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OSIRIS-REx used a Tesla-esque navigation system to capture 4.5 billion-year-old regolith
NASA's novel sampler spacecraft relied on complex visual maps and inertial meters to figure its relation to the asteroid Bennu.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx successfully delivers asteroid samples back to Earth
Seven years ago, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission was launched to collect asteroid samples from the near-Earth object Bennu. Today, the samples made landfall on Earth, closing a long-awaited chapter for the mission.
Scientists may have a solution to the International Space Station's fungus problem
In a cross-collaboration between researchers at the University of Colorado, MIT, and the NASA Ames Research Center, researchers studied how to prevent microbial build-up on surfaces on the ISS. The findings are critical because fungal growths can clog filters in water processing systems and make astronauts sick.
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft may have discovered what powers solar winds
In a paper published in Science, a team of researchers described observing large numbers of jets coming out of a dark region of the sun called a "coronal hole" in the images taken by the Solar Orbiter.
NASA reveals pollution maps gathered by the TEMPO space instrument
NASA has published the first maps from its new space-based pollution instrument, TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution). Although you won’t be shocked to learn it reveals higher pollution rates in metropolitan areas, the tool can help scientists better study North American air quality on an hourly basis. “Neighborhoods and communities across the country will benefit from TEMPO’s game-changing data for decades to come,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote in a press release today.
Webb Space Telescope captures the Ring Nebula in mesmerizing detail
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured extraordinarily detailed images published today of the Ring Nebula. The gaseous cloud, also called M57 and NGC 6720, contains 20,000 dense globules rich in molecular hydrogen. It sits about 2,500 light years away from Earth.
Astronomers confirm Maisie’s galaxy is one of the oldest observed
Astronomers have used advanced instruments to calculate a more accurate age of Maisie’s galaxy, discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in June 2022. Although the star system isn’t quite as old as initially estimated, it’s still one of the oldest recorded, from 390 million years after the Big Bang — making it about 13.4 billion years old. That’s a mere 70 million years younger than JADES-GS-z13-0, the (current) oldest-known system.
NASA regains contact with Voyager 2 after it went dark for two weeks
NASA "shouted" a command to the spacecraft across over 12.3 billion miles of space using the Deep Space Network, telling it to turn its antenna back to Earth.
IBM and NASA teamed up to build the GPT of Earth sciences
IBM, NASA and Hugging Face have teamed up to build an open-source geospatial foundation model.
NASA+ is the space agency's very own streaming platform
NASA is launching its very own streaming platform called NASA+ sometime this summer.
NASA picks Lockheed Martin to build the nuclear rocket that’ll take us to Mars
NASA and DARPA have chosen aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin to develop a spacecraft with a nuclear thermal rocket engine. Announced in January, the partnership — also including BWX Technologies, which will provide the reactor and fuel — is part of an initiative dubbed the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO). The agencies aim to showcase the tech no later than 2027 with an eye toward future Mars missions.
Astrophysicist who claimed to find alien tech may have done the science wrong
Last month, theoretical physicist Avi Loeb made headlines with the sensational claim that tiny spherules recovered from the bottom of the ocean were probably of alien origin. “It’s most likely a technological gadget with artificial intelligence,” he said to The New York Times, which published a story today about the Harvard professor’s contentious claims. Although the biggest scientific breakthroughs often start with a bold hypothesis, Loeb’s peers believe the decorated astrophysicist’s assertions can be called many things — but “good science” isn’t one of them.
Canoo made a cute trio of EVs to carry NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts to the SLS
This week, a trio of Canoo's Crew Transportation Vehicles arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Researchers find evidence of organic matter on Mars
The Perseverance Rover has found evidence of organic compounds in the Jezero Crater on Mars. Although this isn’t the smoking gun proving once and for all that Mars once hosted life — these compounds could have also developed in nonbiological ways — the results hint at surprisingly complex organic conditions for the “key building blocks for life” on Earth’s neighbor.
James Webb telescope marks first anniversary with an image of a nearby stellar nursery
The James Webb Space Telescope started sending out stunning images of the universe one full year ago. To commemorate the milestone, NASA is letting the telescope do what it does best, showing us obscenely cool space shots. The latest and greatest image depicts a (relatively) nearby region of space that’s a galactic nursery of sorts, with 50 young stars that could one day form systems that resemble our own.
NASA is creating a ChatGPT-like assistant for astronauts
NASA is developing a system that will allow astronauts to perform maneuvers, conduct experiments and more using a natural-language ChatGPT-like interface.
NASA is recycling 98 percent of astronaut pee and sweat on the ISS into drinkable water
This week, NASA revealed that the International Space Station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is recycling 98 percent of all water astronauts bring aboard the station.
Saturn’s moon Enceladus could support species similar to Earth
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has phosphorous. The finding came from recently analyzed icy particles emitted from the natural satellite’s ocean plumes, detected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The discovery means Enceladus has all the chemical building blocks for life as we know it on Earth. “This is the final one saying, ‘Yes, Enceladus does have all of the ingredients that typical Earth life would need to live and that the ocean there is habitable for life as we know it,” Morgan Cable, astrobiology chemist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told The Wall Street Journal.
Latest Webb Telescope images gives a look at stars being born in the Virgo constellation
The latest images released from the James Webb Space Telescope show off the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068. It's a combination image consisting of infrared shots taken from the telescope's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) sensors. What those sensors captured is a galaxy in the Virgo constellation about 20 million light-years from Earth
NASA's SLS rocket is $6 billion over budget and six years behind schedule
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket designed to take astronauts to the moon is $6 billion over budget and six years behind schedule.