NASA

79 reports
NASA is the United States’ civil space agency, responsible for space science, Earth observation, aeronautics, human spaceflight, and technology development. Its missions use spacecraft, observatories, aircraft, and open data archives to investigate Earth, the Solar System, and the wider universe.

NASA is approached through space science missions and Earth-observation programs, with separate attention to aeronautics research. Coverage places mission telemetry against calibrated instrument data when examining Earth-observation programs; the evidence is read with the caveat that planned milestones and engineering targets can change before launch or deployment.

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NASA's IXPE Detects Signs of Quantum Vacuum Effect Near Magnetar

NASA's IXPE telescope has measured X-ray polarization from a magnetar, providing evidence consistent with a quantum electrodynamics effect predicted for nearly a century but never directly observed in space

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Automated Mini-Labs Expand Space Station Research With Less Crew Time

Redwire's ADvanced Space Experiment Processors (ADSEPs) are enabling the International Space Station to run complex biological and materials science experiments with minimal astronaut involvement, advancing pharmaceutical and fundamental research in microgravity

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NASA Joins Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Modules for Lunar Mission

Technicians at Kennedy Space Center have integrated the Orion crew and service modules for Artemis III, a key milestone ahead of the mission to test lunar landing system rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit

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NASA Faces Challenge of Toxic Dust for Future Mars Astronauts

NASA's Martian Dust Limit Working Group has reviewed the health risks posed by Mars dust, which contains carcinogenic silica and heavy metals, and is developing exposure standards and mitigation strategies for future crewed missions

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NASA's Juno Mission Transformed Jupiter Science After 2011 Launch

NASA's Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011 on an Atlas V rocket, reached Jupiter in 2016 and has since delivered unprecedented data and images, reshaping our understanding of the giant planet's atmosphere, magnetic field, and moons

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Curiosity Rover Detects Extensive Polygon Patterns in Martian Valley

NASA's Curiosity rover has imaged a vast field of honeycomb-like polygonal fractures in Mars' Valle Grande, raising new questions about the planet's surface processes and past water activity

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NASA Invites Public to Identify August 2026 Satellite Image Science.Report

NASA Invites Public to Identify August 2026 Satellite Image

NASA Earth Observatory has released a new satellite image challenge for August 2026, inviting the public to analyze a puzzling landform and submit their interpretations based on visible clues and scientific reasoning

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NASA's PUNCH Mission Narrows Solar Storm Arrival Forecasts Science.Report

NASA's PUNCH Mission Narrows Solar Storm Arrival Forecasts

NASA's PUNCH mission has enabled scientists to predict the arrival of a solar eruption near Earth with a margin of just 30 minutes, using continuous 3D imaging of coronal mass ejections as they travel through the inner solar system

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NASA Tracks Falcon 9 Rocket Stage Ahead of Planned Lunar Impact

NASA and SpaceX are monitoring a spent Falcon 9 upper stage expected to strike the Moon near Einstein and Bell craters, using ground and space-based telescopes to gather data and refine tracking methods

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Spirit Rover Data Reveals Widespread Ancient Water Activity on Mars

A new analysis of NASA's Spirit rover data has identified crystalline hematite and altered magnetite in Martian soil, supporting the view that liquid water once shaped large regions of Mars

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Europa Clipper May Miss Ocean Water Rising Through Europa's Ice

Computer simulations suggest turbulent water rising through Europa's ice would freeze its pathways shut, making shallow surface pools poor indicators of the moon's buried ocean

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How a Falcon 9 Upper Stage Ended Up Bound for the Moon

A Falcon 9 upper stage abandoned in a high Earth orbit is expected to hit the Moon on August 5, 2026, after gravity and solar activity gradually altered its trajectory

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Guinea-Bissau's Islands Expand and Shrink with the Tides

A NASA satellite image captures how twice-daily tides redraw Guinea-Bissau's Bijagós Archipelago, exposing broad mudflats and sandflats before seawater returns through its mangrove channels

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NASA's NavCube3-mini Heads to a Commercial Lunar Relay

NASA has handed a compact GNSS navigation payload to Intuitive Machines for installation on Altus-1, testing whether Earth-based positioning signals can support spacecraft operating near the Moon

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Apollo 15's Moon Liftoff Became Television's First From Another World

On Aug. 2, 1971, Apollo 15 transmitted the first live television view of a spacecraft leaving the moon, using a rover-mounted camera that revealed both the mission's ingenuity and its limits

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Hubble Finds Andromeda's Star Formation Is Winding Down

A Hubble analysis of about 200 million stars shows Andromeda has sharply reduced its star-making rate over the past 500 million years, while NASA's Roman telescope prepares to map the galaxy more completely

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Aug. 12, 2026, brings an unusually complete night of skywatching

On Aug. 12, 2026, observers can follow a solar eclipse by day, then watch Venus, the Perseid meteor shower and the Milky Way under a nearly moonless sky

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NASA Tests Fire-Resistant Webbing for Moon and Mars Missions

NASA testing found that a natural gold-colored Kevlar(R) and PBI webbing met flammability criteria in a high-oxygen environment, though complete softgoods assemblies still require configuration and wear testing

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NASA's Roman Telescope Will Carry 1.35 Million Names to L2

A memory card carrying 1,350,144 names has been mounted on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope ahead of its planned launch to an orbit about one million miles from Earth

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Apollo 15's Lunar Rover Turned Moonwalking Into Exploration

Apollo 15's Lunar Roving Vehicle gave astronauts their first way to travel extensively across the moon's surface, extending scientific exploration beyond the immediate landing site in July 1971

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NASA's SARP Students Launch Ozone Sensors in Gulf Coast Field Campaign

Undergraduates in NASA's Student Airborne Research Program deployed ozonesonde balloons and flew on science aircraft to collect atmospheric data over the Texas Gulf Coast, gaining hands-on experience with field instruments and satellite validation

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Astronomers Link Two Supernova Remnants to a Single Binary Star System

A faint supernova remnant near the Jellyfish Nebula has been identified as the likely companion explosion from a binary star system, based on 16 years of gamma-ray data and multiwavelength observations

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Galileo's 1610 Observation of Saturn's Rings Changed Planetary Science

In July 1610, Galileo Galilei used a newly invented telescope to observe Saturn, recording features that would later be identified as the planet's rings-a finding that reshaped our understanding of planetary systems

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Satellite Images Reveal Penguin Diet Shifts on Antarctica's Danger Islands

NASA's Landsat 8 satellite and drone surveys have enabled researchers to monitor Adélie penguin colonies on the Danger Islands by analyzing the color of their guano, offering new insight into how changing sea ice may affect Antarctic food webs

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Webb Telescope Maps Dusty Structures in Active Galaxy Centaurus A

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed mid-infrared image of Centaurus A, revealing complex dust lanes and energetic activity in this nearby galaxy using its MIRI instrument

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NASA Prepares Roman Space Telescope for Early Launch to L2 Orbit

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set for launch on August 30, aiming to deliver wide-field infrared surveys and exoplanet imaging from a stable orbit beyond the Moon

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NASA Funds 18 Early-Stage Space Technology Concepts for 2026

NASA has selected 18 new Phase I projects under its Innovative Advanced Concepts program, providing $3.2 million to support early-stage studies of technologies for future space exploration and astrophysics missions

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NASA's Swift Boost Mission Faces Setback After Spacecraft Malfunction

NASA's Swift Boost mission, launched to extend the life of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, has encountered a critical control issue with its LINK spacecraft, raising uncertainty about the planned orbital rescue operation

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Webb Telescope Study Links Little Red Dots to Black Hole Activity

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have traced the origins of mysterious 'little red dots' in deep space, suggesting these compact sources are linked to phases of intense supermassive black hole activity

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Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals hot gas from early quasar

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected extremely hot gas surrounding a distant, radio-quiet quasar, offering new insight into the formation of galactic cluster atmospheres in the early universe

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