NASA Missions - Part 2

91 reports

NASA Schedules Hyperwall Science Talks for IGARSS 2026 in Vienna

NASA will present a series of Hyperwall science talks at IGARSS 2026, featuring mission updates and instrument demonstrations from Earth and planetary science experts in the exhibit hall

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NASA's SkyFall Mars Helicopters to Map Subsurface Ice with Flexible Radar

NASA's upcoming SkyFall mission will deploy three mini helicopters to Mars, each equipped with lightweight, flexible radar antennas designed to detect shallow subsurface ice deposits inaccessible to orbiting spacecraft

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NASA's IXPE Observes Magnetar and Tests Quantum Vacuum Theory

NASA's IXPE telescope spent over 140 hours observing magnetar 1E 1547-5408, collecting X-ray polarization data that may reveal how empty space behaves in extreme magnetic fields

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NASA Extends Voyager 2 Science With Power-Saving Maneuver

NASA engineers have implemented a new power management strategy on Voyager 2, allowing the spacecraft to continue collecting scientific data for at least another year as its nuclear power source declines

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NASA Astronauts Complete Spacewalk to Prepare ISS for Solar Array Upgrade

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon spent 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station installing the final mounting hardware for new roll-out solar arrays, a step toward boosting the station's power supply later this year

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Perseverance Rover Captures Earth Passing Behind Mars' Moon Phobos

NASA's Perseverance rover has recorded a rare occultation event, imaging Earth as it briefly disappeared behind Mars' innermost moon Phobos using its Mastcam-Z camera system

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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

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

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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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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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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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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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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NASA Prepares Roman Space Telescope for 2026 Launch to L2 Orbit

NASA has fueled the Roman Space Telescope, a next-generation infrared observatory scheduled for launch in August 2026, aiming to collect hundreds of terabytes of cosmic data annually and expand studies of dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets

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Part 2 of 4