Internal view of LignoSat’s structure shows the relationship among wooden panels, aluminum frames, and stainless-steel shafts.Credit: Kyoto University In December 2024, five CubeSats deployed into Earth’s orbit from the International Space Station. Among them was LignoSat, a wooden satellite from JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) that investigates the use of wood in space. Findings could [...]
Astronaut Don Pettit took this photograph of a U.S. spacesuit helmet with his reflection prominent on the helmet’s visor inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Most of the Expedition 72 crew was off duty on Tuesday while a pair of NASA astronauts conducted human research and studied biotechnology. Two spacewalks are now planned this [...]
This photomontage shows tubes containing samples from Mars, as collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The agency’s Mars Sample Return Program plans to bring these samples back to study them in state-of-the-art facilities on Earth.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of [...]
Earth Observer Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 3 min read AAS Hyperwall Schedule NASA Science at AAS Hyperwall Schedule, January 12-16, 2025 Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #505) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall [...]
NASA’s 2024 AI Use Case inventory highlights the agency’s commitment to integrating artificial intelligence in its space missions and operations. The agency’s updated inventory consists of active AI use cases, ranging from AI-driven autonomous space operations, such as navigation for the Perseverance Rover on Mars, to advanced data analysis for scientific discovery. AI Across NASA [...]
3 min read 2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge Winner Skyline Nav AI: Revolutionizing GPS-Independent Navigation with Computer Vision NASA sponsored Entrepreneurs Challenge events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 to identify innovative ideas and technologies from small business start-ups with the potential to advance the agency’s science goals. To help leverage external funding sources for the development [...]
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Danah Tommalieh, commercial pilot and engineer at Reliable Robotics, inputs a flight plan at the control center in Mountain View, California, ahead of remotely operating a Cessna 208 aircraft at Hollister municipal airport in Hollister, California.NASA/Don Richey NASA recently began a series of flight [...]
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet conduct a spacewalk to complete work on the International Space Station on June 25, 2021.Credit: NASA Two NASA astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station, conducting U.S. spacewalk 91 on Thursday, Jan. 16, and U.S. spacewalk 92 on Thursday, Jan. 23, to [...]
NASA, SpaceX, and Firefly Aerospace are targeting 1:11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 15, for the launch of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, the next delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s [...]
Photo of the Day It was a new year, and the sky was doubly red. The new year meant that the Earth had returned to its usual place in its orbit on January 1, a place a few days before its closest approach to the Sun. The first of the two red skyglows, on [...]
