NASA
-
NASA
Sunglint on Atlantic Ocean
Sunlight beams off a partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean just after sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above on March 5, 2025. This is an example of sunglint, an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result is a mirror-like specular reflection of sunlight off the…
Read More » -
NASA
Scoria Cones on Earth and Mars
May 7, 2014 (Mars) Since the 1970s, planetary geologists have known that volcanic features cover large swaths of Mars. Early Mariner 9 images revealed massive shield volcanoes and lava plains on a scale unlike anything on Earth. Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, stands nearly three times higher than Mount Everest. Alba Mons, the planet’s widest volcano, spans a distance comparable to the length of…
Read More » -
NASA
Landsat 9: More Than Just A Picture
For over 50 years, the Landsat program has provided the longest continuous satellite record of Earth’s land surface from space. Landsat 9, launched in 2021, is the latest mission in this remarkable legacy — building on decades of Earth observation with upgraded technology, including enhanced radiometric resolution, improved signal-to-noise performance, and polar night thermal imaging. Working in tandem with Landsat…
Read More » -
NASA
Harnessing the Sun to Extract Oxygen on the Moon
Light shines onto a solar concentrator being tested in this Aug. 7, 2025, photo. The concentrator is part of the Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project, which aims to produce oxygen from simulated lunar regolith for use at the Moon’s south pole. For this test, the team integrated the solar concentrator, mirrors, and software and confirmed the production of carbon monoxide. If…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA’s Home for Experimental Flight Advances Aeronautics Mission
Nestled in the Mojave Desert, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, pushes the boundaries of flight to advance the agency’s aeronautics mission. This is where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier and engineers are now pioneering the future of high-speed, autonomous, and electrified aircraft. Armstrong contributes to NASA’s broader mission of innovation and collaboration, leveraging its uniquely capable…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA Adds Mission to Artemis Lunar Program, Updates Architecture
As part of a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, NASA announced Friday the agency is increasing its cadence of missions under the Artemis program to achieve the national objective of returning American astronauts to the Moon and establishing an enduring presence. This includes standardizing vehicle configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter. As…
Read More » -
NASA
Chesapeake Bay Locked in Ice
Residents of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic endured a formidable winter in 2025-2026, marked by several high-impact storms and prolonged stretches of cold temperatures that left parts of the Chesapeake Bay frozen over. Longtime residents may recall a winter nearly 50 years ago when the region saw even more widespread ice cover. The MSS (Multispectral Scanner System) on Landsat 1 captured this image during the exceptionally…
Read More » -
NASA
JPL 3D-Printed Part Springs Forward
Description With a simple motion, a jack-in-the-box-like spring designed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory showed the potential of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to cut costs and complexity for futuristic space antennas. Called JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC), the spring deployed on the small commercial spacecraft Proteus Space’s Mercury One on Feb. 3, 2026. An onboard camera captured this…
Read More » -
NASA
Inside Project Hail Mary
NASA astronaut and deputy director of the Flight Operations Directorate Kjell Lindgren takes a selfie with panelists and the audience at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 25, 2026. Actors Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller, screenwriter Drew Goddard, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and producer and writer of the “Project Hail Mary” novel Andy Weir stopped by NASA…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA’s ESCAPADE Ready to Study Space Weather from Earth to Mars
Mars is not what it used to be. Once warm, watery, and blanketed by a thick atmosphere, today the Red Planet is cold, dry, and draped by a thin atmospheric veil. The main culprit is a relentless stream of particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind. Over billions of years, the solar wind has stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere, causing…
Read More »