Science

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4920-4926: Surveying the Bands

Written by William Farrand, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science Institute Earth planning date: Friday, June 12, 2026 Rather than going from stage to stage at a music festival to hear different

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NASA Mission to Study Space Weather Impacts of Earth’s Atmosphere

NASA selected a mission concept to research how space weather and dynamics within Earth’s atmosphere influence the space environment and help improve prediction capabilities for impacts on crucial

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NASA Awards Contract for Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition

NASA has selected eight new companies and will acquire new data products from six existing Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition contract holders to expand the range of commercial satellite data

Desert Field Test With NASA Advanced Rover Prototype

A prototype four-wheel rover developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory with advanced mobility and robotic autonomy capabilities trundled across the Colorado Desert near Plaster City, California,

From Suriname to Space: Rohit Goeptar’s Shares his Journey to NASA

Rohit Goeptar was born into a poor family in Suriname, South America, the kind where both parents work three jobs and they still can only provide food and shelter for their family. At around age

NASA’s Lucy Reveals Wobbling, Peanut-Shaped Asteroid

During its flyby of the asteroid Donaldjohanson last year, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft revealed the asteroid to be a wobbly, peanut-shaped body that has undergone a lot of activity in its relatively short

NASA Testing Advanced Capabilities for Moon, Mars Rovers

On a bleak stretch of the Colorado Desert in Southern California, a compact four-wheeled rover recently trundled about 16 miles with minimal intervention from the team of engineers trailing

Stages of Star Formation

This image, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and released on June 5, 2026, shows just a small portion of one of the Orion Molecular Clouds, a long and massive filament of cold gas and

NASA’s Fermi Mission Uncovers Possible Sibling Supernova Remnants

A new study of two supernova remnants, the debris left behind after stars explode, suggests the explosions came from stellar siblings that once orbited each other. The first star’s detonation sent

Hubble Glimpses Merging Galaxy Clusters

This NASAHubble Space Telescopeimage features a galaxy cluster, called CL0016+1609 or MACS J0018.5+1626, that is very bright at X-ray wavelengths and is one of the most extensively studied clusters

NASA Uses Machine Learning to Enhance Flash Flood Warnings

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser thatsupports HTML5 video Created with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, TACLS leverages

NASA’s Quantum Lab Aboard Space Station Gets Chilly Upgrade

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have switched on NASA’s newly upgraded Cold Atom Lab, a one-of-a-kind facility designed to improve how scientists explore the fundamental workings of

NASA Webb, Hubble Reveal History of Relic of Milky Way’s Formation

Researchers using two of humanity’s most powerful observatories — NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes — have definitively shown that Terzan 5 is not aglobular star clusteras it was once

Astronaut Jessica Meir Assists With Hardware Updates for NASA’s Cold Atom Lab

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir inspects optical fibers while installing hardware updates to the agency’s Cold Atom Lab, or CAL, aboard the International Space Station on May 8, 2026. About the size of

NASA’s Webb Catches Exoplanet Getting Roasted

One well-done gas giant, coming right up That’s the latest from researchers analyzing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of HD 80606 b, an exoplanet four times the mass of Jupiter with

Low Water at San Carlos Reservoir

TheGila Riveris among the Southwest’s most important rivers, delivering water for people, farms, and wildlife while linking the snow-fed mountains of southwestern New Mexico to the desert lowlands of

Hubble Sees Swarm of Galaxies

Looking somewhat like a swarm of bees returning to their hive, this NASAHubble Space Telescopeimage released on June 12, 2026, features the galaxy cluster MACS0329-0211. Galaxy clusters like

Search for Hidden Cosmic Companions in Sun’s Backyard

Others are orbited by brown dwarfs, balls of gas too massive to be planets, but too low-mass to be stars. Astronomers love these brown dwarf-star pairs because being paired with a star helps reveal

NASA Announces Public-Private Partnership to Advance Mars Science

NASA Wednesday announced a new public‑private partnership to advance Mars science by combining the agency’s scientific leadership with commercial innovation. Under this model, NASA will provide the

NASA’s SpaceX 34th Commercial Resupply Mission Overview

NASA and SpaceX are targeting a mid-May launch to deliver scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Loaded with about 6,500 pounds of supplies, the

NASA’s Psyche Mission Captures Mars During Gravity Assist Approach

This colorized image of Mars was captured by NASA’s Psyche mission on May 3, 2026, about 3 million miles from the planet. The spacecraft is approaching the planet for a gravity assist on May 15 that

I Am Artemis: Anton Kiriwas

Listen to this audio excerpt from Anton Kiriwas, senior technical integration manager for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program: When Anton Kiriwas first spotted an image of the Moon and Mars

NASA, Industry Advance High Performance Spaceflight Computing

For decades, NASA has advanced on-board spacecraft computer processors that coordinate and execute the functions needed to support mission success. Space computing originated in the 1960s with the

Glowing Views from the Space Station

NASA astronaut Chris Williams captured the Milky Way rising above Earth’s atmospheric glow on April 13, 2026, while aboard a SpaceX Dragon docked to the International Space Station. This atmospheric

NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon

With a small blue crane, four researchers hoist a cylindrical fuel cell, which looks like a stack of flattened silver and gold soda cans bundled together, into the air and lower it into a rectangular

NASA Names Brian Hughes to Launch Operations Role

NASA announced Friday that Brian Hughes will return to the agency as senior director of launch operations, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this role, Hughes will provide

Tracy Arm’s Post-Tsunami Landscape

Carved over millennia by the pressure and motion of glacial ice, the valley walls cradling the Tracy Arm fjord in southeast Alaska continue to be reshaped. In summer 2025, following the rapid

Meet the Fleet: NASA Armstrong Continues Legacy of Flight Research

NASA’s home for experimental flight is welcoming more flyers to its already high-performing fleet as it continues to support science and aeronautics test missions – continuing the legacy of pioneers

NASA Welcomes Paraguay as 67th Artemis Accords Signatory

NASA’s Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotors Are Moving Fast

The three-bladed rotor hanging horizontally in the foreground is the next-gen rotor being tested. The vertically aligned two-bladed rotor provided a “headwind,” enabling the tips of the three-bladed

NASA Sends Mars Helicopter Blades Beyond Mach 1

Data from the tests indicate that the rotors could surpass the sound barrier without breaking apart. The test campaign was funded by the agency’s Mars Exploration Program in pursuit of maximizing

Industry Moon Lander Training Cabin Lands at NASA for Artemis

A full-scale mock-up of a crew cabin for a future industry lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program now is operational for training and testing. The agency and its industry partners will use Blue

NASA Pushes Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotor Blades Past Mach 1

The rotor blades that will carry NASA’s next-generation helicopters to new Martian heights broke the sound barrier during March tests at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Data

A Light in the Dark

A thin sliver of Earth’s edge is brightly illuminated against the vast darkness of space in this April 3, 2026, image taken during the Artemis IImission. Artemis II was the first crewed flight in a

NASA’s Prithvi Becomes First AI Geospatial Foundation Model In Orbit

A team of researchers from Adelaide University and the SmartSat Cooperative Research Center in South Australia has successfully uploaded and demonstrated NASA and IBM’s open-source Prithvi Geospatial

NASA-Supported Small Spacecraft Launches to Study Solar Particles

Through NASA, a university-designed small spacecraft is paving the way to studying particles, known as neutrinos, that move through the universe at near-light speeds. The Solar Neutrino

NASA’s Simulated Mars Mission Marks 200 Days Inside Habitat

The four crew members of NASA’s Mars simulation recently marked 200 days into their 378-day Red Planet mission on May 7. Currently, the crew is in a simulated two‑week loss‑of‑signal period that

Cornell Students Aid NASA with Drone Safety in Sky

A team of Cornell University students are turning heads within industry and the federal government with the results of their research into creating a national air transportation management system in

A Sea of Spinning Clouds

Over the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, winds can whip around the globe relatively unimpeded by land. Intrepid sailors termed thesesouthern latitudesthe Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties, and

Ames Science Stars of the Month May 2026

The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of Lora Jovanavić, Tammy Moore, Frances Donovan, and Jaden Ta. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the

NASA’s Dryden Aeronautical Test Range Supports Flight, Space Missions

NASA advances aeronautics and space technologies through experimental aircraft and flight research at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Behind those efforts is

NASA Wallops to Host Public Information Session May 13

To facilitate discussion and information sharing on activities at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, a public information session is being held 4–6 p.m., Wednesday, May 13, at the NASA

NASA Sets Coverage for SpaceX 34th Station Resupply Launch, Arrival

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 7:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 12, for the next launch to deliver science, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This will be the 34th SpaceX

Unlocking the Mystery of X-ray Dots

A new “X-ray dot” found by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory – which could look like this artist’s illustration released on April 28, 2026 – could explain what the hundreds or potentially thousands of

New NASA Technology Mimics Extreme Cold of the Lunar Night

As NASA looks to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, researchers must develop materials capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures found in space and on other planets and their moons. In

NASA’s Roman Poised to Transform Hunt for Elusive Neutron Stars

Astronomers have long known that neutron stars, the crushed cores left behind after massive stars explode, should be scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy. However, most of them are effectively

Melting Snow Off Shivelyuch

Shivelyuch, the most northerly active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On a near-daily basis, satellites detect new signs of activity within its

NASA eClips and GLOBE Educators Strengthen a Regional STEM Ecosystem in Coastal Virginia

Thirty-eight science educators representing seven school districts across Virginia’s Tidewater region joined forces with community organizations, such as the Elizabeth River Project, to deepen their

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