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1 Min Read Oral History with Karol J. Bobko View of STS 51-D crew commander Karol Bobko training with the Arriflex 16mm camera. Credits: NASA A veteran of three space flights, Karol J. “Bo” Bobko was selected as an astronaut in 1969 and served as a crewmember on the Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test (SMEAT) 56-day ground simulation in preparation for the Skylab missions. He served in various positions supporting the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and the first Approach and Landing Tests for the Space Shuttle before flying as the STS-6 pilot and as the mission commander on STS-51D and STS-51J.…

(Oct. 25, 2024) — NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams is pictured at the galley inside the International Space Station’s Unity module at the beginning of her day.Credit: NASA Students from Colorado will have the opportunity to hear NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams answer their prerecorded questions aboard the International Space Station on Thursday, Nov. 14. Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 1 p.m. EST on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media. The JEKL Institute for Global Equity and Access, in partnership with the Denver Museum of Nature and…

NASA/Loral O’Hara The Choctaw Heirloom Seeds investigation flew five varieties of heirloom seeds from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma aboard the International Space Station in early November 2023. The seeds are Isito (Choctaw Sweet Potato Squash), Tobi (Smith Peas), Tanchi Tohbi (Flour Corn), Tvnishi (Lambsquarter), and Chukfi Peas. The seeds spent six months aboard station, returning to Earth in April 2024. Next spring, Jones Academy students will plant the space-flown seeds alongside Earth-bound seeds of the same type in the school’s Growing Hope Garden. Students will hypothesize how the seeds will grow and make observations throughout the growing season. Middle…

5 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s concept of a future airliner based on the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 submission from awardee Electra. The team’s project focuses on electric propulsion, integrated aircraft technologies, and vehicle design.Electra Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now. What does your airliner look like? It’s more efficient, with lower emissions than today’s aircraft – what kinds of designs or technology make that possible? NASA is working to answer those questions by commissioning five new design studies looking to push the boundaries of possibility for…

2 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA/Quincy Eggert The design and build of a unique NASA pod, produced to advance computer vision for autonomous aviation, was recently completed in-house at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, by using the center’s unique fabrication capabilities. The pod is called the NASA Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of Urban Environments (AIRVUE). NASA Armstrong can take an idea from a drawing to flight with help from the center’s Experimental Fabrication Shop.   NASA researcher James Cowart adds the top back onto the NASA Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of…

Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center provides an update on Exploration Park on Feb. 15, 2022, at the ASCENDxTexas conference at South Shore Harbor Resort and Conference Center. Credit: NASA / Josh Valcarcel Nov. 12, 2024 Director Vanessa Wyche of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will join Texas A&M University leaders and guests Friday, Nov. 15, to break ground for the new Texas A&M University Space Institute. U.S. media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, by calling 281-483-5111 or emailing: [email protected]. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available…

Name: Matthew KowalewskiTitle: Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) Lead Instrument Systems EngineerFormal Job Classification: Aerospace EngineerOrganization:  Instrument and Payload Systems Engineering Branch (Code 592) Matthew Kowalewski (second from left) is the lead instrument systems engineer for NASA’s Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS). Photo courtesy of Matthew Kowalewski What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? As the DraMS lead instrument systems engineer for NASA’s Dragonfly mission, I lead the coordinated technical development, integrating systems and making sure communications across subsystems is maintained within the instruments as well as with the lander. I enjoy the diversity…

Name: Dr. Inia Soto RamosTitle and Formal Job Classification: Associate Research ScientistOrganization: Ocean Ecology Laboratory (Code 616) via Morgan State University and GESTAR II cooperative agreement Dr. Inia Soto Ramos is an associate research scientist with NASA’s PACE — the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission — at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.Photo courtesy of Inia Soto Ramos What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I am currently co-leading the validation efforts for PACE, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission. I am also part of NASA’s SeaBASS…

Mars: Perseverance (Mars 2020) Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read Peculiar Pale Pebbles NASA’s Perseverance rover acquired this…

MuSat2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, prior to launch. MuSat2 leverages a dual-frequency science antenna developed with support from NASA to measure phenomena such as ocean wind speed. Muon Space A science antenna developed with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) is now in low-Earth orbit aboard MuSat2, a commercial remote-sensing satellite flown by the aerospace company Muon Space. The dual-frequency science antenna was originally developed as part of the Next Generation GNSS Bistatic Radar Instrument (NGRx). Aboard MuSat2, it will help measure ocean surface wind speed—an essential data point for scientists trying to forecast how severe a…