NASA(Page 2)

The latest on the US space agency's crafts, missions, and discoveries—from low-Earth orbit to deep space.

Latest in NASA

The center of the image has the brightest pixel, indicating where the comet is. The next brightest shades in the image indicate areas where the instrument detected atoms of hydrogen coming from the comet. This hydrogen is released when sunlight heats the comet, causing its water ice to turn directly into vapor. Once released into space, the water molecules break apart into oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
NASA

New NASA images confirm comet 3I/ATLAS is not aliens

By Andrew Paul, Laura Baisas

Artist illustration of two ESCAPADE satellites orbiting Mars
NASA

Meet Blue and Gold: NASA’s first twin satellites bound for Mars

By Andrew Paul

A large planetary nebula. The nebula’s central star is hidden by a blotchy pinkish cloud of dust. A strong red light radiates from this area, illuminating the nearby dust. Two large loops extend diagonally away from the centre, formed of thin ridges of molecular gas, here coloured blue. They stretch out to the corners of the view. A huge number of bright, whitish stars cover the background, also easily visible through the thin dust layers.
NASA

Red Spider Nebula glows in ethereal new JWST image

By Laura Baisas

The first six women in newly issued, incompletely adorned astronaut jumpsuits, 1978: (front, left to right) Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon; (rear) Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, Anna Fisher, Judy Resnik.
NASA

NASA’s trailblazing generation

By Valerie Neal

Cars driving down snowy road at night
NASA

There are actually 9 types of precipitation

By Andrew Paul

A stream of plasma moves from the sun toward Earth. On its way, the plasma hits four, square spacecraft, which are arranged in a triangular-pyramid formation. The spacecraft closest to the sun is in the center of a large, aluminum sail.
NASA

Earth has a space tornado problem

By Andrew Paul

a gold dollar coin. the heads side has a woman holding a baby on her back named sacagewea on it and the back an eagle with 17 stars
NASA

Space-flown Sacagawea dollar coins fetch over $500K at auction

By Laura Baisas

a mock up of a boarding pass for a flight during artemis 2
NASA

NASA’s next trip around the moon could have your name on it

By Laura Baisas

Lunar rover concept going up hill with US flag mounted on rear
NASA

NASA offers $155,000 to design moon tires

By Andrew Paul

An artist illustration of a small planet-sized object striking Mars during its early years.
NASA

Inside Mars, a ‘rocky road’ mantle reveals a violent past

By Andrew Paul

A scanning electron microscope image of a micrometeorite impact crater in a particle of asteroid Bennu material.
NASA

Some asteroids are more ‘colorful’ than others. Here’s why.

By Andrew Paul

This image of Uranus from NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope exquisitely captures Uranus's seasonal north polar cap and dim inner and outer rings. This Webb image also shows 9 of the planet's 27 moons – clockwise starting at 2 o'clock, they are: Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Bianca, Portia, Juliet, and Perdita.
NASA

Uranus may have a 29th moon

By Andrew Paul

An artist’s impression of the “Cosmic Grapes” galaxy, composed of at least 15 massive star forming clumps—far more than current theoretical models predict could exist within a single rotating disk at this early time. Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/B. Saxton
NASA

Early galaxy looked like lumpy ‘cosmic grapes’

By Andrew Paul

Image of comet taken by Hubble Space Telescope
NASA

Fastest comet ever recorded comes from beyond our solar system

By Andrew Paul

Artist illustration of supermassive black hole surrounded by cloud of red and yellow gas
NASA

Oldest black hole ever seen is 300 million times bigger than our sun

By Andrew Paul

Photo of galaxy with zoom in box showing Betelgeuse and companion star
NASA

Betelgeuse’s companion star finally located after years of debate

By Andrew Paul

This artist’s concept visualizes a kilonova – an explosion that happens when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole collide and merge. When these collisions happen, a fraction of the resulting debris is ejected as jets, which move near the speed of light. The remaining debris produces hot, glowing, neutron-rich clouds that forge heavy elements, like gold and platinum. Researchers will mine data from NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will survey the same areas of the sky every few days, to identify kilonovae. Roman’s extensive data will help astronomers better identify how often these events occur, how much energy they give off, and how near or far they are.
NASA

NASA’s new Roman Space Telescope aims to discover 100,000 cosmic explosions

By Andrew Paul

These images, showing ejecta around the impacted near-Earth asteroids, were taken during the approach (with Didymos to the upper left) and departure (Didymos to the upper right) of DART's companion spacecraft, LICIACube, which flew past a few minutes after the impact and imaged the aftermath. The ejecta field consists of an asymmetric cone of dust that exhibits streamers and filaments, as well as over a hundred meter-sized boulders that were ejected in preferred directions.
NASA

Crashing into an asteroid creates chaotic space boulders

By Laura Baisas

Red sprite above Earth in photo taken from International Space Station
NASA

Mysterious red sprite erupts in new astronaut photo

By Andrew Paul

A composite image of the Andromeda spiral galaxy
NASA

NASA offers dazzling new sights (and sounds) of the Andromeda galaxy

By Andrew Paul

Back of US gold coin depicting NASA space shuttle launch
NASA

US Mint releases Space Shuttle $1 gold coin

By Andrew Paul

Image of dozens of galaxies taken by Hubble Space Telescope
NASA

NASA’s new space observatory is mapping the entire sky in 3D

By Andrew Paul

Black and white overhead shot of Mars rover and tracks on planet
NASA

NASA satellite spies Curiosity chugging along on Mars

By Andrew Paul

Photo of long barrel of NASA's gas gun in warehouse
NASA

Watch high-powered gas guns blast space habitat (for science)

By Andrew Paul

a blue, purple, and white galaxy whose clouds of dust and matter appear shaped like a butterfly
NASA

5 dazzling interstellar images to celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday

By Laura Baisas

Illustration of planet disintegrating during orbit around star
NASA

Astronomers discover hellscape world crumbling into its host sun

By Andrew Paul

close up of asteroid Donaldjohanson
NASA

NASA snaps detailed photos of ‘strikingly complicated’ asteroid

By Andrew Paul

Two planets and crescent moon form smiley face in night sky
NASA

Rare ‘smiley face’ will light up the night sky on April 25

By Andrew Paul

A photomosaic taken by the Curiosity Rover on April 30, 2023 at the Ubajara drill site in Gale Crater, Mars. Rock powder samples drilled here contained substantial amounts of siderite (an iron carbonate mineral). The siderite played a role in ancient carbon cycling processes that impacted conditions at the planet’s surface. Rover tracks in the foreground are 40 cm wide. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
NASA

Curiosity rover finds key ingredient for past life on Mars

By Andrew Paul

Jared Isaacman speaking at congressional hearing
NASA

NASA nominee: ‘We will prioritize sending astronauts to Mars’

By Andrew Paul

Lunar rover prototype in parking lot
NASA

All-terrain space truck hopes to drive astronauts on the moon

By Andrew Paul

A collage of three images showing the black expanse of space. Two-thirds of the collage is taken up by the black background sprinkled with small, blurry galaxies in orange, blue, and white. There are two images in a column at the right side of the collage. On the right side of the main image, not far from the top, a very faint dot is outlined with a white square. At the right, there are two zoomed in views of this area. The top box is labeled NIRCam and shows a fuzzy dot at the center of the inset. The bottom box is labeled MIRI and shows a fuzzy pinkish dot.
NASA

JWST snaps first image of asteroid that threatened Earth

By Andrew Paul

Martian landscape taken by NASA rover
NASA

Toxic dust on Mars could make astronauts sick

By Andrew Paul

Mars Curiosity rover selfie picture against Martian background
NASA

Curiosity finds largest-ever organic molecules on Mars

By Andrew Paul

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed Herbig-Haro 49/50, an outflow from a nearby still-forming star, in high-resolution near- and mid-infrared light.
NASA

JWST spots an energetic ‘Cosmic Tornado’ 625 light-years away

By Andrew Paul

Total solar eclipse showing ring of sunlight
NASA

Lunar lander snaps mesmerizing views of a solar eclipse

By Andrew Paul

Two astronauts holding plushies inside ISS
NASA

NASA wants your help designing its Artemis II mascot

By Andrew Paul

This artist concept depicts NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space. Interstellar space is dominated by the plasma, or ionized gas, that was ejected by the death of nearby giant stars millions of years ago.
NASA

NASA squeezes more life from 47-year-old Voyager probes

By Andrew Paul

This artist’s concept shows what the isolated planetary-mass object SIMP 0136 could look like based on recent observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and previous observations from Hubble, Spitzer, and numerous ground-based telescopes.
NASA

Mysterious cosmic body is a rogue ‘Super-Jupiter’

By Andrew Paul

Sunrise on moon taken by Blue Ghost lunar lander
NASA

NASA uses GPS on the moon for the first time

By Andrew Paul

A colorful, glowing nebula that reaches beyond the top and bottom of the image. It is made of translucent clouds of gas: wispy and thin with hard edges in some places, and puffy and opaque in others. Blue, red and yellow colours mix together, showing light emitted by different types of atoms in the hot gas. Bright and pointlike stars are scattered across the nebula. The background is black
NASA

Candy-colored atoms shine in new image of the Veil Nebula

By Laura Baisas

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured these drifting noctilucent, or twilight, clouds in a 16-minute recording on Jan. 17. (This looping clip has been speeded up about 480 times.) The white plumes falling out of the clouds are carbon dioxide ice that would evaporate closer to the Martian surface.
NASA

Curiosity rover spots rare shimmering clouds above Mars

By Andrew Paul

Europa clipper illustration
NASA

How space missions make discoveries on the way to their main destinations

By Briley Lewis

Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane landing on runway
NASA

Curvy spaceplane is one step closer to its ISS rendezvous

By Andrew Paul

Mars rover prototype in simulated Martian environment with alloy wheels
NASA

NASA teases bendable titanium wheels on future Mars rovers

By Andrew Paul

NASA astronaut working during spacewalk outside ISS
NASA

Starliner astronaut conducts spacewalk while stuck aboard ISS

By Andrew Paul

Concept art of Artemis astronauts in lunar crater with lunar rover
NASA

NASA is calibrating new clocks so people can live on the moon

By Andrew Paul

a black and white photograph of NASA mission control. several men are sitting at various screens and work stations
NASA

On Christmas Eve 1968, millions watched the Apollo 8 astronauts broadcast from space

By Laura Baisas

The first image depicts star cluster NGC 602 in vibrant and festive colors. The cluster includes a giant dust cloud ring, shown in greens, yellows, blues, and oranges. The green hues and feathery edges of the ring cloud create the appearance of a wreath made of evergreen boughs. Hints of red representing X-rays provide shading, highlighting layers within the wreath-like ring cloud. The image is aglow with specks and dots of colorful, festive light, in blues, golds, whites, oranges, and reds. These lights represent stars within the cluster. Some of the lights gleam with diffraction spikes, while others emit a warm, diffuse glow. Upon closer inspection, many of the glowing specks have spiraling arms, indicating that they are, in fact, distant galaxies.
NASA

Happy holidays from space!

By Laura Baisas

ISS with lines pointing to docked Starliner spacecraft
NASA

Photographer catches impressive glimpse of Starliner docked to ISS

By Andrew Paul

This image of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument of the Perseverance rover on June 15, 2021, the 114th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The location, "Airfield D" (the fourth airfield), is just east of the "Séítah" geologic unit.
NASA

NASA is finishing its first off-world accident report

By Andrew Paul

a variety of products on a banner reading 'best of what's new 2024'
NASA

The 50 greatest innovations of 2024

By Popular Science Team

NASA South Pole Safety Challenge logo on lunar surface background
NASA

NASA needs your help designing a gurney for the moon

By Andrew Paul

Image of aircraft wing over Greenland ice sheet with radar image of Camp Century underneath it
NASA

NASA radar picks up frozen, buried Cold War base Camp Century

By Andrew Paul

Concept art depicting Starship HLS on lunar surface with Earth in background
NASA

New concept art shows how SpaceX’s Starship will transport Artemis III astronauts to the moon

By Andrew Paul

an astronaut on a spacewalk in a full spacesuit takes a selfie with earth in the background
NASA

Six months in space is not that bad for your brain

By Laura Baisas

Gloved hand pointing to LignoSat wooden satellite prototype
NASA

World’s first wooden satellite shares material with samurai sword sheaths

By Andrew Paul

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching with ISS Crew-9
NASA

NASA warns SpaceX over safety issues after astronaut hospitalization

By Andrew Paul

Phobos passing across Sun as seen by Perseverance rover on Mars
NASA

Googly-eyed potato eclipse filmed by NASA’s Perseverance rover

By Andrew Paul

a man wearing a NASA hat aboard the International Space Station squirts ketchup into his mouth. the ketchup comes out in one long stream
NASA

See (and never unsee) a NASA astronaut eating ketchup in space

By Laura Baisas

A technician inspects a prototype LISA telescope.
NASA

NASA unveils model of LISA, a satellite array for studying ripples in space-time

By Andrew Paul

Sierra Space TCPS machine
NASA

ISS astronauts to test trash compactor that’s basically WALL-E

By Andrew Paul

a close-up of the planet jupiter's great red spot. it is a swirling red storm on the planet's more white and orange surface
NASA

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot jiggles like JELL-O

By Laura Baisas

mars the planet
NASA

NASA wants to send humans to Mars in the 2030s

By Joel S. Levine / The Conversation