Blog

NASA released the 2026 Civil Space Shortfall Ranking list on Wednesday, which integrates more than 400 responses from stakeholders including industry organizations, government agencies, and academia. Shortfalls refer to technology areas requiring further development to meet future exploration, science, and other mission needs.

Posted May 20, 2026

I Am Artemis

Artemis 2

Exploration Ground Systems

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Orion Program

I Am Artemis: Tim Goddard

Listen to this audio excerpt from Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead: At the end of their mission around the Moon, NASA’s Artemis II astronauts were recovered from their Orion spacecraft by a team of U.S. Navy divers and NASA personnel. This included Tim Goddard, NASA open water lead, who helped guide the complex open […]

Posted May 20, 2026

Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope

Gamma Rays

Goddard Space Flight Center

Magnetars

Neutron Stars

Stars

Supernovae

The Universe

NASA’s Fermi Glimpses Power Source of Supercharged Supernovae

An international team studying data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope concludes the mission detected a rare, unusually luminous supernova. The researchers say it likely received its power-up from a supermagnetized neutron star born in the stellar collapse that triggered the explosion.

Posted May 20, 2026

Earth Observatory

Landsat 9

Wildfires

Fire Chars Santa Rosa Island

The blaze spread across the southern side of the second-largest island in California’s Channel Islands National Park.

Posted May 20, 2026

Photojournal

Psyche Mission

NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater

Captured by the multispectral imager instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is an enhanced-color view of the large double-ring crater Huygens (upper right; about 290 miles, or 470 kilometers, in diameter) and the surrounding heavily cratered southern highlands near 15 degrees south latitude.

Posted May 19, 2026

Photojournal

Psyche Mission

NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach

This view of the Martian surface, captured by NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on May 15, 2026, shows streaks that have formed due to wind blowing over impact craters in the Syrtis Major region.

Posted May 19, 2026

Photojournal

Psyche Mission

Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole

Description This is the highest-resolution view of the water ice-rich south polar cap of Mars captured by NASA’s Psyche mission after it made its close approach with the planet for a gravity assist. The image scale is around 0.7 miles per pixel (1.14 kilometers per pixel). The cap itself extends across more than 430 miles […]

Posted May 19, 2026

NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby

Description This is Psyche’s first view of a nearly “full Mars” seen shortly after the spacecraft’s closest approach to the planet on May 15, 2026. The view extends from the south polar cap northwards to the Valles Marineris canyon system and beyond. With Mars in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will soon resume use of […]

Posted May 19, 2026

Photojournal

Psyche Mission

NASA’s Psyche Mission Images the Crescent of Mars

Description This view of a crescent Mars was captured on May 15, 2026, at about 5:03 a.m. PDT by NASA’s Psyche mission as it approached the planet for a gravity assist. Captured by the spacecraft’s multispectral imager instrument, this was the last view of the whole planet before it began to overfill the field of […]

Posted May 19, 2026

Psyche Mission

Asteroids

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Psyche Asteroid

NASA’s Psyche Mission Aces Mars Flyby, Targets Metal-Rich Asteroid

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed its close approach of Mars on May 15, coming within 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) of the planet’s surface. This flyby used a gravity assist from Mars to provide a critical boost in speed and to adjust the spacecraft’s orbital plane without using any onboard propellant, sending it on its way toward […]

Posted May 19, 2026