Launch and destination, the full moon rising 230,000 miles away as Artemis-2 awaits wet dress rehearsal for launch. Photo: AmericaSpace / Mike Killian Artemis-2 wet dress rehearsal was the first time the powered-up integrated fueled stack could talk to NASA. Orion was configured for flight, the closeout crew safely closed the hatches & white room, the…
I don’t usually post comments at the top of the site, but I’m making an exception here for a couple of reasons. The recent paper I reviewed by Clément Vidal and colleagues covering technosignatures and strategies for detection is a significant work, the kind of consolidation of resources the field needs as the original radio…
The ability to focus is not unique to humans or even to primates. Birds, reptiles, and even fish can direct their attention at a narrow target, filtering out peripheral distractions. This ability has existed for at least hundreds of millions of years, and yet it’s unclear exactly which parts of the brain make it happen….
MILAN — The European Space Agency will rely on external lunar topographic data during the design phase of its Argonaut lunar lander, and possibly for its first mission, while working toward developing its own lunar mapping capability for later missions. Argonaut, first proposed at ESA’s Ministerial Council in Paris in 2022 and confirmed at the…
A new report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General spells out dire launch infrastructure needs at Kennedy Space Center and Wallops Flight Facility. One solution is for Congress to pass legislation giving NASA authority to receive money from commercial partners for capital infrastructure investments. DOD was given such authority more than a decade ago. Today’s…
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and the Government Accountability Office are raising concerns about the future of the International Space Station and the pace of efforts to build commercial space stations to replace it. ASAP is cautioning NASA not to cut the ISS budget because managing risks on the aging facility is increasingly difficult. GAO…
The first full moon of summer, June’s Strawberry Moon, wowed skywatchers worldwide with a spectacular display. June’s full moon was the lowest-hanging full moon of the year for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s because a full moon always sits opposite the sun in the sky. During the summer solstice that just passed on June…
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Sungshin Choi, Yi-Chun Chen, Emma Yates, Eduardo Bendek. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative disposition needed to explore this world and beyond. Sungshin Choi is a Project Scientist with Amentum in the Space…
Jezero Crater on Mars is a 45-kilometer-wide (28-mile) crater that once hosted a lake billions of years ago fed by two distinct river valleys with Jezero eventually forming an exit channel over time. One of Jezero’s most prominent features is the massive river delta that consists of sediments that were deposited as the inflow slowed…
What should the aftermath of an exploding star look like? You would expect a vast cloud of shattered debris and hot gas, blazing at first and then slowly, steadily cooling over thousands of years. So when astronomers turned NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory on a nearby galaxy, they were surprised to find dozens of these supposed…