NASA
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JAXA’s First Wooden Satellite Deploys from Space Station
In December 2024, five CubeSats deployed into Earth’s orbit from the International Space Station. Among them was LignoSat, a wooden satellite from JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) that investigates the use of wood in space. Findings could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellites. A previous experiment aboard station exposed three species of wood to the space environment to help researchers determine the…
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2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge Winner Skyline Nav AI: Revolutionizing GPS-Independent Navigation with Computer Vision
NASA sponsored Entrepreneurs Challenge events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 to identify innovative ideas and technologies from small business start-ups with the potential to advance the agency’s science goals. To help leverage external funding sources for the development of innovative technologies of interest to NASA, SMD involved the venture capital community in Entrepreneurs Challenge events. Challenge winners were awarded prize…
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NASA’s AI Use Cases: Advancing Space Exploration with Responsibility
NASA’s 2024 AI Use Case inventory highlights the agency’s commitment to integrating artificial intelligence in its space missions and operations. The agency’s updated inventory consists of active AI use cases, ranging from AI-driven autonomous space operations, such as navigation for the Perseverance Rover on Mars, to advanced data analysis for scientific discovery. NASA’s 2024 AI Use Case inventory highlights the agency’s…
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NASA Kicks off Testing Campaign for Remotely Piloted Cargo Flights
NASA recently began a series of flight tests with partners to answer an important aviation question: What will it take to integrate remotely piloted or autonomous planes carrying large packages and cargo safely into the U.S. airspace? Researchers tested new technologies in Hollister, California, that are helping to investigate what tools and capabilities are needed to make these kinds of…
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NASA to Cover Two Spacewalks, Hold Preview News Conference
Two NASA astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station, conducting U.S. spacewalk 91 on Thursday, Jan. 16, and U.S. spacewalk 92 on Thursday, Jan. 23, to complete station upgrades. NASA also will discuss the pair of upcoming spacewalks during a news conference at 2 p.m. EST Friday, Jan. 10, on NASA+ from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Learn how…
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NASA to Explore Two Landing Options for Returning Samples from Mars
To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will simultaneously pursue two landing architectures, or strategic plans, during formulation, encouraging competition and innovation, as well as cost and schedule savings. NASA plans to later…
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The Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon
The next full Moon is the Wolf Moon; the Ice or Old Moon; the Moon after Yule; the start of Prayag Kumbh Mela; Shakambhari Purnima; Paush Purnima; the Thiruvathira, Thiruvathirai, or Arudhra Darisanam festival Moon; and Duruthu Poya. The phases of the Moon for January 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech The next full Moon will be Monday evening, Jan. 13, 2025, appearing opposite…
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How US-Indian NISAR Satellite Will Offer Unique Window on Earth
A Q&A with the lead U.S. scientist of the mission, which will track changes in everything from wetlands to ice sheets to infrastructure damaged by natural disasters. The upcoming U.S.-India NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission will observe Earth like no mission before, offering insights about our planet’s ever-changing surface. The NISAR mission is a first-of-a-kind dual-band radar satellite that will measure land…
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Defying Gravity
In this Dec. 11, 1963, image, technicians prepare a test subject for studies on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. This position meant that a person’s legs experienced only one sixth of their weight, which was the equivalent of being on the Moon’s surface. The simulator was used to study the subject while…
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NASA Names Adam Schlesinger as Commercial Lunar Payload Services Project Manager
NASA has selected Adam Schlesinger as manager for CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services). Schlesinger previously served as the Gateway Program habitation and logistics outpost project lead engineer at Johnson Space Center. “I am honored and tremendously excited to take on this new role as NASA continues to enable a growing lunar economy while leveraging the entrepreneurial innovation of the commercial space industry,”…
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