NASA
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NASA
The View from Above: The Gemini Visual Acuity Experiments
NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. took 29 color photographs of the Earth with a 70mm camera as he orbited our planet during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission in May 1963. Cooper’s view from the window of his Faith 7 spacecraft was spectacular, and he reported that he could see vehicles motoring on dirt roads, smoke-belching trains, and the tops of houses. Researchers and…
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NASA
NASA Data Feeds River Forecasts as Snow Drought Effects Linger
As the effects of the 2026 snow drought in the western United States carry into summer, NASA Earth data is feeding machine-learning forecasts that inform decisions about water, power, and public safety in Washington state. Tacoma Power, a Washington public utility, is using a U.S. technology company’s river-flow forecasts during a year of water extremes on the Cowlitz River.…
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NASA
NASA TechLeap Prize: Orbital Clarity Challenge
The Orbital Clarity Challenge — the sixth in the NASA TechLeap Prize series — is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Heliophysics Division, Flight Opportunities program, and Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. The Heliophysics Division studies space weather, including how it heats and expands Earth’s outer atmosphere during intense solar activity, creating orbital drag through atmospheric density changes. The challenge calls for low-cost methods…
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NASA
Human-Related Microbes May Survive Moon’s South Pole, NASA Finds
Lee esta historia en español aquí. Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA scientists say. Published on Aug. 19, 2026, in Science Advances, these findings highlight a need to better understand microbial persistence in extreme lunar environments. As humans build…
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NASA
NASA Updates Next Steps for Commercial Swift Boost Mission
Due to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an agency satellite to a higher altitude to extend its science mission as planned. However, LINK still will attempt to conduct rendezvous and proximity operations with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to demonstrate key capabilities for the…
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NASA
NASA Establishes State Hubs to Grow Technical Aerospace Workforce
NASA has awarded approximately $10.5 million to seven institutions to help strengthen and streamline state-based pathways for students into skilled technical jobs in the aerospace industry. The awards were made through the new NASA Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hubs initiative, or NASA State Hubs. This investment in state ecosystems is designed to accelerate the development of technical roles to meet…
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NASA
Ancient Milky Way Merger
This artist’s concept, released on Aug. 17, 2026, depicts a collision between our Milky Way galaxy and a dwarf galaxy known as LKH that happened about 12 billion years ago. A study of data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy, shows definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way galaxy in the earliest…
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NASA
Career Spotlight: Mechanic (Ages 14-18)
What does a mechanic do? Machines and engines are all around us. They power everything from cars and boats to airplanes and even rockets. Mechanics are experts who know how machinery works, especially engines, and how to fix them. When you think of a mechanic, you might picture someone working on cars. But mechanics can be experts on all kinds…
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NASA
Behind the Lens: Meet NASA Johnson’s Photographers
Photographers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston have documented some of the most defining moments in human spaceflight. From astronaut training and engineering tests to mission control operations and milestone celebrations, their images preserve the history of exploration while capturing the people and teams behind the missions shaping the next era. Meet the photographers behind the lens and explore the stories behind the images that…
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NASA
Astronomy Picture of the Day
The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor Explanation: Whatdunit? What disappeared while crossing a partially eclipsed Sun? Let’s present the evidence. The 24 frames-per-second video was taken in Spain (40°34’30.3″N 1°12’28.8″W) at 20:28 local time on August 12, 2026. The Perseids meteor shower was at its peak during this time. Is this a meteor? Meteor showers trace back to a region of the sky called a radiant…
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