October 2023

Constellations
Galaxies
Hubble Space Telescope
Spiral Galaxies
The Universe
It’s easy to get swept up in the swirling starry arms of this intermediate spiral galaxy, NGC 4654, in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy has a bright center and is labeled “intermediate” because it has characteristics of both unbarred and barred spirals. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from […]
Posted October 11, 2023
Psyche Mission
Asteroids
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Psyche Asteroid
The Solar System
The spacecraft is targeting an Oct. 12 liftoff atop a Falcon Heavy rocket. Its destination, a metal-rich asteroid, may tell us more about how planets form. In less than 24 hours, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is slated to launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With its sights set on a mysterious asteroid of […]
Posted October 11, 2023
Marshall Space Flight Center
Agency Leadership Talks NASA 2040, Artemis, Budget at Marshall Town Hall By Jessica Barnett From funding to historic achievements to the future of NASA, there was no shortage of topics for discussion during the latest Marshall Town Hall.
Posted October 11, 2023
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)
Missions
The Universe
Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. NASA made the news Wednesday from its Johnson Space Center in Houston where leadership […]
Posted October 11, 2023
NASA History
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize Hispanic astronauts who have flown in space. The table below lists these individuals of various nationalities who have made significant contributions to their space programs. The first Hispanic astronauts completed short flights to a Soviet space station and aboard the space shuttle.
Posted October 11, 2023
Glenn Research Center
People of NASA
<back to gallery As a little boy in Málaga, Spain, Carlos Garcia-Galan had his sights set on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. “It’s something that called to me from the very beginning.
Posted October 11, 2023
Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Space Technology Mission Directorate
Technology Demonstration Missions Program
Slated to launch on Oct. 12 with the Psyche mission, DSOC will demonstrate technologies enabling the agency to transmit higher data rates from deep space. NASA’s pioneering Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment will be the first demonstration of laser, or optical, communications from as far away as Mars.
Posted October 10, 2023
General
Goddard Space Flight Center
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Download the full-resolution version from the Space Telescope Science Institute. Filaments of dust and gas festoon this star-forming region in a new infrared image from MIRI. One of the greatest strengths of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest […]
Posted October 10, 2023
Heliophysics
Science-enabling Technology
Technology Highlights
PROJECT: Solar Wind Pickup Ion Composition Energy Spectrometer (SPICES) SNAPSHOT: SPICES is a new sensor that will help scientists discover where matter originates and how it is energized throughout the solar system Imagine that you have a secret decoder ring that you can use to decipher a secret message with important clues about things around […]
Posted October 10, 2023
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