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NASA’s Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe
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NASA, ESA, CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok (University of Cambridge/University of Copenhagen), P. Jakobsen (University of Copenhagen), A. Pagan (STScI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Using the unique infrared sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers can examine ancient galaxies to probe secrets of the early universe. Now, an international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in an unexpectedly early time in the universe’s history. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how this light could have pierced the thick fog of neutral hydrogen that filled space at that time.
The Webb telescope discovered the incredibly distant galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1, observed to exist just 330 million years after the big bang, in images taken by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) as part of the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). Researchers used the galaxy’s brightness in different infrared filters to estimate its redshift, which measures a galaxy’s distance from Earth based on how its light has been stretched out during its journey through expanding space.
Image A: JADES-GS-z13-1 in the GOODS-S field (NIRCam Image) The incredibly distant galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1, observed just 330 million years after the big bang, was initially discovered with deep imaging from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). Now, an international team of astronomers definitively has identified powerful hydrogen emission from this galaxy at an unexpectedly early period in the universe’s history. JADES-GS-z-13 has a redshift (z) of 13, which is an indication of its age and distance. NASA, ESA, CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok (University of Cambridge/University of Copenhagen), P. Jakobsen (University of Copenhagen), A. Pagan (STScI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) Image B: JADES-GS-z13-1 (NIRCam Close-Up) This image shows the galaxy JADES GS-z13-1 (the red dot at center), imaged with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. These data from NIRCam allowed researchers to identify GS-z13-1 as an incredibly distant galaxy, and to put an estimate on its redshift value. Webb’s unique infrared sensitivity is necessary to observe galaxies at this extreme distance, whose light has been shifted into infrared wavelengths during its long journey across the cosmos. NASA, ESA, CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok (University of Cambridge/University of Copenhagen), P. Jakobsen (University of Copenhagen), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)The NIRCam imaging yielded an initial redshift estimate of 12.9. Seeking to confirm its extreme redshift, an international team lead by Joris Witstok of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, as well as the Cosmic Dawn Center and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, then observed the galaxy using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument.
In the resulting spectrum, the redshift was confirmed to be 13.0. This equates to a galaxy seen just 330 million years after the big bang, a small fraction of the universe’s present age of 13.8 billion years old. But an unexpected feature stood out as well: one specific, distinctly bright wavelength of light, known as Lyman-alpha emission, radiated by hydrogen atoms. This emission was far stronger than astronomers thought possible at this early stage in the universe’s development.
“The early universe was bathed in a thick fog of neutral hydrogen,” explained Roberto Maiolino, a team member from the University of Cambridge and University College London. “Most of this haze was lifted in a process called reionization, which was completed about one billion years after the big bang. GS-z13-1 is seen when the universe was only 330 million years old, yet it shows a surprisingly clear, telltale signature of Lyman-alpha emission that can only be seen once the surrounding fog has fully lifted. This result was totally unexpected by theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise.”
Image C: JADES-GS-z13-1 Spectrum Graphic NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected unexpected light from a distant galaxy. The galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1, observed just 330 million years after the big bang (corresponding to a redshift of z=13.05), shows bright emission from hydrogen known as Lyman-alpha emission. This is surprising because that emission should have been absorbed by a dense fog of neutral hydrogen that suffused the early universe. NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Witstok (University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen), J. Olmsted (STScI)Before and during the era of reionization, the immense amounts of neutral hydrogen fog surrounding galaxies blocked any energetic ultraviolet light they emitted, much like the filtering effect of colored glass. Until enough stars had formed and were able to ionize the hydrogen gas, no such light — including Lyman-alpha emission — could escape from these fledgling galaxies to reach Earth. The confirmation of Lyman-alpha radiation from this galaxy, therefore, has great implications for our understanding of the early universe.
“We really shouldn’t have found a galaxy like this, given our understanding of the way the universe has evolved,” said Kevin Hainline, a team member from the University of Arizona. “We could think of the early universe as shrouded with a thick fog that would make it exceedingly difficult to find even powerful lighthouses peeking through, yet here we see the beam of light from this galaxy piercing the veil. This fascinating emission line has huge ramifications for how and when the universe reionized.”
The source of the Lyman-alpha radiation from this galaxy is not yet known, but it may include the first light from the earliest generation of stars to form in the universe.
“The large bubble of ionized hydrogen surrounding this galaxy might have been created by a peculiar population of stars — much more massive, hotter, and more luminous than stars formed at later epochs, and possibly representative of the first generation of stars,” said Witstok. A powerful active galactic nucleus, driven by one of the first supermassive black holes, is another possibility identified by the team.
This research was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
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Media ContactsLaura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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ESA/Webb, Baltimore, Md.
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Read more about cosmic history, the early universe, and cosmic reionization.
Article: Learn about what Webb has revealed about galaxies through time.
Video: How Webb reveals the first galaxies
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NASA Starling and SpaceX Starlink Improve Space Traffic Coordination
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Starling swarm’s extended mission tested advanced autonomous maneuvering capabilities.NASA/Daniel RutterAs missions to low Earth orbit become more frequent, space traffic coordination remains a key element to efficiently operating in space. Different satellite operators using autonomous systems need to operate together and manage increasing workloads. NASA’s Starling spacecraft swarm recently tested a coordination with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, demonstrating a potential solution to enhance space traffic coordination.
Led by the Small Spacecraft Technology program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Starling originally set out to demonstrate autonomous planning and execution of orbital maneuvers with the mission’s four small spacecraft. After achieving its primary objectives, the Starling mission expanded to become Starling 1.5, an experiment to demonstrate maneuvers between the Starling swarm and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which also maneuver autonomously.
Coordination in Low Earth Orbit
Current space traffic coordination systems screen trajectories of spacecraft and objects in space and alert operators on the ground of potential conjunctions, which occur when two objects exceed an operator’s tolerance for a close approach along their orbital paths. Spacecraft operators can request notification at a range of probabilities, often anywhere from a 1 in 10,000 likelihood of a collision to 1 in 1,000,000 or lower.
Conjunction mitigation between satellite operators requires manual coordination through calls or emails on the ground. An operator may receive a notification for a number of reasons including recently maneuvering their satellite, nearby space debris, or if another satellite adjusts its orbit.
Once an operator is aware of a potential conjunction, they must work together with other operators to reduce the probability of a collision. This can result in time-consuming calls or emails between ground operations teams with different approaches to safe operations. It also means maneuvers may require several days to plan and implement. This timeline can be challenging for missions that require quick adjustments to capture important data.
“Occasionally, we’ll do a maneuver that we find out wasn’t necessary if we could have waited before making a decision. Sometimes you can’t wait three days to reposition and observe. Being able to react within a few hours can make new satellite observations possible,” said Nathan Benz, project manager of Starling 1.5 at NASA Ames.
Improving Coordination for Autonomous Maneuvering
The first step in improving coordination was to develop a reliable way to signal maneuver responsibility between operators. “Usually, SpaceX takes the responsibility to move out of the way when another operator shares their predicted trajectory information,” said Benz.
SpaceX and NASA collaborated to design a conjunction screening service, which SpaceX then implemented. Satellite operators can submit trajectories and receive conjunction data quickly, then accept responsibility to maneuver away from a potential conjunction.
“For this experiment, NASA’s Starling accepted responsibility to move using the screening service, successfully tested our system’s performance, then autonomously planned and executed the maneuver for the NASA Starling satellite, resolving a close approach with a Starlink satellite,” said Benz.
Through NASA’s Starling 1.5 experiment, the agency helped validate SpaceX’s Starlink screening service. The Office of Space Commerce within the U.S. Department of Commerce also worked with SpaceX to understand and assess the Starlink screening service.
Quicker Response to Changes on Earth
The time it takes to plan maneuvers in today’s orbital traffic environment limits the number of satellites a human operator can manage and their ability to collect data or serve customers.
“A fully automated system that is flexible and adaptable between satellite constellations is ideal for an environment of multiple satellite operators, all of whom have differing criteria for mitigating collision risks,” said Lauri Newman, program officer for NASA’s Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.
Reducing the time necessary to plan maneuvers could open up a new class of missions, where quick responses to changes in space or on Earth’s surface are possible. Satellites capable of making quicker movements could adjust their orbital position to capture a natural disaster from above, or respond to one swarm member’s interesting observations, moving to provide a more thorough look.
“With improved access and use of low Earth orbit and the necessity to provide a more advanced space traffic coordination system, Starling 1.5 is providing critical data. Starling 1.5 is the result of a successful partnership between NASA, the Department of Commerce, and SpaceX, maturing technology to solve such challenges,” said Roger Hunter, program manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology program. “We look forward to the sustained impact of the Starling technologies as they continue demonstrating advancements in spacecraft coordination, cooperation, and autonomy.”
NASA Ames leads the Starling projects. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate funds and manages the Starling mission.
Share Details Last Updated Mar 26, 2025 LocationAmes Research Center Related Terms Explore More 2 min read The Sky’s Not the Limit: Testing Precision Landing Tech for Future Space Missions Article 24 hours ago 2 min read NASA Cloud Software Helps Companies Find their Place in Space Article 2 days ago 5 min read NASA Demonstrates New Wildland Fire Airspace Management System Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAAmes Research Center
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NSTA Hyperwall Schedule
3 min read
NSTA Hyperwall ScheduleNational Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Annual Conference, March 26-29, 2025
Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #779) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.
THURSDAY, MARCH 27
- 11:00 – 11:15 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
- 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— My NASA Data Satellite Data for All —— Angie Rizzi
- 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
- 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
- 1:00 – 1:15 PM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
- 1:15 – 1:30 PM —— Kahoot- Weather Terms —— Erin McKinley
- 1:30 – 1:45 PM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
- 1:45 – 2:00 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
- 2:00 – 2:15 PM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Taylor
- 2:15 – 2:30 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor
- 2:30 – 2:45 PM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi
- 2:45 – 3:00 PM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
- 3:30 – 3:45 PM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
- 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
- 4:15 – 4:30 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
- 4:30 – 4:45 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor
FRIDAY, MARCH 28
- 9:15 – 9:30 AM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
- 9:45 – 10:00 AM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
- 10:00 – 10:15 AM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
- 10:15 – 10:30 AM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Taylor
- 10:30 – 10:45 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
- 10:45 – 11:00 AM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
- 11:00 – 11:15 AM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
- 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi
- 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA —— Mike Taylor
- 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
- 1:00 – 1:15 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
- 1:15 – 1:30 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
- 1:30 – 1:45 PM —— Kahoot
- 1:45 – 2:00 PM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
- 2:00 – 2:15 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA —— Mike Taylor
- 2:15 – 2:30 PM —— SpacePhys Lab: A Heliophysics VR Experience for Education and Outreach —— Stephen Zaffke
- 2:30 – 2:45 PM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
- 2:45 – 3:00 PM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Talyor
- 3:30 – 3:45 PM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
- 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
- 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— My NASA Data Satellite Data for All —— Angie Rizzi
- 4:15 – 4:30 PM —— Kahoot
SATURDAY, MARCH 29
- 9:15 – 9:30 AM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
- 9:45 – 10:00 AM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
- 10:00 – 10:15 AM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
- 10:15 – 10:30 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
- 10:30 – 10:45 AM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
- 10:45 – 11:00 AM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor
- 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
- 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Kahoot
- 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi
How NASA’s Perseverance Is Helping Prepare Astronauts for Mars
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) At left is NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, with a circle indicating the location of the calibration target for the rover’s SHERLOC instrument. At right is a close-up of the calibration target. Along the bottom row are five swatches of spacesuit materials that scientists are studying as they de-grade.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSThe rover carries several swatches of spacesuit materials, and scientists are assessing how they’ve held up after four years on the Red Planet.
NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to help scientists understand the planet’s climate and geography. But another key objective is to pave the way for human exploration of Mars, and as part of that effort, the rover carries a set of five spacesuit material samples. Now, after those samples have endured four years of exposure on Mars’ dusty, radiation-soaked surface, scientists are beginning the next phase of studying them.
The end goal is to predict accurately the usable lifetime of a Mars spacesuit. What the agency learns about how the materials perform on Mars will inform the design of future spacesuits for the first astronauts on the Red Planet.
This graphic shows an illustration of a prototype astronaut suit, left, along with suit samples included aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover. They are the first spacesuit materials ever sent to Mars. NASA“This is one of the forward-looking aspects of the rover’s mission — not just thinking about its current science, but also about what comes next,” said planetary scientist Marc Fries of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who helped provide the spacesuit materials. “We’re preparing for people to eventually go and explore Mars.”
The swatches, each three-quarters of an inch square (20 millimeters square), are part of a calibration target used to test the settings of SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), an instrument on the end of Perseverance’s arm.
The samples include a piece of polycarbonate helmet visor; Vectran, a cut-resistant material used for the palms of astronaut gloves; two kinds of Teflon, which has dust-repelling nonstick properties; and a commonly used spacesuit material called Ortho-Fabric. This last fabric features multiple layers, including Nomex, a flame-resistant material found in firefighter outfits; Gore-Tex, which is waterproof but breathable; and Kevlar, a strong material used in bulletproof vests that makes spacesuits more rip-resistant.
Martian Wear and TearMars is far from hospitable. It has freezing temperatures, fine dust that can stick to solar panels and spacesuits (causing wear and tear on the latter), and a surface rife with perchlorates, a kind of corrosive salt that can be toxic to humans.
There’s also lots of solar radiation. Unlike Earth, which has a magnetic field that deflects much of the Sun’s radiation, Mars lost its magnetic field billions of years ago, followed by much of its atmosphere. Its surface has little protection from the Sun’s ultraviolet light (which is why researchers have looked into how rock formations and caves could provide astronauts some shielding).
“Mars is a really harsh, tough place,” said SHERLOC science team member Joby Razzell Hollis of the Natural History Museum in London. “Don’t underestimate that — the radiation in particular is pretty nasty.”
Razzell Hollis was a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 2018 to 2021, where he helped prepare SHERLOC for arrival on Mars and took part in science operations once the rover landed. A materials scientist, Razzell Hollis has previously studied the chemical effects of sunlight on a new kind of solar panel made from plastic, as well as on plastic pollution floating in the Earth’s oceans.
He likened those effects to how white plastic lawn chairs become yellow and brittle after years in sunlight. Roughly the same thing happens on Mars, but the weathering likely happens faster because of the high exposure to ultraviolet light there.
The key to developing safer spacesuit materials will be understanding how quickly they would wear down on the Martian surface. About 50% of the changes SHERLOC witnessed in the samples happened within Perseverance’s first 200 days on Mars, with the Vectran appearing to change first.
Another nuance will be figuring out how much solar radiation different parts of a spacesuit will have to withstand. For example, an astronaut’s shoulders will be more exposed — and likely encounter more radiation — than his or her palms.
Next StepsThe SHERLOC team is working on a science paper detailing initial data on how the samples have fared on Mars. Meanwhile, scientists at NASA Johnson are eager to simulate that weathering in special chambers that mimic the carbon dioxide atmosphere, air pressure, and ultraviolet light on the Martian surface. They could then compare the results generated on Earth while putting the materials to the test with those seen in the SHERLOC data. For example, the researchers could stretch the materials until they break to check if they become more brittle over time.
“The fabric materials are designed to be tough but flexible, so they protect astronauts but can bend freely,” Fries said. “We want to know the extent to which the fabrics lose their strength and flexibility over time. As the fabrics weaken, they can fray and tear, allowing a spacesuit to leak both heat and air.”
More About PerseveranceA key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance:
News Media ContactsAndrew Good
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NASA’s Webb Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Heidi Hammel (AURA), Henrik Melin (Northumbria University), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Stefanie Milam (NASA-GSFC)
Long-sought auroral glow finally emerges under Webb’s powerful gaze
For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating from the Sun, become trapped in a planet’s magnetic field and eventually strike the upper atmosphere. The energy released during these collisions creates the signature glow.
In the past, astronomers have seen tantalizing hints of auroral activity on Neptune, for example, in the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. However, imaging and confirming the auroras on Neptune has long evaded astronomers despite successful detections on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Neptune was the missing piece of the puzzle when it came to detecting auroras on the giant planets of our solar system.
“Turns out, actually imaging the auroral activity on Neptune was only possible with Webb’s near-infrared sensitivity,” said lead author Henrik Melin of Northumbria University, who conducted the research while at the University of Leicester. “It was so stunning to not just see the auroras, but the detail and clarity of the signature really shocked me.”
The data was obtained in June 2023 using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph. In addition to the image of the planet, astronomers obtained a spectrum to characterize the composition and measure the temperature of the planet’s upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). For the first time, they found an extremely prominent emission line signifying the presence of the trihydrogen cation (H3+), which can be created in auroras. In the Webb images of Neptune, the glowing aurora appears as splotches represented in cyan.
Image A:Neptune’s Auroras – Hubble and Webb At the left, an enhanced-color image of Neptune from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. At the right, that image is combined with data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The cyan splotches, which represent auroral activity, and white clouds, are data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), overlayed on top of the full image of the planet from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Heidi Hammel (AURA), Henrik Melin (Northumbria University), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Stefanie Milam (NASA-GSFC)
“H3+ has a been a clear signifier on all the gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus — of auroral activity, and we expected to see the same on Neptune as we investigated the planet over the years with the best ground-based facilities available,” explained Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Webb interdisciplinary scientist and leader of the Guaranteed Time Observation program for the Solar System in which the data were obtained. “Only with a machine like Webb have we finally gotten that confirmation.”
The auroral activity seen on Neptune is also noticeably different from what we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth, or even Jupiter or Saturn. Instead of being confined to the planet’s northern and southern poles, Neptune’s auroras are located at the planet’s geographic mid-latitudes — think where South America is located on Earth.
This is due to the strange nature of Neptune’s magnetic field, originally discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989 which is tilted by 47 degrees from the planet’s rotation axis. Since auroral activity is based where the magnetic fields converge into the planet’s atmosphere, Neptune’s auroras are far from its rotational poles.
The ground-breaking detection of Neptune’s auroras will help us understand how Neptune’s magnetic field interacts with particles that stream out from the Sun to the distant reaches of our solar system, a totally new window in ice giant atmospheric science.
From the Webb observations, the team also measured the temperature of the top of Neptune’s atmosphere for the first time since Voyager 2’s flyby. The results hint at why Neptune’s auroras remained hidden from astronomers for so long.
“I was astonished — Neptune’s upper atmosphere has cooled by several hundreds of degrees,” Melin said. “In fact, the temperature in 2023 was just over half of that in 1989.”
Through the years, astronomers have predicted the intensity of Neptune’s auroras based on the temperature recorded by Voyager 2. A substantially colder temperature would result in much fainter auroras. This cold temperature is likely the reason that Neptune’s auroras have remained undetected for so long. The dramatic cooling also suggests that this region of the atmosphere can change greatly even though the planet sits over 30 times farther from the Sun compared to Earth.
Equipped with these new findings, astronomers now hope to study Neptune with Webb over a full solar cycle, an 11-year period of activity driven by the Sun’s magnetic field. Results could provide insights into the origin of Neptune’s bizarre magnetic field, and even explain why it’s so tilted.
“As we look ahead and dream of future missions to Uranus and Neptune, we now know how important it will be to have instruments tuned to the wavelengths of infrared light to continue to study the auroras,” added Leigh Fletcher of Leicester University, co-author on the paper. “This observatory has finally opened the window onto this last, previously hidden ionosphere of the giant planets.”
These observations, led by Fletcher, were taken as part of Hammel’s Guaranteed Time Observation program 1249. The team’s results have been published in Nature Astronomy.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
DownloadsClick any image to open a larger version.
View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Read the research results published in Nature Astronomy.
Media ContactsLaura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Hannah Braun- hbraun@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Henrik Melin (Northumbria University)
Related InformationView more: Webb images of Neptune
Watch: Visualization of Neptune’s tilted magnetic axis
Learn more : about Neptune
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NASA Statement on Nomination of Greg Autry for Agency CFO
The following is a statement from NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro regarding the nomination by President Donald Trump of Greg Autry on March 24 to serve as the agency’s chief financial officer (CFO):
“The NASA CFO is responsible for executing more than $25 billion in agency funding across a variety of missions, including the Moon and Mars, for the benefit of humanity. With his previous experience as the White House liaison during President Trump’s first administration, as well as his extensive experience in space policy, I look forward to welcoming Greg as our next CFO. If confirmed, we will work together with the current Trump Administration to ensure NASA’s success in maximizing efficiencies, refining our processes, and remaining effective stewards of every tax dollar invested in our agency.”
In addition to his previous experience on the agency review team and as White House liaison at NASA, he also has served on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) at the FAA and is the vice president of the National Space Society.
Autry is the associate provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy at the University of Central Florida, a published author, and entrepreneur. He also serves as a visiting professor at Imperial College London. He formerly served as the director of Space Leadership, Policy, and Business in the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a professor at Arizona State University. He also has taught technology entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California and macroeconomics at the University of California, Irvine.
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NASA Cloud Software Helps Companies Find their Place in Space
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Double Asteroid Redirection Test required extreme precision in mission planning to achieve its mission of impacting an asteroid. The founders of Continuum Space worked on astrodynamics relating to this mission, which they used to inform their product.NASAPlanning space missions is a very involved process, ensuring orbits are lined up and spacecraft have enough fuel is imperative to the long-term survival of orbital assets. Continuum Space Systems Inc. of Pasadena, California, produces a cloud-based platform that gives mission planners everything they need to certify that their space resources can accomplish their goals.
Continuum’s story begins at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Loic Chappaz, the company’s co-founder, started at JPL as an intern working on astrodynamics related to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test. There he met Leon Alkalai, a JPL technical fellow who spent his 30-year career at the center planning deep space missions. After Alkalai retired from NASA, he founded Mandala Space Ventures, a startup that explored several avenues of commercial space development. Chappaz soon became Mandala’s first employee, but to plan their future, Mandala’s leadership began thinking about the act of planning itself.
Because the staff had decades of combined experience at JPL, they knew the center had the building blocks for the software they needed. After licensing several pieces of software from JPL, the company began building planning systems that were highly adaptable to any space mission they could come up with. Mandala eventually evolved into a venture firm that incubated space-related startups. However, because Mandala had invested considerably in developing mission-planning tools, further development could be performed by a new company, and Continuum was fully spun off from Mandala in 2021.
Continuum’s tools are designed to take a space mission from concept to completion. There are three different components to their “mission in a box” — design, build and test, and mission operations. The base of these tools are several pieces of software developed at NASA. As of 2024, several space startups have begun planning missions with Continuum’s NASA-inspired software, as well as established operators of satellite constellations. From Continuum to several startups, NASA technologies continue to prove a valuable foundation for the nation’s space economy.
Read More Share Details Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 2 min read NASA Expertise Helps Record all the Buzz Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read What is a NASA Spinoff? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 53 Article 3 weeks ago 3 min read NASA Partners with US Patent and Trademark Office to Advance Technology Transfer Article 3 months ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Planetary Defense – DARTNASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for NASA’s Planetary…
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NASA’s Spirit Rover Gets Looked Over
Technicians do final checks on NASA’s Spirit rover in this image from March 28, 2003. The rover – and its twin, Opportunity – studied the history of climate and water at sites on Mars where conditions may once have been favorable to life. Each rover is about the size of a golf cart and seven times heavier (about 405 pounds or 185 kilograms) than the Sojourner rover launched on the Mars Pathfinder to Mars mission in 1996.
Spirit and Opportunity were sent to opposite sides of Mars to locations that were suspected of having been affected by liquid water in the past. Spirit was launched first, on June 10, 2003. Spirit landed on the Martian surface on Jan. 3, 2004, about 8 miles (13.4 kilometers) from the planned target and inside the Gusev crater. The site became known as Columbia Memorial Station to honor the seven astronauts killed when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart Feb. 1, 2003, as it returned to Earth. The plaque commemorating the STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia crew can be seen in the image above.
Spirit operated for 6 years, 2 months, and 19 days, more than 25 times its original intended lifetime, traveling 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers) across the Martian plains.
Image credit: NASA
NASA Invites Media to Learn About Artemis Moon Mission Recovery
NASA and the Department of Defense will host a media event on the recovery operations that will bring the Artemis II astronauts and the agency’s Orion spacecraft home at the conclusion of next year’s mission around the Moon. The in-person event will take place at 3 p.m. PDT on Monday, March 31, at Naval Base San Diego in California.
A team of NASA and Department of Defense personnel are at sea in the Pacific Ocean where splashdown will take place. The team currently is practicing the procedures it will use to recover the astronauts after their more than 600,000 mile journey from Earth and back on the first crewed mission under the Artemis campaign. A test version of Orion and other hardware also will be on-hand for media representatives to view.
Interested media must RSVP no later than 4 p.m. PDT Friday, March 28, to Naval Base San Diego Public Affairs at nbsd.pao@us.navy.mil or 619-556-7359. The start time of the event may change based on the conclusion of testing activities.
Participants include:
- Liliana Villarreal, NASA’s Artemis II landing and recovery director, Exploration Ground Systems Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
- Capt. Andrew “Andy” Koy, commanding officer of USS Somerset (LPD 25), U.S. Navy
- Lt. Col. David Mahan, commander, U.S. Air Force’s 1st Air Force, Detachment 3, Patrick Space Force Base, Florida
Several astronauts participating in the testing will be available for interviews.
Artemis II will be the first test flight of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground system with crew aboard. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will venture around the Moon and back. The mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future astronaut missions to Mars.
Learn more about Artemis II at:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
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Jim Wilson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jim.wilson@nasa.gov
Madison Tuttle/Allison Tankersley
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-298-5968/321-867-2468
madison.e.tuttle@nasa.gov / allison.p.tankersley@nasa.gov
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Team Wins 2024 Collier Trophy
The innovative team of engineers and scientists from NASA, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and more than 40 other partner organizations across the country that created the Parker Solar Probe mission has been awarded the 2024 Robert J. Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA). This annual award recognizes the most exceptional achievement in aeronautics and astronautics in America with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles in the previous year.
“Congratulations to the entire Parker Solar Probe team for this well-earned recognition,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “This mission’s trailblazing research is rewriting the textbooks on solar science by going to a place no human-made object has ever been and advancing NASA’s efforts to better understand our solar system and the Sun’s influence, with lasting benefits for us all. As the first to touch the Sun and fastest human-made object ever built, Parker Solar Probe is a testament to human ingenuity and discovery.”
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. NASAOn Dec. 24, 2024, Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun, passing deep within the Sun’s corona, just 3.8 million miles above the Sun’s surface and at a top speed of close to 430,000 mph, ushering in a new era of scientific discovery and space exploration.
“This award is a recognition of the unrelenting dedication and hard work of the Parker Solar Probe team. I am so proud of this team and honored to have been a part of it,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By studying the Sun closer than ever before, we continue to advance our understanding of not only our closest star, but also stars across our universe. Parker Solar Probe’s historic close approaches to the Sun are a testament to the incredible engineering that made this record-breaking journey possible.”
Three novel aerospace technology advancements were critical to enabling this record performance: The first is the Thermal Protection System, or heat shield, that protects the spacecraft and is built to withstand brutal temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The Thermal Protection System allows Parker’s electronics and instruments to operate close to room temperature.
Additional Parker innovations included first-of-their-kind actively cooled solar arrays that protect themselves from overexposure to intense solar energy while powering the spacecraft, and a fully autonomous spacecraft system that can manage its own flight behavior, orientation, and configuration for months at a time. Parker has relied upon all of these vital technologies every day since its launch almost seven years ago, in August 2018.
“I am thrilled for the Parker Solar Probe team on receiving this well-deserved award,” said Joe Westlake, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “The new information about the Sun made available through this mission will improve our ability to prepare for space weather events across the solar system, as well as better understand the very star that makes life possible for us on Earth.”
Parker’s close-up observations of solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and solar particle events, are critical to advancing our understanding of the science of our Sun and the phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to satellites, air travel, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics behind events which drive space weather will enable more reliable predictions and lower astronaut exposure to hazardous radiation during future deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
“This amazing team brought to life an incredibly difficult space science mission that had been studied, and determined to be impossible, for more than 60 years. They did so by solving numerous long-standing technology challenges and dramatically advancing our nation’s spaceflight capabilities,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “The Collier Trophy is well-earned recognition for this phenomenal group of innovators from NASA, APL, and our industry and research partners from across the nation.”
First awarded in 1911, the Robert J. Collier Trophy winner is selected by a group of aviation leaders chosen by the NAA. The Collier Trophy is housed in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
“Traveling three times closer to the Sun and seven times faster than any spacecraft before, Parker’s technology innovations enabled humanity to reach inside the Sun’s atmosphere for the first time,” said Bobby Braun, head of APL’s Space Exploration Sector. “We are all immensely proud that the Parker Solar Probe team will join a long legacy of prestigious aerospace endeavors that redefined technology and changed history.”
“The Parker Solar Probe team’s achievement in earning the 2024 Collier is a shining example of determination, genius, and teamwork,” said NAA President and CEO Amy Spowart. “It’s a distinct honor for the NAA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable team that turned the impossible into reality.”
Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed, built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.
By Geoff Brown
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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NASA Demonstrates New Wildland Fire Airspace Management System
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) researchers Lynne Martin, left, and Connie Brasil use the Portable Airspace Management System (PAMS) to view a simulated fire zone and set a drone flight plan during a flight test the week of March 17, 2025.NASA/Brandon Torres-NavarreteNASA researchers conducted initial validation of a new airspace management system designed to enable crews to use aircraft to fight and monitor wildland fires 24 hours a day, even during low-visibility conditions.
From March 17-28, NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project stationed researchers at multiple strategic locations across the foothills of the Sierra de Salinas mountains in Monterey County, California. Their mission: to test and validate a new, portable system that can provide reliable airspace management under poor visual conditions, one of the biggest barriers for aerial wildland firefighting support.
The mission was a success.
“At NASA, we have decades of experience leveraging our aviation expertise in ways that improve everyday life for Americans,” said Carol Carroll, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at agency headquarters in Washington. “We need every advantage possible when it comes to saving lives and property when wildfires affect our communities, and ACERO technology will give responders critical new tools to monitor and fight fires.”
NASA ACERO researchers Samuel Zuniga,left, and Jonathan La Plain prepare for a drone flight test using the PAMS in Salinas on March 19, 2025.NASA/Brandon Torres-NavarreteOne of the barriers for continued monitoring, suppression, and logistics support in wildland fire situations is a lack of tools for managing airspace and air traffic that can support operations under all visibility conditions. Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times with clear visibility when a Tactical Air Group Supervisor or “air boss” in a piloted aircraft can provide direction. Otherwise, pilots may risk collisions.
The ACERO technology will provide that air boss capability for remotely piloted aircraft operations – and users will be able to do it from the ground. The project’s Portable Airspace Management System (PAMS) is a suitcase-sized solution that builds on decades of NASA air traffic and airspace management research. The PAMS units will allow pilots to view the locations and operational intents of other aircraft, even in thick smoke or at night.
During the testing in Salinas, researchers evaluated the PAMS’ core airspace management functions, including strategic coordination and the ability to automatically alert pilots once their aircrafts exit their preapproved paths or the simulated preapproved fire operation zone.
Using the PAMS prototype, researchers were able to safely conduct flight operations of a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft operated by Overwatch Aero, LLC, of Solvang, California, and two small NASA drones.
Flying as if responding to a wildfire scenario, the Overwatch aircraft connected with two PAMS units in different locations. Though the systems were separated by mountains and valleys with weak cellular service, the PAMS units were able to successfully share and display a simulated fire zone, aircraft location, flight plans, and flight intent, thanks to a radio communications relay established by the Overwatch aircraft.
Operating in a rural mountain range validated that PAMS could work successfully in an actual wildland fire environment.
“Testing in real mountainous environments presents numerous challenges, but it offers significantly more value than lab-based testing,” said Dr. Min Xue, ACERO project manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “The tests were successful, providing valuable insights and highlighting areas for future improvement.”
NASA ACERO researchers fly a drone to test the PAMS during a flight test on March 19, 2025.NASA/Brandon Torres-NavarretePilots on the ground used PAMS to coordinate the drones, which performed flights simulating aerial ignition – the practice of setting controlled, intentional fires to manage vegetation, helping to control fires and reduce wildland fire risk.
As a part of the testing, Joby Aviation of Santa Cruz, California, flew its remotely piloted aircraft, similar in size to a Cessna Grand Caravan, over the testing site. The PAMS system successfully exchanged aircraft location and flight intent with Joby’s mission management system. The test marked the first successful interaction between PAMS and an optionally piloted aircraft.
Fire chiefs from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) attended the testing and provided feedback on the system’s functionality, features that could improve wildland fire air traffic coordination, and potential for integration into operations.
“We appreciate the work being done by the NASA ACERO program in relation to portable airspace management capabilities,” said Marcus Hernandez, deputy chief for CAL FIRE’s Office of Wildfire Technology. “It’s great to see federal, state, and local agencies, as it is important to address safety and regulatory challenges alongside technological advancements.”
ACERO chief engineer Joey Mercer, right, shows the Portable Airspace Management System (PAMS) to Cal Fire representatives Scott Eckman, center, and Pete York, left, in preparation for the launch of the Overwatch Aero FVR90 Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) test “fire” information sharing, airspace management, communication relay, and aircraft deconfliction capabilities during the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) test in Salinas, California.NASA/Brandon Torres-NavarreteThese latest flights build on successful PAMS testing in Watsonville, California, in November 2024. ACERO will use flight test data and feedback from wildland fire agencies to continue building out PAMS capabilities and will showcase more robust information-sharing capabilities in the coming years.
NASA’s goal for ACERO is to validate this technology, so it can be developed for wildland fire crews to use in the field, saving lives and property. The project is managed by NASA’s Airspace Operations and Safety Program and supports the agency’s Advanced Air Mobility mission.
ACERO’s PAMS unit shown during a flight test on March 19, 2025NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrette Share Details Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read New Aircraft Wing Undergoes Crucial NASA Icing Testing Article 8 hours ago 3 min read Engineering Reality: Lee Bingham Leads Lunar Surface Simulation Support for Artemis Campaign Article 1 day ago 3 min read Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) Services Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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Investigaciones de la NASA en la estación espacial ayudan a impulsar la ciencia lunar
La Estación Espacial Internacional sustenta una amplia gama de actividades científicas, desde la observación de nuestro universo hasta el logro de avances en investigaciones médicas, y es un campo de pruebas activo en la tecnología para futuras misiones de exploración en la Luna y más allá. La misión Blue Ghost 1 de Firefly Aerospace aterrizó en la Luna el 2 de marzo de 2025, dando inicio a las operaciones científicas y tecnológicas en su superficie, las cuales incluyen tres experimentos que fueron evaluados o habilitados con las investigaciones de la estación espacial. Estos proyectos están ayudando a los científicos a estudiar la meteorología espacial, la navegación, y el desempeño de las computadoras en el espacio, los cuales son conocimientos cruciales para futuras misiones a la Luna.
Uno de los experimentos, el Generador de imágenes de rayos X heliosférico para el entorno lunar (LEXI, por sus siglas en inglés), es un pequeño telescopio diseñado para estudiar el entorno magnético de la Tierra y su interacción con el viento solar. Al igual que el telescopio Explorador de la composición interior de las estrellas de neutrones (NICER, por sus siglas en inglés) que está montado fuera de la estación espacial, LEXI observa las fuentes de rayos X. LEXI y NICER observaron la misma estrella en rayos X para calibrar el instrumento de LEXI y analizar mejor los rayos X emitidos desde la atmósfera superior de la Tierra, que es el objetivo principal de LEXI. El estudio de LEXI sobre la interacción entre el viento solar y la magnetosfera protectora de la Tierra podría ayudar a los investigadores a desarrollar métodos para salvaguardar la futura infraestructura espacial y comprender cómo responde esta frontera a las condiciones meteorológicas en el espacio.
Otros investigadores enviaron a la Luna el Sistema informático tolerante a la radiación (RadPC, por sus siglas en inglés) para realizar pruebas sobre cómo las computadoras pueden recuperarse de fallas relacionadas con la radiación. Antes de que RadPC volara a bordo de Blue Ghost, los investigadores hicieron pruebas con una computadora tolerante a la radiación en la estación espacial y desarrollaron un algoritmo para detectar posibles desperfectos en el hardware y evitar fallas críticas. RadPC tiene como objetivo demostrar la resistencia de las computadoras en el entorno de radiación de la Luna. La computadora puede medir su propia salud en tiempo real, y RadPC puede identificar un punto defectuoso y repararlo en segundo plano, según sea necesario. Los conocimientos adquiridos con esta investigación podrían mejorar el hardware informático para futuras misiones en el espacio profundo.
Además, el Experimento del receptor lunar de GNSS (LuGRE, por sus siglas en inglés) situado en la superficie de la Luna ha recibido oficialmente una señal del Sistema Global de Navegación por Satélite (GNSS, por sus siglas en inglés) a la distancia más lejana de la Tierra. Estas son las mismas señales para la navegación que se utilizan en la Tierra en todo, desde teléfonos inteligentes hasta aviones. A bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional, el Banco de Pruebas de Navegación y Comunicaciones (NAVCOM, por sus siglas en inglés) ha llevado a cabo pruebas de un sistema de respaldo para el GNSS de la Tierra utilizando estaciones terrestres como un método alternativo para la navegación lunar cuando las señales del GNSS puedan tener limitaciones. Unir los sistemas existentes con soluciones emergentes específicas para la navegación lunar podría ayudar a dar forma al modo en que las naves espaciales navegan por la Luna en futuras misiones.
La Estación Espacial Internacional funciona como un importante banco de pruebas para las investigaciones que se llevan a cabo en misiones como Blue Ghost y continúa sentando las bases para las tecnologías del futuro.
Destiny Doran
Equipo de Comunicaciones de Investigaciones en la Estación Espacial Internacional
Read this story in English here.
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New Aircraft Wing Undergoes Crucial NASA Icing Testing
In the future, aircraft with long, thin wings supported by aerodynamic braces could help airlines save on fuel costs. But those same wings could be susceptible to ice buildup. NASA researchers are currently working to determine if such an issue exists, and how it could be addressed.
In the historic Icing Research Tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, scientists and engineers are testing a concept for a transonic truss-braced wing. Their goal: to collect important data to inform the design of these potential efficient aircraft of the future.
This artist’s concept shows the transonic truss-braced wing concept. NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project is exploring the design, which involves a longer, thinner wing structure with struts to enhance aerodynamic efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.Credit: NASAA transonic truss-braced wing generates less drag in flight compared to today’s aircraft wings, requiring an aircraft to burn less fuel. This revolutionary design could make the wing more prone to ice buildup, so it must undergo a series of rigorous tests to predict its safety and performance. The data the research team has collected so far suggests large sections of the frontmost part of the wing (also known as the leading edge) will require an ice protection system, similar to those found on some commercial aircraft.
NASA Glenn can simulate icing conditions in its Icing Research Tunnel to identify potential challenges for new aircraft designs. These tests provide important information about how ice builds up on wings and can help identify the most critical icing conditions for safety. All commercial aircraft must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate in all kinds of weather.
Because of the thinness of transonic truss-braced wing design, ice tends to build up during cold conditions, as seen during a test in October 2024. Researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland conducted another test campaign in March 2025, collecting important data to ensure safety. Credit: NASA/Jordan CochranThis research is part of NASA’s work to mature transonic truss-braced technology by looking at issues including safety and how future aircraft could be integrated into U.S. aviation infrastructure. Boeing is also working with NASA to build, test, and fly the X-66, a full-sized demonstrator aircraft with transonic truss-braced wings. Because the experimental aircraft will not be flown in icy conditions, tests in the Icing Research Tunnel are providing answers to questions about ice buildup.
This work advances NASA’s role in developing ultra-efficient airliner technologies that are economically, operationally, and environmentally sustainable. For about two decades, NASA has invested in research aimed at advancing transonic truss-braced wing technology to the point where private sector aeronautics companies can integrate it into commercial aircraft configurations. NASA invests in this research through initiatives including its Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which investigates specific performance aspects of transonic truss-braced wing concepts, such as icing. The Advanced Air Transport Technology project is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program.
Explore More 5 min read NASA Demonstrates New Wildland Fire Airspace Management System Article 5 hours ago 3 min read Finalists Selected in NASA Aeronautics Agriculture-Themed Competition Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read NASA’s Chevron Technology Quiets the Skies Article 2 weeks agoNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Views Blue Ghost on Moon’s Surface
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the Moon’s surface the afternoon of March 2, not quite 10 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander, which appears in this image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as a bright pixel casting a shadow in the middle of the white box, reached the surface of the Moon on March 2 at 3:34 a.m. EST.NASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityThe delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
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Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Views IM-2 on Moon’s Surface
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 on the Moon’s surface on March 7, just under 24 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Later that day Intuitive Machines called an early end of mission for IM-2, which carried NASA technology demonstrations as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena lander, indicated here with a white arrow, reached the surface of the Moon on March 6, 2025, near the center of Mons Mouton. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the site at 12:54 p.m. EST on March 7.NASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityThe IM-2 mission lander is located closer to the Moon’s South Pole than any previous lunar lander.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
Media Contact:
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Sols 4488-4490: Progress Through the Ankle-Breaking Terrain (West of Texoli Butte, Climbing Southward)
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Sols 4488-4490: Progress Through the Ankle-Breaking Terrain (West of Texoli Butte, Climbing Southward) NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image showing its robotic arm in action; the view also illustrates bedding on a light-toned bedrock block of the layered sulfate-bearing unit. Curiosity acquired the image using its Right Navigation Camera on March 20, 2025 — sol 4486, or Martian day 4,486 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 15:18:42 UTC. NASA/JPL-CaltechWritten by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth planning date: Friday, March 21, 2025
It’s the start of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere on Earth, but in Gale Crater on Mars our rover is still heading into the depths of Martian winter. We’re just a few weeks away from Mars’ aphelion — the time when it’s farthest from the Sun. The Mars-Sun distance varies more significantly than the Earth-Sun distance because of the greater eccentricity of Mars’ orbit, and its effect on the Martian weather is correspondingly more important.
As my colleague mentioned in the previous blog post, the layered sulfate bedrock in this region is broken up into large blocks that often make the driving tough going. The drive in the sol 4486 plan went very well, however, moving Curiosity nearly 35 meters (about 115 feet) southward and upward. Our new workspace is in one of the “light-toned” stripes that can be seen in the orbital imagery and is correspondingly full of light-toned laminated blocks typical of what we’ve seen before in this geologic unit.
For the second plan in a row we were also able to use the rover arm, due to the rover having parked in a stable position — not always a given in this terrain! This enabled us to plan a pair of compositional measurements by the APXS on a bedrock target (“Solstice Canyon”) to assess both the bedrock composition after dust removal and the effect of the ubiquitous dust on the instrument at other locations where the rock cannot be brushed. Our other compositional measurement tool, the LIBS, was also recruited for a co-targeted measurement on Solstice Canyon.
The second LIBS measurement and a MAHLI observation went to the one distinctive, potentially diagenetic, feature visible among all of the light-toned workspace blocks, a small grayish patch that looks like a vein or a coating in the images available at planning (“Black Oak”). The planned observations will give us both the composition and morphology of it in much greater detail.
A long-distance RMI imaging mosaic was planned to investigate some ridges on an as-yet-unnamed butte off to the west. The ridges may be evidence of the same type of diagenetic activity that produced the boxwork structures that are the next major science target for Curiosity. A passive spectral raster was also planned for a potential boxwork region. As we won’t be able to rove to every potential boxwork on Aeolis Mons, longer-distance views such as these can give us a sense of how widespread the boxwork-forming activity may have been.
Mastcam imaging included some follow-up on a hummocky sedimentary feature (“Pino Alto”) and documentation of textures in the nearby local bedrock (“Piedra Blanca”) as well as documentation imagery for the two LIBS targets.
Finally, the modern Martian atmosphere was investigated with measurements by APXS and the ChemCam passive imager to track abundances of argon and oxygen, respectively, as they vary with the Martian seasons.
Share Details Last Updated Mar 24, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read Sols 4486-4487: Ankle-Breaking Kind of Terrain!Article
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The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
Engineering Reality: Lee Bingham Leads Lunar Surface Simulation Support for Artemis Campaign
If you design a new tool for use on Earth, it is easy to test and practice using that tool in its intended environment. But what if that tool is destined for lunar orbit or will be used by astronauts on the surface of the Moon?
NASA’s Simulation and Graphics Branch can help with that. Based at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the branch’s high-fidelity, real-time graphical simulations support in-depth engineering analyses and crew training, ensuring the safety, efficiency, and success of complex space endeavors before execution. The team manages multiple facilities that provide these simulations, including the Prototype Immersive Technologies (PIT) Lab, Virtual Reality Training Lab, and the Systems Engineering Simulator (SES).
Lee Bingham is an aerospace engineer on the simulation and graphics team. His work includes developing simulations and visualizations for the NASA Exploration Systems Simulations team and providing technical guidance on simulation and graphics integration for branch-managed facilities. He also leads the branch’s human-in-the-loop Test Sim and Graphics Team, the Digital Lunar Exploration Sites Unreal Simulation Tool (DUST), and the Lunar Surface Mixed-Reality with the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) projects.
Lee Bingham demonstrates a spacewalk simulator for the Gateway lunar space station during NASA’s Tech Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of Lee BinghamBingham is particularly proud of his contributions to DUST, which provides a 3D visualization of the Moon’s South Pole and received Johnson’s Exceptional Software of the Year Award in 2024. “It was designed for use as an early reference to enable candidate vendors to perform initial studies of the lunar terrain and lighting in support of the Strategy and Architecture Office, human landing system, and the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program,” Bingham explained. DUST has supported several human-in-the-loop studies for NASA. It has also been shared with external collaborators and made available to the public through the NASA Software Catalog.
Bingham has kept busy during his nearly nine years at Johnson and said learning to manage and balance support for multiple projects and customers was very challenging at first. “I would say ‘yes’ to pretty much anything anyone asked me to do and would end up burning myself out by working extra-long hours to meet milestones and deliverables,” he said. “It has been important to maintain a good work-life balance and avoid overcommitting myself while meeting demanding expectations.”
Lee Bingham tests the Lunar Surface Mixed Reality and Active Response Gravity Offload System trainer at Johnson Space Center. Image courtesy of Lee BinghamBingham has also learned the importance of teamwork and collaboration. “You can’t be an expert at everything or do everything yourself,” he said. “Develop your skills, practice them regularly, and master them over time but be willing to ask for help and advice. And be sure to recognize and acknowledge your coworkers and teammates when they go above and beyond or achieve something remarkable.”
Lee Bingham (left) demonstrates a lunar rover simulator for Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke. Image courtesy of Lee BinghamHe hopes that the Artemis Generation will be motivated to tackle difficult challenges and further NASA’s mission to benefit humanity. “Be sure to learn from those who came before you, but be bold and unafraid to innovate,” he advised.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Largest Organic Molecules Found on Mars
Researchers analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests prebiotic chemistry may have advanced further on Mars than previously observed.
Scientists probed an existing rock sample inside Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) mini-lab and found the molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane. These compounds, which are made up of 10, 11, and 12 carbons, respectively, are thought to be the fragments of fatty acids that were preserved in the sample. Fatty acids are among the organic molecules that on Earth are chemical building blocks of life.
Living things produce fatty acids to help form cell membranes and perform various other functions. But fatty acids also can be made without life, through chemical reactions triggered by various geological processes, including the interaction of water with minerals in hydrothermal vents.
While there’s no way to confirm the source of the molecules identified, finding them at all is exciting for Curiosity’s science team for a couple of reasons.
Curiosity scientists had previously discovered small, simple organic molecules on Mars, but finding these larger compounds provides the first evidence that organic chemistry advanced toward the kind of complexity required for an origin of life on Mars.
This graphic shows the long-chain organic molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane. These are the largest organic molecules discovered on Mars to date. They were detected in a drilled rock sample called “Cumberland” that was analyzed by the Sample Analysis at Mars lab inside the belly of NASA’s Curiosity rover. The rover, whose selfie is on the right side of the image, has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012. An image of the Cumberland drill hole is faintly visible in the background of the molecule chains. NASA/Dan GallagherThe new study also increases the chances that large organic molecules that can be made only in the presence of life, known as “biosignatures,” could be preserved on Mars, allaying concerns that such compounds get destroyed after tens of millions of years of exposure to intense radiation and oxidation.
This finding bodes well for plans to bring samples from Mars to Earth to analyze them with the most sophisticated instruments available here, the scientists say.
“Our study proves that, even today, by analyzing Mars samples we could detect chemical signatures of past life, if it ever existed on Mars,” said Caroline Freissinet, the lead study author and research scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in the Laboratory for Atmospheres and Space Observations in Guyancourt, France
In 2015, Freissinet co-led a team that, in a first, conclusively identified Martian organic molecules in the same sample that was used for the current study. Nicknamed “Cumberland,” the sample has been analyzed many times with SAM using different techniques.
NASA’s Curiosity rover drilled into this rock target, “Cumberland,” during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (May 19, 2013) and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock’s interior. Curiosity used the Mars Hand Lens Imager camera on the rover’s arm to capture this view of the hole in Cumberland on the same sol as the hole was drilled. The diameter of the hole is about 0.6 inches. The depth of the hole is about 2.6 inches. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity drilled the Cumberland sample in May 2013 from an area in Mars’ Gale Crater called “Yellowknife Bay.” Scientists were so intrigued by Yellowknife Bay, which looked like an ancient lakebed, they sent the rover there before heading in the opposite direction to its primary destination of Mount Sharp, which rises from the floor of the crater.
The detour was worth it: Cumberland turns out to be jam-packed with tantalizing chemical clues to Gale Crater’s 3.7-billion-year past. Scientists have previously found the sample to be rich in clay minerals, which form in water. It has abundant sulfur, which can help preserve organic molecules. Cumberland also has lots of nitrates, which on Earth are essential to the health of plants and animals, and methane made with a type of carbon that on Earth is associated with biological processes.
Perhaps most important, scientists determined that Yellowknife Bay was indeed the site of an ancient lake, providing an environment that could concentrate organic molecules and preserve them in fine-grained sedimentary rock called mudstone.
“There is evidence that liquid water existed in Gale Crater for millions of years and probably much longer, which means there was enough time for life-forming chemistry to happen in these crater-lake environments on Mars,” said Daniel Glavin, senior scientist for sample return at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a study co-author.
The recent organic compounds discovery was a side effect of an unrelated experiment to probe Cumberland for signs of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. After heating the sample twice in SAM’s oven and then measuring the mass of the molecules released, the team saw no evidence of amino acids. But they noticed that the sample released small amounts of decane, undecane, and dodecane.
Because these compounds could have broken off from larger molecules during heating, scientists worked backward to figure out what structures they may have come from. They hypothesized these molecules were remnants of the fatty acids undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, and tridecanoic acid, respectively.
The scientists tested their prediction in the lab, mixing undecanoic acid into a Mars-like clay and conducting a SAM-like experiment. After being heated, the undecanoic acid released decane, as predicted. The researchers then referenced experiments already published by other scientists to show that the undecane could have broken off from dodecanoic acid and dodecane from tridecanoic acid.
The authors found an additional intriguing detail in their study related to the number of carbon atoms that make up the presumed fatty acids in the sample. The backbone of each fatty acid is a long, straight chain of 11 to 13 carbons, depending on the molecule. Notably, non-biological processes typically make shorter fatty acids, with less than 12 carbons.
It’s possible that the Cumberland sample has longer-chain fatty acids, the scientists say, but SAM is not optimized to detect longer chains.
Scientists say that, ultimately, there’s a limit to how much they can infer from molecule-hunting instruments that can be sent to Mars. “We are ready to take the next big step and bring Mars samples home to our labs to settle the debate about life on Mars,” said Glavin.
This research was funded by NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Curiosity’s Mars Science Laboratory mission is led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA. SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) was built and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. CNES (the French Space Agency) funded and provided the gas chromatograph subsystem on SAM. Charles Malespin is SAM’s principal investigator.
By Lonnie Shekhtman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Like Sands Through the Hourglass…
Two actively forming stars are responsible for the shimmering hourglass-shaped ejections of gas and dust that gleam in orange, blue, and purple in this representative color image captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. This star system, called Lynds 483, is named for American astronomer Beverly T. Lynds, who published extensive catalogs of “dark” and “bright” nebulae in the early 1960s.
The two protostars are at the center of the hourglass shape, in an opaque horizontal disk of cold gas and dust that fits within a single pixel. Much farther out, above and below the flattened disk where dust is thinner, the bright light from the stars shines through the gas and dust, forming large semi-transparent orange cones.
Learn what the incredibly fine details in this image reveal.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) Services
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) OverviewWelcome to the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) services page. Provided here are different resources to support informed steps toward a new career opportunity in the public or private sector.
Transition AssistanceNASA is partnering with OPM to offer a 1-day workshop covering multiple areas associated with career transitions. The workshop will be offered virtually on pre-scheduled dates and will include:
- Career Exploration (1 Hour)
- Job Search Strategy (1 Hour)
- Resume Writing (2 Hours)
- Interview Techniques (2 Hours)
- One-On-One Counseling
NASA will follow-up with employees eligible for CTAP to enroll them in the workshop and share participation details.
Below are links to guidance, resources, and tools that are helpful during a career move, including resume preparation, interview preparation, networking strategies, job search assistance, and more.
Resume PreparationResources to help craft strong professional resumes that showcase personal skills and experience, including specialized training and tools.
General
Resume Tips Brochure to Launch Your Career
Federal/State/Local Government
What Should You Include in Your Resume
How to Indicate Your CTAP/ICTAP Eligibility
How to Make Your Resume and Profile Searchable
Private Sector
Creating A Successful Private Sector Resume from Your Federal Resume
Beyond Federal Service: How to Transition to the Private Sector
Interview Coaching
Resources to prepare for job interviews and improve interview skills, including information about the interview process, how to prepare and respond to interview questions, and platforms to conduct practice interviews and receive feedback on responses.
Interview Process
Interview Tips from Department of Labor
Interview Tips from DOL’s CareerOneStop
Interview Responses
STAR Method: How to Use This Technique to Ace Your Next Job Interview
Interview Practice
Barclays Virtual Interview Practice Tool (Free)
Google Interview Warmup (Free)
NetworkingGuidance on how to leverage LinkedIn for job search and professional networking, and providing feedback on LinkedIn profiles, optimizing keywords, and increasing visibility to recruiters.
Rock Your LinkedIn Profile Learning Series Videos
LinkedIn Profile Best Practices
LinkedIn Profile Summary Best Practices
Leveraging LinkedIn for Job Search Success
Make the Most of LinkedIn for Your Job Search
Job Information/Job Search Assistance
Free online resources for identifying adjacent or new career opportunities, including job matching websites and websites offering personality or career assessments.
Career Search
Self-Assessment
CareerOneStop Self-Assessments
CareerOneStop Job Search
Indeed
Other
CareerOneStop Find American Job Centers
RetrainingFree and fee-based online e-learning resources to enhance current skills or acquire new skills.
Employment CounselingNASA’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers free, confidential counseling that can be used to obtain employment counseling and support during a career transition, as well as referrals to other needed resources.
Additional Transition ResourcesThere are also additional career transition resources available through OPM including:
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