the astronauts from the capsule — and then, we have to recover the spacecraft in the well deck of the Navy ship, which can be up to nine hours later.Tim Goddard
NASA Open Water Lead
Goddard and his team practice, practice, practice long before recovery day to ensure the complicated dance goes smoothly. They start by performing training runs with representative Orion hardware at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, one of the world’s largest indoor pools that can support large-scale underwater and topside operations. The team then pushes out to San Diego, starting with bay operations and working their way up to open ocean conditions similar to what they’ll see on recovery day.
“By the time they do the real mission, they have hours and hours on each type of facet or each phase of that recovery,” said Goddard. “We bring them out and then we just go through repetition after repetition. When we do the real thing, it’s not their first time seeing it.”
NASA and U.S. Navy recovery teams, including NASA Open Water Lead Tim Goddard, prepare to transfer the crew to the USS John P. Murtha following the splashdown of the Orion spacecraft on April 10, 2026, marking the conclusion of the nearly 10‑day Artemis II mission around the Moon.NASA/Joel KowskyIt’s actually Goddard’s third time recovering Orion — the team recovered the capsule on Orion’s first flight, Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014, and Artemis I, Orion’s first uncrewed test flight around the Moon in 2022.
“We were strictly focused on capsule recovery for both of those flights,” said Goddard. “Now we introduced humans to the loop with a flight crew being in the capsule. Our primary focus has shifted from recovering the capsule to recovering the crew first. Once we get the crew safe and sound on the ship, we transfer our focus and shift our operations to the recovery of the capsule.”
Goddard joined the initial Orion recovery team in 2007, and has served as the open water lead for over 10 years. He joined NASA in the 1990s after a 27-year career as a Navy diver, initially serving in dive operations in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab and then pursuing mechanical engineering.
Over half of my time at NASA has been supporting this operation. That's a long time, and to finally have the Moon mission go off and bring the folks back — it's an immense pleasure. I am very excited and proud to be able to support this mission.Tim Goddard
NASA Open Water Lead
With crew aboard, there was an immense responsibility along with the pleasure of getting them home safely for Goddard.
“There was a lot of weight and stress that the other folks and I carried,” he said. “I can tell you under the previous two missions, once we set the capsule down, that was the moment of elation and ‘I can sleep now.’ That was tenfold when we recovered the crew. Once they were recovered and the capsule was back in San Diego, I had an immense feeling of relief.”
About the AuthorErika Peters Share Details Last Updated May 20, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 4 min read NASA Outlines Preliminary Artemis III Mission Plans Article 1 week ago 3 min read I Am Artemis: Kathleen Harmon Article 1 week ago 2 min read Nicholas Houghton: Engineering Crew Safety for NASA’s Artemis Missions Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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NASA’s Fermi Glimpses Power Source of Supercharged Supernovae
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NASA’s Fermi Glimpses Power Source of Supercharged SupernovaeAn international team studying data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope concludes the mission detected a rare, unusually luminous supernova. The researchers say it likely received its power-up from a supermagnetized neutron star born in the stellar collapse that triggered the explosion.
Gamma rays detected by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope gave scientists a look under the hood of a rare supernova that produced much more light than normal.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
The Fermi mission is part of NASA’s fleet of observatories monitoring the changing cosmos to help humanity better understand how the universe works.
“For nearly 20 years, astronomers have searched Fermi data for gamma-ray signals from thousands of supernovae, and while a few intriguing hints have been reported, none were definitive until now,” study lead Fabio Acero at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Paris-Saclay.
A paper describing the findings published Wednesday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
This composite image shows two views of SN 2017egm, in visible light (inset) and gamma rays (background). The optical image shows the supernova — the brightest object in the scene — and its host galaxy on July 1, 2017. The background map shows a wide area of the sky surrounding the supernova’s position. Brighter colors indicate greater statistical likelihood that gamma rays are associated with the explosion. The map includes gamma rays detected by Fermi’s Large Area Telescope from July 5, 2017, to Oct. 25, 2017, or from 43 to 155 days after the supernova was discovered. Background, NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration and Acero et. al. 2026; inset, NOT+ALFSOC/Bose et al. 2020Core-collapse supernovae occur when the energy-producing center of a star many times our Sun’s mass runs out of fuel, collapses under its own weight, and explodes. During the collapse, a city-sized neutron star or an even smaller black hole may form. A blast wave blows away the rest of the star, which rapidly expands as a hot, dense cloud of ionized gas.
In the last couple of decades, nearly 400 exceptional core-collapse supernovae have been identified. Each of these events, dubbed superluminous supernovae, produced 10 or more times the amount of visible light normally seen.
In 2024, a study led by Li Shang at Anhui University in Hefei, China, noted that Fermi’s Large Area Telescope may have seen gamma rays — the most energetic form of light — from a superluminous supernova that occurred years earlier.
Dubbed SN 2017egm, this supercharged outburst occurred in galaxy NGC 3191, located about 440 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Even at this distance, the explosion remains one of the closest of its type to us on Earth.
The superluminous supernova SN 2017egm was discovered by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission on May 23, 2017. It exploded in a massive barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 3191, shown on the left before the eruption. The image at right, taken on July 1, 2017, shows the supernova outshining the entire galaxy. Left, SDSS and PS1; right, NOT+ALFSOC/Bose et al. 2020“We searched for gamma rays from the six nearest superluminous supernovae seen during the first 16 years of Fermi’s mission,” said Guillem Martí-Devesa, a researcher previously at the University of Trieste in Italy and now a fellow at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, Spain. “Only SN 2017egm shows evidence for gamma rays, confirming earlier hints that some supernovae can be as luminous in gamma rays as they are in visible light. This opens up a new window for studying these fascinating events.”
Theorists have debated the possible energy sources that give these explosions their extra punch. High on the list has been the formation of a magnetar, a type of neutron star with the strongest magnetic fields known — up to 1,000 times the intensity of typical neutron stars. That’s 10 trillion times stronger than a refrigerator magnet.
The team undertook a deeper analysis of the supernova’s observed optical and gamma-ray features to compare how well different theoretical models reproduced them. A model developed by co-authors Indrek Vurm at the University of Tartu in Estonia and Brian Metzger at Columbia University in New York City traced how light and particles produced by a newborn magnetar would move outward and interact with the supernova’s expanding debris.
Scientists expect a newly formed magnetar to spin a few hundred times a second. This rapid rotation produces a strong outflow of electrons and positrons, their antimatter counterparts, that forms a vast cloud of energetic particles.
The Crab Nebula formed in a supernova explosion observed in 1054. At its heart lies an isolated neutron star, the crushed core of the original star. It spins about 30 times a second, sweeping a beam of radiation toward Earth with every rotation, lighthouse style, which classifies the neutron star as a pulsar. This rapid spin powers X-ray jets (elongated blue-white feature near center) and a high-speed outflow of electrons and other particles. The particles collect in a vast cloud-like structure called a pulsar wind nebula, which also forms around magnetars, the pulsar’s supermagnetized cousin. This emission gradually slows the neutron star’s spin. These images combine X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (bluish white) and infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. X-ray, Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared, Webb: NASA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. MajorWithin this cloud — called a magnetar wind nebula — various interactions fuel the production and absorption of gamma rays. For example, an electron and a positron can annihilate into a pair of gamma-ray photons, or two gamma rays can collide and produce the particles. In these and other ways, gamma rays interact with the supernova debris. Unable to escape directly, they become reprocessed, downshifted into lower-energy visible light that provides the supernova with its extra boost in luminosity.
“About three months after the collapse, as the supernova debris expands and cools, the gamma rays can begin to leak out,” Acero said. “This magnetar model best reproduces the supernova’s luminosity and the arrival time of its gamma rays during the first months, but we see room for improvement at later times, when the visible light fades quite irregularly.”
Acero and his colleagues suggest that additional processes likely played contributing roles during SN 2017egm’s long fade-out. These include debris falling back onto the magnetar and interactions between the blast wave and matter ejected by the star in the centuries prior to its demise.
The X-ray glow associated with a source known as Swift J1834.9-0846, located near the center of the W41 supernova remnant, comes from the first magnetar wind nebula identified (outline). ESA/XMM-Newton and Younes et al. 2016The team also examined how well a new ground-based gamma-ray facility, the Cerenkov Telescope Array Observatory, might detect events like SN 2017egm. With about 50 hours of observing time, they say, a similar supernova could be detected out to about 500 million light-years. Our understanding of phenomena like SN 2017egm will improve thanks to cooperation between such facilities and NASA’s fleet of space-based observatories that watch for rapid changes in the universe.
“The magnetar central engine mechanism discussed in this paper builds upon a lot of observational and theoretical advances in magnetars over the last 20 years,” said Judy Racusin, a deputy project scientist for the Fermi mission at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Observing gamma rays from supernovae will give us a new way to explore their inner workings.”
By Francis Reddy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater
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Captured by the multispectral imager instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is an enhanced-color view of the large double-ring crater Huygens (upper right; about 290 miles, or 470 kilometers, in diameter) and the surrounding heavily cratered southern highlands near 15 degrees south latitude. The various colors in this dramatic scene are likely due to differences in the compositional properties of dust, sand, and bedrock in this ancient terrain. The image scale is around 2,200 feet (670 meters) per pixel.
The image was acquired with Imager A on May 15, 2026, at about 1:18 p.m. PDT, shortly after closest approach with the planet. The images have been processed into an enhanced-color view (to bring out color details beyond what the human eye can see) using red, green, and blue data from imager filters.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach
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This view of the Martian surface, captured by NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on May 15, 2026, shows streaks that have formed due to wind blowing over impact craters in the Syrtis Major region. The image scale is nearly 1,200 feet (360 meters) per pixel. The wind streaks extend to about 30 miles (50 kilometers) long, and the large craters near center-bottom of the scene average around 30 miles in diameter.
The images have been processed into a natural-color view (approximating what the human eye would see) using red, green, and blue data from imager filters.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole
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This is the highest-resolution view of the water ice-rich south polar cap of Mars captured by NASA’s Psyche mission after it made its close approach with the planet for a gravity assist. The image scale is around 0.7 miles per pixel (1.14 kilometers per pixel). The cap itself extends across more than 430 miles (700 kilometers). The image was acquired with Imager A on May 15, 2026, at about 1:53 p.m. PDT.
With Mars in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will soon resume use of its solar-electric propulsion system to make a beeline to the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit around the asteroid Psyche, which is thought to be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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