SpaceMan

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Gravity Waves From Super… 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 Atmospheric gravity waves generated by Super Typhoon Sinlaku are visible via mesospheric airglow in this nighttime image acquired with the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite on April 12, 2026, Universal Time (April 13 local time). NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison In mid-April 2026, Super Typhoon Sinlaku churned across the North Pacific Ocean and brought heavy rain and flooding to the Mariana Islands. The storm reached “violent typhoon” status—the highest intensity on the scale used by the Japan Meteorological Agency and roughly equivalent to a category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Sinlaku was one of only a handful of tropical cyclones of that intensity known to have occurred so early in the year in the region, meteorologists noted. Sinlaku rapidly intensified over the ocean before its impacts reached land. Around the time of this strengthening, satellites began to detect that the typhoon’s effects also extended upward, into the upper atmosphere. The nighttime image above, acquired with the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite, shows atmospheric gravity waves radiating from the typhoon. These waves, resembling ripples on a pond, were made visible to the sensor via airglow in the mesosphere. Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules, excited by sunlight during the day, later emit light to release excess energy. The release of latent heat near the eyewalls of tropical cyclones is known to drive convection and the formation of tall cumulonimbus clouds. These “hot towers” can rise out of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, and generate waves that propagate into the stratosphere and mesosphere above. An analysis of past tropical cyclones revealed that gravity waves often occur around the time that storms are intensifying. Indeed, in the 24 hours prior to the acquisition of the image above, Sinlaku had strengthened from a category 2 to a category 5 storm. “We’re seeing waves propagating radially and upward, in a cone-like shape,” said Joan Alexander, senior research scientist at NorthWest Research Associates. Alexander was surprised to see well-defined waves in the mesospheric airglow above the storm. Winds in the upper atmosphere can dissipate the waves before they reach such high altitudes, Alexander explained, but relatively light stratospheric winds at the storm’s latitude in April 2026 may have helped preserve them. A relatively low amount of moonlight was fortuitous, as well. The VIIRS day-night band is sensitive to airglow in the mesosphere but also observes reflected moonlight. The Moon was about 25 percent illuminated on April 12, so some light reflected off clouds in the troposphere was visible, but not enough to overpower the signal from the airglow. Thermal energy from gravity waves produced by Super Typhoon Sinlaku was detected in the stratosphere by the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite on April 13, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison Sinlaku’s gravity waves, in addition to appearing high in the atmosphere via airglow, were observed lower in the atmosphere by the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The image above depicts thermal emissions from gravity waves in the stratosphere on April 13. The rippling pattern appeared in April 14 observations, as well, indicating the storm’s continuing effects on the atmosphere. Observing atmospheric gravity waves, particularly those caused by tropical cyclones, goes beyond scientific curiosity. Practical implications could include improved monitoring of storm development. “We’d like to use gravity waves to tell us if a storm is intensifying,” Alexander said, “which can be difficult to know, especially over the open ocean.” A geostationary satellite with the proper infrared imager would be able to observe gravity waves and track tropical cyclone evolution, she and colleagues have argued. Furthermore, it’s critical to account for processes in the stratosphere in weather models, said Laura Holt, also a senior research scientist at NorthWest Research Associates. Stratospheric wind patterns are factors in long-term forecasts of the next Northern Hemisphere winter, for example, and tropical cyclones have a disproportionate influence because their sustained, intense convection drives prolonged gravity wave forcing of the stratosphere. The effect of gravity waves even reaches into the realm of space weather. “For a while, people have seen signatures of hurricanes in ionospheric weather,” Holt said. Gravity waves can lead to traveling ionospheric disturbances—large-scale ripples in plasma density—and in some cases plasma bubbles, both of which can disrupt satellite signals and radio communications. “With space weather in particular,” Holt added, “a single event such as a tropical cyclone can be very important.” NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS day-night band data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), and AIRS data from Hoffmann, L. Story by Lindsey Doermann. Downloads VIIRS: April 12, 2026 JPEG (2.89 MB) AIRS: April 13, 2026 JPEG (1.75 MB) References & Resources Hoffmann, L., et al. (2018) Satellite observations of stratospheric gravity waves associated with the intensification of tropical cyclones. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 1692–1700. NASA (2018, October 22) Why NASA Watches Airglow, the Colors of the (Upper Atmospheric) Wind. Accessed May 28, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory (2026, April 14) Super Typhoon Sinlaku. Accessed May 28, 2026. Nolan, D. S. (2020) An Investigation of Spiral Gravity Waves Radiating from Tropical Cyclones Using a Linear, Nonhydrostatic Model. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 77, 1733–1759. 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. Super Typhoon Sinlaku 3 min read The violent storm aimed at the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in mid-April 2026. Article Tropical Cyclone Narelle Crosses Australia 3 min read The powerful storm lashed the northern edge of the continent with damaging winds and drenching rain as it made landfall… Article A Second Cyclone Slams Madagascar 3 min read Widespread flooding affected tens of thousands of people after cyclones Fytia and Gezani drenched the island. 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 Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

Credit: NASA NASA has selected seven companies to provide construction, revitalization, and infrastructure improvements at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Johnson Space Center Multiple Award Construction Contract supports up to $300 million in upgrades to mission‑support facilities, utilities, and equipment across the NASA Johnson campus. All funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2026. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award enables rapid execution of facility projects essential to sustaining astronaut crew training, engineering development, and mission readiness. Task orders will be competed among awardees to ensure fair opportunity and best value to the government. Contract awardees are: Coho Construction Management, LLC Conti Federal Services, LLC Healtheon, Inc. HITT Contracting, Inc. Ross Group Construction Corporation, LLC Energy EPC Solutions, LLC, doing business as S&B Services Sauer Construction, LLC For more information about NASA and its missions, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Jennifer Dooren / Jessica Taveau Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld Chelsey Ballarte Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated May 29, 2026 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsJohnson Space CenterNASA Centers & Facilities View the full article

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts gather together for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module. Clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui. Credit: NASA NASA will host a public event featuring three crew members from the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission at 11 a.m. EDT Monday, June 1. The event, which takes place during the crew’s standard postflight visit, will be held in the Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E. Street SW in Washington. The crew members, including NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, will discuss their recent 167-day mission aboard the International Space Station, where they conducted a wide range of science experiments to benefit life on Earth and advance human space exploration as part of International Space Station Expedition 73/74. The Crew-11 mission lifted off on Aug.1, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost on Aug. 2. During their mission, the three astronauts, along with crewmate Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, traveled nearly 71 million miles and completed more than 2,670 orbits around Earth. The Crew-11 mission was Fincke’s fourth spaceflight, Yui’s second, and the first for Cardman and Platonov. Fincke has logged 549 days in space, ranking him fourth among all NASA astronauts for cumulative days in space. The crew members returned to Earth on Jan. 15, splashing down off the coast of San Diego. Along the way, Crew-11 logged hundreds of hours of research, maintenance, and technology demonstrations. The crew members also celebrated the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory on Nov. 2, 2025. Research conducted aboard the space station advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Media interested in attending the event must RSVP by 8 a.m., June 1, by emailing the NASA Headquarters newsroom at *****@*****.tld. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. Based on the crew’s schedule, NASA will not be able to accommodate interviews. This opportunity also is part of NASA’s Frontiers Forum: Voices Shaping the Future of Space speaking series designed to convene bold thinkers and senior leaders at the forefront of exploration and innovation. The series will spotlight mission-critical priorities from advancing the Artemis campaign and strengthening commercial partnerships to shaping the future workforce and accelerating breakthrough technologies. The agency will share more details soon. To learn more about the International Space Station and its research and crews, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Gerelle Dodson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 gerelle.q*****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated May 29, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsInternational Space Station (ISS)Humans in SpaceNASA Headquarters View the full article

4 Min Read NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Primary Mirror Gets Last Look This photo peers down the barrel of the Roman telescope with its visor-like sunshade deployed. Credits: NASA/Sydney Rohde Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed their final inspection of a key element for the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: the primary mirror. This 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) mirror will collect and focus light from cosmic objects near and far, helping Roman capture stunning panoramas of space. The primary mirror for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has passed its final inspection. On May 20 and 21, engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed that no specks fell onto the mirrors during testing and that there are no defects in the coating or alignment. With this milestone complete, the primary mirror is ready for its next view: space. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center “The Roman engineering team laid eyes on the telescope for the final time before it, in turn, becomes the eyes of humanity, revealing the wonders of the cosmos,” said J. Scott Smith, the Roman telescope manager at NASA Goddard. “It is a profoundly humbling moment to witness the culmination of hard work from so many dedicated individuals, teams, and partner organizations, including L3Harris.” On May 20, engineers turned the Roman observatory onto its side and deployed the “hood” that will be stowed for launch to protect the mirror. Then the team conducted a meticulous visual inspection to ensure no specks fell onto the mirrors during testing and confirm there are no defects in the coating or alignment. “We developed a method of using a high-resolution camera equipped with a very powerful zoom lens to do a multi-purpose inspection,” said Bente Eegholm, optics lead for Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA Goddard. “The mirror passed with flying colors, keeping the mission on track for an early September launch.” Technicians stow Roman’s deployable aperture cover, a large sunshade designed to keep unwanted light out of the telescope.NASA/Sydney Rohde The team carefully observed the optics along the path light will follow to the Wide Field Instrument detector array and confirmed it remains in proper alignment following the observatory shake test. “In order to gather very sensitive measurements of objects strewn throughout space, all of Roman’s components have to be ultraprecise,” Eegholm said. “The primary mirror certainly delivers on that precision.” Roman’s primary mirror sports a layer of silver less than 400 nanometers thick — about 200 times thinner than a human hair. The silver coating was specifically chosen for Roman because of how well it reflects near-infrared light. By contrast, the Hubble Space Telescope’s mirror is coated with layers of aluminum and magnesium fluoride to optimize visible and ultraviolet light reflectivity. Likewise, the James Webb Space Telescope’s mirrors have a gold coating to suit its longer wavelength infrared observations. The Roman mirror is so finely polished that the average bump on its surface is only 1.2 nanometers tall — more than twice as smooth as the mission requires. If the mirror were scaled up to Earth’s size, these bumps would be just a quarter of an inch high. In this photo, which peers directly down the barrel of Roman’s telescope, the photographer’s camera is reflected in the primary mirror.NASA/Sydney Rohde Since it’s made of a specialty ultralow-expansion glass, the mirror will resist flexing, which can happen to materials during temperature changes (like going from balmy Earth conditions to the deep freeze of space). This preserves Roman’s image quality, because if the primary mirror changed shape, it would distort the images from the telescope. “We’re really proud of the amazing optical system we’ve delivered for the Roman mission alongside our partners at L3Harris,” said Josh Abel, lead Optical Telescope Assembly systems engineer at NASA Goddard. “Now that it’s assembled, aligned, and all shined up, we’re ready to go.” Now, the Roman team is preparing to ship the observatory to the launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the coming weeks. NASA expects the mission to begin returning incredible cosmic vistas within several months after launch. To learn more about NASA’s Roman mission, visit: [Hidden Content] The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech/IPAC in Southern California, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, and scientists from various research institutions. Media contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-1940 About the AuthorAshley BalzerAshley is the lead science writer for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Share Details Last Updated May 29, 2026 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzer*****@*****.tldLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeExoplanetsGalaxiesGoddard Space Flight CenterStarsThe Universe Explore More 6 min read NASA’s Roman Mission Preps to Unveil New Populations of Faraway Worlds Article 1 day ago 4 min read NASA’s Roman Observatory Passes Final Major Prelaunch Tests Article 2 months ago 7 min read NASA Announces Plan to Map Milky Way With Roman Space Telescope Article 6 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image captures the faint glow of the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 490-017.Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Tully (University of Hawaii); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image released on May 27, 2026, features the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 490-017, roughly 12,000 light-years in diameter and some 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The galaxy’s low surface brightness makes it appear as a faint, starry swarm behind brighter foreground stars that are easily recognized by their diffraction spikes. Numerous red, orange, and beige dots are distant galaxies peppering the ****** background, many exhibiting distinct spiral structure. The data in this image of ESO 490-017 was part of a Hubble observing program that looked at the movement of galaxies and galaxy clusters through space. Matter in the universe is distributed unevenly, and the gravitational influence of that matter drives the “cosmic flow” or movement of large-scale structures in the universe. Image credit: NASA, ESA, R. Tully (University of Hawaii); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) 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 35th Anniversary More Online Activities This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy Messier 88 (M88). ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker The focus of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is an active spiral galaxy on a journey lasting hundreds of millions of years. The galaxy Messier 88 (M88), also known as NGC 4501, is located about 63 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair). M88 is an active galaxy, which means that its center harbors a supermassive ****** hole that is snacking on gas and dust. Astronomers estimate the ****** hole is around 100 million times as massive as the Sun, and it appears to be powering outflows of gas from the galaxy’s center. A population of old, reddish stars around the ****** hole give M88 its warmly glowing heart. Spreading out from the galaxy’s center are several tightly wound, symmetrical spiral arms, each outlined by sparkling pink and blue star clusters and knotted clouds of dust. We see M88 from an angle that makes it appear elongated, and its spiral arms delicately fan out before it. M88 is a member of the Virgo Cluster, a collection of more than a thousand galaxies held together by gravity. As this massive galaxy group moves through space, the galaxies themselves are in constant motion as they orbit the cluster’s center of gravity. M88 itself is on a long and somewhat perilous cosmic journey that will bring it to the innermost reaches of the cluster. As is the case with any epic journey, M88 will be fundamentally changed by its trek to the center of the Virgo Cluster, about two million light-years from where it is today. In 200–300 million years, M88 will make its closest approach to Messier 87, the massive elliptical galaxy that anchors the entire cluster. As it draws close to this gravitational behemoth, M88 will experience intense ram pressure stripping. Ram pressure stripping is a process through which a galaxy’s gas is swept away as it pushes through the ever-present gas between the galaxies in a cluster. Researchers have already seen this process at work in M88. The galaxy’s swirling disk of gas is truncated and appears compressed on the leading edge of the galaxy, piling up gas and dust like snow before a plough. In fact, M88 appears to have considerably less cold gas — the raw fuel for star formation — than expected for a galaxy of its size, especially in its outer regions. This is a clear sign that M88 will be altered by its journey, which will affect its ability to form stars and alter the course of its evolution. Astronomers observed M88 with Hubble as part of an observing program (#18103; PI: D. Thilker) dedicated to understanding the lives of spiral galaxies in crowded environments. This program uses Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, which can finely resolve individual star clusters and nebulae in galaxies tens of millions of light-years away. By studying galaxies on these scales, astronomers can understand how a journey through a cluster impacts a galaxy’s evolution and ability to form new stars. Text credit: ESA/Hubble Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated May 29, 2026 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Spiral 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. Messier 88 This galaxy’s core holds supermassive ****** hole roughly 100 million times more massive than our Sun. Hubble Science Highlights Hubble e-Books View the full article

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Painting the Growing Season in… 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 A false-color composite derived from NISAR data highlights vegetated areas (green), unvegetated surfaces (red), and how rapidly vegetated areas changed (blue) during the 2025-2026 growing season in an agricultural region of South Africa. Most pixels contain a mix of these colors, producing the visualization’s rich and varied color palette. Along the Vetrivier (Vet River) in South Africa, a patchwork of circular and rectangular fields spreads across what is otherwise a semi-arid part of the Free State province. The water brings life to an array of crops, contributing to the agricultural productivity of the wider Maize Triangle. The agricultural area shown in this image lies about 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Bloemfontein. The scene is reminiscent of a modern abstract painting. Colorful circles mingle with straight-edged fields in combinations of red, green, and blue. But each color carries physical meaning, providing clues about crop types and revealing how they changed over the course of the Southern Hemisphere’s growing season. Data for the visualization were acquired by the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite during 10 passes over the area between November 2025 and March 2026. L-band radar observations, which can “see” vegetation’s structure instead of its color, were analyzed to produce per-pixel statistical measures across the scene. By combining radar scattering behaviors observed across multiple dates into a single composite, scientists built a compact summary of seasonal agricultural activity and change. “It’s a pretty picture, but there are also important things that it communicates to us,” said Paul Siqueira, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and ecosystems lead of the NISAR science team. “With NISAR, crops like maize and sunflower appear differently than forests because of their size differences and ******* of growth.” In this false-color composite, green indicates a vegetated area; red represents an unvegetated surface; and blue indicates how rapidly a vegetated area changed over the season. For instance, stable vegetation—such as forested areas—display a light blue component. Plants that change structure throughout the season, such as wheat and maize (corn), have a darker blue component. In practice, most pixels contain a mix of these colors, producing the visualization’s rich and varied palette. For example, plants that grow rapidly (contributing some green) and are harvested early (contributing a large red component) make fields appear orange. Sunflowers are known to exhibit this pattern in the region, though ground validation would be needed to confirm their presence in any given field. The processing behind the visualization is relatively straightforward, but it is based on a large amount of data. NISAR sends radar signals to Earth and measures how they bounce back; the orientation of the returned radar waves (cross-polarized or co-polarized) carries information about the structure of vegetation and surfaces. By combining radar measurements from multiple satellite passes and calculating statistics for each pixel, scientists built the detailed map of the landscape’s characteristics throughout the growing season. The technique provides a repeatable way to monitor crop development, the impacts of irrigation, and land-use change across large regions. As NISAR collects more data, researchers will be able to compare seasons, track field-to-field differences in growth patterns, and better understand how agricultural systems respond to water availability and climate variability. Image by Paul Siqueira (UMass Amherst) of the NISAR science team using data from the NISAR GCOV product, and prepared for NASA Earth Observatory by Michala Garrison. Story by Kathryn Hansen. Downloads November 22, 2025 – March 10, 2026 composite JPEG (23.76 MB) References & Resources NASA (2025, July 25) Get to Know SAR – Overview. Accessed May 28, 2026. NASA (2026, April 14) NISAR. Accessed May 28, 2026. NASA (2026, April 14) NISAR Handbook. Accessed May 28, 2026. NASA (2025, July 23) Polarimetry. Accessed May 28, 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. Kona Storms Flood Oʻahu 3 min read Back-to-back subtropical cyclones in March fueled destructive flash flooding on several of the Hawaiian Islands. Article Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas 3 min read An advancing cold front kicked up a sharp line of sand and other small particles that swept over the high… Article An Early “Decoration Day” Celebration 4 min read In a precursor to Memorial Day, people in Charleston, South Carolina, honored fallen Civil War troops with flowers, songs, and… 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 Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies over Rogers Dry Lake near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. NASA continues expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope through a series of lower-altitude and slower-speed flights ahead of upcoming flight tests at speeds faster than the speed of sound.NASA/Jim Ross NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is preparing for some of its most significant flights yet. The X-plane is about to begin a new block of test flights that will include its first time flying faster than the speed of sound and other mission-critical objectives. “What comes next is the first time this one-of-a-kind aircraft will fly supersonic,” said Cathy Bahm, project manager for NASA’s Low ***** Flight Demonstrator. “We are starting toward the mission conditions test point that X-59 was designed for.” After months of flights, the X-59 team reviewed their progress in late May and now look toward the aircraft’s next series of flight tests, including higher altitudes and faster speeds. This will give engineers a look at how the X-59 handles under required operational conditions for NASA’s Quesst mission to eventually gather data on quiet supersonic flight. The team expects the X-59 to fly supersonic – over 630 mph – for the first time at approximately 43,000 feet altitude during a series of test flights in early June, a major milestone for the aircraft. After that, it will conduct a “mission conditions” flight, where it will hit Mach 1.4 (925 mph) at approximately 55,000 feet. That speed and altitude are important because they’re NASA’s performance targets for the X-59 to eventually fly over U.S. communities to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight and collect feedback data about the aircraft’s quiet sonic “thump” from the public. While the X-59 is designed to fly at supersonic speeds without producing a loud sonic *****, these early flights are not yet intended to demonstrate its quiet supersonic capabilities. The X-59 will be accompanied by a traditional supersonic chase plane, so any quiet thump it produces in the current phase of testing will be obscured by louder, traditional sonic booms from the chase. In supersonic flights this summer, the chase aircraft will also be outfitted with a specialized shock-sensing probe to take initial measurements of the X-59’s shock waves. Completed flights The X-59’s first block of flights successfully met several test goals, generating data for its team to analyze. After making its first flight in October 2025, it entered a scheduled ******* of maintenance before returning to the skies in March 2026. It has since completed 14 additional flights, marking milestones including: Its first gear swing, or the retraction of its landing gear to show off its sleek design for the first time. Reaching altitudes up to 43,000 feet and near supersonic speeds at Mach 0.95, approximately 627 mph. Marking its first dual-flight day and then making those increasingly routine as the X-59 team increased flight cadence. After a ******* of moving higher and faster, transitioning into lower and slower test flight conditions so engineers could gather information on the X-59’s behavior across a range of flight conditions. Data collected during the X-59’s first block of test flights helped teams better assess critical systems, including fuel, hydraulics, environmental controls, and the eXternal Vision System, which is the aircraft’s unique series of cameras that feed into a monitor that allows the pilot to see forward instead of using a traditional windshield. Teams monitored how the aircraft behaved during takeoff, landing, and throughout flight. Strain gauges installed throughout the X-59 collected detailed information on the forces it experienced, and how its structure responded to them.  NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above mountains near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. NASA continues expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope to evaluate how it performs across a range of flight conditions ahead of upcoming flight tests at speeds faster than the speed of sound in support of the agency’s Quesst mission.NASA/Jim Ross Next steps During the X-59’s upcoming flights, pilots will run through test points while engineers watch the aircraft’s performance — but now in supersonic flight conditions. “Flying at supersonic speeds is a major milestone for the X-59 team,” Bahm said. “Every step of envelope expansion brings us closer to demonstrating the quiet supersonic capability that is at the heart of the Quesst mission. Completing the first mission-conditions flight is especially meaningful – it’s the moment where we begin validating the aircraft in the environment it was designed for.” In addition to reaching mission condition during this block of flight tests, the X-59 will also achieve its maximum speed of Mach 1.6 (1,218 mph) and altitude of 60,000 feet. But just because the aircraft can go that fast doesn’t mean it always will fly supersonic. Testing will continue, including a mix of subsonic and lower-altitude flights so the team can continue monitoring it in varied conditions. “These flights not only deepen our confidence in the X-59’s performance – they mark our progression toward the future phases of the mission that will ultimately help shape the future of supersonic travel,” Bahm said. All flights so far and in the upcoming test block are part of Phase 1 of the X-59’s Quesst mission, focused on proving the performance and airworthiness of the aircraft. Some of those flights will include early deployment of equipment, including a probe mounted to one of NASA’s F-15 research aircraft that can measure the X-59’s unique shock wave signature. Data gathered during those early probing flights will allow engineers to prepare for a new stage of work set to begin later this year: Quesst Phase 2, when teams will begin to measure the aircraft’s supersonic flight signature to verify that it’s producing a quiet supersonic thump, as designed. “Aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal said, ‘To design a flying machine is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything.’ The 15 X-59 flights we’ve accomplished since March have been everything to this team and the mission,” Bahm said. “Every flight has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible, steadily expanding the envelope and strengthening our confidence in the aircraft.” But, she said, rather than focusing on past progress, the team is already looking ahead. “As we look ahead to the upcoming flights, we’re poised to open the envelope even further – moving boldly toward the mission test point this aircraft was built to achieve,” Bahm said. “Flying supersonic and reaching these milestones isn’t just progress; it’s the realization of years of perseverance, innovation, and teamwork. Each step brings us closer to Phase 2, and to the future of commercial supersonic flight.” Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 EditorDede DiniusContactNicolas Cholulanicolas.h*****@*****.tldLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAdvanced Air Vehicles ProgramAeronauticsAmes Research CenterCommercial Supersonic TechnologyGlenn Research CenterIntegrated Aviation Systems ProgramLangley Research CenterLow ***** Flight DemonstratorQuesst (X-59)Quesst: The Flights Explore More 5 min read NASA Uses Mineralogical Marker to Understand Ancient Martian Climate Scientists analyzed 20 Martian samples collected by NASA’s Curiosity Rover and found that differences in… Article 5 hours ago 5 min read NASA Develops Sensor to Improve Firefighter Safety Article 1 day ago 4 min read Keeping NASA Flying: Ground Crews Ensure Aircraft Readiness Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Ames Research Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center View the full article

4 Min Read I Am Artemis: Daniel Stubbs Listen to this audio excerpt from Daniel Stubbs, NASA aerospace engineer: 0:00 / 0:00 Your browser does not support the audio element. If you’ve driven through a cloud of dust and dirt that temporarily obscured your view, you’ve gotten a partial picture of a potential problem that NASA’s human landing systems for Artemis will face when they land on the Moon. Daniel Stubbs, an aerospace engineer with the Plume and Aero Environments team in the Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, studies and models the interaction between plumes of rocket exhaust and the regolith on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for crew safety and Artemis mission success. Stubbs, a native of Trussville, Alabama, who earned a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree in aerospace engineering from Auburn University in Alabama, decided early in his college career he wanted to work for NASA, but he didn’t see a clear path at the time to reach his goal. In graduate school, he had the opportunity to work on plume-surface interaction modeling as part of a NASA Early Stage Innovations grant. Now, Stubbs is continuing some of the work he first started as a graduate student. NASA’s Daniel Stubbs, seen here at the Lunar Regolith Terrain field at Marshall Space Flight Center, used his experience as a graduate student at in aerospace engineering at Auburn University modeling lunar regolith plumes into a position with NASA Marshall’s Plume and Aero Environments team working to characterize interactions between clouds of lunar regolith and commercial human landing systems. NASA/Charles Beason NASA’s Apollo missions uncovered the risks lunar regolith presents to astronauts, spacecraft, spacesuits, and other assets on the Moon’s surface. Lunar regolith consists of meteoroids and micrometeoroids that, over millennia, have been ground up into razor-sharp, abrasive particles. Future lunar explorers and their landers, rovers, and vehicles will face similar challenges. Landers in development are larger, heavier, and incorporate more rocket engines than the Lunar Module that landed astronauts on the Moon during the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s. And, unlike Apollo Lunar Modules that left descent stages on the Moon, the new lunar landers will take off directly from the surface using the same engines, thrusters, and other systems that they used for the initial landing. Accurate prediction of the plume-surface interaction between the systems and the lunar regolith during landing will help ensure the lander hardware can survive that environment, and that it is ready to take off to meet Orion and astronauts in lunar orbit to return safely home to Earth. As the engines’ exhaust plumes interact with the Moon’s surface, they could erode the surface, potentially forming a crater and a large cloud of lunar regolith.” Daniel StuBBs NASA aerospace engineer “The dust and regolith plume can make it difficult for instruments on the landers to see the surface of the Moon,” Stubbs said. “If these instruments don’t report correct readings to the guidance computers, it could affect a lunar landing. Also, when a lander takes off from the surface to return astronauts to Orion, the lunar regolith blown away from the landing site by the rocket plumes could damage scientific instruments or other assets that have been deployed on the surface of the Moon.” NASA’s Human Landing System program is spearheading a major ground-based study of rocket engine exhaust plumes and lunar dust and regolith. Testing in the 60-foot space simulator chamber at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will represent the conditions the lunar landers may experience, and create, when landing on the Moon. The research will help engineers understand the aerodynamic forces landers will experience during descent and ascent from the surface, heating at a lander’s base, the potential for a large lunar lander to tip over as a result of crater formation or surface instability. When the dust settles and NASA has landed American astronauts on the Moon in 2028, Daniel Stubbs will be able to reflect on his work modeling plumes of lunar dust and regolith that rocket engines will stir up. Through the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all. For more on NASA’s human landing systems, visit: [Hidden Content] About the AuthorCorinne BeckingerPublic Affairs Official Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckinger*****@*****.tldLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsI Am ArtemisArtemisHuman Landing System ProgramMarshall Space Flight Center Explore More 7 min read NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics: Winning Student Teams Engineering Lunar Future Article 1 day ago 3 min read Jaclyn Kagey Shapes Humanity’s Return to the Moon Article 3 days ago 2 min read NASA Seeks Interest for Artemis Mission CubeSats Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Landsat Navigation Landsat Home Missions Landsat 10 Landsat 9 Landsat 8 Landsat 7 Landsat 6 Landsat 5 Landsat 4 Landsat 3 Landsat 2 Landsat 1 News Latest News People of Landsat Q&As Newsletter Publications Data Overview Cal/Val Open Data Benefits Overview Agriculture & Food Security Disaster Management Ecosystems & Biodiversity Energy Resources Forest Management Human Health Urban Development Water Resources Wildfires Case Studies Outreach Multimedia About Search The 2026-2030 Landsat Science Team met for their first in-person meeting May 5-7, 2026 at the USGS EROS Center. Front Row: Raquel De Los Reyes, Courtney Bright, Forrest Melton, Michael Campbell , Hankui Zhang Standing: Greg Vaughan, Lin Yan, Mike Wulder, David Frantz, Kyle Knipper, Nimrod Carmon, Dean Hively, Yun Yang, Peter Strobl, David Roy, Morgan Crowley, Ned Bair, Phillip Dennison, Ryan O’Shea, Feng Gao, Medhavy Thankappan, Zhuosen Wang. Not pictured: Martha Anderson, Kimberlee Baldry, Eric Vermote. USGS From May 5 to 7, the 2026–2030 Landsat Science Team met for their first in-person meeting at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD. The three-day event, co-moderated by Landsat 8, 9, and 10 Project Scientist Chris Neigh, allowed leaders from USGS and NASA to begin work on a vision for the upcoming five-year *******. Attendees shared their current work and a vision for the future of the Landsat program. Participants received comprehensive status updates on the upcoming Landsat 10 project, the ongoing interagency and international collaboration on the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) data products, and detailed plans for Collection 3 (C3). Throughout the event, team members representing funded, international, and federal programs showcased the far-reaching impact of Landsat data across various Earth science disciplines, spanning snow cover mapping, atmospheric correction, water quality monitoring, evapotranspiration, agricultural applications, volcanic monitoring, and more. The meeting culminated in focused breakout sessions, where experts drafted vital recommendations across four key technical areas to guide future mission data processing: Surface Reflectance The surface reflectance working group identified several priorities, including topography and adjacency corrections, Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) correction, and enhanced cloud masking with consistent approaches for HLS data products. Key recommendations included incorporating CMIX2 cloud masking results into future collections and mapping out C3 toolkit dependencies for user-applied corrections. Temperature and Emissivity Discussions on land surface temperature and emissivity centered heavily on maintaining archive consistency. The team recommended either maintaining native resolution or standardizing to 60 meters, with additional testing specifically for volcano studies. They endorsed using ASTER GED/CAMEL emissivity datasets and preparing for Landsat 10’s five thermal bands through ECOSTRESS comparison. They also called for better quantification of how atmospheric inputs impact harmonization efforts through collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), RIT, and EROS. Aquatic Reflectance Aquatic reflectance experts raised critical concerns regarding Landsat 10’s planned 18-day repeat cycle, noting that it severely limits the monitoring of highly dynamic processes such as harmful algal blooms. The group called for increased investment in validation infrastructure for inland waters coordinated with international CEOS efforts. They also strongly advised against pixelwise algorithm switching to prevent data discontinuities and emphasized the need for strict compliance with CEOS Aquatic Reflectance V2.0 standards. Projections, Tiling, and the Pixel Finally, the group reviewing projection and tiling endorsed the USGS pixel grid nesting plan (which spans 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, and 120 meters). However, they recommended further trade analysis to optimize pixel replication errors, manage storage costs, and ensure proper coordination with Sentinel-2 Next Generation. The working group strongly recommended that if these complex grid issues remain unresolved, the program should maintain the Collection 2 approach (UTM and polar stereographic) while continuing to refine Analysis Ready Data (ARD) products for CONUS, Hawaii, and Alaska. The recommendations generated during these breakout sessions created a roadmap for the new Landsat Science Team, ensuring that the global scientific community continues to receive high-quality, actionable Earth observation data through the end of the decade. Explore More New Landsat Science Team Holds First In-Person Meeting 3 min read From May 5 to 7, the Landsat Science Team meeting convened at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center… May 28, 2026 Article A Shift in What’s Shaping U.S. Landscapes 5 min read Wild disturbances are on the rise, while land disturbed by human activity has been decreasing. May 28, 2026 Article Released: NASA Goddard Issues Draft Request for Proposal for the Landsat 10 Spacecraft 2 min read The Landsat 10 Spacecraft Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) is available for review via SAM.gov. May 27, 2026 Article 1 2 3 … 311 Next View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4900-4907: Pasadena, We Have a Drill Sample! NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, the first color look of the “Campo Marte” drill hole, on May 16, 2026. The rover captured the image using its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) — one of a pair of cameras mounted on the head atop the rover’s mast — on Sol 4897, or Martian day 4,897 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, at 18:05:49 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Earth planning date: Friday, May 22, 2026 I spent this past weekend eagerly awaiting the downlink from Mars that would show us the results of Curiosity’s drill attempt at “Campo Marte.” A few weeks ago, when Curiosity drilled the “Atacama” block, it had been quite the surprise to see the post-drill images arrive on Earth that showed the rover picking up the entire Atacama block along with the drill. After freeing ourselves from this pesky passenger, the team carefully assessed all the telemetry and imaging data we had collected to understand why the entanglement happened and to mitigate the chance of it happening again. We concluded it would be ok to try another drill in this general area, and nearby Campo Marte looked like a great target because it had all the right geologic features and was significantly ******* than Atacama. What a delight it was to see images, like the Mastcam shown above, streaming down on Saturday that showed Curiosity had successfully retracted its drill from the rock and collected some sample to analyze this time around! On Monday, the team looked at the pinches of drilled rock powder, or portions, that we had dropped as a test onto part of Curiosity, an element of our standard post-drilling activities. You can also take a look at what we saw — here’s a picture of the rover before we did anything, and here’s what we saw after we delivered the first portion, and then the second portion. Can you make out the little bit of powder that appears between the sample deliveries? This test is important to make sure we’ll provide good samples to the analytical instruments inside our chassis, CheMin and SAM. Beyond their science operations value, I also love seeing these images because they remind me how powerful our laboratory instruments are. With just a little pinch of powder, no more than tens of milligrams, these laboratories can reveal incredibly detailed information about the composition of Martian rocks and give us huge new insights into the planet’s past climate and habitability. We concluded the portions from Campo Marte looked similar to the drilled samples we’ve previously analyzed, so we went ahead and delivered one portion to CheMin in Monday’s plan. We use the results from CheMin to tailor our analysis of the samples with SAM, so after we saw the first CheMin results in the middle of the week, we made decisions about how to run SAM and then planned to analyze four portions with that instrument in today’s plan. We think we’ll be nearly out of sample after that, but it’s hard to know for sure (we only drilled to a depth of 28 millimeters here, about 1.1 inches, rather than our usual 35 millimeters, or 1.38 inches). To learn more, in this upcoming weekend’s plan, we’ll also repeat the sample drop-off test we did right after drilling, which will show us how many portions were left. We do a ton of testing with Curiosity’s twin drill here on Earth, but it’s always insightful to see how our hardware performs on Mars under the unique geologic and environmental conditions of that entirely different world. Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team? Visit Mission Updates Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments? Visit the Science Instruments page NASA’s Curiosity rover at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4893-4899: Drilling at Campo Marte and a Visit From the Psyche Spacecraft Article 1 week ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4886-4892: Ingenuity and Perseverance, Curiosity Style Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4879-4885: Struggle at Atacama Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

5 Min Read NASA Uses Mineralogical Marker to Understand Ancient Martian Climate This composite image looking toward the higher regions of Mount Sharp was taken on September 9, 2015, by NASA’s Curiosity rover. In the foreground — about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the rover — is a long ridge teeming with hematite, an iron oxide. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS While NASA imagery has shown evidence of ancient rivers and lakes on Mars that transitioned to dry dunes, uncertainty remains over the timing of the environmental changes that may have contributed to these shifts. Now, data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover has revealed that individual crystals in the iron oxide hematite can be used as a mineralogical marker of changes to Mars’ ancient climate. Because the shape and structure of these crystallites reflect the conditions – such as temperature and water presence – under which they were formed, they can serve as an indicator of when these changes occurred. Scientists studied 20 samples collected by Curiosity across various elevations throughout Gale Crater for a paper published Thursday in Science. Gale Crater’s walls reveal Mars’ environmental history layer by layer, with deeper elevations capturing its earliest years. The team analyzed data from the rover’s Chemistry and Minerology (CheMin) instrument and discovered that hematite showed different crystallite sizes at different elevations. They also discovered that goethite, a mineral that typically forms alongside hematite, was absent in samples from lower elevations but still present in samples from higher elevations. This suggests that warm groundwater might have remained for up to 4.7 million years in the deepest layers of Gale Crater and that during much of this time, these long-lived aquifers could have been potentially habitable. This image shows the 20 Curiosity drill samples from Gale Crater that were analyzed for this study. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS “What we found was that warm and wet conditions were present for extended periods in buried rocks, despite Mars’ climate becoming colder,” said Tanya Peretyazhko, co-first author of the study and planetary scientist in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “It means that deep in those rocks, those warmer conditions could have made for habitable conditions for much longer periods of time, provided that other essential factors were present.” Iron oxides are considered indicators of water activity because they form in its presence. This study shows that hematite can also be a marker of climate changes based on its crystallite sizes and structures, which change under different temperatures. The scientists found that hematite crystallites from higher elevations in Gale Crater were less than 10 nanometers in size, while crystallites from lower locations were generally larger, reaching up to 65 nanometers. These findings aligned with the observations that samples from higher elevations contained both hematite and goethite, while lower elevation samples lacked goethite. What we found was that warm and wet conditions were present for extended periods in buried rocks, despite Mars’ climate becoming colder.” Tanya Peretyazhko Planetary Scientist They concluded that, under warmer conditions when the pH of water is neutral or slightly alkaline, goethite can transform into hematite. These warmer conditions also favored an increase in hematite crystallite size in the deeper layers of Gale Crater through a process known as Ostwald ripening, in which smaller crystallites dissolve and contribute to the growth of larger ones. “This can tell you that the top layers were colder and didn’t have enough water, or the water presence was relatively short-lived, so the crystallites didn’t have sufficient time and conditions to grow in size,” said Peretyazhko. “But the lower layers had longstanding warm water that allowed those crystallites to grow.” An artist rendering of the Curiosity rover with its scientific instruments labeled. Scientists used the Chemistry and Minerology (CheMin) instrument to perform X-ray diffraction analysis on samples of powdered rock. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS A unique highlight of this study is that the data comes from Martian samples, rather than from theoretical modeling. Curiosity’s robotic arm delivered powdered rock to CheMin’s input funnel, where it was analyzed. “With CheMin’s X-ray diffraction patterns, we can look at the hematite crystal’s size and dimensions, information that that can’t be gathered from satellite analysis of the Martian surface.” said Tom Bristow, principal investigator of the CheMin instrument at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said CheMin is capable of making measurements with extraordinary scientific fidelity. “It doesn’t just tell you there is hematite,” Vasavada explained. “One can use the data to extract the size and shape of the hematite crystallites and the presence of other related minerals, all of which were necessary to produce this result.” More about Curiosity Curiosity was built by NASA JPL, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. NASA JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. CheMin, led by NASA Ames , is one of 10 science instruments aboard Curiosity and has a cross-country team of scientists, including researchers at NASA Ames, University of Arizona, California Institute of Technology, Planetary Science Institute, Carnegie Institution for Science, Lunar and Planetary Institute, JPL, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA’s Johnson. The team combines expertise in mineralogy, petrology, materials science, astrobiology and soil science, with experience studying terrestrial, lunar and Martian rocks. For more information on NASA’s Curiosity rover, visit: [Hidden Content] Karen Fox / Alana Johnson Headquarters, Washington 240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780 *****@*****.tld / alana.r*****@*****.tld Victoria Segovia Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 *****@*****.tld About the Author Rachel Barry Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 Related Terms Astromaterials Ames Research Center Curiosity (Rover) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Johnson Space Center Mars Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Explore More 5 min read NASA’s MAVEN Makes 1st Discovery of Atmospheric Effect at Mars Article 1 week ago 2 min read NASA’s Curiosity Takes Close Look at Rock That Got Stuck on Drill Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read NASA’s Curiosity Rover Frees Its Drill From a Rock On April 25, 2026, Curiosity drilled a sample from a rock nicknamed “Atacama,” which is… Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

NASA/Jenny Mottar Downloads Print high resolution PDF May 28, 2026 PDF (144.47 MB) Print high resolution image May 28, 2026 PNG (45.60 MB) Smaller image for web view May 28, 2026 PNG (3.75 MB) View the full article

Kenny Heckle, lead, mechanical operations, Launch Equipment Test Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, poses for a photograph on Monday, May 26, 2026. Heckle is among the first engineers and technicians sworn in as new NASA civil servants as part of the administrator’s workforce directive to restore technical core competencies within the civil servants ranks.Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Kenny Heckle grew up in Orlando, just west of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. An 80s child, he comes from a long line of union pipefitters and fabricators. Heckle recalls the day 42 years ago at KARS Park, which is a NASA Exchange–run recreation area for the agency’s workforce and their guests, when he attended an office party with his father. Heckle had his ******* Shepherd with him when a man who seemed to be enamored with the canine asked him who he was. “I’m Kenny Heckle, Wayne’s son,” he said. And the man who knew his dad well replied, “Why don’t you work for us (at NASA)?” Two weeks later, Heckle was working at the center alongside his dad. Heckle wasn’t a typical new employee. At 19, he already had seven years of mechanical experience, working on his father’s short-track stock cars, building and fabricating parts they needed. He later attended welding school before arriving for his first job as a contractor at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) in 1984. Since the 1970s, the LETF has provided NASA a place to safely assess machinery and designs to support launches through a unique set of structures, equipment, and tools to test full-scale umbilicals and release mechanisms. Today, Heckle serves as the mechanical operations lead at NASA Kennedy’s LETF. During the past four decades, Heckle has helped numerous NASA programs and commercial partners test their equipment ahead of launch, and in some instances, during and after liftoff. In his early years, his job was to test every umbilical on the launch pad and all the ground support equipment needed for Launch Complex 39A and B, even for Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Just two years into his career, Space Shuttle Challenger had a failure of the O-ring seals and broke apart just over a minute into its flight. Heckle remembered watching the catastrophic liftoff that morning, and hearing the broadcaster say Challenger was lost. A couple of weeks later, his team was tasked with helping to figure out what happened. “You know, there’s always risk with spaceflight,” Heckle said. “But we got so consistent that we didn’t think something like that could happen and it hit hard. But then being able to come back and get the program going again, and being successful, that makes you proud.” Nearly two decades later, Heckle’s team was asked to help with yet another investigation. After the Colombia accident, Heckle and his team were charged with showing how severe the damage was through their testing, and how to mitigate ice hitting a wing in the future. They spent hours shooting projectiles at thermal tiles, using ultrasonic sensors to track the data. In recent years, Heckle has helped work on the first two Artemis missions. During the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal, there was a liquid hydrogen leak. Heckle was working long days, troubleshooting and fabricating possible solutions with Kennedy’s Prototype Lab. For Artemis I they had a similar leak, and Heckle’s team developed a process to slow fill the cryogenics and the LETF sent that information to the Artemis I launch team to implement. During decades of problem-solving, Heckle and most of his team were contractors, having to work through the bureaucracy of working solutions across different contractors, as well as with NASA. On May 4, Heckle and 19 of his teammates applied and became NASA civil servants as part of the administrator’s workforce directive. The work done by the LETF team was deemed a critical capability to NASA’s future, and as such, the work was moved from an outside vendor to civil service, ensuring NASA is staffed and equipped to lead the most complex engineering and operational challenges directly. The test facility ensures NASA retains the technical readiness, flexibility, and risk mitigation capabilities required for Artemis, SLS (Space Launch System), and future government and commercial missions. As the mechanical operations lead, Heckle has already noticed efficiencies with being able to get work done and securing the supplies needed now the LETF team has joined the civil servant workforce. “If we continue to work together as a team and not have barriers, I think that will be great for the program moving forward no matter what we’re launching,” Heckle said. View the full article

May 28, 2026 Former NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan waves as he is photographed during an Expedition 61 spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA After a 12-year career at NASA, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Andrew R. Morgan has retired from the agency to continue his military service. Morgan spent 272 days in space aboard the International Space Station. NASA selected Morgan to join its 21st astronaut class in August 2013. He launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft on July 20, 2019, the same day as the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Morgan served as a flight engineer on International Space Station Expeditions 60, 61, and 62, contributing to hundreds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, and space station maintenance activities. He traveled over 115 million miles (about 185 million km) while completing more than 4,300 Earth orbits over the course of his mission. “Drew’s leadership and commitment to human spaceflight exemplify the very best of NASA,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “From his service aboard the International Space Station to his continued passion for exploration, Drew’s impact across the agency has been profound. His steadfast dedication to the agency will continue to inspire generations to come.” During his nine months aboard the station, Morgan conducted seven spacewalks for a total of 45 hours and 48 minutes of spacewalking time, breaking the record for a single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut. Four of his spacewalks were dedicated to repairing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics detector designed to search for evidence of antimatter and dark matter. “Drew approached every challenge with quiet confidence, sharp judgment, and an unwavering commitment to his team,” said Scott Tingle, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA Johnson. “Whether serving in orbit or strengthening crew readiness here on the ground, he consistently elevated the people and missions around him. His leadership and example will continue to resonate across the astronaut corps for years to come.” Morgan’s career at NASA also included serving as the Astronaut Office’s mission support branch chief, crew operations officer, astronaut mission control team liaison for Expeditions 67 and 68, and Army detachment commander. In his final two years at NASA, Morgan served a rotational assignment back to the U.S. Army as commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll, and senior military advisor for the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Morgan was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, but considers New Castle, Pennsylvania, his hometown. At the time of his NASA astronaut selection, he was a board-certified emergency physician and had served in elite special forces units around the globe. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and the U.S. Army War College. He is currently serving as the commanding general of White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. “It has been an honor to serve in the nation’s space program,” Morgan said. “I am proud to have represented my country on an international mission that brings the best of humanity together for a shared purpose. I will miss the camaraderie of my incredible NASA teammates and their unparalleled expertise. While leaving the astronaut corps is bittersweet, I’m excited to continue serving our country as a leader in the U.S. Army.” To learn more about how NASA explores the unknown and innovates for the benefit of humanity, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Anna Schneider Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 *****@*****.tld View the full article

NASA/Jim Ross NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies above NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on April 28, 2026, during testing focused on lower-speed and altitude flight conditions in support of NASA’s Quesst mission. The X-59 has completed initial test flights at high altitudes and near-supersonic speeds, opening the door for additional flights focused on its full operating range. These more recent, lower-altitude flights at lesser speeds are helping to confirm the X-plane’s performance across a wide range of conditions, including flying with the landing gear both retracted and extended. Read more about this series of test flights. Image credit: NASA/Jim Ross View the full article

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to make a major leap in the hunt for worlds outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Scientists expect the mission to reveal around 100,000 worlds — a staggering leap compared to the nearly 6,300 found so far thanks to NASA missions working in tandem with other observatories. And Roman will primarily find them in underexplored regions of the Milky Way. “Our galaxy is home to a variety of different environments, but when it comes to hunting for exoplanets, we’ve really only explored one: our own neighborhood,” said Elisa Quintana, an exoplanet researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Quintana leads a team focused on building software and simulations to help prepare for Roman’s exoplanet transit observations. “Roman will extend the search far enough to encompass other galactic habitats, which could help us learn how planet formation varies across different regions of the Milky Way.” This infographic features artist’s concept views of our Milky Way galaxy: face-on at the left and edge-on at the right. It highlights different galactic environments that could influence the development of planets and potentially life. The center of the galaxy is rich in the elements that form planets (like silicon, oxygen, and magnesium), which are forged by multiple generations of stars and supernova explosions. Planets there may be more common or larger, but they would also be flooded with radiation from densely packed stars (including massive ones that emit enormous amounts of high-energy ultraviolet light and X-rays). In the outskirts of the galaxy, where stars are much more spread out, radiation is far milder but there are also smaller amounts of planet-building materials. Nestled in between these regions is the galactic habitable zone, a happy medium where radiation levels and planet-forming elements balance out, increasing the likelihood of worlds that could support life. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Most known exoplanets are located within a couple thousand light-years of Earth. But one of Roman’s core surveys will peer all the way through the Milky Way’s galactic bulge, the central hub where stars are packed more densely than anywhere else, to the fringes of the far side of the galaxy. Exploring Earth’s birthplace Roman will monitor stars scattered throughout a deep slice of the galaxy to watch for any that change in brightness. Some stars periodically dim as orbiting planets cross in front of, or transit, them. Others temporarily appear to brighten as the gravity of an intervening star and orbiting planets magnify a farther star’s light, thanks to a phenomenon called microlensing. These two methods tend to reveal very different types of planets. The transit method, which Roman will use to reveal around 100,000 worlds, is best at finding gigantic, scorching worlds since they block the most starlight and transit more frequently. Microlensing, which Roman will use to find more than 1,000 worlds, is better suited to finding planets with larger orbits, like those in our solar system, whose gravity can be more easily separated from the gravity of their host stars. Microlensing can find planets as small as Earth and Mars and can find them within their star’s habitable zone and even farther out. Such planets are almost undetectable by other methods and are virtually unknown outside of our own solar system. Pairing the two techniques will help astronomers explore planet formation throughout the galaxy, including Earth’s birthplace and beyond. This artist’s concept shows the region of the Milky Way Roman’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will cover. The higher density of stars in this direction will yield more than 50,000 microlensing events, which will reveal planets, ****** holes, neutron stars, trans-Neptunian objects, and enable exciting stellar science. The survey will also cover relatively uncharted territory when it comes to planet-finding. That’s important because the way planets form and evolve may be different depending on where in the galaxy they’re located. Our solar system is situated near the outskirts of the Milky Way, about halfway out on one of the galaxy’s spiral arms. A Kepler Space Telescope study showed that stars on the fringes of the Milky Way possess fewer of the most common planet types that have been detected so far. Roman will search in the opposite direction, toward the center of the galaxy, and could find differences in that galactic neighborhood, too.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab Today, our solar system is located about 27,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. However, scientists think it formed about 10,000 light-years closer in and then migrated out to its current position. The Sun’s chemical makeup is the primary clue. Most stars that form in the outskirts of the galaxy are low in heavy elements, which is a blanket term for any elements other than hydrogen and helium, which formed with the birth of the universe. Heavy elements are forged by stars, so they’re more common in places that have seen successive generations of stars. Stars in the galactic bulge are much older than those in the disk of the Milky Way and thus have a slightly different chemical mixture that is richer in elements like silicon, oxygen, and magnesium. Those differences matter because planets form out of the same material as their host stars. Stars with different compositions may host planets that are different too, perhaps rockier or larger. It could even influence whether planets form at all, or how many coalesce with each star. This plot shows currently known exoplanets, with different categories highlighted. Roman will help fill in the bottom-right of the plot by finding small worlds in large orbits.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Astronomers have already seen hints of such connections nearby. “Stars with more heavy elements tend to host more planets, especially giant ones,” said Robby Wilson, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Goddard, who led a study about Roman’s expected transiting planet yield. By sampling completely different populations of stars and planets, Roman will take these studies to a whole new level. Astronomers may soon uncover how common planetary systems like our own are throughout the Milky Way. “Roman will be especially powerful because it will observe hundreds of millions of distant stars, letting scientists compare faraway planet populations to those found nearby,” said Wilson. “All of that data will give us a lot to comb through, so we’re prepping by creating synthetic data, detecting simulated planets, and using machine learning to filter out false positives. That way we’ll be ready to go right away when real data comes pouring in.” And since all Roman data will be publicly available, anyone can join the hunt for other worlds. Otherworldly climates Scientists also could study the atmospheres of perhaps a few thousand of the transiting planets Roman finds. “Roman won’t analyze atmospheres in the same in-depth way as missions like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, but it will gather different information on a much larger scale,” Wilson said. While telescopes like Webb search for detailed chemical fingerprints on individual targets, Roman will measure temperature patterns and climate behavior for thousands of planets. The mission will create a big-picture statistical view of exoplanet atmospheres, which Webb could follow-up on for further study. This artist’s concept visualizes a hot Jupiter — a Jupiter-size world orbiting extremely close to its host star. NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech Roman’s infrared heat vision will detect glowing “hot Jupiters.” About as large as Jupiter, which is around 11 times as wide as Earth, hot Jupiters orbit their stars in only a few days. These worlds are warm enough to radiate a detectable amount of infrared light. Planetary systems with transiting hot Jupiters can have two dimming episodes: one when they cross in front of the star, and a second smaller one when they pass behind it and the star blocks the planet’s light. “That secondary dip tells us how bright, and therefore how hot, the planet is,” said Wilson. “By tracking how the planet’s brightness changes over its orbit, Roman can also see differences between the day side and night side, and even detect shifts in where the hottest region is on the planet. That tells us about atmospheric winds and heat circulation.” “NASA’s now-retired Kepler mission’s survey of 100,000 stars revolutionized the field of exoplanets over a decade ago, and taught us that planets are even more common than stars in our galaxy,” said Jorge Martínez-Palomera, an astronomer at NASA Goddard who is helping prepare for Roman’s exoplanet data. “Roman’s galactic bulge survey will observe around 100 million stars and probe underexplored areas of our galaxy, which will provide a foundational dataset that will likewise revolutionize what we know about other worlds and our place in the universe.” To learn more about NASA’s Roman mission, visit: [Hidden Content] By Ashley Balzer NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-1940 Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzer*****@*****.tldLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeEarth-like ExoplanetsExoplanet AtmosphereExoplanet Detection MethodsExoplanet TransitsExoplanetsGoddard Space Flight CenterStarsTerrestrial ExoplanetsThe Universe Explore More 6 min read Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights Article 3 years ago 7 min read NASA Announces Plan to Map Milky Way With Roman Space Telescope Article 6 months ago 7 min read Journey to Center of Milky Way With Upcoming NASA Roman Core Survey Article 4 months ago View the full article

1 min read How NASA Uses Light to Detect Waste From Mines Earth (ESD) Earth Explore Explore Earth Science Agriculture Air Quality Climate Change Freshwater Life on Earth Severe Storms Snow and Ice The Global Ocean Science at Work Earth Science at Work Technology and Innovation Powering Business Multimedia Image Collections Videos Data For Researchers About Us Tens of thousands of abandoned mines threaten waterways across the American West, but identifying which sites urgently need cleanup is slow and expensive. Now, NASA’s EMIT instrument can analyze the unique light signatures of mine waste from space to help focus remediation efforts where they’re needed most. Original Video and Assets Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2026 Related Terms Earth EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) Video Series Explore More 5 min read A Shift in What’s Shaping U.S. Landscapes Wild disturbances are on the rise, while land disturbed by human activity has been decreasing. Article 11 hours ago 2 min read Ever Restless Mount Dukono Erupts The volcano on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island routinely ejects ash, volcanic gases, and volcanic bombs. Article 1 day ago 7 min read Three Ways that a New Land Monitoring System is Transforming How We Manage Forests DIST-ALERT, a global land change monitoring system, is revolutionizing forest management. Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Earth Your home. Our Mission. And the one planet that NASA studies more than any other. Earth Observatory NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day: images, stories, and discoveries about the environment, Earth systems, and climate. Earth Science at Work NASA Earth Science helps Americans respond to challenges and societal needs — such as wildland fires, hurricanes, and water supplies… Earth Videos Collection of Earth science videos explaining a variety of concepts and activities performed by NASA’s Earth Science Division. View the full article

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir works on InSPA-StemCellEX-H2 inside the Life Sciences Glovebox. Microgravity samples will be frozen and returned to Earth for further analysis of stem cell expansion in space.NASA Expedition 74 astronauts aboard the International Space Station are continuing research efforts to manufacture large quantities of stem cells for therapies on Earth. Previous studies have focused on fine-tuning hardware that allows scientists to produce greater quantities of high-quality stem cells. Now, the InSPA-StemCellEX-H2 investigation is aiming to demonstrate large scale production of blood stem cells for pharmaceutical and clinical use. Preflight microscopic image of hematopoietic stem cells for the InSPA-StemCellEX-H2 investigation. This investigation aims to produce stem cells in greater numbers with BioServe’s newly developed microgravity bioreactor.Mayo Clinic The research uses stem cells derived from the human body to produce large quantities of cells for patient use through a process called “expansion”. Although stem cells can be expanded in labs on Earth, they have limitations. For example, Earth-produced cells lose their ability to form the different cells in our blood system, like red and white blood cells or platelets, which are critical for leukemia patients that receive stem cells to build up their blood system after chemotherapy. Dr. Tobias Niederwieser, assistant research professor at BioServe Space Technologies within the University of Colorado Boulder says, “The microgravity environment in space is much more suitable for keeping the stem cells in their high-quality state during expansion.” Scientists predict that growing cells in space may lead to higher expansion potential and a lower risk of rejection when used in patients on Earth. This research could create long-term cell supplies for patients suffering from fatal blood disorders, various blood cancers, or severe immune diseases, and enable more reliable and accessible therapies. “The end result is really to benefit patients in hospitals here on Earth,” Dr. Niederwieser says. Space station research allows scientists and commercial companies around the world to test new technologies and innovative medical solutions that have the potential to greatly benefit life on Earth. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA In Space Production Applications International Space Station Space Station Research Results Latest News from Space Station Research View the full article

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory A Shift in What’s Shaping… 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 This map of the United States shows the most recent land disturbance detected in Landsat satellite imagery between 1988 and 2022, revealing patterns of both wild and human-directed change. NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, based on data from Qiu, S. et al. The land is always changing, sometimes by human hands: cities are built, farms expanded, and forests logged. Other changes lie mostly outside people’s control: wildfires burn through communities, and hurricanes reshape coastlines. For most of the past four decades, observations from the Landsat satellite record show that humans have dominated changes to the U.S. landscape. Recent research revealed a shift in that trend, suggesting that disasters might be catching up. In a NASA-funded study published in Nature Geoscience, scientists analyzed nearly 35 years of data from NASA/USGS Landsat satellites to better understand what has been shaping the continental U.S. landscape. The researchers, led by former Landsat science team member Zhe Zhu, found that “human-directed disturbances” like logging, agricultural expansion, and construction have declined, while “wild disturbances” like wildfires and hurricanes—disasters that can be influenced by human activity but are not controlled by people—have risen in frequency and intensity. Robert Emberson, associate program manager for the NASA Disasters program and not affiliated with the study, said that understanding the forces transforming the U.S. landscape is critical for future planning. “If you know what’s causing them, you can begin to plan around disasters,” Emberson said. “Any understanding of causal factors impacts the adaptation strategy.” This research is especially useful for policymakers working to prepare communities for resilience, he said. For example, a region expecting to see increased wildfires could strategically perform prescribed burns, remove brush or dry grass around homes, and construct new buildings with fire-resilient materials. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Reno, Nevada, expands into the previously undeveloped desert landscape in this animation composed of Landsat images acquired between 1985 and 2025. Landsat Project Science Support/Ross Walter Between 1988 and 2022, 18 percent of the land area in the continental U.S. was disturbed at least once, the researchers found. Adding repeated disturbances, the cumulative area disturbed rises to almost 700,000 square miles, equivalent to nearly one-third of the continental U.S. Humans drove more than half of that change, clearing or developing over 446,000 square miles of land—that’s ******* than the size of Texas and California combined. For example, the animation above, composed of Landsat images from 1985 to 2025, shows the expansion of Reno, Nevada, into a previously undeveloped desert landscape. Meanwhile, wild disturbances—disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and landslides—drove much of the remaining change, transforming more than 165,000 square miles of the continental U.S. The Landsat images in the animation below show areas burned by wildfires in Eldorado National Forest west of California’s Lake Tahoe from 1985 to 2025. Major fires in 1992, 2014, and 2022 cleared large swathes of forest, leaving behind bare ground that slowly reforested. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Areas burned by wildland fires in California’s Eldorado National Forest west of Lake Tahoe are visible in this animation composed of Landsat images from between 1985 and 2025. Landsat Project Science Support/Ross Walter Although human activity has disturbed a larger cumulative area than wild events, the trends over time are moving in opposite directions. That is, land disturbance caused directly by people has been decreasing, while wild disturbance has been increasing. Specifically, human-directed land disturbances decreased by nearly 232 square miles (600 square kilometers) each year over the course of the study *******. Researchers attribute this change to declines in construction, agricultural expansion, and logging, likely brought about by a combination of policy changes, technological improvements, and the 2008 financial crisis’s effect on construction. In contrast, land affected by wild disturbances increased by more than 77 square miles (200 square kilometers) per year. Fire, drought-related stress, and wind disturbances all became more frequent, likely due to climate warming and other environmental factors, the study authors wrote. “What this study basically tells me is that what we’ve been doing is not working,” said Ramakrisna Nemani, a retired NASA scientist and co-author on this study. “We have to go back and come up with new strategies on how to deal with these natural disturbances.” The study’s findings drew on the deep archive of Landsat data, which has long been a key resource for detecting change on Earth’s surface. Think of it like a “spot-the-difference” game. Historically, identifying differences between images required scientists to manually identify the source of the change; for example, using ground observations combined with satellite imagery to determine whether a bare spot resulted from wildfires or logging. For this study, scientists trained a new machine-learning algorithm to do that differentiation work for them. They fed the algorithm 40 years of land-change data acquired by satellites, manually inspecting and identifying changes at 50,000 locations. After a decade of work, they developed a product that achieves more than 75 percent accuracy across most disturbance types. The resulting product details the causes of disturbance across the continental U.S. over the course of nearly 35 years. With this information, communities can analyze the past to better plan for the future. “The USA is entering a new era of disturbance,” the study authors wrote. “The challenge now is to transform our relationship with disturbance from one of control to one of coexistence.” NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, based on data from Qiu, S. et al. Animations by Ross Walter, Landsat Project Science Support. Story by Madeleine Gregory, Landsat Project Science Support. Downloads 1988-2022 JPEG (20.60 MB) 1985-2025, Reno MP4 (6.77 MB) 1985-2025, Lake Tahoe MP4 (6.78 MB) References & Resources Qiu, S. et al. (2025) A shift from human-directed to undirected wild land disturbances in the USA. Nature Geoscience, (18) 989-996. 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. A Full Moon Checkup 3 min read Once a month during the full Moon, Landsat 9 turns from Earth to image the lunar surface, helping keep the… Article Seasons Change in Southwest Virginia 3 min read From autumn color to a winter-white finish, forested areas around Blacksburg trade foliage for snow over the span of two… Article Faster Detection of Forest Loss 7 min read Scientists pioneered a new system that combines data from multiple Earth-observing satellites to identify forest clearing up to 100 days… 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 Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Alabama Forestry Commission wildland firefighter Jason Berry teaches NASA Wildland Fires Technology Program Manager Teresa Kauffman how to drive a fire bulldozer during a stakeholder event April 23-24 in Andalusia, Alabama. NASA FireSense scientists have been working with the AFC to integrate thermal sensors onto these dozers, which notify the dozer operator if the radiant heat from a nearby fire reaches a dangerous threshold.NASA/Milan Loiacono With peak wildfire season approaching, scientists with NASA’s FireSense project have created low-cost thermal sensors to install on fire bulldozers that will alert firefighters when heat from a nearby fire reaches a dangerous level. The sensors also provide researchers with important data on what happens beneath the canopy during a fire. In April, researchers and firefighters gathered in southern Alabama to discuss challenges and advances in firefighting, and to demonstrate the new technology. The event was part of a collaboration between NASA and the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC). The goal: to make firefighting safer and gather critical data on fire behavior. “As we try to develop technologies that allow us to understand and respond to wildfires with our partners, ground observations are vital to provide context for what we are seeing from space,” said Ian Brosnan, program manager for wildland fires at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Alabama Forestry Commission tests the new thermal sensor developed by NASA’s FireSense project for their fleet of fire dozers, during the initial integration in September 2025. After FireSense scientists installed the sensor, AFC operators drove the dozer next to a test fire, at the distance the dozers normally operate on a fire line. The thermal sensors performed as planned and have since been deployed on active wildfires. NASA/Ryan Wade Dozers on the fire line Firefighters nationwide use bulldozers, colloquially referred to as fire dozers, on the front line of a fire to clear vegetation and to create fire breaks, which slow or stop a wildfire’s spread. This often puts dozers and their operators within feet of the flames. The AFC is switching its fleet to a model of bulldozer that has an enclosed cab called an “envirocab.” While envirocabs are safer for operators than open cabs, the enclosure makes it more difficult to gauge when radiant heat from the fire has reached a dangerous temperature. Alabama Forestry Commission fire analyst Ethan Barrett gives an overview of fire dozer operations to scientists and researchers from NASA’s FireSense project and other university and commercial partners during the April event. NASA/Milan Loiacono “It’s not so much about what’s going to burn the tractor up as what’s going to shut the tractor down,” said Ethan Barrett, AFC fire analyst. The electrical wiring can short or even melt from high heat, stranding the operator in a dangerous environment. That’s where NASA comes in. According to Brosnan, developing thermal sensors for the AFC was an opportunity to create technology that has immediate impact on firefighter safety, while also providing scientists with valuable information about what happens on the ground during a fire. It’s not so much about what’s going to burn the tractor up as what’s going to shut the tractor down. Ethan barrett AFC Fire Analyst How sensors work The AFC’s requirements for a sensor were simple: it needed to be low-cost and easy to operate. “We used commercial, off-the-shelf components to make this,” said Jennifer Fowler, science integration manager for the wildland fires program at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The thermocouple that sits in the window to measure temperature, for example, is the same one used in an oven or a kiln.” Jennifer Fowler, NASA Wildland Fires science integration manager (left) and Ryan Wade, research scientist with the University of Alabama, Huntsville and NASA FireSense (right) hold a version of the low-cost thermal sensor they developed to install on fire dozers. The sensor uses an off-the-shelf thermocouple, found in ovens and kilns, to read the radiant heat coming in from a nearby fire. When it reaches an unsafe temperature, the sensor triggers a blinking LED light on the dashboard (right), signaling the operator to move away from the fire line.NASA/Milan Loiacono That thermocouple is wired to a simple LED light attached to the dashboard that’s directly in the operator’s line of sight. When the thermocouple senses an unsafe temperature, the LED starts blinking. The whole system is powered by AA batteries. “While installing the second sensor, we realized we needed an extra piece, so we just ran out to the local hardware store to grab it,” said Ryan Wade, research scientist with the University of Alabama, Huntsville and NASA FireSense. “NASA’s expertise in this case comes not in the novelty of the instrument itself, but in figuring out how to solve the problem quickly and integrate that technology into their existing system.” Fowler installed the first of these sensors in September 2025, and Wade installed the second in March 2026. “Since their installation, we have run them on wildfires and prescribed burns and they’ve been effective,” Barrett said. “They work exactly as intended, and the operators have said it leads to better situational awareness. Based on the success of this pilot, we are looking at outfitting all the dozers in our fleet.” Driving fire science forward Co-developing these thermal sensors is the latest milestone in a relationship the two agencies have been building for more than a year. NASA scientists led training classes on weather and soil moisture with the AFC last spring and worked with AFC ground crews to test airborne instruments on active wildfires. Moving forward, NASA FireSense and the AFC are planning to integrate the Fire Thermal InfraRed Spectrometer, or FireTIRS, which will measure temperature, spread rate, flame length, fire convection, and gas emissions. James Thompson, an assistant research professor at University of Texas at Austin and a principal investigator with NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, tests out locations on a fire dozer where the FireTIRS thermal infrared imager could be mounted. Thompson was part of a stakeholder event held between NASA’s FireSense project and the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC), which included demonstrating thermal sensors on the AFC’s fire dozers. Fowler is also evaluating anemometers and compact cameras for the dozers. Anemometers provide data on wind speed and direction, while compact cameras provide data on burn severity, rate of spread, and the type, volume, and consumption of fuels. The data this suite of instruments can gather would fill an important gap in creating a well-rounded understanding of fire. “This is the dataset that will get us to the next generation of fire models,” Fowler said. “It gives us the detailed understanding we need to create tools that can give firefighters more advanced notice of what a fire will do. On a wildfire, that extra time is everything.” To view more photos from the FireSense campaign visit: nasa.gov/firesense About the AuthorMilan LoiaconoScience Communication SpecialistMilan Loiacono is a science communication specialist for the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Share Details Last Updated May 27, 2026 Related TermsWildland Fire ManagementAmes Earth Science DivisionAmes Research CenterAmes Research Center's Science DirectorateEarth ScienceEarth Science DivisionEarth Science Technology OfficeLangley Research CenterWildfires Explore More 2 min read Released: NASA Goddard Issues Draft Request for Proposal for the Landsat 10 Spacecraft The Landsat 10 Spacecraft Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) is available for review via SAM.gov. Article 1 hour ago 5 min read NASA-European Sea Level Mission Homes in on El Niño Article 6 hours ago 1 min read Webinar 6/17: Discover, Access, and Task Commercial Data with NASA’s Satellite Data Explorer Learn how to use the Satellite Data Explorer to search, access, and task commercial Earth… Article 7 hours ago View the full article

Landsat Navigation Landsat Home Missions Landsat 10 Landsat 9 Landsat 8 Landsat 7 Landsat 6 Landsat 5 Landsat 4 Landsat 3 Landsat 2 Landsat 1 News Latest News People of Landsat Q&As Newsletter Publications Data Overview Cal/Val Open Data Benefits Overview Agriculture & Food Security Disaster Management Ecosystems & Biodiversity Energy Resources Forest Management Human Health Urban Development Water Resources Wildfires Case Studies Outreach Multimedia About Search Timeline of the Landsat program, beginning with the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. Landsat 10 is expected to launch in 2031. As the tenth Landsat mission, it will continue the legacy of the Landsat program. NASA Landsat Project Science Support Team The Landsat 10 Spacecraft Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) is available for review via SAM.gov as of May 18, 2026. This solicitation marks a major milestone in continuing the decades-long partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to acquire, archive, and distribute multispectral imagery of Earth’s global landmasses and coastal regions. Potential offerors may comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation by June 2, 2026. The final Request for Proposal (RFP) is currently expected to be released at the end of June 2026, with proposals due roughly 30 days thereafter. The scope of work includes the end-to-end design and fabrication of the satellite bus, comprehensive observatory-level performance testing, development of high-fidelity simulators, launch vehicle integration support, and post-launch on-orbit commissioning. Beyond building the bus, the contractor will lead the mechanical and electrical integration of the government-furnished Landsat Instrument Suite (LandIS). Recently re-architected as a single-observatory, Landsat 10 will fly in a 653-kilometer sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit with a repeating ground track every 18 days. Key technical specifications of this Class C mission require the spacecraft to support a maximum launch mass of 4,000 kilograms, feature advanced onboard autonomy and fault management, and ensure a minimum 5-year design life plus commissioning. Landsat 10 operations will ultimately transition to the USGS following its on-orbit checkout. Landsat 10 provides improvements in both spectral and spatial capabilities compared to its predecessor missions, Landsats 8 and 9, all while guaranteeing critical data continuity with the legacy archive at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. The mission will ensure that researchers, resource managers, and policymakers worldwide continue to receive consistent, freely available data to monitor natural and human-induced environmental changes for years to come. Explore More Released: NASA Goddard Issues Draft Request for Proposal for the Landsat 10 Spacecraft 2 min read The Landsat 10 Spacecraft Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) is available for review via SAM.gov. May 27, 2026 Article Ever Restless Mount Dukono Erupts 2 min read The volcano on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island routinely ejects ash, volcanic gases, and volcanic bombs. May 27, 2026 Article Three Ways that a New Land Monitoring System is Transforming How We Manage Forests 7 min read DIST-ALERT, a global land change monitoring system, is revolutionizing forest management. May 26, 2026 Article 1 2 3 … 310 Next View the full article

De izquierda a derecha, se observan los modelos del módulo de aterrizaje lunar Mark 1 de Blue Origin, el rover lunar tripulado de Astrolab, el rover Lunar Outpost Pegasus y el orbitador Firefly Elytra Dark al término de una rueda de prensa para hablar sobre Base Lunar, una iniciativa a largo plazo de exploración e infraestructura lunar diseñada para permitir una presencia humana sostenida y una mayor actividad científica y comercial en el Polo Sur lunar, el martes, 26 de mayo de 2026, en el edificio de la sede de la NASA Mary W. Jackson, en Washington.Crédito: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani Durante una sesión informativa sobre el programa Base Lunar, celebrada en la sede de la NASA en Washington, la agencia anunció nuevos contratos para el desarrollo de vehículos lunares **** capacidad para transportar tripulación y módulos de aterrizaje de carga no tripulados **** destino a la Luna. Directivos de la NASA también dieron a conocer los plazos de lanzamiento previstos y los próximos hitos para las primeras misiones de infraestructura de Base Lunar y de exploración a la región del Polo Sur de la Luna, como paso previo a la llegada de los astronautas del programa Artemis. “La Base Lunar será el primer puesto de avanzada de Estados Unidos y de la humanidad en otro mundo celeste”, dijo el administrador de la NASA, Jared Isaacman. “Cada misión, tripulada o no, será una oportunidad de aprendizaje a medida que regresemos a la superficie lunar, construyamos la infraestructura necesaria para permanecer allí y dominemos las destrezas necesarias para vivir y trabajar en uno de los entornos más exigentes y peligrosos que se pueda imaginar. Iremos en busca de la ciencia, por todo lo que tenemos que ganar desde una perspectiva económica y tecnológica, por las innovaciones que mejorarán la vida aquí en la Tierra y para prepararnos para el próximo destino al que inevitablemente nos dirigiremos a continuación. Agradecemos el liderazgo del presidente Trump, el compromiso bipartidista del Congreso, a nuestros socios de la industria e internacionales, y a la dedicada fuerza laboral de la NASA, cuya pericia nos permite lograr lo casi imposible”. La NASA anunció las tres primeras misiones de Base Lunar para comenzar a establecer operaciones sostenidas. Base Lunar I: Su lanzamiento está previsto para no antes del otoño [boreal] de 2026; para ello, se utilizará el módulo de aterrizaje Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance de Blue Origin **** el fin de transportar cargas útiles de la NASA. El equipamiento incluirá el instrumento Cámaras estéreo para el estudio de los penachos y la superficie lunar, diseñado para estudiar la interacción de los propulsores **** la superficie de la Luna, y el Conjunto retroreflectivo láser, el cual ayuda a las naves espaciales en órbita a determinar su ubicación **** mayor precisión utilizando luz láser reflejada. La misión alunizará en la cresta de conexión de Shackleton para demostrar capacidades que permitan reducir riesgos en anticipación a las futuras misiones tripuladas de aterrizaje del programa Artemis, previstas para el año 2028. Base Lunar II: **** un lanzamiento programado para más adelante este año, transportará más de 500 kilogramos (1.100 libras) de carga a bordo del módulo de aterrizaje Griffin de Astrobotic, incluyendo el rover FLIP de Astrolab, **** el fin de madurar los sistemas de movilidad que servirán para orientar las futuras operaciones de vehículos para terreno lunar (LTV, por sus siglas en inglés). Base Lunar III: También programada para este año, esta misión transportará la primera carga útil seleccionada **** la iniciativa Cargas Útiles e Investigaciones de Exploración en la Superficie de la Luna de la NASA. Su investigación central, Lunar Vertex (Vértice Lunar), viajará a bordo del módulo de alunizaje Nova-C Trinity de Intuitive Machines y estudiará los remolinos lunares —las manchas claras en la superficie— **** el fin de mejorar nuestra comprensión sobre la evolución de la superficie y el comportamiento de los materiales en condiciones extremas. La misión incluirá cargas útiles de la ESA (Agencia Espacial Europea) y del Instituto Coreano de Astronomía y Ciencias Espaciales, lo que refleja la participación comercial e internacional en las actividades de la Base Lunar. Estas misiones son las primeras de más de una docena de misiones que serán anunciadas este año; cada una está diseñada para producir datos operativos y reducir riesgos en anticipación a las actividades en la superficie de las misiones tripuladas de Artemis. La NASA ha adjudicado contratos a Astrolab por 219 millones de dólares y a Lunar Outpost 220 millones de dólares para la construcción y entrega de la primera fase de los LTV. Adjudicados en el marco de las órdenes de trabajo de la Fase 1 de la Misión de Alta Viabilidad del contrato de Servicios de Vehículos de Terreno Lunar, estos hitos de costo fijo y basados en el desempeño permitirán a la NASA desplegar sistemas de movilidad, tanto tripulados como no tripulados, en la superficie lunar para 2028, mediante la iniciativa de Servicios Comerciales de Carga Útil Lunar (CLPS, por sus siglas en inglés) de la agencia. La movilidad inicial en la superficie es un componente fundamental en las prioridades de la política espacial nacional de establecer una presencia lunar duradera. El Vehículo Lunar Tripulado (CLV 1) de Astrolab, adaptado a partir de la arquitectura FLEX de esa compañía, es un rover diseñado para transportar astronautas, trasladar suministros y dar apoyo en operaciones remotas; cuenta **** una configuración compacta en estiba (en estado replegado), tiene una masa de aproximadamente 907 kilogramos (2.000 libras) y la capacidad de alcanzar más de 9,6 kilómetros por hora (6 mi/h) en terreno llano. Como complemento a esta capacidad, el Pegasus de Lunar Outpost es una evolución de su rover Eagle más ligera y lista para la misión, y está diseñado explícitamente para cumplir **** los requisitos actualizados para LTV de la NASA. **** una autonomía operativa de hasta un año y capaz de conducir de forma manual, autónoma o teleoperada a velocidades superiores a los 14 km/h (9 mph), Pegasus incorpora tecnologías heredadas del programa Apolo y se basa en una amplia experiencia en prototipos y vuelos para ofrecer una movilidad confiable y centrada en el ser humano, esencial para el establecimiento de una base lunar sostenida. El despliegue de múltiples LTV en las etapas iniciales del desarrollo de Base Lunar acelerará las demostraciones tecnológicas, orientará la planificación de los emplazamientos y reducirá los riesgos operativos en anticipación de las misiones tripuladas de Artemis, lo que permitirá a la NASA caracterizar los peligros del terreno, transportar materiales, posicionar de antemano los recursos y madurar los sistemas necesarios para la exploración lunar de larga duración. Durante los próximos dieciocho meses, los proveedores seleccionados finalizarán el diseño de los rovers, llevarán a ***** evaluaciones **** tripulación y certificarán las unidades de vuelo para su operatividad. Los LTV resultantes darán apoyo a desplazamientos autónomos, la preparación del terreno, investigaciones científicas, demostraciones de tecnología y el transporte de astronautas. A medida que avancen los esfuerzos para el establecimiento de la Base Lunar, la NASA ampliará las oportunidades para proveedores adicionales mediante concursos de acceso por etapas, fomentando un enfoque sólido y sostenible para la movilidad lunar y fortaleciendo las prioridades nacionales en materia de capacidades espaciales. Para la entrega de estos rovers en la región del Polo Sur de la Luna, la NASA adjudicó a Blue Origin un contrato de 188 millones de dólares, **** una opción de prórroga por un valor de 280,4 millones de dólares para dos órdenes de trabajo, lo que incluye una opción de prórroga en función del desempeño en la fase inicial. La NASA puede optar por extender la orden de trabajo para la entrega de la carga útil. Esta contratación competitiva, ejecutada en el marco de la fase de entrega indefinida y cantidad indefinida de CLPS 1.0 **** la orden de trabajo CX-2, representa una inversión estratégica en la exploración lunar y desempeñará un papel fundamental para posibilitar la movilidad y el desarrollo de infraestructuras para operaciones lunares sostenidas, marcando un paso significativo hacia el establecimiento de una presencia humana permanente en la Luna. Sobre la base de los éxitos y las lecciones aprendidas en CLPS 1.0, la agencia también detalló cómo la próxima generación de módulos de aterrizaje de carga en el marco de CLPS 2.0 continuará **** la entrega de cargas útiles tanto en la superficie lunar como en la órbita de la Luna, respaldando de esta manera los ambiciosos objetivos de la NASA para sus operaciones lunares sostenidas. Esta nueva fase introduce una mayor flexibilidad, permitiendo a la NASA contratar servicios de entrega “llave en mano” —completamente construidos, integrados, probados y listos para usar de inmediato— o comenzar a recibir el hardware de CLPS para integrarlo en sus propias misiones. La solicitud de propuestas definitivas para CLPS 2.0 fue publicada el 15 de mayo de 2026, y el plazo para la presentación de las respuestas se vence el martes 30 de junio de 2026. Actualización sobre la misión MoonFall La agencia también compartió nuevas actualizaciones sobre MoonFall, una misión que enviará cuatro drones para hacer vuelos cortos sobre la superficie lunar mientras inspeccionan posibles lugares de aterrizaje para los astronautas de Artemis. El Laboratorio de Propulsión a Chorro (JPL, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NASA, **** sede en el sur de California, ha estado desarrollando el diseño y haciendo pruebas **** prototipos de hardware, y ha seleccionado a Firefly Aerospace para construir la nave espacial que transportará los drones desde la órbita terrestre hasta la Luna. El lanzamiento de esta misión está programado para 2028. Los drones aterrizarán de forma autónoma en la superficie lunar y, a lo largo de un único día lunar, recopilarán imágenes de alta resolución de terrenos de difícil acceso. Tras el último vuelo de cada dron, su carga útil para la supervivencia nocturna seguirá funcionando durante varios meses, lo que supondrá una presencia estadounidense continuada en el Polo Sur lunar. Otras misiones robóticas en camino Por último, la NASA anunció que en las próximas semanas dará a conocer una selección de adjudicaciones de trabajos adicionales de CLPS 1.0 —otorgadas durante el evento “Ignition” (Encendido) de la agencia— para cargas útiles y demostraciones de tecnología de Base Lunar. Asimismo, en los próximos meses también habrá nuevas oportunidades para licitar por las órdenes de trabajo de CLPS 1.0 y 2.0, a medida que se definan y planifiquen las demostraciones tecnológicas de la Fase 1 para las misiones de la Base Lunar. Durante su sesión informativa, el liderazgo de la NASA reiteró que el establecimiento de una presencia lunar sostenida está alineado **** la estrategia de exploración más amplia de la agencia, la cual se sustenta en una mayor frecuencia de lanzamientos, la ampliación de sus asociaciones **** la industria y una coordinación a nivel de toda la agencia. Como parte de una edad de oro de innovación y exploración, la NASA enviará astronautas de Artemis en misiones cada vez más difíciles para explorar más de la Luna **** fines de descubrimiento científico y beneficios económicos, y para continuar sentando las bases para las primeras misiones tripuladas a Marte. Para obtener más información sobre la Base Lunar, visita el sitio web (en inglés): [Hidden Content] -fin- George Alderman / James Gannon / María José Viñas Sede central de la NASA, Washington +1 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld/ james.h*****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated May 27, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA en español View the full article

An example of the Ancient & Modern Sun Watching patch can be seen at the top right corner of this Girl Scout’s vest Credit: NASA/Nicholeen Viall-Kepko In early May 2026, NASA employees, contractors, and volunteers helped to bring Heliophysics to girls of all ages in a fun-filled weekend of hands-on science activities and experiments. The event took place from May 1-3 at Camp Conowingo, a Girl Scouts of Central Maryland camping property on the Susquehanna River north of Baltimore, and brought together participants from across the region. With support from the Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) and the outreach program from NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, NASA heliophysicist Nicholeen Viall led a camping trip on which 165 Girl Scouts earned their Space Science badge and Ancient and Modern Sun-Watching patch. The badge and patch were earned over the course of the weekend through a series of activity stations that included hands-on examples of how scientists study the Sun, Heliosphere, Moon, planets, and stars. In particular, these creative experiments allowed attendees to learn about space weather and see firsthand how the Sun impacts our lives, which is a cornerstone of HEAT education goals. The activities were set up in seven stations. Girl Scout troops were split into 7 groups, plus an 8th group of high school seniors who ran the stations. Each group was named after a constellation (Ursa Major, Leo, Orion, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Cygnus, Lyra, and Canis Major). On the morning and afternoon of Saturday May 2, each group spent about 45 minutes per station doing activities to earn a space science badge. Station 1 helped Girl Scouts learn about the different career possibilities available in Space Sciences and at NASA Station 2 gave Girl Scouts the opportunity to play with polarized sun glasses and try out the ultraviolet beads activity Station 3 involved learning more about the Sun and the PUNCH mission through key vocabulary terms and role-playing activities Station 4, the Solar System Walk, was a path with planet markers spaced out to scale to help campers identify all the planets in our solar system Station 5 demonstrated the phases of the Moon and why different constellations appear in the night sky during the year Station 6 taught the Girl Scouts about NASA missions; and Station 7 gave Girl Scouts the opportunity to practice shooting a bow and arrow, which is a tradition at Camp Conowingo. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the groups participated in a star and Moon gazing nighttime astronomy activity and were able to find Jupiter. These activities were made possible in part thanks to time contributed by members of NASA Solar System Ambassadors and the National Capitol Astronomers. Station 3 from the daytime events also had Sunspotter telescopes for the Girl Scouts to try out, which were provided by HEAT with help from team member Carolyn Ng. Fellow HEAT team member Laura-Ashley Alegbeleye was also onsite leading activities, where her expertise in classroom education really shined. Laura-Ashley attended as a representative of HEAT, which allowed her to share HEAT resources and educational content with the Girl Scout attendees at several stations, including Station 1. Viall describes the Space Science Career station by pointing out that the event coordinators leveraged HEAT educational materials, as well as activities designed for the Ancient and Modern Sun Watching patch by the PUNCH team, to show that even a NASA mission requires many different skill sets. “It’s not just scientists and the engineers,” says Viall. “It is financial analysts, it’s communications people, it’s good writers, it’s good artists. All of these different people have to be a part of the team.” One of the standout moments of the weekend was the campfire at the end of Saturday, which is a tradition for Girl Scout camping events, according to Viall. “One of the traditions of the campfire is that we all sing songs and the Girl Scouts put on skits,” explains Viall. “I want to say about half of the skits that the Girl Scouts made were about space, the Sun, astronauts, or about exploring Mars.” Viall also pointed out that the event offered a chance for older girl scouts to gain mentoring experience by leading five of the seven activity stations. “I went to those troops over a month ahead of the event,” says Viall. “I met with them and taught them the activities, sent them all the materials, and brainstormed with them about the best way to teach the younger Girl Scouts.” The event taught these older Girl Scouts how to be great leaders themselves by sharing the knowledge with the younger Girl Scouts which Viall helped to impart on them. “That part was really cool, to see the older girls teaching the younger girls the [science] concepts.” As a final note, Viall points out that after the 165 Girl Scouts signed up, which was the maximum capacity of the campground, there were still three more troops who had wanted to participate. “We had so much interest that I visited an additional 30 girls at their troop meetings to do a quick Space Science/PUNCH lesson event,” says Viall. Girl Scouts of the USA have offered the Space Science badge series for kindergarten through twelfth grade students since 2019. The Ancient and Modern Sun-Watching patch leverages the PUNCH Public Outreach products, curated for the Girl Scout experience.Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas convened a prototype patch-earning event in 2024. Now, two years later, the Girl Scouts who participated in the Camp Conowingo event officially earned the Ancient and Modern Sun-Watching patch. Viall is the PUNCH Mission Scientist, which helped establish the connection that made the whole event possible. Together with collaborators from NASA HEAT, this event certainly helped to activate a love for science in a new generation of learners. Share Details Last Updated May 27, 2026 Related Terms Science Activation Heliophysics Heliophysics Division Opportunities For Educators to Get Involved Opportunities For Students to Get Involved View the full article

Crédito: NASA La NASA informará sobre los avances de la misión Artemis III de la agencia y anunciará los astronautas asignados a este vuelo de prueba durante un evento en vivo a las 11 a.m. EDT (hora del este) del martes 9 de junio en el Centro Espacial Johnson de la agencia en Houston. Siga la rueda de prensa en vivo a través de la aplicación NASA+ y el canal de YouTube de la agencia. Descubra cómo ver el contenido de la NASA en diversas plataformas en línea, incluidas las redes sociales (información ofrecida en inglés). Tras el evento, la tripulación de Artemis III estará disponible para un número limitado de entrevistas presenciales y virtuales. Las solicitudes de entrevista deben enviarse a la sala de prensa del centro Johnson antes de las 5 p.m. del 4 de junio. Los periodistas que no son ciudadanos estadounidenses interesados en asistir deben comunicarse, en inglés, **** la sala de prensa de Johnson mediante correo electrónico (*****@*****.tld) antes de las 5 p.m. del jueves 28 de mayo. Los periodistas estadounidenses deben comunicarse **** la sala de prensa antes de las 5 p.m. del jueves 4 de junio. Los medios registrados recibirán la confirmación y detalles adicionales del evento por correo electrónico. La política de acreditación de medios de la NASA está disponible en línea. Artemis III lanzará a cuatro astronautas desde el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida en la nave espacial Orion, la cual viajará a bordo del cohete SLS (Sistema de Lanzamiento Espacial, por sus siglas en inglés). La misión pondrá a prueba las capacidades críticas de encuentro y acoplamiento entre Orion y los sistemas comerciales de aterrizaje humano necesarios para llevar a los astronautas a la superficie lunar. Basándose en el exitoso vuelo de prueba tripulado de Artemis II en abril, Artemis III allanará el camino para futuras misiones a la Luna. Como parte de una edad de oro de innovación y exploración, la NASA enviará astronautas en misiones cada vez más complejas para explorar más de la Luna **** fines de descubrimiento científico y beneficios económicos, y para continuar sentando las bases para las primeras misiones tripuladas a Marte. Para más información sobre el programa Artemis, visite: [Hidden Content] (inglés) [Hidden Content] (español) -fin- Rachel Kraft / María José Viñas Sede central, Washington +1 202-358-1600 rachel.h*****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld Anna Schneider Centro Espacial Johnson +1 281-483-5111 *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated May 27, 2026 EditorMaría José Viñas Related TermsNASA en español View the full article