Technicians and engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida use a crane to lift the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to a specialized work stand June 26, 2026, as the mission prepares to launch nine months ahead of schedule. The Roman Space Telescope will offer a field of view at least 100 times [...]
From left, Expedition 74 flight engineer Jessica Meir of NASA smiles after welcoming Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon aboard the International Space Station on July 14, 2026.NASA/Chris Williams Biomedical research to keep the Expedition 74 crew healthy and advance health on Earth packed Tuesday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station. The [...]
Main Figure A Scientists used data from the L-band radar aboard the U.S.-India Earth-orbiting NISAR satellite to produce this image of Nunatak Zaterjavshijsja, a mountaintop in East Antarctica, poking out amid a stream of ice flowing northeast to the ocean. NASA/JPL-Caltech The image shows Nunatak Zaterjavshijsja at center-left, surrounded by ice fractured with crevasses, [...]
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Scenes and sounds from the July 16 “Stars, Stripes, and Supernovas – Symphony Under the Stars” event at NASA Langley.NASA/Joe Atkinson NASA Langley’s “Stars, Stripes, and Supernovas – Symphony Under the Stars” event brought employees, families, and community members [...]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2026 NIAC awardees for possible future missions.NASA/Left to Right: Keunhan Park, Michael Rubenstein, Austin Phoenix, Benjamin Schafer, A.C. Charania, Gilly Elor, Pablo Sobron, Marco Quadrelli, Daniel Drew, Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, Jeff Nosanov, Anish Damodaran Phase [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of the PRAXIS concept.Marco Quadrelli Marco Quadrelli NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Humanity has never touched the particles of a planetary ring, but if we were able to get close enough and sample them, it will transform understanding of ring structure and origins for [...]
1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of the Actively Steerable Femtosat Constellations concept.Michael Rubenstein Michael Rubenstein Northwestern University, Chicago We propose a mission to use ~10,000 actively steerable femtosats to map the ring composition, atmospheric composition and density, and the magnetic field distribution of Saturn. Conducting in-situ surveys [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of the Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions concept.Benjamin Schafer Benjamin Schafer Rarified Technologies, Inc. We propose a new approach to atmospheric sensing at 30-100 km altitudes using photophoretically levitating tracers. These lightweight structures harness sunlight to remain suspended for up [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of the Robotically Assembled Electromagnetic Metamaterials concept.David Smith David Smith Duke University The increasing population of spacefaring vehicles and satellites motivates increasingly powerful technologies for space situational awareness (SSA). While the US space surveillance network (SSN) is able to monitor objects down to about [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of the Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys concept.Pablo Sobron Pablo Sobron Sanchez SETI Institute This proposal explores a new class of reconnaissance spacecraft that map minerals from orbit using Raman spectroscopy during high-speed flybys–without landing, sample return, or extended dwell. If feasible, this [...]
