Blog

The energetic electrons that drive the aurora borealis (the northern lights) have a rich and very dynamic structure that we currently do not fully understand. Much of what we know about these electrons comes from instruments that have fundamental limitations in their ability to sample multiple energies with high time resolution.

Posted April 9, 2024

2024 Solar Eclipse

Sounding Rockets

Sounding Rockets Program

Wallops Flight Facility

NASA Wallops Launches 3 Rockets During Eclipse in Virginia

Three Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia April 8, 2024, during the solar eclipse.

Posted April 9, 2024

Low Earth Orbit Economy

Commercial Space

General

NASA Shares Medical Expertise with New Space Station Partners

NASA is opening access to space for more people by working with private industry on the development of new commercial space stations for low Earth orbit where the agency’s astronauts could fly in the future.

Posted April 9, 2024

Goddard Space Flight Center

Earth

NASA’s Lola Fatoyinbo Receives Royal Geographical Society Prize

Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, received the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Prize on April 8 in London.

Posted April 9, 2024

NASA History

60 Years Ago: Gemini 1 Flies a Successful Uncrewed Test Flight

On April 8, 1964, Gemini 1 successfully completed the first uncrewed test flight of the Gemini spacecraft and its Titan II booster. The three-orbit mission proved the structural integrity of the spacecraft and the launch vehicle, paving the way for a second uncrewed test flight and ultimately missions with astronauts.

Posted April 9, 2024

NASA History

Artemis 2

Astronauts

Becoming an Astronaut

Project Mercury

From NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience

The Mercury 7 On April 9, 1959, reporters and news media crammed into the ballroom of the Dolley Madison House in Washington—the location of NASA Headquarters at that time—to learn the names of the first American astronauts who came to be known as the Mercury 7. Public Information Director Walter Bonney kicked off the announcement […]

Posted April 9, 2024

Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS)

Glenn Research Center

NASA Centers & Facilities

NASA STEM Projects

STEM Engagement at NASA

Technology

The Solar System

The Universe

NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge

NASA has selected the nine finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.

Posted April 8, 2024

Astrophysics

Astrophysics Division

Dark Matter

Dark Matter & Dark Energy

E-Books

Hubble Space Telescope

Missions

Science Mission Directorate

The Universe

NASA’s New Hubble E-Book Spotlights Universe’s Best-Kept Dark Secrets

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new downloadable e-book in the Hubble Focus series, called “Hubble Focus: The Dark Universe.” This e-book highlights the mission’s recent discoveries about two mysterious components of our universe, known as dark energy — an unexplained cosmic pressure that’s speeding up the universe’s expansion — a

Posted April 6, 2024

Humans in Space

International Space Station (ISS)

ISS Research

Missions

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara, Crewmates Return from Space Station

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara returned to Earth after a six-month research mission aboard the International Space Station on Saturday, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya. The trio departed the space station aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 11:54 p.m.

Posted April 6, 2024

Humans in Space

Jessica Watkins

Pamela A. Melroy

Raja Chari

NASA Leadership Spotlights Space Sustainability at Space Symposium

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Associate Administrator Jim Free are scheduled to speak at the Space Foundation’s 39th Space Symposium from Tuesday, April 9 through Thursday, April 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Posted April 5, 2024