Goddard Space Flight Center

Zachary Morse Hikes Hilltops, Caves Lava Tubes to Ready Moon Missions

Lunar geologist Zachary Morse scrabbles over Earth’s rocky landscapes to test equipment for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Posted September 3, 2024

Astrophysics

BurstCube

CubeSats

Gamma Rays

Gamma-Ray Bursts

Goddard Space Flight Center

ISS Research

Small Satellite Missions

The Universe

NASA’s Mini BurstCube Mission Detects Mega Blast

The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months.

Posted September 3, 2024

Goddard Space Flight Center

Heliophysics

Heliophysics Division

Parker Solar Probe (PSP)

Science & Research

Science Mission Directorate

Solar Flares

Solar Orbiter

Solar Wind

Space Weather

The Sun

NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy

Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun’s supersonic “solar wind,” a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they […]

Posted August 30, 2024

Astrophysics

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Stars

Hubble Zooms into the Rosy Tendrils of Andromeda

Clusters of stars set the interstellar medium ablaze in the Andromeda Galaxy about 2.5 million light-years away. Also known as M31, Andromeda is the Milky Way’s closest major galaxy. It measures approximately 152,000 light-years across and, with almost the same mass as our home galaxy, is headed for a collision with the Milky Way in […]

Posted August 30, 2024

People of Goddard

Goddard Space Flight Center

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

People of NASA

Aaron Vigil Helps Give SASS to Roman Space Telescope

The stars in the big Wyoming skies inspired Aaron Vigil as a child to dream big. Today, he’s a mechanical engineer working on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at Goddard.

Posted August 29, 2024

Astrophysics

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Stars

Hubble Observes An Oddly Organized Satellite

Andromeda III is one of at least 13 dwarf satellite galaxies in orbit around the Andromeda galaxy, or Messier 31, the Milky Way’s closest grand spiral galactic neighbor. Andromeda III is a faint, spheroidal collection of old, reddish stars that appears devoid of new star formation and younger stars. In fact, Andromeda III seems to […]

Posted August 29, 2024

Goddard Space Flight Center

Heliophysics

Heliophysics Division

Ionosphere

Science & Research

Sounding Rockets

Sounding Rockets Program

NASA Discovers a Long-Sought Global Electric Field on Earth

An international team of scientists has successfully measured a planet-wide electric field thought to be as fundamental to Earth as its gravity and magnetic fields. Known as the ambipolar electric field, scientists first hypothesized over 60 years ago that it drove atmospheric escape above Earth’s North and South Poles.

Posted August 28, 2024

Astrophysics

Galaxies

Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Space Telescope

Stars

Hubble Traces Star Formation in a Nearby Nebula

NGC 261 blooms a brilliant ruby red against a myriad of stars in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Discovered on Sept. 5, 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, this nebula is located in one of the Milky Way’s closest galactic companions, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The ionized gas blazing from within […]

Posted August 28, 2024

EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers)

Commercial Space

Goddard Space Flight Center

Kennedy Space Center

Science Mission Directorate

NASA, Blue Origin Invite Media to New Glenn Launch of Mars Mission

NASA and Blue Origin are preparing for the agency’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which begins on the inaugural launch of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The mission will study the solar wind’s interaction with the magnetosphere on Mars. Blue Origin is targeting no earlier than Sunday, Oct.

Posted August 26, 2024

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Goddard Space Flight Center

Science-enabling Technology

Space Communications Technology

Solar Panels for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Pass Key Tests

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Solar Array Sun Shield has successfully completed recent tests, signaling that the assembly is on track to be completed on schedule. The panels are designed to power and shade the observatory, enabling all the mission’s observations and helping keep the instruments cool. The Roman team has two sets of […]

Posted August 26, 2024