- Planetary Alignments and Planet Paradeson February 5, 2025 at 1:49 am
On most nights, weather permitting, you can spot at least one bright planet in the night sky. While two or three planets are commonly visible in the hours around sunset, occasionally four or five bright planets can be seen simultaneously with the naked eye. These events, often called “planet parades” or “planetary alignments,” can generate
- NASA Tests in Simulated Lunar Gravity to Prep Payloads for Moonby Loura Hall on February 4, 2025 at 9:04 pm
The old saying — “Practice makes perfect!” — applies to the Moon too. On Tuesday, NASA gave 17 technologies, instruments, and experiments the chance to practice being on the Moon… without actually going there. Instead, it was a flight test aboard a vehicle adapted to simulate lunar gravity for approximately two minutes. The test began
- Bullseye!by Monika Luabeya on February 4, 2025 at 8:01 pm
This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, released on Feb. 4, 2025, shows the gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424, aptly nicknamed the Bullseye. A far smaller blue dwarf galaxy went through the Bullseye’s center, leaving nine star-filled rings. Astronomers using Hubble identified eight visible rings, more than previously detected by any telescope in any galaxy, and confirmed
- NASA Demonstrates Software ‘Brains’ Shared Across Satellite Swarmsby Gianine Figliozzi on February 4, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Talk amongst yourselves, get on the same page, and work together to get the job done! This “pep talk” roughly describes how new NASA technology works within satellite swarms. This technology, called Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), allows individual spacecraft to make independent decisions while collaborating with each other to achieve common goals – all without
- En Route to Jupiter, NASA’s Europa Clipper Captures Images of Starsby Anthony Greicius on February 4, 2025 at 6:51 pm
The spacecraft’s star trackers help engineers orient the orbiter throughout its long journey to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Three months after its launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Europa Clipper has another 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) to go before it reaches Jupiter’s orbit in 2030 to take close-up images
- In the Starlight: Anika Isaac’s Mission to Counsel NASA’s Workforceby Linda E. Grimm on February 4, 2025 at 5:52 pm
An interesting fact about Johnson Space Center’s Anika Isaac, MS, LPC, LMFT, LCDC, CEAP, NCC, is that there are more letters following her name than there are in it. A licensed professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, and chemical dependency counselor with several other certifications, Isaac has been a fixture of Johnson’s Employee Assistance Program
- NASA’s Cloud-based Confluence Software Helps Hydrologists Study Rivers on a Global Scaleon February 4, 2025 at 4:52 pm
Rivers and streams wrap around Earth in complex networks millions of miles long, driving trade, nurturing ecosystems, and stocking critical reserves of freshwater. But the hydrologists who dedicate their professional lives to studying this immense web of waterways do so with a relatively limited set of tools. Around the world, a patchwork of just 3,000
- Straight Shot: Hubble Investigates Galaxy with Nine Ringson February 4, 2025 at 3:00 pm
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a cosmic bullseye! The gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424 is rippling with nine star-filled rings after an “arrow” — a far smaller blue dwarf galaxy — shot through its heart. Astronomers using Hubble identified eight visible rings, more than previously detected by any telescope in any galaxy, and confirmed a
- Persevering Through Scienceon February 4, 2025 at 8:01 am
The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover continues to live up to its name, pushing forward in search of ancient Martian secrets. Following a brief period of system verification and remote testing, our operations team is back at full strength, and Perseverance has been hard at work uncovering new geological insights. We began our latest campaign at
- Sols 4441-4442: Winter is Comingon February 4, 2025 at 6:20 am
Earth planning date: Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 Here in Earth’s northern hemisphere, the days are slowly getting longer, bringing with them the promise of an end to winter. While we are anticipating the return of warmer temperatures, just over 100 million kilometers (more than 62 million miles) away, Curiosity is starting to feel the bite