Science Mission Directorate

Artemis
Earth's Moon
Goddard Space Flight Center
Lunar Discovery & Exploration Program
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has twice transmitted a laser pulse to a cookie-sized retroreflector aboard JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) SLIM lander on the Moon and received a return signal.
Posted July 29, 2024
Earth's Atmosphere
Earth's Magnetic Field
Goddard Space Flight Center
Heliophysics
Heliophysics Division
ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer)
Ionosphere
Missions
Science Mission Directorate
Space Weather
The Sun
After contributing to many important findings on the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space — an area where space weather can interfere with both satellites and communications signals — NASA’s ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) mission has come to an end.
Posted July 24, 2024
Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)
Joint Agency Satellite Division
Kennedy Space Center
Launch Services Program
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Science Mission Directorate
NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) to provide launch services for NOAA’s JPSS-4 mission. The spacecraft is part of the multi-satellite cooperative Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program, a partnership between NASA and NOAA.
Posted July 23, 2024
VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
Earth's Moon
Johnson Space Center
Science Mission Directorate
Following a comprehensive internal review, NASA announced Wednesday its intent to discontinue development of its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. NASA stated cost increases, delays to the launch date, and the risks of future cost growth as the reasons to stand down on the mission.
Posted July 17, 2024
Lunar Science
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, July 17, to provide an update on a program within NASA’s Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office.
Posted July 17, 2024
CubeSat Launch Initiative
CubeSats
Goddard Space Flight Center
Heliophysics
Heliophysics Division
Heliophysics Research Program
Science Mission Directorate
Small Satellite Missions
SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment)
NASA’s CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE, is scheduled to launch July 9, 2024, to investigate the unresolved origins of radio waves coming from the Sun.
Posted July 8, 2024
COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager)
Astrophysics Division
Astrophysics Explorers Program
Science Mission Directorate
Space Operations Mission Directorate
NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission. The firm-fixed-price contract has a value of approximately $69 million, which includes launch services and other mission related costs.
Posted July 2, 2024
2023 Solar Eclipse
2024 Solar Eclipse
Earth Science
For Kids and Students
Heliophysics
Science Activation
Science Mission Directorate
The Space Science Institute, with funding from the NASA Science Mission Directorate and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, provided unprecedented training, support, and supplies to 15,000 libraries in the U.S. and territories in support of public engagement during the 2023 and 2024 eclipses.
Posted June 28, 2024
GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite)
Earth Science
Goddard Space Flight Center
Kennedy Space Center
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
NASA successfully launched the fourth and final satellite in a series of advanced weather satellites for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) at 5:26 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
Posted June 26, 2024
Asteroids
DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)
Missions
Planetary Science
Planetary Science Division
Science Mission Directorate
The Solar System
NASA has selected 12 participating scientists to join ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024. Hera will study the binary asteroid system Didymos, including the moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022.
Posted June 25, 2024
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