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Credit: NASA NASA and Axiom Space have signed an order for the fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch no earlier than January 2027 from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “The award of our fifth private astronaut mission shows that commercial space is not a distant promise, but a present reality,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “By expanding access and sharpening competition in low Earth orbit, these missions are building the capabilities NASA will rely on as we move outward to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We look forward to building upon those capabilities with many private astronaut missions to come.” Axiom Mission 5 is expected to spend up to 14 days aboard the space station. A specific launch date will depend on overall spacecraft traffic at the orbital outpost and other planning considerations. “The International Space Station is a critical platform for enabling commercial industry in low Earth orbit,” said Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Private astronaut missions allow the station to be used as a proving ground for new markets and technologies while enabling science, research, and outreach to contribute to a growing space economy.” Axiom Space will submit four proposed crew members to NASA and its international partners for review. Once approved and confirmed, they will train with NASA, international partners, and the launch provider for their mission. “We are honored NASA awarded Axiom Space its fifth human spaceflight mission,” said Jonathan Cirtain, president and CEO, Axiom Space. “All four previous missions have expanded the global community of space explorers, diversifying scientific investigations in microgravity, and providing significant insight that is benefitting the development of our next-generation space station, Axiom Station. The award underscores Axiom Space’s commitment to redefining access to space, fostering international collaboration, and enabling research opportunities in low Earth orbit for the benefit of all.” Axiom Space will purchase mission services from NASA, including crew consumables, cargo delivery, storage, and other in-orbit resources for daily use. NASA will purchase from Axiom Space the capability to return scientific samples that must be kept cold during transit back to Earth. NASA made the selection from proposals received in response to its March 2025 NASA Research Announcement. The agency is finalizing the mission order for the sixth private astronaut mission to the space station and will share additional information once available. Missions aboard the International Space Station, including private astronaut missions, contribute to advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis campaign. Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at: [Hidden Content] -end- Jimi Russell Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld Anna Schneider / Joseph Zakrzewski Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated Jan 30, 2026 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsInternational Space Station (ISS)Commercial SpacePrivate Astronaut Missions View the full article

NASA’s Libera instrument, which is designed to maintain the global data record of Earth’s radiation budget, has successfully completed comprehensive environmental testing. This critical milestone included thermal vacuum tests that simulate the expected space temperature and environments that Libera will experience during its mission. The Libera instrument will fly on Joint Polar Satellite System-4 (JPSS-4), the next satellite in the series, as part of a collaboration between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The satellite, targeted for launch in 2027, will be named NOAA-22 once in orbit. The University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) developed and built the Libera instrument after it was selected as the first Earth Venture Continuity mission – a NASA program that focuses on innovative, low-cost ways to maintain important Earth science measurements as older missions come to an end. Libera will continue the data record of Earth’s radiation budget, following the series of Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments that flew on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission in 1997 and continued on the Terra, Aqua, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, and NOAA-20 satellites. Libera is named for the daughter of Ceres in Roman mythology, a nod to its predecessors. NASA has been monitoring the flow of radiant energy in the Earth-atmosphere system for over a half century. This energy drives the motions of the atmosphere and oceans, fuels photosynthesis in plants, forms the protective ozone layer, and sustains all life on Earth. Understanding these flows informs weather forecasting and agricultural planning and prediction among many other applications. It enables an accurate evaluation of Earth system trends for informed strategic planning and risk assessments by the U.S. government and commercial industries. Libera will be the fifth and final instrument delivered to Northrop Grumman in Gilbert, Arizona, for installation onto the JPSS-4 satellite. The other instruments onboard JPSS-4 are the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, the Cross-track Infrared Sounder, the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, and the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite. NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program Office, based at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, manages the Libera mission. The JPSS-4 satellite is managed through a collaboration between NOAA, and NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. To learn more about Libera, visit: [Hidden Content] Libera team members at LASP discussing components of the instrument’s suite of four radiometers during environmental testing. LASP/CU Boulder/Glenn J. Asakawa View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The NASA award to SpaceWorks Enterprises will focus on research using the company’s X-60 platform. SpaceWorks While NASA is working with U.S. aviation to explore commercial supersonic technologies, the agency is also looking forward to an even faster era of flight – one of vehicles that can fly hypersonic, or five times the speed of sound. And to further that vision, NASA has issued two awards for studies into vehicle concepts. Some types of vehicles – such as rockets – achieve hypersonic speeds by carrying supplies of oxygen to allow their fuel to burn, instead of using the surrounding air. In contrast, NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project works to advance “airbreathing,” reusable hypersonic aircraft, which take in air as they fly, allowing for much longer sustained cruising at hypersonic speeds. Given commercial interest in finding applications for airbreathing hypersonic vehicles, the Hypersonic Technology Project is looking to find ways to make testing and development easier. Two contract awards the project made in August are aimed at helping to provide an affordable bridge between hypersonic ground and flight tests. “With these awards, NASA will collaborate with the commercial hypersonics industry to identify new ways to evaluate technologies through flight tests while we address the challenges of reusable, routine, airbreathing, hypersonic flight,” said Dr. Nateri Madavan, director of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. The new awards went to SpaceWorks Enterprises, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Stratolaunch of Mojave, California, both of which will support a six-month NASA study exploring how current vehicles could be modified to meet the need for reusable, high-cadence, affordable flight-testing capabilities. SpaceWorks, which received $500,000, will focus on the X-60 platform. Stratolaunch, which received $1.2 million, will focus on its Talon-A platform. Through these awards, NASA wants industry to help define the capabilities needed to achieve flight test requirements. The work will also potentially support a future NASA Making Advancements in Commercial Hypersonics (MACH) project focused on advancing commercial hypersonic vehicles through the development of infrastructure such as cost estimates and schedule requirements for a potential flight vehicle. NASA advances U.S. hypersonic research through the Hypersonic Technology Project under the agency’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. NASA intends for these projects to help lead the way in enabling revolutionary advancements in fundamental airbreathing hypersonic technologies. Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Science Flights Venture to Improve Severe Winter Weather Warnings Article 3 days ago 4 min read NASA, GE Aerospace Hybrid Engine System Marks Successful Test Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA Tests Technology Offering Potential Fuel Savings for Commercial Aviation Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jan 30, 2026 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Banke*****@*****.tld Related TermsAeronauticsAdvanced Air Vehicles ProgramAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateHypersonic TechnologySupersonic Flight View the full article

2 Min Read Visualizing Perseverance’s AI-Planned Drive on Mars PIA26646 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal Visualizing Perseverance’s… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads Visualizing Perseverance’s AI-Planned Drive on Mars PNG (326.26 KB) PIA26646 Animation MP4 (157.38 MB) Description This animation of NASA’s Perseverance was created with the Caspian visualization tool using data acquired during an 807-foot (246-meter) drive on the rim of Jezero Crater made by the rover on Dec. 10, 2025, the 1,709th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The mission’s “drivers,” or rover planners, use the information to understand the Perseverance’s autonomous decision-making process during its drive by showing why it chose one specific path over other options. This was one of two drives, the first being on Dec. 8, in which generative artificial intelligence provided the route planning. The AI analyzed high-resolution orbital imagery from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and terrain-slope data from digital elevation models to identify critical terrain features — bedrock, outcrops, hazardous boulder fields, sand ripples, and the like. From that analysis, it generated a continuous path complete with waypoints, fixed locations where the rover takes up a new set of instructions. The pale blue lines depict the track the rover’s wheels take. The ****** lines snaking out in front of the rover depict the different path options the rover is considering moment to moment. The white terrain Perseverance drives onto in the animation is a height map generated using data the rover collected during the drive. The pale blue circle that appears in front of the rover near the end of the animation is a waypoint. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/ Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

NASA Cold Atom Lab team members were presented with the following NASA Honor Awards. From left to right, Kamal Oudrhiri, Sarah Rees, Jason Williams, and Ethan Elliott. NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA OUTSTANDING PUBLIC LEADERSHIP MEDAL Awarded for notable leadership accomplishments that have significantly influenced NASA’s mission. Sustained leadership and exceptionally high-impact leadership achievements demonstrate the individual’s effectiveness in advancing NASA’s goals and image in present and future terms. Kamal Oudrhiri – For outstanding leadership of the Cold Atom Laboratory, NASA’s first quantum laboratory in space. NASA EXCEPTIONAL SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL Awarded for exceptional scientific contributions toward achievement of NASA’s mission. This award is given for individual efforts that have resulted in a key scientific discovery or resulted in contribution(s) of fundamental importance in this field or significantly enhanced understanding of the field. Jason Williams – For exceptional scientific achievements enabling and performing the first pathfinding experiments in quantum sensing of inertial forces with atom interferometry in space. NASA EXCEPTIONAL PUBLIC ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL Awarded for a significant specific achievement or substantial improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which contributes to the mission of NASA. Ethan Elliott – For exceptional achievement in generating the first quantum gas mixtures in space and using them to demonstrate dual species matter-wave interferometry for quantum tests. NASA EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL This prestigious NASA medal is awarded for significant performance during the first 10 years of an individual’s career in support of the NASA Mission. The contribution is significant, in that, for an employee who is at such an early phase of career, the contribution has substantially improved the discipline area. Sarah Rees – For early career achievement in anomaly recovery and complex operation efforts in support of the Cold Atom Laboratory on the International Space Station. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Cold Atom Laboratory International Space Station To view more images, visit the Space Station Gallery. Jet Propulsion Laboratory International Space Station Facts and Figures International Space Station Facts International Space Station Size & Mass View the full article

1 Min Read Video: Perseverance Rover’s View of Crater Rim Drive PIA26647 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal Video: Perseverance Rover’s… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads Video: Perseverance Rover’s View of Crater Rim Drive JPEG (659.02 KB) PIA26647 Animation MP4 (125.55 MB) Description This animation shows Perseverance’s point of view during drive of 807 feet (246 meters) along the rim of Jezero Crater on Dec. 10, 2025, the 1,709th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Captured over two hours and 35 minutes, 53 Navigation Camera (Navcam) image pairs were combined with rover data on orientation, wheel speed, and steering angle, as well as data from Perseverance’s Inertial Measurement Unit, and placed into a 3D virtual environment. The result is this reconstruction with virtual frames inserted about every 4 inches (0.1 meters) of drive progress. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/ Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

2 Min Read Mapping Perseverance’s Route With AI PIA26645 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal Mapping Perseverance’s Route… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads Mapping Perseverance’s Route With AI PNG (1,003.24 KB) Description This annotated image from NASA’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image depicts the AI-planned route and the actual route taken by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover during its 807-foot (246-meter) drive on Dec. 10, 2025, the 1,709th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The drive was the second of two demonstrations — the first being on Dec. 8 — showing that generative artificial intelligence could be incorporated in the rover’s route planning. The magenta lines depict the path the rover’s wheels would take if it were to follow AI-processed waypoints, which are indicated with the magenta circles. (Waypoints are fixed locations where the rover takes up a new set of instructions.) The orange lines are based on data downlinked after the drive was complete and depict the actual path the rover took. The short, bold segments of the blue lines at the start of the route, in the upper right, show the portion of the drive that was determined by the mission’s rover drivers and based on imagery taken by the rover of the surface ahead. The surface areas in pale green boxes are called “keep-in zones.” Perseverance’s self-driving software is only allowed to pick routes inside those zones. The graphic was generated using Hyperdrive, part of the software suite used to plan rover drives and manage the massive influx of engineering data from the Perseverance rover. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance: science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/ The University of Arizona in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for SMD. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

CSDA Menu CSDA Commercial Data Commercial Datasets Commercial Satellite Data Explorer Satellite Data Evaluation CSDA Vendors Airbus U.S. BlackSky Capella Space GeoOptics GHGSat ICEYE Maxar Planet Polar Geospatial Center Spire Teledyne Brown Engineering Umbra Tomorrow.io PlanetiQ Program Activities Pilot Research Projects FAQs News 3 min read NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program Releases Archived and Tasked Multispectral Data from Satellogic This image of an urban area outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, shows the high resolution available from Satellogic’s level 1D Orthorectified multispectral archive and tasked data product now available in the CSDA Program’s Satellite Data Explorer. Credit: CSDA “The mission of the CSDA Program is to identify, evaluate, and acquire data from commercial sources that support NASA’s Earth science research and application goals,” said CSDA Project Manager Dana Ostrenga. “The addition of this product from Satellogic to the SDX demonstrates the CSDA Program’s ongoing commitment to that mission, as well as to our objective of bringing high-quality, Earth observation data from NASA’s commercial partners to the Earth Science community.” This Level 1D product, which is equivalent to a NASA-defined Level 1C data product, is derived from satellites in Satellogic’s NewSat constellation, each of which carries a multispectral camera offering four bands in visible (red, green, and blue) and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The product provides images covering 25,000 square kilometers (km2) of the Satellogic archive. Researchers interested in accessing this data product in SDX can use their Earthdata Login for authentication and initiate data download requests. The product includes all associated metadata and documentation, and its use is governed by the United States government plus End User License Agreement (USG EULA) About SDX The SDX allows users to search, discover, and access a variety of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), digital elevation model (DEM), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), multispectral, and precipitation radar data acquired through the CSDA program. It also provides streamlined data download, automated quota tracking, and a new coverage map that provides a high-level overview of the spatial coverage of the data discoverable through the SDX for any specified month and year. For a summary of the NASA commercial partner datasets available in SDX, visit the SDX website. To order data from SDX, users must create an account with and be logged in to NASA Earthdata. (The initial attempt to use SDX will redirect users to Earthdata Login, where they will be prompted to enter their Earthdata credentials and accept the terms of the EULA.) Users must agree to the terms of the EULA before any data can be requested. Note: All data requests must be approved by CSDA data managers. About the CSDA Program NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) established the CSDA Program to identify, evaluate, and acquire data from commercial providers that to support NASA’s Earth science research and applications. NASA recognizes the potential of commercial satellite constellations to advance Earth System Science and applications for societal benefit and believes commercially acquired data may also can augment the Earth observations acquired by NASA, and other U.S. government agencies, and NASA’s international partners. All data from CSDA contract-awarded vendors are evaluated by the investigator-led CSDA project teams that assess the value of adding a vendor’s data to CSDA’s data holdings based on their quality and how they might benefit in the context of NASA Earth science research and applications. To learn more about the program, its commercial partners, data evaluation process, and more, visit the CSDA website. Learning Resources For more information on the CSDA Program’s SDX, see the SDX user guide. Detailed information about the Level 1D products is available on the Satellogic website. Share Details Last Updated Jan 30, 2026 Related Terms Uncategorized Explore More 6 min read Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA’s Search for Life Beyond Earth Article 4 hours ago 4 min read March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse: Your Questions Answered A total lunar eclipse will redden the Moon on March 3, 2026. Here’s what you… Article 1 day ago 2 min read AMS 2026 Hyperwall Schedule Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

NASA’s Perseverance used its navigation cameras to capture its drive along the rim of Jezero Crater on Dec. 10, 2025. The navcam images were combined with rover data and placed into a 3D virtual environment, resulting in this reconstruction with virtual frames inserted about every 4 inches (0.1 meters) of drive progress. NASA/JPL-Caltech The team for the six-wheeled scientist used a vision-capable AI to create a safe route over the Red Planet’s surface without the input of human route planners. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has completed the first drives on another world that were planned by artificial intelligence. Executed on Dec. 8 and 10, and led by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the demonstration used generative AI to create waypoints for Perseverance, a complex decision-making task typically performed manually by the mission’s human rover planners. “This demonstration shows how far our capabilities have advanced and broadens how we will explore other worlds,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Autonomous technologies like this can help missions to operate more efficiently, respond to challenging terrain, and increase science return as distance from Earth grows. It’s a strong example of teams applying new technology carefully and responsibly in real operations.” During the demonstration, the team leveraged a type of generative AI called vision-language models to analyze existing data from JPL’s surface mission dataset. The AI used the same imagery and data that human planners rely on to generate waypoints — fixed locations where the rover takes up a new set of instructions — so that Perseverance could safely navigate the challenging Martian terrain. The initiative was led out of JPL’s Rover Operations Center (ROC) in collaboration with Anthropic, using the company’s Claude AI models. This animation was created using data acquired during Perseverance’s Dec. 10, 2025, drive on Jezero Crater’s rim. Pale blue lines depict the track the rover’s wheels take. ****** lines snaking out in front of the rover show the path options the rover is considering. The white terrain is a height map based on rover data. The blue circle that appears near the end of the animation is a waypoint. NASA/JPL-Caltech Progress for Mars, beyond Mars is on average about 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) away from Earth. This vast distance creates a significant communication lag, making real-time remote operation — or “joy-sticking” — of a rover impossible. Instead, for the past 28 years, over several missions, rover routes have been planned and executed by human “drivers,” who analyze the terrain and status data to sketch a route using waypoints, which are usually spaced no more than 330 feet (100 meters) apart to avoid any potential hazards. Then they send the plans via NASA’s Deep Space Network to the rover, which executes them. But for Perseverance’s drives on the 1,707 and 1,709 Martian days, or sols, of the mission, the team did something different: Generative AI provided the analysis of the high-resolution orbital imagery from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and terrain-slope data from digital elevation models. After identifying critical terrain features — bedrock, outcrops, hazardous boulder fields, sand ripples, and the like — it generated a continuous path complete with waypoints. To ensure the AI’s instructions were fully compatible with the rover’s flight software, the engineering team also processed the drive commands through JPL’s “digital twin” (virtual replica of the rover), verifying over 500,000 telemetry variables before sending commands to Mars. On Dec. 8, with generative AI waypoints in its memory, Perseverance drove 689 feet (210 meters). Two days later, it drove 807 feet (246 meters). “The fundamental elements of generative AI are showing a lot of promise in streamlining the pillars of autonomous navigation for off-planet driving: perception (seeing the rocks and ripples), localization (knowing where we are), and planning and control (deciding and executing the safest path),” said Vandi Verma, a space roboticist at JPL and a member of the Perseverance engineering team. “We are moving towards a day where generative AI and other smart tools will help our surface rovers handle kilometer-scale drives while minimizing operator workload, and flag interesting surface features for our science team by scouring huge volumes of rover images.” “Imagine intelligent systems not only on the ground at Earth, but also in edge applications in our rovers, helicopters, drones, and other surface elements trained with the collective wisdom of our NASA engineers, scientists, and astronauts,” said Matt Wallace, manager of JPL’s Exploration Systems Office. “That is the game-changing technology we need to establish the infrastructure and systems required for a permanent human presence on the Moon and take the U.S. to Mars and beyond.” This annotated orbital image depicts the AI-planned (depicted in magenta) and actual (orange) routes the Perseverance Mars rover took during its Dec. 10, 2025, drive at Jezero Crater. The drive was the second of two demonstrations showing that generative AI could be incorporated into rover route planning.NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA More about Perseverance Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL is home to the Rover Operations Center (ROC). It also manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. For more information on the ROC, visit: [Hidden Content] News Media Contacts DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 *****@*****.tld Karen Fox / Molly Wasser NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld 2026-008 Explore More 6 min read NASA-ISRO Radar Mission Peers Through Clouds to See Mississippi River Delta Article 22 hours ago 5 min read Networks Keeping NASA’s Artemis II Mission Connected Article 2 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Juno Measures Thickness of Europa’s Ice Shell Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover seeks signs of ancient life and collects samples of rock and regolith for possible Earth return. Perseverance Rover Location Map NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Jezero Crater, an area with an ancient delta, on Feb. 18, 2021. Scroll and pan… Mars Exploration Mars is the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots. Learn more about the Mars Missions. Mars: Facts Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it’s the only planet where we’ve sent… View the full article

The Moon readies for Artemis II, Orion shines bright, and a planetary parade marches across the night sky NASA’s Artemis II mission has its first opportunity to launch to the moon, Orion the Hunter takes center stage, and a planetary parade marches across the night sky. Skywatching Highlights Feb: Artemis II launch window opens. Feb: Orion the Hunter ideal viewing Mid-Late Feb: Planetary Parade Transcript The Moon could have human visitors for the first time since 1972, the constellation Orion will be clear to see, and a planetary parade will sparkle across the skies. That’s What’s Up, this February. The Moon could have some visitors soon! NASA’s Artemis II mission will send astronauts to fly around the Moon. The first opportunities for launch are this February. This mission will pave the way for Artemis III, which will be the first time we’ve sent humans to the lunar surface since the final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972. So this month, look up to the Moon shining bright in the night sky and there might be somebody looking back down at you. Can you spot Orion the Hunter in the night sky? NASA/JPL-Caltech You might be able to see the line of three stars that make up Orion’s Belt, but that belt is a part of a larger constellation called Orion, named for the hunter in Greek mythology. Above Orion’s belt, the hunter’s right shoulder is actually Betelgeuse (or Alpha Orionis), one of the brightest stars in the night sky! NASA/JPL-Caltech Most visible in the winter, February is one of the clearest times to see Orion in the sky. From dusk through the night, look to the southern sky and try and spot the hunter for yourself. A planetary parade will march across the sky this month! NASA/JPL-Caltech Mid-February, Saturn will drop down toward the horizon as Venus and Mercury climb upward in the sky, meeting together in the west to southwestern sky. Jupiter will find itself high in the sky. And even Uranus, found in the southern sky, and Neptune, found nearby Saturn, will join the parade—though you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to spot these two far-off planets. The planets will be visible soon after sunset throughout the month of February, but they’ll be lined up best toward the end of the month. So, go outside and see how many planets you can find! Here are the phases of the Moon for February. NASA/JPL-Caltech You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I’m Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA What’s Up Skywatching Galaxies Stars View the full article

4 Min Read Preparing for Artemis II: Training for a Mission Around the Moon Artemis II astronauts, from left, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, CSA (********* Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman stand on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher as part of an integrated ground systems test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credits: NASA/Frank Michaux Four astronauts will soon travel beyond low Earth orbit and fly around the Moon on Artemis II, a mission that will test NASA’s systems and hardware for human exploration of deep space. Since June 2023, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (********* Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen have been preparing for their lunar journey. The approximately 10-day mission will test the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, while requiring the quartet to operate with greater autonomy and make critical decisions far from Earth. Training for Artemis II is all risk mitigation. By preparing the astronauts and flight controllers for what they might encounter, we enable mission success. Artemis II Chief Training Officer Jacki Mahaffey Unlike missions to the International Space Station, Artemis II offers no nearby safe harbor and no option to be back on Earth within hours of a problem. Training reflects that reality. Crews are prepared not just to follow procedures, but to understand spacecraft systems well enough to adapt when conditions change. Training began with mission fundamentals, including how Orion and SLS systems function individually and together. From there, the crew progressed through phases of training that moved from routine on-orbit operations to more complex mission segments such as ascent, entry, and landing. Each phase builds on the last as the crew moves closer to flight. In parallel, astronauts trained in medical operations, exercise systems, spacesuits, and daily life aboard Orion. Together, these elements form a single, integrated mission timeline. Observing the Moon Through the Lens The Artemis II crew practices lunar photography at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/Kelsey Young A key part of Artemis II training includes lunar observation and photography. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, astronauts studied the Moon’s far side, learning to identify crater shapes, surface textures, color variations, and reflectivity. Although Artemis II will not land on the Moon, the crew will conduct detailed observations from lunar orbit to prepare for future Artemis missions. Flight Training at Ellington Field Artemis II crew members Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch during T-38F flight training at Ellington Field.NASA/Josh Valcarcel In addition to classroom instruction and simulations, the Artemis II crew trains in T-38 jet aircraft at Johnson’s Ellington Field. The T-38 exposes astronauts to high-workload, dynamic flight conditions that build spatial awareness and adaptability, skills that translate directly to decision-making under pressure in spaceflight. Protecting Crew Health in Deep Space The Artemis II crew don their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits for post landing emergency egress inside the Orion Mockup at Johnson’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.NASA/James Blair The crew donned their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits during training to support testing of Orion’s environmental control and life support systems. The suit provides pressure, oxygen, and thermal protection during launch, entry, and contingency scenarios while Orion’s life support systems manage cabin oxygen, water, temperature, and overall crew health throughout the mission. Mastering Orion Systems and Simulations Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman (front) and Pilot Victor Glover participate in an Artemis II entry simulation at Johnson Space Center.NASA/Bill Stafford Inside the Orion Mission Simulator at Johnson, the crew rehearsed every phase of the mission, from routine operations to emergency response. Simulations are designed to teach astronauts how to diagnose failures, manage competing priorities, and make decisions with delayed communication from Earth. Through this process, the quartet learned every aspect of the Orion crew module’s interior, including how to navigate onboard displays and execute the procedures used to fly and monitor the spacecraft. Science Preparation and Geology Training Artemis II Mission Specialist Christina Koch stands in a windswept volcanic field during geology training in Iceland, where volcanic terrain serves as an analog for lunar landscapes. NASA/Robert Markowitz While Artemis II astronauts will not land on the Moon, the geology fundamentals they develop during field training in remote environments are critical to meeting the mission’s science objectives. During the mission, the crew will examine a targeted set of surface features, including craters and regolith, from orbit. Astronauts will document variations in color, reflectivity, and texture to help scientists interpret geologic history. Preparing for Splashdown and Recovery The Artemis II astronauts during water survival recovery training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. NASA/Josh Valcarcel The mission will conclude when the Artemis II mission splashes down. The crew worked through splashdown and recovery operations at the agency’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. They rehearsed how to exit the Orion spacecraft safely in different scenarios, stabilize the spacecraft, and board a raft – skills they will rely on after returning from their mission around the Moon. The Crew is Go for Launch Artemis II crew members (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA/Frank Michaux The Artemis II crew also completed integrated ground systems tests at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These included suited tests, full mission rehearsals, and launch-day dry runs that walked astronauts through every step, from traveling to the launch pad to entering Orion at Launch Pad 39B. As Artemis II moves closer to launch, the focus shifts from preparation to readiness as the crew enters the next era of exploration beyond low Earth orbit. About the AuthorSumer Loggins Share Details Last Updated Jan 30, 2026 Related TermsJohnson Space CenterArtemisArtemis 2General Explore More 3 min read NASA Johnson Celebrates 25 Years in Space with Community Day Article 15 hours ago 3 min read I Am Artemis: Doug Parkinson Article 24 hours ago 5 min read Networks Keeping NASA’s Artemis II Mission Connected Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

NASA/JPL-Caltech Deep Space Station 15, one of the 112-foot antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, looks skyward, with the stars of the Milky Way overhead, in September 2025. Goldstone is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), which operates three complexes around the globe that support communications with dozens of deep space missions. The DSN is NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, plus a few that orbit Earth. The DSN also provides radar and radio astronomy observations that improve our understanding of the solar system and the larger universe. Through Artemis, NASA is establishing an enduring presence in space and exploring more of the Moon than ever before. To achieve this, Artemis missions rely on both the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network. These networks, with oversight by NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program office, use global infrastructure and relay satellites to ensure seamless communications and tracking as Orion launches, orbits Earth, travels to the Moon, and returns home. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech View the full article

Off the coast of California, NASA’s Artemis Landing and Recovery team and the Department of War that will work together to retrieve the Artemis II crew and Orion spacecraft following their return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean are performing a final simulation of their activities, called a just-in-time training, at sea on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. During the training, teams use the Crew Module Test Article, a full-scale mockup of the Orion spacecraft, to simulate as close as possible the conditions they can expect to encounter during splashdown of the Artemis II mission. NASA’s first crewed test flight in the Artemis campaign, the approximately 10-day Artemis II mission will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (********* Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon and farther than any humans have ever been from Earth. Image credit: NASA/Kenny Allen View the full article

3 Min Read U.S.-India NISAR Satellite Images Mississippi River Delta Region PIA26620 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal U.S.-India NISAR Satellite… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads U.S.-India NISAR Satellite Images Mississippi River Delta Region PNG (80.09 MB) PIA26620 Figure A JPEG (440.47 MB) Description The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Earth-observing satellite’s L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument captured this image of the Mississippi River Delta region in southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 29, 2025. The colors in the image represent varying types of cover, which tend to reflect microwaves from the radar differently. Portions of New Orleans appear green, a sign that the radar’s signals may be scattering from buildings that are oriented at different angles relative to the satellite’s orbit. Parts of the city appear magenta where streets that run parallel to the satellite’s flight track cause the signals to bounce strongly and brightly off buildings and back to the instrument. The resolution of the image is fine enough to make clear, right of center, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway — twin bridges that, at nearly 24 miles (39 kilometers) in length, make up the world’s longest continuous bridge over water. The bright green areas to the west of the Mississippi River, which snakes from Baton Rouge in the upper left to New Orleans in the lower right, are healthy forests. There, tree canopies and other vegetation are causing NISAR’s microwaves to bounce in numerous directions before returning to the satellite. Meanwhile, the yellow-and-magenta-speckled hues of Maurepas Swamp, directly west of Lake Pontchartrain and the smaller Lake Maurepas, indicate that the tree populations in that wetland forest ecosystem have thinned. On either bank of the Mississippi, the image shows parcels of varying shapes, sizes, and cover. Darker areas suggest fallow farm plots, while bright magenta indicates that tall plants, such as crops, may be present. Figure A Figure A is a version of the same image with labels, locator inset, scale, or compass. The L-band system uses a 9-inch (24-centimeter) wavelength that enables its signal to penetrate forest canopies and measure soil moisture as well as motion of ice surfaces and land down to fractions of an inch — the latter information being key to understanding how the land surface moves before, during, and after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. The S-band radar, provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Applications Centre, uses a 4-inch (10-centimeter) microwave signal that’s more sensitive to small vegetation, which makes it effective at monitoring certain types of agriculture and grassland ecosystems. Launched in July 2025, NISAR is collecting data that will benefit humanity by helping researchers around the world better understand changes in our planet’s surface, including its ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice. It also will capture changes in forest and wetland ecosystems and track movement and deformation of our planet’s crust by phenomena such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity. The global and rapid coverage from NISAR will provide unprecedented support for disaster response, producing data to assist in mitigating and assessing damage, with observations before and after catastrophic events available in short time frames. Find more information about NISAR here: [Hidden Content] Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

Predicted 3D structures of the ancestral nitrogenase DDKK complex from oldest to modern. Holly Rucker/UW Madison NASA-supported scientists have resurrected an enzyme first used by organisms on Earth 3.2-billion years ago and, in the process, have validated a chemical biosignature in rocks that is used to understand ancient life on Earth. The research provides a new understanding of what Earth’s biosphere was like early in our planet’s history and confirms a reliable biosignature that could be used by robotic or human explorers to look for signs of ancient life on other worlds. Nitrogen, Earth’s biosphere The study, published in Nature Communications on Jan. 22 , focuses on a type of metabolism called nitrogen fixation, or diazotrophy. This process is what converts biologically unusable nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere into molecules that all living organisms use to survive. On Earth, there is a select group of organisms called diazotrophs that can perform nitrogen fixation. This group is a motley crew of bacteria (and a few archaea and eukaryotes) that are found dotted across different branches of the tree of life. Some diazotrophs are free-living organisms that fix nitrogen as they go about their day. Others are symbiotic and survive in partnership with other organisms, living in places like plant roots, lichens, fungi, and even the guts of termites and shipworms. What ties this varied group of organisms together is that they all contain an enzyme called nitrogenase. This enzyme gives them the power to convert nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into compounds that are essential for building some of life’s most important molecules, such as proteins and DNA. Specifically, they convert diatomic nitrogen (N2) into biologically useful forms of nitrogen such as ammonia (NH3), thereby allowing nitrogen to enter the food chain. In this way, every organism in Earth’s entire biosphere relies on diazotrophs to provide the nitrogen we all need to survive. Nitrogenase through time Because nitrogen fixation is critical for life as we know it, scientists believe that nitrogenase must have evolved early in life’s history, at a time when only single-celled microorganisms existed. “Early life on Earth operated under conditions so different from today that it may have appeared almost alien,” said Betül Kaçar, who leads the Kaçar Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With support from NASA, Kaçar and her team are working to understand the history of life at a planetary scale and the potential for life in the universe by rebuilding extinct biochemistries used by ancient organisms. “Studying these systems helps us understand not just where life can exist, but what life can be.” Details about early life on Earth are obscure because the fossils microorganisms leave behind in the rock record can be ambiguous or difficult to attribute. However, when nitrogen from the atmosphere is fixed, it is slightly altered in a way scientists can recognize. The isotopic signature of the nitrogen atoms within the diazotroph is changed. Over time, as the microorganisms die, this altered nitrogen gets incorporated into rocks. Sediments are laid down, become buried, compressed, worn, and churned through the ages of the Earth. Yet even after billions of years, scientists can still identify the N-isotope biosignature left by ancient diazotrophs in the geological record. Isotopes are different forms of the same element. Each form has the same number of protons in their nuclei, but a different number of neutrons. Nitrogen in the atmosphere is found primarily as nitrogen-14 (7 neutrons and 99.6337% of atmospheric N) and nitrogen-15 (8 neutrons and only 0.3663% of atmospheric N). Biological processes like nitrogen fixation use mostly nitrogen-14. NASA/Aaron Gronstal By looking at the N-isotope record, scientists can thereby estimate when nitrogenase enzymes first appeared. Building ancient enzyme Questions about the accuracy of using N-isotopes as a biosignature have been raised in the past. Like life itself, enzymes evolve over time. As environmental conditions on Earth change, enzymes are altered at the molecular level in response. The original nitrogenase was likely smaller and less complicated than the version we see in organisms now. This means that the N-isotope signatures left behind by ancient nitrogenase enzymes could be different than the ones we see today. To solve the question of whether N-isotopes can indeed be used as a robust biosignature, the team used synthetic biology techniques to resurrect possible ancient versions of the enzyme. They reverse-engineered modern nitrogenase, peeling away layers of evolution to reveal simpler versions of the enzyme that might have existed long ago. The behaviors of the older versions of the enzyme were then observed when they were inserted into living microbes. What they found is that N-isotope signatures have remained the same for billions of years. The results prove that the isotopic signatures of nitrogen fixation in Earth’s oldest rocks do indeed reflect the activity of early life. “As you step back in time, the DNA sequences of these ancient nitrogenases are very different than modern nitrogenases,” said Holly Rucker, a doctoral candidate in the Kaçar Lab and lead author on the paper. “We also see that the enzyme structure varies with age. Yet we find that despite these sequence and structure-level differences, these ancient enzymes still do the same chemistry as their modern descendants.” The collection of synthetic genes created by the team also represent different versions of nitrogenase that would have existed over a span of two billion years of evolutionary history. This has helped fill in gaps of knowledge about how nitrogenase has changed over time, and what ancient nitrogen fixers were like. Holly Rucker examines a petri dish in the lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Holly Rucker/ UW Madison “This research reveals how robust nitrogenase (and its associated N-isotope signature) are to change, at both an enzyme sequence level and at the planetary environment level,” explains Rucker. “The fact that the ancestral nitrogenases produce the same isotopic signature throughout billions of years of molecular tinkering, and in the face of drastic changes to the Earth’s environment, really highlights the potential of N-isotopes as a biosignature. Another key aspect of this work is that it provides further validation of our interpretation of the most ancient nitrogenase signatures in the rock record on Earth, which is important for understanding the timing of when critical metabolisms like nitrogen fixation emerged on Earth.” Because nitrogen fixation is such an important part of biology on Earth, the research could also provide clues in the search for life beyond our planet. “If we want to recognize life beyond Earth, we can’t limit ourselves to life as we know it today,” said Kaçar. Nitrogenase, search for life Now that scientists have validated the use of N-isotopes as a biosignature for ancient life on Earth, the same technique could potentially be used on other rocky worlds. “Validated biosignatures like nitrogen isotopes give us a powerful tool for planetary exploration and access to lost biological histories” said Kaçar. “If similar signals are found on Mars or other rocky worlds, they could point to ancient metabolisms that once supported life under very different conditions. Studying these systems helps us understand not just where life can exist, but what life can be.” For more information on astrobiology at NASA, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Karen Fox / Molly Wasser Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld View the full article

Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Universe Uncovered Hubble’s Partners in Science Hubble & Citizen Science AI & Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Science Operations Astronaut Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia Images Videos Online Activities e-Books Sonifications Podcasts 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 3 Min Read Hubble Sees Galaxy with Dark Rings in New Light This Hubble image features the striking lenticular galaxy NGC 7722. Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz), Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA; Acknowledgment: Mehmet Yüksek This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features an uncommon galaxy with a striking appearance. NGC 7722 is a lenticular galaxy located about 187 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. A lenticular, meaning “lens-shaped,” galaxy is a type whose classification sits between more familiar spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies. It is also less common than spirals and ellipticals — partly because these galaxies have a somewhat ambiguous appearance, making it hard to determine if it is a spiral, an elliptical, or something in between. Many of the known lenticular galaxies sport features of both spiral and elliptical. In this case, NGC 7722 lacks the defined arms of a spiral galaxy, while it has an extended, glowing halo and a bright bulge in its center like an elliptical galaxy. Unlike elliptical galaxies, it has a visible disk — concentric rings swirl around its bright nucleus. Its most prominent feature, however, is undoubtedly the long lanes of dark red dust coiling around the outer disk and halo. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 7722, a lenticular galaxy located about 187 million light-years away, features concentric rings of dust and gas that appear to swirl around its bright nucleus. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz), Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Acknowledgment: Mehmet Yüksek This new Hubble image, the sharpest taken of NGC 7722, brings the galaxy’s impressive dust lanes into sharp focus. Bands of dust like this are not uncommon in lenticular galaxies, and they stand out against the broad, smooth halo of light that typically surrounds lenticulars. Astronomers think NGC 7722’s distinctive dust lanes are the result of a past merger with another galaxy, similar to other lenticular galaxies. Researchers do not fully understand how lenticular galaxies form, but they think mergers and other gravitational interactions play an important part in reshaping galaxies and exhausting their supplies of gas while bringing new dust. While it doesn’t host as many new, young stars as a spiral galaxy, there’s still activity in NGC 7722: in 2020 it was host to the explosion of a star that astronomers detected from Earth. SN 2020SSF was a Type Ia supernova, an event that occurs when a white dwarf star in a binary system siphons enough mass away from its companion star that it grows unstable and explodes. These explosions output a remarkably consistent level of light: by measuring how bright they appear from Earth and comparing that to how bright they intrinsically are, astronomers can tell how far away they must be. Type Ia supernovae are one of the best ways to measure distances to galaxies, so understanding exactly how they work is of great importance for astronomy. Taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, this Hubble image was obtained as part of an observing program (#16691, PI: R. J. Foley) that followed up on recent supernovae. SN 2020SSF, is not visible in this image. Researchers purposefully observed NGC 7722 two years after the supernova faded to witness the supernova’s aftereffects and examine its surroundings, which can only be accomplished once the intense light of the explosion is gone. With Hubble’s clear vision, astronomers can search for radioactive material created by the supernova, catalog its neighbors to help determine the original star’s age, and look for the companion star it left behind — all from almost 200 million light-years away. Text Credit: European Space Agency (ESA) Download a high-resolution version of this image (30MB tiff) Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD *****@*****.tld Explore More Hubble Showcases a Remarkable Galactic Hybrid This remarkable galaxy, called UGC 12591, sits somewhere between a lenticular and a spiral. Hubble Views Cosmic Dust Lanes This Hubble image features a nearly edge-on view of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. Hubble Views a Galaxy with Faint Threads This unusual lenticular galaxy has lost almost all the gas and dust from its signature spiral arms. /wp-content/plugins/nasa-blocks/assets/images/spacex-orbit.jpg Dark Rings and New Light This release on ESA/Hubble’s website Galaxies are the visible foundation of the universe; each one a collection of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter held together by gravity. Hubble’s observations give us insight into how galaxies form, grow, and evolve through time. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Miranda Chabot; Lead Writer: Andrea Gianopoulos Share Details Last Updated Jan 30, 2026 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Lenticular Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble Science Highlights Hubble Images What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday? View the full article

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Extreme January Cold Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Notes from the Field Blog Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video January 21-29, 2026 In the wake of a winter storm that blanketed numerous U.S. states with snow and ice, unusually low temperatures continued to grip a large swath of the nation east of the Rockies in late January 2026. The cold spell was notable for severity, longevity, and geographic scope. This animation depicts surface air temperatures across part of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, from January 21 to 29. It combines satellite observations with temperatures calculated by a version of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) global model, which uses mathematical equations to simulate physical processes in the atmosphere. Dark blue areas indicate the lowest surface air temperatures. The brief pulses show daily warming and cooling, while the broader pattern reveals cold air spreading south and east and lingering through much of the week. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the surge of Arctic air pushed deep into the United States on January 22, ushering in a ******* of low temperatures and harsh wind chills. The cold coincided with a jet of moisture to produce significant accumulations of snow and ice spanning from the U.S. Southwest to New England. In the days after the storm, dangerously cold weather persisted. In the Midwest, for example, the temperature in Alliance, Nebraska, dropped to minus 26 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 degrees Celsius) on January 24, the lowest daily minimum temperature for that date on record, according to preliminary NWS reports. In the South, an extreme cold warning was in effect in south-central Texas overnight on January 26, with temperatures dipping into the single digits. By January 27, parts of the South had started to see slight warming, but wind chills down to -20°F (-29°C) continued across the Midwest and Northeast. According to meteorologists, the cold snap was caused by frigid air from the ********* and Siberian Arctic funneling into eastern North America, then being driven south as high-pressure systems forced the jet stream to dip. Forecasts called for another blast of Arctic air late in the week, with below-normal temperatures persisting into early February. The lingering cold has posed extra challenges to those who remained without power or heat after the storm and for those working to clean up, clear streets, and restore power and transportation services. NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System has been activated to support agencies responding to the winter storm. The team will be posting maps and data products on its open-access mapping portal as new information becomes available. NASA Earth Observatory images and animation by Lauren Dauphin, using GEOS data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC. Story by Kathryn Hansen. References & Resources The Conversation (2026, January 24) How the polar vortex and warm ocean intensified a major US winter storm. Accessed January 29, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory (2026, January 28) Snow Buries the U.S. Interior and East. Accessed January 29, 2026. NBC News (2026, January 27) Millions remain under warnings as extreme cold has icy grip on much of the U.S. Accessed January 29, 2026. NWS Weather Prediction Center, via X (2026, January 27) Dangerously cold temperatures continue. Accessed January 29, 2026. The Washington Post (2026, January 28) Extreme cold spell shaping up as one of D.C.’s longest in 150 years. Accessed January 29, 2026. Yale Climate Connections (2026, January 23) Winter 2025-26 (finally) hits the U.S. with a vengeance. Accessed January 29, 2026. You may also be interested in: Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet. Winter Grips the Michigan Mitten 3 min read A blanket of snow spanned Michigan and much of the Great Lakes region following a potent cold snap. Article Snow Buries the U.S. Interior and East 2 min read Satellites observed a frozen landscape across much of the country after a massive winter storm. Article Summer Heat Lingers in the West 3 min read A prolonged high-pressure weather system brought unusually warm September temperatures to British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Article 1 2 3 4 Next Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox. Earth Observatory Image of the Day NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery. Explore Earth Science Earth Science Data View the full article

NASA’s Johnson Space Center brought the International Space Station’s 25-year legacy to the public on Jan. 24, 2026, during a community day event in Houston. Johnson’s visitor center, Space Center Houston, hosted the celebration commemorating 25 years of continuous human presence in space. For a quarter century, astronauts have lived and worked aboard the orbiting laboratory, advancing science, strengthening international partnerships, and shaping the future of exploration beyond low Earth orbit. NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston volunteers share information about the International Space Station’s 25 years of continuous human presence in space with visitors on Jan. 24, 2026.NASA/Kara Slaughter The event featured interactive exhibits, special videos in the museum’s theaters and at each activity station, and hands-on demonstrations highlighting how the space station continues to benefit life on Earth and prepare NASA for missions to the Moon and Mars. Johnson employees shared information about the agency’s current missions aboard the orbital outpost and how that research is helping prepare for future Artemis missions, including Artemis II’s upcoming journey around the Moon. Space fans received a “Go for Launch” card and a stamp after completing activities at three NASA stations to earn their choice of prize, either a space station activity book or a 2026 space station calendar. Volunteers also handed out pins and stickers at tables once guests completed the challenge at each station. Guests participate in a challenge to identify what astronauts can and cannot eat in microgravity.NASA/Kara Slaughter At one exhibit, participants assembled a space-themed puzzle while wearing gardening gloves, demonstrating the limited mobility astronauts face when completing tasks during a spacewalk. They then had the chance to see and hold a spacesuit glove used during spacewalk training. At another station, attendees could color photos or write letters to the NASA astronaut corps, thanking them for their dedication to the mission and sharing their aspirations of one day supporting human spaceflight. They even got to drop it in a “mailbox” for delivery. A third booth invited guests to explore real space food and featured a nutrition challenge to identify what astronauts can and cannot eat in microgravity. Another activity at this station highlighted how the human body digests food in space. On Earth, gravity helps move food through the digestive system. In orbit, digestion relies almost entirely on peristalsis, the wave-like muscle contractions that push food through the esophagus and intestines. Without gravity, the process still works but can be slower, as muscles gently squeeze and push food through the digestive tract on their own. These hands-on experiences demonstrated how research aboard the space station continues to shape the future of exploration. After 25 years of continuous habitation, the station remains essential to humanity’s next giant leaps. Explore More 4 min read NASA Finds Lunar Regolith Limits Meteorites as Source of Earth’s Water A new NASA study of its Apollo lunar soils clarifies the Moon’s record of meteorite… Article 6 days ago 5 min read Out of This World Discoveries: Space Station Research in 2025 Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Wraps Up Space Station Science Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

1 Min Read Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Discovered at Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa PIA26546 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal Ammonia-Bearing Compounds… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Discovered at Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa PNG (4.09 MB) Description Advanced analysis of decades-old data from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft identifies ammonia-bearing compounds discovered on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa, as shown in this composite image. Zooming in on an area about 250 miles (about 400 kilometers) wide, the ******-and-white mosaic to the right is composed of multiple images from Galileo’s Solid-State Imaging camera. Overlaid are representations of data from the spacecraft’s Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) instrument: Red pixels mark locations where ammonia-bearing compounds were detected; purple pixels indicate no detections of the compounds. The NIMS data was captured during Galileo’s 11th orbit of Jupiter in 1997. Dark, crisscrossing bands in the underlying image represent fracturing of Europa’s icy surface. Detection of ammonia-bearing compounds near such features could indicate that they were actively placed there by cryo-volcanic processes bringing liquid water up from Europa’s vast subsurface ocean. Launched in 1989 and managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NASA’s Galileo mission concluded its extended mission to the Jupiter system in September 2003. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

2 Min Read NASA Analysis Shows La Niña Limited Sea Level Rise in 2025 PIA26619 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal NASA Analysis Shows La Niña… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads NASA Analysis Shows La Niña Limited Sea Level Rise in 2025 PNG (2.39 MB) Description This graph shows the rise in global mean sea level from 1993 to 2025 based on data from a series of five international satellites. The solid red line indicates the trajectory of this increase, which has more than doubled over the three decades. The dotted red line projects future sea level rise. A NASA analysis found that the average height of Earth’s oceans increased by 0.03 inches (0.08 centimeters) in 2025, a rate of increase that was lower than the 0.23 inches (0.59 centimeters) seen in 2024. It was also below the long-term expected rate of 0.17 inches (0.44 centimeters) per year based on the rate of rise since the early 1990s. Though sea levels have increasingly trended upward, years during which the rise in the average height was less usually have occurred during La Niñas — the part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle that cools the eastern Pacific Ocean, often leading to heavy rainfall over the equatorial portions of South America. The La Niña that started in 2025 and has extended into early 2026 has been relatively mild. Even so, the extra precipitation it has poured on the Amazon River basin contributed to an overall shift of water from ocean to land. This effect tends to temporarily lower sea levels, offsetting the rise caused by melting glaciers and ice sheets and warming of the oceans, which raises the sea levels through the expansion of water when the temperature increases. The net result in 2025 was a lower-than-average sea level rise. Faster-rising sea levels are likely to resume as the extra water in the Amazon basin makes its way to the oceans. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California conducted the analysis based on more than 30 years of satellite observations, starting with the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission, which launched in 1992, through the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission, which launched in November 2020 and is the current reference satellite for sea level measurements. Sentinel-6B, which launched in November 2025, will take over for its predecessor after a cross-calibration *******. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule returned to Earth in Koonibba in South Australia on Jan. 29, 2026, with the protection of a heat shield made of C-PICA, a cutting-edge material licensed from NASA and manufactured by Varda. The capsule’s successful return marks the first time a capsule protected entirely by Varda-made C-PICA has come back to Earth. Varda Space Industries/William Godward Using cutting-edge material licensed from NASA, a protective heat shield manufactured in-house by Varda Space Industries for the first time enabled one of its capsules to blaze through Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for the agency and America’s space industry. The material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive, and more efficient thermal protection coating to capsules, allowing them – and their valuable contents – to return to Earth safely. Varda’s W-5 capsule launched to low Earth orbit on Nov. 28, 2025, making it the latest spacecraft from the company to carry science and technology experiments from industry and government agencies into orbit. Heat shields allow us to bring the benefits of work done in space, including medical research, technology development, and scientific discovery, down to Earth to improve our everyday lives. Greg Stover Associate Administrator (Acting), Space Technology Mission Directorate “Heat shields allow us to bring the benefits of work done in space, including medical research, technology development, and scientific discovery, down to Earth to improve our everyday lives,” said Greg Stover, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington. “By licensing heat shield material to a commercial aerospace company, NASA is fostering their ability to manufacture it independently, helping make entry system materials more readily available across the space sector.” Developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, C-PICA sets the standard for heat shields, reflecting the decades of expertise that NASA brings to designing, developing, and testing innovative thermal protection materials. The transfer of NASA’s C-PICA to Varda’s has far-reaching benefits, as the company uses its W-series capsules as a platform to process pharmaceuticals and conduct other microgravity research. This flight shows what’s possible when NASA and our commercial partners collaborate closely to invest in learning together. Danielle McCulloch NASA's Flight Opportunities Program Executive “This flight shows what’s possible when NASA and our commercial partners collaborate closely to invest in learning together,” said Danielle McCulloch, program executive of NASA’s Flight Opportunities program at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “Not only does it advance the U.S. space industry, but it also takes other industries — like pharmaceuticals — to the next level, with benefits that ripple out across society.” The successful return of Varda’s W-5 capsule is the latest step in a productive ongoing collaboration. NASA not only licensed the technology to Varda but also selected Varda to receive a 2023 Tipping Point award to begin C-PICA production and flight testing through the agency’s Flight Opportunities program. NASA also provided technical support as the company set up its own manufacturing processes and assisted with gathering flight data. This work belongs to the growing sector of in-space manufacturing that depends in part on effective heat shields to safely return products and experiments to Earth. A NASA Technology Transfer Success Varda was the first company to license NASA’s C-PICA heat shield material, which has since been licensed to several other companies. The patented technology is still available, and NASA is working with other commercial space companies interested in the material. By licensing the technology as well as transferring the manufacturing expertise, NASA is helping increase the availability of C-PICA across the space sector, opening the door to greater growth of in-space manufacturing. Learn more about this flight test: [Hidden Content] By Tara Kennon NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, Ca. Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Flight Opportunities Get Involved Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Share Details Last Updated Jan 29, 2026 EditorLoura Hall Related TermsSpace Technology Mission DirectorateAmes Research CenterFlight Opportunities ProgramTechnologyTechnology Transfer View the full article

1 Min Read Europa’s Ice Shell (Artist’s Concept) PIA25630 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Koji Kuramura/ Gerald Eichstädt (CC BY) Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal Europa’s Ice Shell… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About Downloads Europa’s Ice Shell (Artist’s Concept) JPEG (2.17 MB) Description This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell. It contains a shallow layer of small imperfections (cracks, pores, and voids) that extend down from the surface hundreds of feet. The icy moon of Jupiter is thought to harbor an ocean below its frozen exterior. Data used to generate a new result on the ice thickness and structure was collected by the microwave radiometer instrument on NASA’s Juno spacecraft during a close flyby of the icy moon on Sept. 29, 2022. More information about Juno is online at: [Hidden Content] and [Hidden Content] Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Photojournal Photojournal Search Photojournal Photojournal’s Latest Content Feedback View the full article

NASA NASA has awarded more than $5 million to 29 institutions nationwide to expand and strengthen science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning beyond the classroom. The awards are designed to help build skills that lead directly to STEM careers. These organizations collaborate with libraries, after-school programs, and youth-serving groups to provide sustainable learning opportunities that inspire future innovators. “NASA’s TEAM II awards enable us to reach students where they are, be it a library, after-school program, or museum,” said Elaine Ho, associate administrator of the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By extending NASA’s discoveries to students everywhere we can build a powerful network of collaborators who are primed to deliver resources and programming that can transform outcomes for the next generation of explorers”. The institutions and their proposed projects were selected for NASA’s STEM Innovator, as well as the Community Anchor Awards. Both awards are part of the agency’s TEAMS Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) program, which engages formal and informal educators, students, and communities in NASA’s missions as the nation enters a Golden Age of innovation and exploration. Awardees for STEM Innovators act as regional hubs, building partnerships and networks to advance innovative informal STEM education practices. NASA selected 18 institutions to receive nearly $4.5 million in cooperative agreements to help deliver NASA STEM experiences to broad regional audiences. The selected institutions are: STEM Innovator Awards Advanced Methods in Innovation, Inc., Youngstown, Ohio The American Museum of Natural History, New York Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Inc., Indiana Discovery Center of Springfield, Inc., Springfield, Missouri Discovery Place, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina Fab Lab, El Paso, Texas Hawaii Science and Technology Museum, Hilo, Hawaii Liberty Science Center, Inc., Jersey City, New Jersey Montshire Museum of Science, Inc., Norwich, Vermont Mount Washington Observatory, North Conway, New Hampshire National Space Grant Foundation, Inc., San Juan, Puerto Rico Orlando Science Center, Inc., Florida The Regents of The University of California, Berkeley, California Space for Teachers, Inc., Kenosha, Wisconsin Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas Universities Space Research Association, Washington University of Montana, Missoula, Montana Community Anchor awardees serve as a local resource, with projects created to introduce NASA content and opportunities to varied audiences. The agency selected 11 institutions to receive more than $547,000 in grants to help bring their projects to life and create new connections between their communities and NASA. The selected institutions are: Community Anchor Awards Children’s Museum of Idaho, Inc., Meridian, Idaho Connecticut Science Center, Inc., Hartford, Connecticut The Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology, Inc., Allentown, Pennsylvania Exploration Place, Inc., Wichita, Kansas Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts Hawaii Keiki Museum, Waikoloa, Hawaii Lykens Valley Children’s Museum, Elizabethville, Pennsylvania Memphis Museums, Inc., Tennessee National Space Science & Technology Institute, Colorado Springs, Colorado Sciencenter Discovery Museum, Ithaca, New York STEM Flights, Stephenson, Virginia The awards are funded through the agency’s Next Generation STEM project, part of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, which creates innovative resources and hands-on experiences designed to ignite curiosity in STEM and help students discover pathways into the aerospace workforce. For the latest NASA STEM events, activities, and news, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Gerelle Dodson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 gerelle.q*****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated Jan 29, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsLearning ResourcesNASA HeadquartersSTEM Engagement at NASA View the full article

6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This image captured by NISAR’s L-band SAR instrument on Nov. 29, 2025, shows the cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, and a range of wetlands, farmlands, and populated areas. The colors indicate different types of land cover.NASA/JPL-Caltech This same Nov. 29, 2025, image from NISAR’s L-band SAR instrument features labels noting cities and geographic features of the Mississippi River Delta region. Colors indicate types of land cover, such as healthy forests (bright green), thinned tree populations (yellow-and-magenta hues), and tall crops (bright magenta).NASA/JPL-Caltech A new image from the NISAR mission shows off the satellite’s ability to reveal details of Earth’s surfaces. The science team also released new sample data. A U.S.-Indian Earth satellite’s ability to see through clouds, revealing insights and characteristics of our planet’s surface, is on display in a colorful, newly released image showing the Mississippi River Delta region in southeastern Louisiana. Created with data collected by the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite in late fall, the image shows the cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, and a diversity of wetlands, farmland, forests, and communities. It also highlights the key difference between radar, which scans surfaces with microwaves, and technologies that sense visible light: Optical imagery from other instruments taken the same day showed the region largely obscured by clouds. This image comes as the NISAR project prepares to make thousands of mission data files available for download in late February. The mission also recently released a smaller set of sample files to help data users prepare to utilize the broader dataset. While the Earth-observing satellite went through checks to verify the health of all its systems after launching in July, the mission’s NASA science team — researchers and data scientists from a range of disciplines spread around the U.S. — pulled preliminary measurements from its L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument to generate maps such as this one that demonstrate the instrument’s capabilities. Built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the L-band radar employs microwaves that, due to their 9-inch (24-centimeter) wavelength, can pass uninterrupted through clouds and image the surface below clearly. What’s revealed Captured Nov. 29, the image demonstrates how the L-band SAR can discern what type of land cover — low-lying vegetation, trees, and human structures — is present in each area. This capability is vital both for monitoring the gain and loss of forest and wetland ecosystems, as well as for tracking the progress of crops through growing seasons around the world. The colors seen here represent varying types of cover, which tend to reflect microwaves back to the satellite differently. Portions of New Orleans appear green, a sign that the radar’s signals may be scattering from buildings that are oriented at different angles relative to the satellite’s orbit. Parts of the city appear magenta where streets that run parallel to the satellite’s flight track cause the signals to bounce strongly and brightly off buildings and back to the instrument. The resolution of the image is fine enough to make clear, right of center, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway — twin bridges that, at nearly 24 miles (39 kilometers) in length, make up the world’s longest continuous bridge over water. The bright green areas to the west of the Mississippi River, which snakes from Baton Rouge in the upper left to New Orleans in the lower right, are healthy forests. There, tree canopies and other vegetation caused NISAR’s microwaves to bounce in many directions before returning to the satellite. Meanwhile, the yellow-and-magenta-speckled hues of Maurepas Swamp, directly west of Lake Pontchartrain and the smaller Lake Maurepas, indicate that the tree populations in that wetland forest ecosystem have thinned. On either bank of the Mississippi, the image shows parcels of varying shapes, sizes, and cover. Darker areas suggest fallow farm plots, while bright magenta indicates that tall plants, such as crops, may be present. The data products created with NISAR’s L-band measurements will be downloadable at the website of the Alaska Satellite Facility Distributed Active Archive Center. The Fairbanks-based facility stores and distributes NASA’s SAR data. Insights from NISAR can protect communities by providing unique, actionable information to decision-makers in a diverse range of areas, including disaster response, infrastructure monitoring, and agricultural management. More about NISAR A joint mission developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR launched on July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast. Managed by Caltech, JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and provided the satellite’s L-band SAR and antenna reflector. ISRO provided NISAR’s spacecraft bus and its S-band SAR, which operates at a wavelength of 4 inches (10 centimeters.) The NISAR satellite is the first to carry two SAR instruments at different wavelengths and will monitor Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, collecting data using the spacecraft’s giant drum-shaped reflector, which measures 39 feet (12 meters) wide — the largest radar antenna reflector NASA has ever sent into space. To learn more about NISAR, visit: [Hidden Content] News Media Contacts Andrew Wang / Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-379-6874 / 818-393-2433 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld 2026-007 Share Details Last Updated Jan 29, 2026 Related TermsNISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar)EarthEarth ScienceEarth Science DivisionJet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More 4 min read March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse: Your Questions Answered A total lunar eclipse will redden the Moon on March 3, 2026. Here’s what you… Article 3 hours ago 4 min read NASA Analysis Shows La Niña Limited Sea Level Rise in 2025 Article 4 hours ago 4 min read The West Faces Snow Drought Very wet—but very warm—weather in the western U.S. has left many mountainous regions looking at… Article 16 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics NISAR NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) systematically maps Earth, measuring changes of our planet’s surface as small as a centimeter. Earth Science Missions In order to study the Earth as a whole system and understand how it is changing, NASA develops and supports… Earth Science Data Earth Science at Work NASA Earth Science helps Americans respond to challenges and societal needs — such as wildland fires, hurricanes, and water supplies… View the full article

3 Min Read I Am Artemis: Doug Parkinson NASA’s Doug Parkinson is the Launch Integration and Mission Operations lead for the SLS (Space Launch System) Program. Credits: NASA Doug Parkinson’s face lights up as he starts telling his story, how someone from Wisconsin now plays a part in the team that will help land the first Artemis astronauts on to the Moon. Parkinson serves as NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket lead for Launch Integration and Mission Operations, guiding engineers responsible for monitoring the rocket during testing, pre-launch, and launch activities. Following his father’s footsteps, Parkinson became a mechanical engineer, studying at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He had planned on working in computer technologies or on cars in his future. Then the opportunity appeared to work with higher-powered engines. NASA’s Doug Parkinson is the Launch Integration and Mission Operations lead for the SLS (Space Launch System) Program.NASA “I came across an opportunity to work at the Propulsion Research Center at the university. I studied new propulsion technologies. That intrigued me because, as an undergrad, it was a chance to put into practical use what I was learning in the books and in theory,” said Parkinson. “It ended up being a lot of fun and very educational. It was in cutting edge technologies that really inspired me.” Joining NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1999, he began helping develop advanced liquid rocket engines, including the Fastrac and J-2X engines. The J-2X was an advanced development of the upper stage engine used on the Saturn V. “In 2012, I moved to SLS. One of the things I learned in the propulsion area with all the engine testing was test operations. That translated well into my new role as operations lead for the stages element,” said Parkinson. Now, he also serves as one of the SLS Engineering Support Center managers, helping oversee and train the SLS Engineering Support Team responsible for monitoring the rocket’s systems. The team operates at NASA Marshall and is critical to verifying the rocket is performing well. Parkinson is the first person to hold the Launch Integration and Mission Operations leadership position in the SLS Program. “I love all aspects of the operations. I like getting my hands dirty. I like seeing the erector set go together,” said Parkinson. When the Artemis II astronauts fly by the Moon, soaring within just a few thousand miles of the lunar surface, they will do so having been launched on a rocket Parkinson helped develop. I have goosebumps just thinking about it,” he said. “I’ll be on console for part of that time, listening to what they have to say. It’s amazing to think we’re going to go do that. /wp-content/plugins/nasa-blocks/assets/images/article-c-daren-welsh.jpg Doug Parkinson Launch Integration and Mission Operations Lead for the SLS (Space Launch System) Program “I have goosebumps just thinking about it,” he said. “I’ll be on console for part of that time, listening to what they have to say. It’s amazing to think we’re going to go do that.” The SLS rocket will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft to carry four astronauts around the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to lay the groundwork for the first human mission to Mars. About the AuthorWilliam BryanCommunication Strategist Share Details Last Updated Jan 29, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactJonathan Dealjonathan.e*****@*****.tldLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsI Am ArtemisArtemisMarshall Space Flight CenterPeople of MarshallSpace Launch System (SLS) Explore More 3 min read I Am Artemis: Dave Reynolds Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read I Am Artemis: Patrick Junen Article 7 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article