Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA leadership, including Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, will participate in a workshop on space mobility and in-space servicing on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the University of Maryland in College Park. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST, the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities (COSMIC) workshop runs through Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Posted November 2, 2023

Technology

Technology Transfer & Spinoffs

NASA’s Webb Telescope Improves Simulation Software

The James Webb Space Telescope truly explores the unknown, displaying stunning images of previously unseen corners of the universe only possible because of the telescope’s 21-foot segmented mirror that unfurled and assembled itself in space.

Posted October 31, 2023

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Flight Opportunities Program

NASA Supports Tests of Dust Sensor to Aid Lunar Landings

University of Central Florida researchers tested an instrument designed to measure the size and speed of surface particles kicked up by the exhaust from a rocket-powered lander on the Moon or Mars. The four tethered flights on Astrobotic’s Xodiac rocket-powered lander took place in Mojave, California, from Sept. 12 through Oct. 4, 2023.

Posted October 27, 2023

Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA Tech Breathes Life Into Potentially Game-Changing Antenna Design

Some 30 years ago, a young engineer named Christopher Walker was home in the evening making chocolate pudding when he got what turned out to be a very serendipitous call from his mother. Taking the call, he shut off the stove and stretched plastic wrap over the pot to keep the pudding fresh. By the […]

Posted October 26, 2023

NASA en español

E-Books

Learning Resources

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Technology

Commander Callie Continues Moon Mission in NASA’s New Graphic Novel

Fictional astronaut Callie Rodriguez continues exploring space as the first woman to walk on the Moon in a new issue of NASA’s First Woman graphic novel series.

Posted October 26, 2023

General

Ames Research Center

CubeSats

Low-Earth Orbit Economy

Small Satellite Missions

Small Spacecraft Technology Program

SmallSats Program

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Tech Demo Missions

Follow NASA’s Starling Swarm in Real Time

NASA’s Starling CubeSats are zipping through low Earth orbit in the agency’s latest test of robotic swarm technologies for space. The four Starling spacecraft, launched in July 2023, are testing a group of small satellites ability to coordinate and cooperate independently without real-time updates from mission control.

Posted October 24, 2023

Technology Transfer & Spinoffs

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Technology

NASA Makes It Easier to Find Assistive Technologies for Licensing

NASA develops a variety of technologies to explore space and beyond for the benefit of humanity. One measure of its success is the impact on the daily lives of millions of people with injuries and disabilities who are assisted with innovative treatments and products developed from NASA-derived technology. After all, it was thanks to NASA’s […]

Posted October 17, 2023

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Space Technology Research Grants

Technology

Technology Research

More than Grants: Perspectives from Past NASA-funded Researchers

Each year, researchers nationwide embark on journeys of discovery facilitated by funding from NASA’s Space Technology Research Grants (STRG) program. They uncover innovations that benefit future research and their careers after graduation.

Posted October 17, 2023

Flight Opportunities Program

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Prizes, Challenges & Crowdsourcing

Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA Seeks Development of Universal Payload Interface

NASA is calling on innovators to help solve some of the challenges in rapidly testing technology payloads across a wide range of commercial flight vehicles and test environments. As NASA explores the unknown in air and space, the agency is making increased use of commercial suborbital vehicles, spacecraft, and lunar landers to help advance new […]

Posted October 16, 2023

Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Technology Demonstration Missions Program

5 Things to Know About NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications

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