Tag Archives: NASAs

Imelda Muller was selected by NASA to join the 2025 astronaut candidate class. She reported for duty in Sept. 2025. Photo courtesy of Bill Stafford/NASA UVM Larner College of Medicine alum Imelda Muller is one of NASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates, out of a pool of 8,000, the space agency announced Monday.  “With upcoming exploration missions, we are pushing the …

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 The X-37B spaceplane’s eighth mission launches on August 21, testing crucial technologies for the Space Force. 🔍 Laser communications experiments aim to enhance secure and efficient satellite operations in low-Earth orbit. 💡 A quantum inertial sensor will be tested as a potential alternative to GPS, offering resistance to signal disruptions. 💰 Congress allocated $1 billion to …

HOUSTON — NASA’s ambitious mission to return astronauts to the moon for the first time this century is on track to launch no later than April 2026, but it just might fly sooner if all goes well. The 10-day-long Artemis 2 mission, which will fly four astronauts around the moon on NASA’s Orion spacecraft, could lift off as early as …

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 NASA’s DART mission demonstrated that a kinetic impactor can alter an asteroid’s trajectory, advancing planetary defense strategies. 🛰️ The LICIACube satellite captured critical images of the impact, providing data on the ejected material’s mass and behavior. 🌌 The collision with Dimorphos resulted in a 35.3 million-pound debris plume, illustrating the potential for significant deflection. 💡 The …

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 The Cygnus XL spacecraft encountered engine malfunctions, delaying its mission to the ISS. 🔧 NASA is exploring all available options to ensure successful cargo delivery. The incident highlights the complexities and risks of space missions. Astronauts like Jonny Kim play a crucial role in adapting to mission challenges. The International Space Station (ISS) stands as a …

Both Psyche and Earth are moving through space at tremendous speeds, and they are so distant from each other that the laser signal — which travels at the speed of light — can take several minutes to reach its destination. By using the precise pointing required from the ground and flight laser transmitters to close the communication link, teams at …

Only a little over a week after scientists announced NASA’s Perseverance rover may have detected a potential biosignature in a Martian rock named Sapphire Canyon, a new study suggests similar habitable conditions were widespread across Jezero Crater — the site of that major discovery — broadening the stage for the search for ancient life on Mars. In the study, scientists …

A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of astronomers. This discovery from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the big bang. The black hole weighs about a billion times the mass of the Sun and is located about …

As NASA prepares to put astronauts on the moon in the next few years, the agency is thinking about “how to live and operate away from the Earth, on other planets” — especially Mars. Those comments were delivered during a virtual Artemis 4 landing site science workshop on Sept. 10 by Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA. Bleacher, a …

The IAU (International Astronomical Union), an international non-governmental research organization and global naming authority for celestial objects, has approved official names for features on Donaldjohanson, an asteroid NASA’s Lucy spacecraft visited on April 20. In a nod to the fossilized inspiration for the names of the asteroid and spacecraft, the IAU’s selections recognize significant sites and discoveries on Earth that …