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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA Ames Stars of the Month: January 2025
- The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of Maurice Valdez, Niki Parenteau, Dori Myer, and Judy Alfter.
- Maurice Valdez is recognized for his focus and commitment to supporting the division’s scientific productivity as a system administrator.
- Niki Parenteau, a research scientist, has taken a leading role in the development of the Habitable Worlds Observatory and identifying potential biosignatures of life on exoplanets.
- Dori Myer, an archivist, has digitized and preserved institutional knowledge in the Flight Systems Implementation Branch for easy access in the modern age.
- Judy Alfter, a Deputy Project Manager, has excelled in her role during the field campaign for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Post-launch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX).
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
More NASA Science, Tech will Fly to Moon Aboard Future Firefly Flight
- NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace $179 million to deliver six experiments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
- This fourth task order for Firefly will target landing in the Gruithuisen Domes on the near side of the Moon in 2028.
- Under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Firefly will deliver a group of science experiments and technology demonstrations to better understand planetary processes and evolution, and help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface.
- Firefly’s first lunar delivery is scheduled to launch no earlier than mid-January 2025 and will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium.
- The newly awarded delivery in 2028 will send payloads to the Gruithuisen Domes and the nearby Sinus Viscositatus, to study geologic processes and lunar regolith.
- NASA also contracted to provide “mobility,” or roving, for some of the scientific instruments on the lunar surface after landing, enabling new types of U.S. scientific investigations.
- The instruments, collectively expected to be about 215 pounds (97 kilograms) in mass, include Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer, Heimdall, Sample Acquisition, Morphology Filtering and Probing of Lunar Regolith, Low-frequency Radio Observations from the Near Side Lunar Surface, Photovoltaic Investigation on the Lunar Surface, and Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface.
- Through CLPS, NASA purchases lunar landing and surface operations services from American companies. The agency uses CLPS to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon.
- By supporting a robust cadence of lunar deliveries, NASA will continue to enable a growing lunar economy while leveraging the entrepreneurial innovation of the commercial space industry.
- Two upcoming CLPS flights scheduled to launch in early 2025 will deliver NASA payloads to the Moon’s near side and south polar region, respectively.
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA Payload Aims to Probe Moon’s Depths to Study Heat Flow
- NASA's LISTER instrument, equipped with a drilling system and thermal probe, aims to measure heat flow from the Moon's interior.
- Developed by Texas Tech University and Honeybee Robotics, LISTER will penetrate three meters into the lunar regolith to measure thermal gradient and conductivity.
- The measurements will help reconstruct the Moon's thermal evolution and understand its geological processes.
- The data collected by LISTER will contribute to lunar geology knowledge, supporting long-term presence on the Moon under the Artemis campaign.
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA Knows: How Does the Sun Behave? (Grades 5-8)
- The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and a yellow dwarf star made of hydrogen and helium gases that fuse to form helium in its core, creating its heat and light.
- The Sun goes through a solar cycle every 11 years, during which time it has a very active period called 'solar maximum' and a less active period called 'solar minimum.'
- Increased magnetic activity during solar maximum causes sunspots on the Sun's surface, while the polarization of the poles change with each cycle.
- Space weather includes phenomena like the solar wind, solar storms, and solar flares that can have real impacts on earth and in space.
- Solar wind is a stream of charged particles that flows outward from the Sun's corona, and when it reaches Earth, it interacts with its magnetic field, producing colorful auroras.
- Solar storms are caused by the Sun's magnetic fields when they snap and release a burst of energy, and they can cause power outages, radio blackouts, and disruptions in GPS signals, satellite electronics, and more.
- NASA's Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 on a mission to fly into the Sun's corona and make measurements. Test your knowledge of the Sun with NASA's new quiz, Kahoot!
- Resources about the Sun can be found on the NASA website.
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
Crew Works Advanced Exercise and Space Tech, Gets Ready for Thursday Spacewalk
- Astronaut Suni Williams installs the European Materials Ageing experiment hardware inside the Nanoracks Bishop airlock for exposure to the vacuum of space.
- The International Space Station crew focuses on advanced exercise systems for space crews, spacecraft fire safety, and advanced life support gear.
- NASA astronauts install futuristic exercise gear in the Columbus laboratory module to be tested and used on future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
- Two cosmonauts are prepared for a spacewalk to remove science experiments and relocate robotic hardware from the space station's Poisk airlock.
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Universe Today
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Image Credit: Universe Today
The JWST Looked Over the Hubble’s Shoulder and Confirmed that the Universe is Expanding Faster
- JWST confirms the Universe is expanding at a faster rate with its higher near-infrared resolution compared to Hubble Space Telescope.
- The expansion rate of the Universe is measured by the Hubble constant.
- Astronomers use the cosmic distance ladder (CDL) to measure the Hubble constant.
- The first rungs on CDL measure direct observations but the method breaks down at great distances.
- Astronomers use standard candles, such as supernovae and Cepheid variables, to measure distances to other galaxies.
- The Hubble tension is the discrepancy between our measurements of distances and expansion and the Standard Model of Cosmology.
- Researchers compared Hubble Space Telescope measurements with JWST measurements and showed the telescope observations confirm each other's findings and that inconsistency can't be due to instrument differences.
- Marc Kamionkowski, a Johns Hopkins cosmologist, believes something may be missing from the Lambda CDM model.
- Explaining the Hubble tension is 'an incredible opportunity to learn more about our universe,' said lead author Adam Riess.
- Theorists have several ideas, such as new components of matter or funny dark matter properties, that may explain the Hubble tension.
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Livescience
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Image Credit: Livescience
Surprise discovery in alien planet's atmosphere could upend decades of planet formation theory
- Scientists studying a still-forming planet beyond our solar system have found that its chemical makeup doesn't fully match the swirling gas and dust disk from which it formed.
- The finding challenges standard models of planet formation and implies they may be overly simplistic.
- The planet's atmosphere contains much less carbon and oxygen than expected, suggesting that our widely accepted picture of planet formation was too simplified.
- The researchers propose two scenarios to explain the observed discrepancy and suggest that further observations of the system can provide more insights for detailed modeling.
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Livescience
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Image Credit: Livescience
'Stranded' NASA astronauts' return to Earth delayed until at least 'late March' 2025 due to SpaceX capsule issues, NASA reveals
- NASA announced a delay in the return flight of astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to at least late March 2025.
- The delay is due to the completion of a new Dragon spacecraft by SpaceX for the Crew-10 mission.
- Boeing's Starliner crew-delivery vehicle experienced thruster issues on its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), resulting in a three-month delay in its return.
- The Crew-10 mission will carry four crew members, who will join the current ISS crew for a handover period before returning to Earth.
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Guardian
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Image Credit: Guardian
Nasa astronauts stuck in space since June face further delay
- Two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, who have been stuck in space since June, will have to remain at the International Space Station (ISS) even longer.
- Their mission, originally scheduled for eight days, will now be extended to more than nine months.
- NASA announced that the astronauts will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10, which has been delayed until late March 2025.
- The delay is due to the need to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission.
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TechCrunch
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Image Credit: TechCrunch
SpaceX gets green light for seventh Starship mission
- SpaceX has received approval for its seventh Starship mission.
- The exact launch date is yet to be announced.
- Regulators have approved multiple missions with specific mission profiles.
- SpaceX aims to make humans multi-planetary with Starship.
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Livescience
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Image Credit: Livescience
James Webb telescope spies stunning 'Firefly Sparkle' galaxy — a baby clone of the Milky Way being 'assembled brick by brick' in the early universe
- Astronomers have discovered and studied a young Milky Way-like galaxy called 'Firefly Sparkle' using detailed images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
- Firefly Sparkle was spotted using gravitational lensing, a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
- The galaxy, which dates back to 600 million years after the Big Bang, resembles the early stages of the Milky Way and could provide insights into galactic evolution.
- The researchers identified multiple star clusters within Firefly Sparkle, each in a different phase of formation or evolution.
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Livescience
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Space exploration news, features and articles
- The dawn is breaking on a new era of space exploration, with moon bases and Mars colonies potentially only decades away.
- Live Science tracks the researchers, companies and countries setting their sights on the stars to bring you the biggest stories in space.
- Our expert writers and editors will ignite your sense of interstellar adventure with the latest space exploration news, features and articles.
- Discover more about space exploration, including every spaceship that's ever carried an astronaut into orbit and how long a person could survive in space without a spacesuit.
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Livescience
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Moon news, features and articles
- Scientists have been studying the moon for hundreds of years and have built up an incredible wealth of knowledge about our lunar companion.
- Live Science brings you the best moon facts and answers all of your lunar queries, from how did the moon form and whether the moon could ever be pushed from orbit to what is the 'man in the moon' and why we can sometimes see the moon in the daytime.
- Our expert writers and editors also keep you updated on what's going on with our natural satellite, explain how you can see different lunar events, and provide coverage of new scientific discoveries, such as scientists confirming the moon has a solid iron 'heart' just like Earth, and more with the latest moon news, features and articles.
- Discover more about the moon —Moon: Facts about our planet's lunar companion
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA Finds ‘Sideways’ Black Hole Using Legacy Data, New Techniques
- NASA researchers have discovered a perplexing case of a black hole that appears to be “tipped over,” rotating in an unexpected direction relative to the galaxy surrounding it.
- Using the new methods, astronomers at Ames unexpectedly found four long plumes of plasma – hot, charged gas – emanating from NGC 5084.
- Hot gas plumes are not often spotted in galaxies, and typically only one or two are present.
- Archived data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile then revealed another quirk of NGC 5084: a small, dusty, inner disk turning about the center of the galaxy.
- This, too, suggested the presence of a black hole there, and, surprisingly, it rotates at a 90-degree angle to the rotation of the galaxy overall; the disk and black hole are, in a sense, lying on their sides.
- Using the techniques developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center, the researchers found surprising characteristics about galaxy NGC 5084
- More studies will be needed to determine what event or events led to the current strange structure of this galaxy.
- The image analysis method developed by the team – called Selective Amplification of Ultra Noisy Astronomical Signal, or SAUNAS – was described in The Astrophysical Journal in May 2024.
- The discovery was made possible by new image analysis techniques developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
- The paper presenting this research was published Dec. 18 in The Astrophysical Journal.
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Looks to Thrive in 2025
- NASA's Kennedy Space Center is set to continue innovating, partnering, and pushing the boundaries of exploration in 2025, as the main launch site for more than 90 missions, projects, and programs.
- NASA plans commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station, using SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft, and Sierra Space's Dream Chaser.
- NASA's Artemis II test flight mission preparations are ramping up at Earth's premier spaceport, with all major components for the Space Launch System (SLS) being processed at the site.
- NASA's Launch Services Program aims to launch three ambitious missions next year; SPHEREx space telescope to survey the universe, PUNCH studying how the sun's corona transitions into solar wind and IMAP mapping out the heliosphere.
- NASA will also continue supporting small satellite missions, including CubeSat, the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists.
- Kennedy's spaceport will see a busy year for construction projects, including plans for mobile launchers, spaceport infrastructure, and upgrades to accomodate new missions and milestones.
- NASA will also plant seeds aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I mission that will be planted at the spaceport to honour the agency's continuing legacy of lunar exploration.
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