NASA
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NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Dragonfly Mission
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA’s New Frontiers Program, designed to explore Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing our search for the building blocks of life. The firm-fixed-price contract has a value of approximately $256.6 million, which…
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NASA’s Commercial Partners Make Progress on Low Earth Orbit Projects
NASA and its commercial partners continue to drive innovation in space exploration, achieving milestones that will ultimately benefit human spaceflight and commercial low Earth orbit efforts. These recent achievements from NASA’s industry partners include completed safety milestones, successful flight tests, and major technological advancements. “Our commercial partners’ growing capabilities in low Earth orbit underscore NASA’s commitment to advance scientific discovery,…
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Mini NASA Robot Takes a SWIM
A 16.5-inch-long prototype of a robot designed to explore subsurface oceans of icy moons is reflected in the water’s surface during a test in a competition swimming pool in September 2024. Conducted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the testing showed the feasibility of a mission concept called SWIM, short for Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers. The project envisions a swarm of…
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NASA Ames Stars of the Month: November 2024
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Forrest Melton, Ariel Deutsch, Dan Sirbu, and Chanel Idos. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative disposition needed to explore this world and beyond. Earth Science Star: Forrest Melton Forrest Melton serves as Senior Research Scientist with the Atmospheric…
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Station Science Top News: Nov. 22, 2024
Space-grown crystals could lead to targeted cancer drugs Researchers used space-grown protein crystals to determine the structure of a helix-loop-helix (HLH) peptide (one with a double helix and connecting loop) in a complex with vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF). VEGF prompts the formation of new blood vessels and inhibiting it can stop tumor growth. This finding suggests that HLH peptides could be…
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NASA’s Europa Clipper: Millions of Miles Down, Instruments Deploying
Headed to Jupiter’s moon Europa, the spacecraft is operating without a hitch and will reach Mars in just three months for a gravity assist. NASA’s Europa Clipper, which launched Oct. 14 on a journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa, is already 13 million miles (20 million kilometers) from Earth. Two science instruments have deployed hardware that will remain at attention, extending out from…
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NASA, JAXA XRISM Mission Looks Deeply Into ‘Hidden’ Stellar System
The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has captured the most detailed portrait yet of gases flowing within Cygnus X-3, one of the most studied sources in the X-ray sky. Cygnus X-3 is a binary that pairs a rare type of high-mass star with a compact companion — likely a black hole. Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass binary…
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NASA Invites Media to Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Launch to Moon
Media accreditation is open for the next delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign for the benefit of humanity. A six-day launch window opens no earlier than mid-January 2025 for the first Firefly Aerospace launch to the lunar surface. The Blue Ghost flight, carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments, will launch on…
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Hats Off to NASA’s Webb: Sombrero Galaxy Dazzles in New Image
In a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a galaxy named for its resemblance to a broad-brimmed Mexican hat appears more like an archery target. In Webb’s mid-infrared view of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104), the signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a smooth inner disk is revealed. The sharp…
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Sol 4370-4371: All About the Polygons
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 We planned two very full sols today! The sol 4369 drive completed successfully, and the rover was in a stable enough position that we could unstow the arm — something we don’t take for granted in the exceedingly rocky terrain of the sulfate unit! Today the team decided to investigate several rocks in…
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