NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3)has successfully completed its second set of robotic tool operations on the International Space Station, demonstrating key techniques for transferring cryogenic fluids, used as coolants, propellants, or for life support systems in orbit. These technologies have applications for extending spacecraft life and facilitating exploration to the Moon and Mars. Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate... Continue Reading →

by Marcia Dunn via phys.org A NASA spacecraft is stuffed with so much asteroid rubble from this week's grab that it's jammed open and precious particles are drifting away in space, scientists said Friday. Scientists announced the news three days after the spacecraft named Osiris-Rex briefly touched asteroid Bennu, NASA's first attempt at such a mission. The... Continue Reading →

NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Kate Rubins answer questions during a public affairs event. The two crew members overlapped for a week together on the station; Rubins arrived on Oct. 14 and Cassidy departed on Oct. 21.Credits: NASA The Canadian Space Agency’s VECTION investigation examines to what extent microgravity disrupts an astronaut's ability to visually... Continue Reading →

NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3)has successfully completed its second set of robotic tool operations on the International Space Station, demonstrating key techniques for transferring cryogenic fluids, used as coolants, propellants, or for life support systems in orbit. These technologies have applications for extending spacecraft life and facilitating exploration to the Moon and Mars. Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate... Continue Reading →

MEDLI2 sensors are installed on the Mars 2020 heat shield and back shell prior to launch.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech On October 8, 2020, with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, team members of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission waited for a reply from the Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) suite onboard the spacecraft, which is currently... Continue Reading →

NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) Program recently checked off a key milestone in its progress toward landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The HLS Program conducted Certification Baseline Reviews (CBR) with the three U.S. companies competing to provide landers that will deliver Artemis astronauts to the Moon. These virtual meetings... Continue Reading →

Have you ever thought about how to use the restroom in space? For NASA’s Artemisastronauts, that will mean having to use the restroom in both the microgravity of space and on the lunar surface. There are no rest stops in space though, so earlier this year, NASA launched the Lunar Loo Challenge to crowdsource innovative... Continue Reading →

RELEASE 20-104 NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy is all smiles after returning from his third space mission Oct. 21, 2020, landing in Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 10:54 p.m. EDT with his International Space Station crewmates Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.Credits: NASA Television The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Expedition 63... Continue Reading →

Three decades after Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan suggested that Voyager 1 snap Earth's picture from billions of miles away -- resulting in the iconic Pale Blue Dot photograph -- two astronomers now offer another unique cosmic perspective: Some exoplanets -- planets from beyond our own solar system -- have a direct line of sight to... Continue Reading →

RELEASE M20-114 NASA will announce an exciting new discovery about the Moon from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at a media teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 26. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website. This new discovery contributes to NASA’s efforts to learn about the Moon in... Continue Reading →