Blog

NASA researchers successfully completed a high-speed taxi test of a scale model of a design that could make future aircraft more efficient by improving how air flows across a wing’s surface, saving fuel and money. On Jan. 12, the Crossflow Attenuated Natural Laminar Flow (CATNLF) test article reached speeds of approximately 144 mph, marking its […]

Posted January 21, 2026

Artemis 2

NASA’s Artemis II Rocket and Spacecraft Make Their Way to Launch Pad

This Jan. 17, 2026, image shows NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Posted January 21, 2026

Astrophysics

Goddard Space Flight Center

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Protostars

Science & Research

Stars

The Universe

NASA Webb Finds Young Sun-Like Star Forging, Spewing Common Crystals

Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why comets at the outskirts of our own solar system contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form and these “dirty snowballs” spend most of their time in the ultracold Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope […]

Posted January 21, 2026

Earth Observatory

Wildfires

Fires Erupt in South-Central Chile

Tens of thousands of people fled to safety as blazes spread throughout the country’s Biobío and Ñuble regions.

Posted January 21, 2026

NASA Headquarters

Ames Research Center

Apollo 1

Johnson Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Langley Research Center

Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Centers & Facilities

Space Shuttle

Stennis Space Center

NASA’s Day of Remembrance Honors Fallen Heroes of Exploration

NASA will observe its annual Day of Remembrance on Thursday, Jan. 22, which includes commemorating the crews of Apollo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. The event is traditionally held every year on the fourth Thursday of January, as all three astronaut accidents happened around the end of the month. “On NASA’s Day […]

Posted January 21, 2026

Sunita L. Williams

Astronauts

Humans in Space

Johnson Space Center

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Retires

After 27 years of service, NASA astronaut Suni Williams retired from the agency, effective Dec. 27, 2025. Williams completed three missions aboard the International Space Station, setting numerous human spaceflight records throughout her career.

Posted January 20, 2026

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

Artemis

NASA Headquarters

Science Mission Directorate

New NASA Artemis Payloads To Study Moon’s Terrain, Radiation, History

NASA announced Tuesday the selection of three new science investigations that will strengthen humanity’s understanding and exploration of the Moon. As part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, American companies will deliver these research payloads to the lunar surface no earlier than 2028.

Posted January 20, 2026

Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)

CoECI News

Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program

NIH Supplements, Facts First Challenge

NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) assists in the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government. CoECI’s NASA Tournament Lab offers the contract capability to run external crowdsourced challenges on behalf of NASA and other agencies.

Posted January 20, 2026

Aeronautics

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Integrated Aviation Systems Program

Low Boom Flight Demonstrator

NASA Aircraft

Quesst (X-59)

Supersonic Flight

NASA Chase Aircraft Ensures X-59’s Safety in Flight

As NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft continues a series of flight tests over the California high desert in 2026, its pilot will be flying with a buddy closely looking out for his safety. That colleague will be another test pilot in a separate chase aircraft. His job as chase pilot: keep a careful watch on things as he tracks the […]

Posted January 20, 2026

Space Launch System (SLS)

NASA’s SLS Rocket: Secondary Payloads

When NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket launches the agency’s Artemis II mission to the Moon, four CubeSats, or small satellites, will be hitching a ride inside the rocket’s Orion stage adapter (OSA). All four Artemis II CubeSats are provided by countries that are signatories of the Artemis Accords.

Posted January 20, 2026