December 2023

NEOWISE

Comets

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)

NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope)

Planetary Defense

Planetary Defense Coordination Office

WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer)

NASA’s NEOWISE Celebrates 10 Years, Plans End of Mission

The asteroid and comet-hunting infrared space telescope has gathered an impressive haul of observations, but it’s now at the mercy of the Sun, which is accelerating its demise. NASA’s NEOWISE has had a busy decade. Since its reactivated mission began on Dec.

Posted December 13, 2023

Launch Services Program

NASA Provides Update on Venture-Class Launch Services

NASA currently is working with several commercial companies as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract, providing new opportunities for science, and technology payloads. These include: Building on NASA’s previous procurement efforts to foster development of a growing U.S.

Posted December 13, 2023

Artemis

Humans in Space

I Am Artemis

Marshall Space Flight Center

Space Launch System (SLS)

I am Artemis: Bruce Askins

Growing up, Bruce Askins was passionate about space and oceanography. His desire to explore other worlds always made him want to be an astronaut. Though he did not become an astronaut, Askins has built a 42-year career at NASA, and, as the infrastructure management lead for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program at the agency’s […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Stennis Space Center

Marshall Space Flight Center

Michoud Assembly Facility

Space Launch System (SLS)

NASA Stennis Continues Preparations for Future Artemis Testing

Crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center cleared a milestone Dec. 11, installing a key component in preparation for future Green Run testing of NASA’s new Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) vehicle for use on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Four large diffusers, each weighing 14 tons, were lifted by crane for installation on the Thad […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Ames Research Center

Air Traffic Control Labs

Air Traffic Solutions

Ames Research Center's Science Directorate

CubeSats

Earth Science

General

High-Tech Computing

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Jessica Watkins

Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications (LEIA)

OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer)

Quesst (X-59)

Rings of Saturn

Saturn

Saturn Moons

VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)

Water & Energy Cycle

Wildfires

2023 in Review: Highlights from NASA in Silicon Valley

It’s been another great year at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Join us as we review some of the highlights of the science, engineering, and innovation from 2023. Announcing a New Innovation Hub Planned for NASA Research Park at Ames Berkeley Space Center is a proposed new campus of the University of […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Artemis

Artemis 2

Astronauts

Christina H. Koch

G. Reid Wiseman

Kennedy Space Center

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Space Launch System (SLS)

Victor J. Glover

2023 in Review: Artemis II Crew Visits Kennedy

On Aug. 8, 2023, Artemis II crew members (from left) Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch took a photo in front of their Orion crew module at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Announcing the crew and continuing work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion are part of the significant […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Laser Communications Relay

General

Goddard Space Flight Center

Space Communications & Navigation Program

Technology Demonstration

NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link

A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system.

Posted December 13, 2023

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Astrophysics

Brown Dwarfs

Exoplanets

Goddard Space Flight Center

Missions

Science & Research

Stars

The Universe

NASA’s Webb Identifies Tiniest Free-Floating Brown Dwarf

Brown dwarfs are objects that straddle the dividing line between stars and planets. They form like stars, growing dense enough to collapse under their own gravity, but they never become dense and hot enough to begin fusing hydrogen and turn into a star. At the low end of the scale, some brown dwarfs are comparable […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Kennedy Space Center

Artemis 2

Commercial Crew

International Space Station (ISS)

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Research and Technology at Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX Commercial Resupply

Sustainability at Kennedy Space Center

NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Top 20 Stories of 2023

Here’s a look back at 2023’s most significant events at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida: JANUARYDay of Remembrance Marks 20th Anniversary of Columbia Tragedy NASA senior management and guests paid tribute to the crew members of space shuttle Columbia, as well as other astronauts who perished in the line of duty, during the agency’s […]

Posted December 13, 2023

Astrobiology

Goddard Space Flight Center

Outer Planets & Ocean Worlds Program

NASA: Some Icy Exoplanets May Have Habitable Oceans and Geysers

A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could occasionally erupt through the ice crust as geysers. The science team calculated the amount […]

Posted December 13, 2023