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<title>From Supercomputers to Wind Tunnels: NASA’s Road to Artemis II</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esdmd/common-exploration-systems-development-division/space-launch-system/from-supercomputers-to-wind-tunnels-nasas-road-to-artemis-ii/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mohon]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:41:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Space Launch System (SLS)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ames Research Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artemis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artemis 2]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marshall Space Flight Center]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Of the many roads leading to successful Artemis missions, one is paved with high-tech computing chips called superchips. Along the way, a partnership between NASA wind tunnel engineers, data visualization scientists, and software developers verified a quick, cost-effective solution to improve NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the upcoming Artemis II mission. This will […]]]></description>
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<div class="label color-spacesuit-white margin-bottom-2">5 Min Read</div>
<h1 class="heading-41 line-height-md color-spacesuit-white-important">
From Supercomputers to Wind Tunnels: NASA’s Road to Artemis II </h1>
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<p>Of the many roads leading to successful Artemis missions, one is paved with high-tech computing chips called superchips. Along the way, a partnership between NASA wind tunnel engineers, data visualization scientists, and software developers verified a quick, cost-effective solution to improve NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the upcoming Artemis II mission. This will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon. </p>
<p>A high-speed network connection between high-end computing resources at the <a href="https://www.nas.nasa.gov/" rel="noopener">NASA Advanced Supercomputing</a> facility and the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-ames-unitary-plan-wind-tunnel/">Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel</a>, both located at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, is enabling a collaboration to improve the rocket for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/">Artemis II</a> mission. During the Artemis I test flight, the SLS rocket experienced higher-than-expected vibrations near the solid rocket booster attach points, caused by unsteady airflow between the gap.</p>
<p>One solution proposed for Artemis II was adding four strakes. A strake is a thin, fin-like structure commonly used on aircraft to improve unsteady airflow and stability. Adding them to the core stage minimizes the vibration of components.</p>
<p>The strake solution comes from previous tests in the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, where NASA engineers applied an Unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint (uPSP) technique to SLS models. The paint measures changes over time in aerodynamic pressures on air and spacecraft.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="NASA Artemis II Rocket Supercomputer Simulation" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oJqk26YyKRg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This supercomputer simulation peers down at a close-up of the SLS rocket during ascent. The force of friction is represented in greens, yellows, and blues. A six-foot-long strake flanking each booster’s forward connection point on the SLS intertank smooths vibrations induced by airflow, represented by purples, yellows, and reds. The white streams represent a contour plot of density magnitude, highlighting the change of density in the air.<br><strong>Credit: NASA/NAS/Gerrit-Daniel Stich, Michael Barad, Timothy Sandstrom, Derek Dalle</strong></figcaption></figure>
<p>It is sprayed onto test models, and high-speed cameras capture video of the fluctuating brightness of the paint, which corresponds to the local pressure fluctuations on the model. Capturing rapid changes in pressure across large areas of the SLS model helps engineers understand the fast-changing environment. The data is streamed to the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility via a high-speed network connection.</p>
<p>“This technique lets us see wind tunnel data in much finer detail than ever before. With that extra clarity, engineers can create more accurate models of how rockets and spacecraft respond to stress, helping design stronger, safer, and more efficient structures,” said Thomas Steva, lead engineer, SLS sub-division in the Aerodynamics Branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.</p>
<p>For the SLS configuration with the strakes, the wind tunnel team applied the paint to a scale model of the rocket. Once the camera data streamed to the supercomputing facility, a team of visualization and data analysis experts displayed the results on the <a href="https://www.nas.nasa.gov/hecc/resources/viz_systems.html" rel="noopener">hyperwall visualization system</a>, giving the SLS team an unprecedented look at the effect of the strakes on the vehicle’s performance. Teams were able to interact with and analyze the paint data.</p>
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<h2 class="font-weight-extralight line-height-sm margin-top-0 section-heading-sm"><span class="section-heading-sm">NASA’s high-end computing capability and facilities, paired with unique facilities at Ames, give us the ability to increase productivity by shortening timelines, reducing costs, and strengthening designs in ways that directly support safe human spaceflight. </span></h2>
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<div class="blockquote-image hds-cover-wrapper margin-right-3"><figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kevin-murphy-headshot.webp?w=150&h=150&crop=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="Kevin Murphy" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="eager" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kevin-murphy-headshot.webp?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kevin-murphy-headshot.webp?resize=50,50 50w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kevin-murphy-headshot.webp?resize=100,100 100w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kevin-murphy-headshot.webp?resize=200,200 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></figure></div>
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<p class="blockquote-credit-name line-height-sm margin-0">Kevin Murphy</p>
<p class="blockquote-credit-title line-height-sm padding-0 margin-0">NASA's Chief Science Data Officer</p>
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<p>“NASA’s high-end computing capability and facilities, paired with unique facilities at Ames, give us the ability to increase productivity by shortening timelines, reducing costs, and strengthening designs in ways that directly support safe human spaceflight,” said Kevin Murphy, NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/ocsdo/" rel="noopener">chief science data officer</a> and lead for the agency’s High-End Computing Capability portfolio at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re actively using this capability to help ensure Artemis II is ready for launch.”</p>
<p>Leveraging the high-speed connection between the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility reduces the typical data processing time from weeks to just hours.</p>
<p>For years, the NASA Advancing Supercomputing Division’s in-house Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics software has helped play a role in designing and certifying the various SLS vehicle configurations.</p>
<p>“Being able to work with the hyperwall and the visualization team allows for in-person, rapid engagement with data, and we can make near-real-time tweaks to the processing,” said Lara Lash, an aerospace engineering researcher in the Experimental Aero-Physics Branch at NASA Ames who leads the uPSP work.</p>
<div id="" class="width-full maxw-full margin-left-auto margin-right-auto hds-media-align-inline hds-module wp-block-nasa-blocks-video"><div class="hds-cover-wrapper width-full maxw-full flex-column"><div class="hds-video-container width-full embed-container"><video title="strakebeforeandafter" id="nasa-plus-iQXdN" class="video-js video-player vjs-fluid width-full" data-setup='{"controls":true,"preload":"auto","plugins":{"mux":{"debug":false,"data":{"env_key":"91nns8oppqdfqc44lgo4b1gni","player_name":"www.nasa.gov Player","video_name":"strakebeforeandafter"}}}}' ><source src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/strakebeforeandafter.mp4" type="video/mp4"><p class="vjs-no-js">To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
<a href="https://videojs.com/html5-video-support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supports HTML5 video</a></p></video></div></div><div class="hds-media-caption hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0"><div>This video shows two simulations of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket using NASA’s Launch Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics solver. For the Artemis II test flight, a pair of six-foot-long strakes will be added to the core stage of SLS that will smooth vibrations induced by airflow during ascent. The top simulation is without strakes while the bottom shows the airflow with strakes. The green and yellow colors on the rocket’s surface show how the airflow scrapes against the rocket’s skin. The white and gray areas show changes in air density between the boosters and core stage, with the brightest regions marking shock waves. The strakes reduce vibrations and improves the safety of the integrated vehicle. </div></div><div class="hds-credits"><div>NASA/NAS/Gerrit-Daniel Stich, Michael Barad, Timothy Sandstrom, Derek Dalle</div></div></div></div>
<p>This time, NASA Advanced Supercomputing researchers used the Cabeus supercomputer, which is the agency’s largest GPU-based computing cluster containing 350 NVIDIA superchip nodes. The supercomputer produced a series of complex computational fluid dynamic simulations that helped explain the underlying physics of the strake addition and filled in gaps between areas where the wind tunnel cameras and sensors couldn’t reach.</p>
<p>This truly was a joint effort across multiple teams.</p>
<p>“The beauty of the strake solution is that we were able to add strakes to improve unsteady aerodynamics, and associated vibration levels of components in the intertank,” said Kristin Morgan, who manages the strake implementation effort for the SLS at Marshall.</p>
<p>A team from Boeing is currently installing the strakes on the rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and are targeting October 2025 to complete installation.</p>
<p>Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.</p>
<p>To learn more about Artemis, visit:</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis">https://www.nasa.gov/artemis</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Media Contact</h2>
<p>Jonathan Deal<br>Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. <br>256.544.0034<br><a href="mailto:jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov">jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov</a></p>
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<div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Editor</div></div><div class="grid-col-8">Lee Mohon</div></div><div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Contact</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><div class="margin-bottom-3"><div>Jonathan Deal</div><div></div></div></div></div><div class="grid-row"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Location</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><a class="hds-location-tag-name" href="/marshall/"><span class="hds-meta-heading">Marshall Space Flight Center</span></a></div></div> </div>
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<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0"><div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black "><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2></div><ul class="article-tags"><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">Space Launch System (SLS)</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/ames/">Ames Research Center</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/">Artemis</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/">Artemis 2</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/marshall-space-flight-center/">Marshall Space Flight Center</a></li></ul></div></div>
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</div>]]></content:encoded>
<media:content url="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/strakebeforeandafter.mp4" medium="video" width="1920" height="1080">
<media:player url="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/strakebeforeandafter.mp4" />
<media:title type="plain">From Supercomputers to Wind Tunnels: NASA’s Road to Artemis II - NASA</media:title>
<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[A partnership between NASA wind tunnel engineers, data visualization scientists, and software developers verified a quick, cost-effective solution to improve NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for the upcoming Artemis II mission. This will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon.]]></media:description>
<media:thumbnail url="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/slscloseup.png" />
<media:rating scheme="urn:simple">nonadult</media:rating>
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</item>
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<title>NASA’s Deep Space Communications Demo Exceeds Project Expectations</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/tech-demo-missions-program/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/nasas-deep-space-communications-demo-exceeds-project-expectations/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Anthony Greicius]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:43:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Psyche Mission]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Space Communications & Navigation Program]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Space Operations Mission Directorate]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Space Technology Mission Directorate]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tech Demo Missions]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=915981</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The project has exceeded all of its technical goals after two years, setting up the foundations of high-speed communications for NASA’s future human missions to Mars. NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology successfully showed that data encoded in lasers could be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded after traveling millions of miles from Earth at distances […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="padding-top-5 padding-bottom-3 width-full maxw-full hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-article-intro"><div class="width-full maxw-full article-header"><div class="margin-bottom-2 width-full maxw-full"><p class="label carbon-60 margin-0 margin-bottom-3 padding-0">5 min read</p><h1 class="display-48 margin-bottom-2">Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)</h1></div></div></div>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1367" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="Infrared photograph, the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg 7360w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=900,601 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=1200,801 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-pia26662-dsc4667-enhanced-nr.jpg?resize=2000,1335 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">In this infrared photograph, the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, California, beams its eight-laser beacon to the Deep Space Optical Communications flight laser transceiver aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft.</div><div class="hds-credits">NASA/JPL-Caltech</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p><em>The project has exceeded all of its technical goals after two years, setting up the foundations of high-speed communications for NASA’s future human missions to Mars.</em></p>
<p>NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology successfully showed that data encoded in lasers could be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded after traveling millions of miles from Earth at distances comparable to Mars. Nearly two years after launching aboard the agency’s Psyche mission in 2023, the technology demonstration recently completed its 65th and final pass, sending a laser signal to Psyche and receiving the return signal, from 218 million miles away. </p>
<p>“NASA is setting America on the path to Mars, and advancing laser communications technologies brings us one step closer to streaming high-definition video and delivering valuable data from the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/moontomarsarchitecture/">Martian surface</a> faster than ever before,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “Technology unlocks discovery, and we are committed to testing and proving the capabilities needed to enable the Golden Age of exploration.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe title="From Taters to Terabits: NASA Wraps Up Deep Space Laser Test" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDLSM97vmKw?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZoPT2VCxZJOF7Vg1VTNuGj4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This video details how the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment broke records and how the technology demonstration could pave the way for future high-bandwidth data transmission out to Mars distances and beyond. NASA/JPL-Caltech</figcaption></figure>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Record-breaking technology</strong></h3>
<p>Just a month after launch, the Deep Space Optical Communications <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-deep-space-optical-comm-demo-sends-receives-first-data/" rel="noopener">demonstration proved</a> it could send a signal back to Earth it established a link with the optical terminal aboard the Psyche spacecraft.</p>
<p>“NASA Technology tests hardware in the harsh environment of space to understand its limits and prove its capabilities,” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Over two years, this technology surpassed our expectations, demonstrating data rates comparable to those of household broadband internet and sending engineering and test data to Earth from record-breaking distances.”</p>
<p>On Dec. 11, 2023, the demonstration achieved a <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-tech-demo-streams-first-video-from-deep-space-via-laser/" rel="noopener">historic first</a> by streaming an ultra-high-definition video to Earth from over 19 million miles away (about 80 times the distance between Earth and the Moon), at the system’s maximum bitrate of 267 megabits per second. The project also surpassed optical communications distance records on Dec. 3, 2024, when it downlinked Psyche data from 307 million miles away (farther than the average distance between Earth and Mars). In total, the experiment’s ground terminals received 13.6 terabits of data from Psyche.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>How it works</strong></h3>
<p>Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, the experiment consists of a flight <a href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24569" rel="noopener">laser transceiver</a> mounted on the Psyche spacecraft, along with two ground stations to receive and send data from Earth. A powerful 3-kilowatt uplink laser at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility transmitted a laser beacon to Psyche, helping the transceiver determine where to aim the optical communications laser back to Earth.</p>
<p>Both Psyche and Earth are moving through space at tremendous speeds, and they are so distant from each other that the laser signal — which travels at the speed of light — can take several minutes to reach its destination. By using the precise pointing required from the ground and flight laser transmitters to close the communication link, teams at NASA proved that optical communications can be done to support future missions throughout the solar system.</p>
<p>Another element of the experiment included detecting and decoding a faint signal after the laser traveled millions of miles. The project enlisted a 200-inch telescope at Caltech’s <a href="https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/homepage.html" rel="noopener">Palomar Observatory</a> in San Diego County as its primary downlink station, which provided enough light-collecting area to collect the faintest photons. Those photons were then directed to a high-efficiency <a href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26141" rel="noopener">detector array</a> at the observatory, where the information encoded in the photons could be processed. </p>
<p>“We faced many challenges, from weather events that shuttered our ground stations to wildfires in Southern California that impacted our team members,” said Abi Biswas, Deep Space Optical Communications project technologist and supervisor at JPL. “But we persevered, and I am proud that our team embraced the weekly routine of optically transmitting and receiving data from Psyche. We constantly improved performance and added capabilities to get used to this novel kind of deep space communication, stretching the technology to its limits.”</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Brilliant new era</strong></h3>
<p>In another test, data was downlinked to an experimental radio frequency-optical <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-new-experimental-antenna-tracks-deep-space-laser/" rel="noopener">“hybrid” antenna</a> at the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone complex near Barstow, California. The antenna was retrofitted with an array of seven mirrors, totaling 3 feet in diameter, enabling the antenna to receive radio frequency and optical signals from Psyche simultaneously.</p>
<p>The project also used Caltech’s Palomar Observatory and a smaller 1-meter telescope at Table Mountain to receive the same signal from Psyche. Known as “arraying,” this is commonly done with radio antennas to better receive weak signals and build redundancy into the system.</p>
<p>“As space exploration continues to evolve, so do our data transfer needs,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program at the agency’s headquarters. “Future space missions will require astronauts to send high-resolution images and instrument data from the Moon and Mars back to Earth. Bolstering our capabilities of traditional radio frequency communications with the power and benefits of optical communications will allow NASA to meet these new requirements.”</p>
<p>This demonstration is the latest in a series of optical communication experiments funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the agency’s SCaN program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the University of California, Berkeley is the principal investigator. NASA JPL, managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management.</p>
<p>To learn more about the laser communications demo, visit:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/" rel="noopener">https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/</a></p>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>News Media Contact</strong></h3>
<p>Ian J. O’Neill<br>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br>818-354-2649<br><a href="mailto:ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov">ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov</a></p>
<p>2025-120</p>
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<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0"><div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black "><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2></div><ul class="article-tags"><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/">Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche" rel="noopener">Psyche Mission</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space-operations/space-communications-and-navigation-scan-program/">Space Communications & Navigation Program</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space-operations/">Space Operations Mission Directorate</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate/">Space Technology Mission Directorate</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/smallspacecraft/technology-demonstrations/">Tech Demo Missions</a></li></ul></div></div>
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<media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDLSM97vmKw" medium="video" width="1280" height="720">
<media:player url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDLSM97vmKw" />
<media:title type="plain">From Taters to Terabits: NASA Wraps Up Deep Space Laser Test</media:title>
<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration has successfully concluded after two years, surpassing all technical goals and pavin...]]></media:description>
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<title>NASA Gateways to Blue Skies 2026 Competition</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/prizes-challenges-crowdsourcing-program/center-of-excellence-for-collaborative-innovation-coeci/nasa-gateways-to-blue-skies-2026-competition/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Douglas]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:29:37 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Get Involved]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Opportunities to Contribute to NASA Missions & Get Involved]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=916251</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The commercial aviation industry is a crucial component of the U.S. economy, playing a vital role in transporting people, intermediate/final goods, and driving demand for various goods and services nationwide. This network enhances the quality of life for the whole country and facilitates business interactions within and globally, boosting productivity and prosperity. However, the industry […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-full"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png"><img decoding="async" width="929" height="265" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?w=929" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 0% 43%; object-position: 0% 43%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png 929w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?resize=300,86 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?resize=768,219 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?resize=400,114 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?resize=600,171 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/blueskies-logo-sml-copy.png?resize=900,257 900w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /></a></figure></div></div></div>
<p>The commercial aviation industry is a crucial component of the U.S. economy, playing a vital role in transporting people, intermediate/final goods, and driving demand for various goods and services nationwide. This network enhances the quality of life for the whole country and facilitates business interactions within and globally, boosting productivity and prosperity. However, the industry faces numerous challenges, particularly the need to reduce rising operational costs in a growing market to accommodate increased demand in air travel, e-commerce, and cargo sectors. Issues such as aging aircraft and components, technological advancements, and staffing shortages further complicate these challenges, hindering efforts to balance passenger safety with operational efficiency. To address these challenges, the industry needs to swiftly innovate and implement more efficient and resilient aircraft maintenance practices, including the adoption of new technologies. <strong>In the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, teams will conceptualize novel aviation maintenance advancements that can be implemented by 2035 or sooner with the goal of improving efficiency, safety, and/or costs for the industry</strong>. Teams are encouraged to consider high-potential technologies and systems that aren’t currently mainstream or highly regarded as becoming mainstream in the future, imagining beyond the status quo.</p>
<p>Award: $72,000 in total prizes</p>
<p>Open Date: Phase 1 – September 18, 2025; Phase 2 – March 13, 2026</p>
<p>Close Date: Phase 1 – February 16, 2026; Phase 2- May 15, 2026</p>
<p>For more information, visit: <a href="https://blueskies.nianet.org/competition/" rel="noopener">https://blueskies.nianet.org/competition/</a></p>
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<title>NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-finds-black-hole-with-tremendous-growth/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mohon]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:31:55 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Chandra X-Ray Observatory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Astrophysics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Black Holes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Research]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marshall Astrophysics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marshall Space Flight Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Quasars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Science & Research]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Supermassive Black Holes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Universe]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=916044</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of astronomers. This discovery from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the big bang. The black hole weighs about a billion times the mass of the […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="An artist's concept of a supermassive black hole, a surrounding disk of material falling towards the black hole and a jet containing particles moving away at close to the speed of light. This black hole represents a recently-discovered quasar powered by a black hole. New Chandra observations indicate that the black hole is growing at a rate that exceeds the usual limit for black holes, called the Eddington Limit. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg 6000w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/red6.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">An artist’s concept of a supermassive black hole, a surrounding disk of material falling towards the black hole and a jet containing particles moving away at close to the speed of light. This black hole represents a recently-discovered quasar powered by a black hole. New Chandra observations indicate that the black hole is growing at a rate that exceeds the usual limit for black holes, called the Eddington Limit. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss</div><div class="hds-credits">X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-Brera/L. Ighina et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of astronomers. This discovery from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the big bang.</p>
<p>The black hole weighs about a billion times the mass of the Sun and is located about 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that astronomers are seeing it only 920 million years after the universe began. It is producing more X-rays than any other black hole seen in the first billion years of the universe.</p>
<p>The black hole is powering what scientists call a quasar, an extremely bright object that outshines entire galaxies. The power source of this glowing monster is large amounts of matter funneling around and entering the black hole.</p>
<p>While the same team discovered it two years ago, it took observations from Chandra in 2023 to discover what sets this quasar, RACS J0320-35, apart. The X-ray data reveal that this black hole appears to be growing at a rate that exceeds the normal limit for these objects.</p>
<p>“It was a bit shocking to see this black hole growing by leaps and bounds,” said Luca Ighina of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who led the study.</p>
<p>When matter is pulled toward a black hole it is heated and produces intense radiation over a broad spectrum, including X-rays and optical light. This radiation creates pressure on the infalling material. When the rate of infalling matter reaches a critical value, the radiation pressure balances the black hole’s gravity, and matter cannot normally fall inwards any more rapidly. That maximum is referred to as the Eddington limit.</p>
<p>Scientists think that black holes growing more slowly than the Eddington limit need to be born with masses of about 10,000 Suns or more so they can reach a billion solar masses within a billion years after the big bang — as has been observed in RACS J0320-35. A black hole with such a high birth mass could directly result from an exotic process: the collapse of a huge cloud of dense gas containing unusually low amounts of elements heavier than helium, conditions that may be extremely rare.</p>
<p>If RACS J0320-35 is indeed growing at a high rate — estimated at 2.4 times the Eddington limit — and has done so for a sustained amount of time, its black hole could have started out in a more conventional way, with a mass less than a hundred Suns, caused by the implosion of a massive star.</p>
<p>“By knowing the mass of the black hole and working out how quickly it’s growing, we’re able to work backward to estimate how massive it could have been at birth,” said co-author Alberto Moretti of INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera in Italy. “With this calculation we can now test different ideas on how black holes are born.”</p>
<p>To figure out how fast this black hole is growing (between 300 and 3,000 Suns per year), the researchers compared theoretical models with the X-ray signature, or spectrum, from Chandra, which gives the amounts of X-rays at different energies. They found the Chandra spectrum closely matched what they expected from models of a black hole growing faster than the Eddington limit. Data from optical and infrared light also supports the interpretation that this black hole is packing on weight faster than the Eddington limit allows.</p>
<p>“How did the universe create the first generation of black holes?” said co-author Thomas of Connor, also of the Center for Astrophysics. “This remains one of the biggest questions in astrophysics and this one object is helping us chase down the answer.”</p>
<p>Another scientific mystery addressed by this result concerns the cause of jets of particles that move away from some black holes at close to the speed of light, as seen in RACS J0320-35. Jets like this are rare for quasars, which may mean that the rapid rate of growth of the black hole is somehow contributing to the creation of these jets.</p>
<p>The quasar was previously discovered as part of a radio telescope survey using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, combined with optical data from the Dark Energy Camera, an instrument mounted on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory’s Gemini-South Telescope on Cerro Pachon, Chile was used to obtain the accurate distance of RACS J0320-35.</p>
<p>A paper describing these results has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal and is <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aded0a" rel="noopener">available here</a>.</p>
<p>NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.</p>
<div id="" class="nasa-gb-align-center nasa-button-link padding-y-1 padding-x-0 hds-module aligncenter wp-block-nasa-blocks-related-link">
<a href="https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/red6/" target="_blank" class="button-primary button-primary-md link-external-true" aria-label="Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory" rel="noopener">
<span class="line-height-alt-1">Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory</span>
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<p>Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/chandra">https://www.nasa.gov/chandra</a></p>
<p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://chandra.si.edu" rel="noopener">https://chandra.si.edu</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Visual Description</strong></h2>
<p>This release features a quasar located 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, presented as an artist’s illustration and an X-ray image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.</p>
<p>In the artist’s illustration, the quasar, RACS J0320-35, sits at our upper left, filling the left side of the image. It resembles a spiraling, motion-blurred disk of orange, red, and yellow streaks. At the center of the disk, surrounded by a glowing, sparking, brilliant yellow light, is a black egg shape. This is a black hole, one of the fastest-growing black holes ever detected. The black hole is also shown in a small Chandra X-ray image inset at our upper right. In that depiction, the black hole appears as a white dot with an outer ring of neon purple.</p>
<p>The artist’s illustration also highlights a jet of particles blasting away from the black hole at the center of the quasar. The streaked silver beam starts at the core of the distant quasar, near our upper left, and shoots down toward our lower right. The blurry beam of energetic particles appears to widen as it draws closer and exits the image.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Media Contact</h2>
<p><strong>Megan Watzke<br></strong>Chandra X-ray Center<br>Cambridge, Mass.<br>617-496-7998<br><a href="mailto:mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu">mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu</a></p>
<p><strong>Corinne Beckinger<br></strong>Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama<br>256-544-0034<br><a href="mailto:corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov">corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov</a></p>
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<div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Editor</div></div><div class="grid-col-8">Lee Mohon</div></div><div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Contact</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><div class="margin-bottom-3"><div>Corinne M. Beckinger</div><div><a href="mailto:corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov">corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov</a></div></div></div></div><div class="grid-row"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Location</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><a class="hds-location-tag-name" href="/marshall/"><span class="hds-meta-heading">Marshall Space Flight Center</span></a></div></div> </div>
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<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0"><div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black "><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2></div><ul class="article-tags"><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/chandra" rel="noopener">Chandra X-Ray Observatory</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/" rel="noopener">Astrophysics</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/" rel="noopener">Black Holes</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/galaxies-stars-black-holes/">Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/galaxies-stars-black-holes-research/">Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Research</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/marshall-science-research-and-projects/marshall-astrophysics/">Marshall Astrophysics</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/marshall-space-flight-center/">Marshall Space Flight Center</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/galaxies/quasars/">Quasars</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/" rel="noopener">Science & Research</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/supermassive-black-holes/">Supermassive Black Holes</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/" rel="noopener">The Universe</a></li></ul></div></div>
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<title>Building a Lunar Network: Johnson Tests Wireless Technologies for the Moon </title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/building-a-lunar-network-johnson-tests-wireless-technologies-for-the-moon/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sumer Loggins]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:37:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Johnson Space Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artemis]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=915005</guid>
<description><![CDATA[NASA engineers are strapping on backpacks loaded with radios, cameras, and antennas to test technology that might someday keep explorers connected on the lunar surface. Their mission: test how astronauts on the Moon will stay connected during Artemis spacewalks using 3GPP (LTE/4G and 5G) and Wi-Fi technologies.  With Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence […]]]></description>
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<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="1536" height="1024" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?w=1536" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="A group of people stand together at a test site in the desert, with wide open terrain and craters in the background." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg 5088w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-121.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px" /></figure> </div>
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<div><figcaption>From left, Johnson Exploration Wireless Laboratory (JEWL) Software Lead William Dell; Lunar 3GPP Principal Investigator Raymond Wagner; JEWL intern Harlan Phillips; and JEWL Lab Manager Chatwin Lansdowne.</figcaption></div>
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<div class="hds-credits color-spacesuit-white-important">
<span>Credits: </span>
<span>Nevada Space Proving Grounds (NSPG)</span>
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<p>NASA engineers are strapping on backpacks loaded with radios, cameras, and antennas to test technology that might someday keep explorers connected on the lunar surface. Their mission: test how astronauts on the Moon will stay connected during Artemis spacewalks using 3GPP (LTE/4G and 5G) and Wi-Fi technologies. </p>
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<h2 class="font-weight-extralight line-height-sm margin-top-0 section-heading-sm"><span class="section-heading-sm">It’s exciting to bring lunar spacewalks into the 21st century with the immersive, high-definition experience that will make people feel like they’re right there with the astronauts.</span></h2>
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<div class="blockquote-image hds-cover-wrapper margin-right-3"><figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jsc2022e007774.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="Raymond Wagner" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jsc2022e007774.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jsc2022e007774.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jsc2022e007774.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/jsc2022e007774.jpg?resize=200,200 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></figure></div>
<div class="grid-col-11">
<p class="blockquote-credit-name line-height-sm margin-0">Raymond Wagner</p>
<p class="blockquote-credit-title line-height-sm padding-0 margin-0">NASA’s Lunar 3GPP Project Principal Investigator</p>
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<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="A person walks with a prototype backpack in the Nevada desert." style="transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg 5088w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-257.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">A NASA engineer tests a backpack-mounted wireless communications system in the Nevada desert, simulating how astronauts will stay connected during Artemis lunar spacewalks. </div><div class="hds-credits">NSPG</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>With Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence at the Moon, opening more of the lunar surface to exploration than ever before. This growth of lunar activity will require astronauts to communicate seamlessly with each other and with science teams back on Earth. </p>
<p>“We’re working out what the software that uses these networks needs to look like,” said Raymond Wagner, principal investigator in NASA’s Lunar 3GPP project and member of Johnson Space Center’s Exploration Wireless Laboratory (JEWL) in Houston. “We’re prototyping it with commercial off-the-shelf hardware and open-source software to show what pieces are needed and how they interact.” </p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="A person walks with a prototype backpack in the Nevada desert." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg 5088w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/nasa-jett7-nov-2024-250.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Carrying a prototype wireless network pack, a NASA engineer helps test wireless 4G and 5G technologies that could one day keep Artemis astronauts connected on the Moon. </div><div class="hds-credits">NSPG</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>The next big step comes with Artemis III, which will land a crew on the Moon and carry a 4G/LTE demonstration to stream video and audio from the astronauts on the lunar surface. </p>
<p> The vision goes further. “Right now the lander or rover will host the network,” Wagner said. “But if we go to the Moon to stay, we may eventually want actual cell towers. The spacesuit itself is already becoming the astronaut’s cell phone, and rovers could act as mobile hotspots. Altogether, these will be the building blocks of communication on the Moon.” </p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1153" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="Four people wearing prototype backpack communication systems cross a street at Johnson Space Center in Houston." style="transform: scale(1.3); transform-origin: 62% 60%; object-position: 62% 60%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg 7008w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=2048,1153 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=400,225 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=900,507 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=1200,675 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/dsc02529.jpg?resize=2000,1126 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Team members from NASA’s Avionics Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston.</div><div class="hds-credits">NASA/Sumer Loggins</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>Back at Johnson, teams are simulating lunar spacewalks, streaming video, audio, and telemetry over a private 5G network to a mock mission control. The work helps engineers refine how future systems will perform in challenging environments. Craters, lunar regolith, and other terrain features all affect how radio signals travel — lessons that will also carry over to Mars. </p>
<p>For Wagner, the project is about shaping how humanity experiences the next era of exploration. “We’re aiming for true HD on the Moon,” he said. “It’s going to be pretty mind-blowing.” </p>
<div id="" class="hds-about-the-author nasa-gb-align-full width-full maxw-full padding-x-3 padding-y-6 hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-about-the-author"><div class="grid-row grid-container maxw-widescreen padding-x-0 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black padding-top-3"><div class="margin-bottom-4"><h3 class="heading-14">About the Author</h3></div></div><div class="grid-row grid-container padding-x-0 maxw-widescreen"><div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-6 desktop:padding-right-9"><div class="grid-row"><div class="hds-author-thumbnail mobile:circle-6 mobile:maxw-6 circle-card maxw-card thumbnail margin-right-2 desktop:margin-right-5"><img decoding="async" width="10rem" height="10rem" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" class="avatar avatar-300 photo medium" src="https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3f52d994c14893c0770643d18f00f19e?s=300&d=blank&r=g" alt="Sumer Loggins"></div><div class="grid-col"><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-29 line-height-sm">Sumer Loggins</h2></div><div class="padding-y-2"></div></div></div></div><div class="desktop:grid-col-6 desktop:padding-right-9"><p class="margin-top-0"></p></div></div></div>
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<title>New NASA Mission to Reveal Earth’s Invisible ‘Halo’</title>
<link>https://science.nasa.gov/uncategorized/new-nasa-mission-to-reveal-earths-invisible-halo/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:15:49 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Goddard Space Flight Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Heliophysics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Heliophysics Division]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[NASA Directorates]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Science & Research]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Science Mission Directorate]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://science.nasa.gov/uncategorized/new-nasa-mission-to-reveal-earths-invisible-halo/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A new NASA mission will capture images of Earth’s invisible “halo,” the faint light given off by our planet’s outermost atmospheric layer, the exosphere, as it morphs and changes in response to the Sun. Understanding the physics of the exosphere is a key step toward forecasting dangerous conditions in near-Earth space, a requirement for protecting […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="padding-top-5 padding-bottom-3 width-full maxw-full hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-article-intro">
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<p class="label carbon-60 margin-0 margin-bottom-3 padding-0">5 min read</p>
<h1 class="display-48 margin-bottom-2">New NASA Mission to Reveal Earth’s Invisible ‘Halo’</h1>
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<p>A new NASA mission will capture images of Earth’s invisible “halo,” the faint light given off by our planet’s outermost atmospheric layer, the exosphere, as it morphs and changes in response to the Sun. Understanding the physics of the exosphere is a key step toward forecasting dangerous conditions in near-Earth space, a requirement for protecting Artemis astronauts traveling through the region on the way to the Moon or on future trips to Mars. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Revealing Earth’s invisible edge</strong></h3>
<p>In the early 1970s, scientists could only speculate about how far Earth’s atmosphere extended into space. The mystery was rooted in the exosphere, our atmosphere’s outermost layer, which begins some 300 miles up. Theorists conceived of it as a cloud of hydrogen atoms — the lightest element in existence — that had risen so high the atoms were actively escaping into space.</p>
<p>But the exosphere reveals itself only via a faint “halo” of ultraviolet light known as the geocorona. Pioneering scientist and engineer <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-names-mission-in-honor-of-dr-george-r-carruthers-visionary-behind-first-moon-based-telescope/" rel="noopener">Dr. George Carruthers</a> set himself the task of seeing it. After launching a few prototypes on test rockets, he developed an ultraviolet camera ready for a one-way trip to space.</p>
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<figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" rel="noopener"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="400" height="400" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="An astronaut stands on the Moon near a lunar module and scientific equipment, with an American flag and lunar rover in the background. The lunar surface is covered in footprints and gray dust." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="eager" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=150&h=150&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 150w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=300&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=50&h=50&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 50w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=100&h=100&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 100w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/moon-based-telescope.jpg?w=200&h=200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2">
<div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Apollo 16 astronaut John Young is pictured on the lunar surface with George Carruthers’ gold-plated Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first Moon-based observatory. The Lunar Module “Orion” is on the right and the Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked in the background next to the American flag.</div>
<div class="hds-credits">NASA</div>
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<p>In April 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts placed Carruthers’ camera on the Moon’s Descartes Highlands, and humanity got its first<strong> </strong>glimpse of Earth’s geocorona. The images it produced were as stunning for what they captured as they were for what they didn’t.</p>
<p>“The camera wasn’t far enough away, being at the Moon, to get the entire field of view,” said Lara Waldrop, principal investigator for the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. “And that was really shocking — that this light, fluffy cloud of hydrogen around the Earth could extend that far from the surface.” Waldrop leads the mission from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where George Carruthers was an alumnus.</p>
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<figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" width="400" height="400" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="A false-color, close-up image of Earth’s exosphere as captured by the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory against a dark blue background. The image shows a semicircle glowing yellow and outlined in red." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=400&h=400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=150&h=150&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 150w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=300&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=50&h=50&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 50w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=100&h=100&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 100w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/1514px-earth_in_ultraviolet_from_the_moon_s72-40821.jpg?w=200&h=200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2">
<div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">The first image of UV light from Earth’s outer atmosphere, the geocorona, taken from a telescope designed and built by George Carruthers. The telescope took the image while on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.</div>
<div class="hds-credits">G. Carruthers (NRL) et al./Far UV Camera/NASA/Apollo 16</div>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Our planet, in a new light</strong></h3>
<p>Today, the exosphere is thought to stretch at least halfway to the Moon. But the reasons for studying go beyond curiosity about its size.<br />As solar eruptions reach Earth, they hit the exosphere first, setting off a chain of reactions that sometimes culminate in dangerous space weather storms. Understanding the exosphere’s response is important to predicting and mitigating the effects of these storms. In addition, hydrogen — one of the atomic building blocks of water, or H<sub>2</sub>O — escapes through the exosphere. Mapping that escape process will shed light on why Earth retains water while other planets don’t, helping us find exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, that might do the same.<br />NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/carruthers-geocorona-observatory/" rel="noopener">Carruthers Geocorona Observatory</a>, named in honor of George Carruthers, is designed to capture the first continuous movies of Earth’s exosphere, revealing its full expanse and internal dynamics.</p>
<p>“We’ve never had a mission before that was dedicated to making exospheric observations,” said Alex Glocer, the Carruthers mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s really exciting that we’re going to get these measurements for the first time.”</p>
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<iframe loading="lazy" title="NASA Mission to Study Giant ‘Halo’ Surrounding Earth" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jpuTizjSTgU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p><em><a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14887/" rel="noopener">Download this video</a> from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.</em></p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Journey to L1</strong></h3>
<p>At 531 pounds and roughly the size of a loveseat sofa, the Carruthers spacecraft will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket along with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) spacecraft and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1) space weather satellite. After launch, all three missions will commence a four-month cruise phase to Lagrange point 1 (L1), a location approximately 1 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is. After a one-month period for science checkouts, Carruthers’ two-year science phase will begin in March 2026.</p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image">
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<figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/Lagrange%20Point%201.png?w=2860&h=1562&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" width="2860" height="1562" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/hpd/geospace/Lagrange%20Point%201.png?w=2860&h=1562&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="An artist’s concept showing a diagram including the Sun, Earth, and five labeled points (L1–L5) representing the Sun-Earth Lagrange Points, where gravitational forces balance in the Sun-Earth system, against the backdrop of space. L1, where the Carruthers spacecraft will orbit, is labeled with brighter, bold text. Earth is labeled as well." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2">
<div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Artist’s concept of the five Sun-Earth Lagrange points in space. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses counteract, allowing spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun and will be home to three new heliophysics missions in 2025: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO – L1).</div>
<div class="hds-credits">NASA’s Conceptual Image Lab/Krystofer Kim</div>
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<p>From L1, roughly four times farther away than the Moon, Carruthers will capture a comprehensive view of the exosphere using two ultraviolet cameras, a near-field imager and a wide-field imager.</p>
<p>“The near-field imager lets you zoom up really close to see how the exosphere is varying close to the planet,” Glocer said. “The wide-field imager lets you see the full scope and expanse of the exosphere, and how it’s changing far away from the Earth’s surface.”</p>
<p>The two imagers will together map hydrogen atoms as they move through the exosphere and ultimately out to space. But what we learn about atmospheric escape on our home planet applies far beyond it.</p>
<p>“Understanding how that works at Earth will greatly inform our understanding of exoplanets and how quickly their atmospheres can escape,” Waldrop said.</p>
<p>By studying the physics of Earth, the one planet we know that supports life, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory can help us know what to look for elsewhere in the universe.</p>
<p>The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory mission is led by Lara Waldrop from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley leads mission implementation, design and development of the payload in collaboration with Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory. The Carruthers spacecraft was designed and built by BAE Systems. NASA’s Explorers and Heliophysics Projects Division at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the mission for the agency’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.</p>
<p><em><strong>By <a href="mailto:miles.s.hatfield@nasa.gov" target="_blank" data-type="mailto" data-id="mailto:miles.s.hatfield@nasa.gov" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miles Hatfield</a></strong><br /><strong>NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.</strong></em></p>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Milky Way Views</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/milky-way-views/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Monika Luabeya]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:14:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[International Space Station (ISS)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Milky Way]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?post_type=image-article&p=915299</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Milky Way appears above Earth’s bright atmospheric glow in this Aug. 23, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it soared 261 miles above southern Iran at approximately 12:54 a.m. local time. The camera was configured for low light and long duration settings. Our home galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars, enough […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="The Milky Way galaxy appears above Earth's greenish atmospheric glow. The galaxy's dust and stars can be seen against the darkness of space." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg 8256w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iss073e0516005orig.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-credits">NASA; JAXA</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>The <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/milky-way-overlay/" rel="noopener">Milky Way</a> appears above Earth’s bright atmospheric glow in this Aug. 23, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it soared 261 miles above southern Iran at approximately 12:54 a.m. local time. The camera was configured for low light and long duration settings.</p>
<p>Our home galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars, enough gas and dust to make billions more stars, and at least ten times as much dark matter as all the stars and gas put together. <a href="https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="noopener">NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope</a> – slated to launch no later than May 2027 – <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/how-nasas-roman-mission-will-unveil-our-home-galaxy-using-cosmic-dust/">will help scientists better understand the gas and dust strewn between stars in our galaxy</a>, known as the interstellar medium.</p>
<p><em>Image credit: NASA; JAXA</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>NASA’s Hubble Sees White Dwarf Eating Piece of Pluto-Like Object</title>
<link>https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-sees-white-dwarf-eating-piece-of-pluto-like-object/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:59:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Astrophysics Division]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dwarf Planets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Goddard Space Flight Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hubble Space Telescope]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Kuiper Belt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[White Dwarfs]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-sees-white-dwarf-eating-piece-of-pluto-like-object/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In our nearby stellar neighborhood, a burned-out star is snacking on a fragment of a Pluto-like object. With its unique ultraviolet capability, only NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could identify that this meal is taking place. The stellar remnant is a white dwarf about half the mass of our Sun, but that is densely packed into […]]]></description>
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<div class="label color-spacesuit-white margin-bottom-2">5 Min Read</div>
<h1 class="heading-41 line-height-md color-spacesuit-white-important">
NASA’s Hubble Sees White Dwarf Eating Piece of Pluto-Like Object </h1>
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<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="3000" height="2400" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=3000&h=2400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="An illustration showing a glowing white object in the upper left corner. This object is encircled by hundreds of thin, concentric, pale-yellow rings on an angle from bottom left to top right. The rings are palest closest to the central, glowing white object. A curving trail of gray, rock-like fragments marches across the right side, through the thin rings and joins the rings at far right. The eight largest fragments of varying sizes appear in the foreground. These objects have white, comet-like tails streaking away from the glowing white object in the rings’ center. The curving trail of fragments bends toward the glowing white object. At the bottom left corner is the label Artist’s Concept." style="transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 45% 39%; object-position: 45% 39%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=3000&h=2400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 3000w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=300&h=240&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=768&h=614&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 768w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1024&h=819&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1024w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1536&h=1229&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1536w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=2048&h=1638&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 2048w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=400&h=320&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=600&h=480&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 600w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=900&h=720&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 900w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1200&h=960&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1200w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=2000&h=1600&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /></figure>
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<div><figcaption>This artist’s concept shows a white dwarf surrounded by a large debris disk. Debris from pieces of a captured, Pluto-like object is falling onto the white dwarf.</figcaption></div>
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<span>Credits: </span><br />
<span>Artwork: NASA, Tim Pyle (NASA/JPL-Caltech)</span>
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<p>In our nearby stellar neighborhood, a burned-out star is snacking on a fragment of a Pluto-like object. With its unique ultraviolet capability, only NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/" rel="noopener">Hubble Space Telescope</a> could identify that this meal is taking place.</p>
<p>The stellar remnant is a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/multimedia/hubble-glossary/#h-white-dwarf-star" rel="noopener">white dwarf</a> about half the mass of our Sun, but that is densely packed into a body about the size of Earth. Scientists think the dwarf’s immense gravity pulled in and tore apart an icy Pluto analog from the system’s own version of the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/" rel="noopener">Kuiper Belt</a>, an icy ring of debris that encircles our solar system. The <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1424" rel="nofollow noopener">findings were reported</a> on September 18 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.</p>
<p>The researchers were able to determine this carnage by analyzing the chemical composition of the doomed object as its pieces fell onto the white dwarf. In particular, they detected “volatiles” — substances with low boiling points — including carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, and a high oxygen content that suggests the strong presence of water.</p>
<p>“We were surprised,” said Snehalata Sahu of the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Sahu led the data analysis of a Hubble survey of white dwarfs. “We did not expect to find water or other icy content. This is because the comets and Kuiper Belt-like objects are thrown out of their planetary systems early, as their stars evolve into white dwarfs. But here, we are detecting this very volatile-rich material. This is surprising for astronomers studying white dwarfs as well as exoplanets, planets outside our solar system.”</p>
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<figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover "><a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=3000&h=2400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" width="3000" height="2400" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=3000&h=2400&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="An illustration showing a glowing white object in the upper left corner. This object is encircled by hundreds of thin, concentric, pale-yellow rings on an angle from bottom left to top right. The rings are palest closest to the central, glowing white object. A curving trail of gray, rock-like fragments marches across the right side, through the thin rings and joins the rings at far right. The eight largest fragments of varying sizes appear in the foreground. These objects have white, comet-like tails streaking away from the glowing white object in the ringsu2019 center. The curving trail of fragments bends toward the glowing white object. At the bottom left corner is the label Artistu2019s Concept." style="transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=3000&h=2400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 3000w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=300&h=240&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=768&h=614&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 768w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1024&h=819&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1024w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1536&h=1229&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1536w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=2048&h=1638&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 2048w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=400&h=320&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=600&h=480&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 600w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=900&h=720&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 900w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=1200&h=960&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1200w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K4FHRVYTEF017J1HWGE8TPSF.tif?w=2000&h=1600&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2">
<div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">This artist’s concept shows a white dwarf surrounded by a large debris disk. Debris from pieces of a captured, Pluto-like object is falling onto the white dwarf.</div>
<div class="hds-credits">Artwork: NASA, Tim Pyle (NASA/JPL-Caltech)</div>
</figcaption></div>
</div>
</div>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Only with Hubble</h3>
<p>Using Hubble’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/observatory/design/cosmic-origins-spectrograph/" rel="noopener">Cosmic Origins Spectrograph</a>, the team found that the fragments were composed of 64 percent water ice. The fact that they detected so much ice meant that the pieces were part of a very massive object that formed far out in the star system’s icy Kuiper Belt analog. Using Hubble data, scientists calculated that the object was bigger than typical comets and may be a fragment of an exo-Pluto.</p>
<p>They also detected a large fraction of nitrogen – the highest ever detected in white dwarf debris systems. “We know that Pluto’s surface is covered with nitrogen ices,” said Sahu. “We think that the white dwarf accreted fragments of the crust and mantle of a dwarf planet.”</p>
<p>Accretion of these volatile-rich objects by white dwarfs is very difficult to detect in visible light. These volatile elements can only be detected with Hubble’s unique ultraviolet light sensitivity. In optical light, the white dwarf would appear ordinary.</p>
<p>About 260 light-years away, the white dwarf is a relatively close cosmic neighbor. In the past, when it was a Sun-like star, it would have been expected to host planets and an analog to our Kuiper Belt.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Like seeing our Sun in future</h3>
<p>Billions of years from now, when our Sun burns out and collapses to a white dwarf, Kuiper Belt objects will be pulled in by the stellar remnant’s immense gravity. “These planetesimals will then be disrupted and accreted,” said Sahu. “If an alien observer looks into our solar system in the far future, they might see the same kind of remains we see today around this white dwarf.”</p>
<p>The team hopes to use NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/" rel="noopener">James Webb Space Telescope</a> to detect molecular features of volatiles such as water vapor and carbonates by observing this white dwarf in infrared light. By further studying white dwarfs, scientists can better understand the frequency and composition of these volatile-rich accretion events.</p>
<p>Sahu is also following the recent discovery of the interstellar <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/" rel="noopener">comet 3I/ATLAS</a>. She is eager to learn its chemical composition, especially its fraction of water. “These types of studies will help us learn more about planet formation. They can also help us understand how water is delivered to rocky planets,” said Sahu.</p>
<p>Boris Gänsicke, of the University of Warwick and a visitor at Spain’s Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, was the principal investigator of the Hubble program that led to this discovery. “We observed over 500 white dwarfs with Hubble. We’ve already learned so much about the building blocks and fragments of planets, but I’ve been absolutely thrilled that we now identified a system that resembles the objects in the frigid outer edges of our solar system,” said Gänsicke. “Measuring the composition of an exo-Pluto is an important contribution toward our understanding of the formation and evolution of these bodies.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube">
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<iframe loading="lazy" title="White Dwarf Eating Pluto-Like Object" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HKCpmNbe480?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p><em>The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.</em></p>
<p>To learn more about Hubble, visit: <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/hubble " rel="noopener">https://science.nasa.gov/hubble </a></p>
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<p class="p-md margin-0 color-carbon-black-important">This artist’s concept shows a white dwarf surrounded by a large debris disk. Debris from pieces of a captured, Pluto-like object is falling onto the white dwarf.</p>
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<div class="grid-col-8">
<div class="margin-bottom-3">
<div class="heading-16 padding-bottom-1 border-bottom margin-bottom-2">Media</div>
<div class="cnd-extra-left-wysiwyg">
<p><strong>Claire Andreoli</strong><br />
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center<br />
Greenbelt, Maryland<br />
<a href="mailto:claire.andreoli@nasa.gov">claire.andreoli@nasa.gov</a></p>
<p><strong>Ann Jenkins</strong><br />
Space Telescope Science Institute<br />
Baltimore, Maryland</p>
<p><strong>Ray Villard</strong><br />
Space Telescope Science Institute<br />
Baltimore, Maryland</p>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0">
<div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black ">
<div class="margin-bottom-2">
<h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2>
</div>
<ul class="article-tags">
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble" rel="noopener">Hubble Space Telescope</a></li>
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/" rel="noopener">Astrophysics Division</a></li>
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/" rel="noopener">Dwarf Planets</a></li>
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/" rel="noopener">Goddard Space Flight Center</a></li>
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/" rel="noopener">The Kuiper Belt</a></li>
<li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/category/universe/stars/white-dwarfs/" rel="noopener">White Dwarfs</a></li>
</ul>
<p><html><body></p>
<div class="margin-top-6">
<h2 class="heading-14 margin-bottom-2">Related Links and Documents</h2>
<div class="cnd-extra-right-wysiwyg">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/science/missions/hubble/releases/2025/09/STScI-01K59TK5VRB9NVFGVBPZM0DBJ0.pdf" rel="noopener">Science Paper: Discovery of an icy and nitrogen-rich extra-solar planetesimal, PDF (674.84 KB)</a></li>
</ul>
</div></div>
<p></body></html></div>
</div></div>
</section></div>
<p></body></html></p>
<div id="" class="hds-topic-cards nasa-gb-align-full maxw-full width-full padding-y-6 padding-x-3 color-mode-dark hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-topic-cards">
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<div class="grid-row flex-align-center margin-bottom-3">
<div class="desktop:grid-col-8 margin-bottom-2 desktop:margin-bottom-0">
<div class="label color-carbon-60 margin-bottom-2">Keep Exploring</div>
<h2 class="heading-36 line-height-sm">Discover More Topics From Hubble</h2>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<div class="grid-row grid-gap-2 hds-topic-cards-wrapper">
<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/" class="mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0" rel="noopener"></p>
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<div class="skrim-overlay skrim-overlay-dark skrim-left mobile-skrim-top padding-3 display-flex flex-align-end flex-justify-start z-200">
<div>
<h3 class="hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1">
<span>Hubble Space Telescope</span><br />
<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><circle class="color-nasa-red" cx="16" cy="16" r="16"></circle><path d="M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z" class="color-spacesuit-white"></path></svg><br />
</h3>
<p class="margin-bottom-0 margin-top-2 color-carbon-20-important">Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.</p>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="1512" height="1536" src="https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?w=1512" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg 4031w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=295,300 295w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=768,780 768w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=1008,1024 1008w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=1512,1536 1512w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=2016,2048 2016w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=394,400 394w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=591,600 591w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=886,900 886w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=1181,1200 1181w, https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hubble-space-telescope-hst-6.jpg?resize=1969,2000 1969w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1512px) 100vw, 1512px" /></figure>
</p></div>
<p> </a><br />
<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-highlights/" class="mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0" rel="noopener"></p>
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<div>
<p class="hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1">
<span>Hubble Science Highlights</span><br />
<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><circle class="color-nasa-red" cx="16" cy="16" r="16"></circle><path d="M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z" class="color-spacesuit-white"></path></svg>
</p>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="539" height="565" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/astro/universe/internal_resources/462/Pillars_of_Creation-1.jpeg?w=539&h=565&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" /></figure>
</p></div>
<p> </a><br />
<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/multimedia/hubble-images/" class="mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0" rel="noopener"></p>
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<p class="hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1">
<span>Hubble Images</span><br />
<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><circle class="color-nasa-red" cx="16" cy="16" r="16"></circle><path d="M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z" class="color-spacesuit-white"></path></svg>
</p>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="1120" height="1120" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=1120&h=1120&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=1120&h=1120&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1120w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=150&h=150&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 150w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=300&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=768&h=768&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 768w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1024w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=50&h=50&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 50w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=100&h=100&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 100w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=200&h=200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 200w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=400&h=400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=600&h=600&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 600w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2024/07/STScI-01J1X1RNTC893XMKJREG898ZXB.tif?w=900&h=900&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 900w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1120px) 100vw, 1120px" /></figure>
</p></div>
<p> </a><br />
<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/?post_type=mission&p=53188" class="mobile:grid-col-12 tablet:grid-col-6 desktop:grid-col-3 topic-card margin-bottom-4 desktop:margin-bottom-0" rel="noopener"></p>
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<div>
<p class="hds-topic-card-heading heading-29 color-spacesuit-white line-height-sm margin-top-0 margin-bottom-1">
<span>Hubble News</span><br />
<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><circle class="color-nasa-red" cx="16" cy="16" r="16"></circle><path d="M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z" class="color-spacesuit-white"></path></svg>
</p>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<figure class="hds-media-background "><img decoding="async" width="1651" height="1651" src="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=1651&h=1651&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint" class="attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536" alt="" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=1651&h=1651&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1651w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=150&h=150&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 150w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=300&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 300w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=768&h=768&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 768w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=1024&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1024w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=1536&h=1536&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1536w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=50&h=50&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 50w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=100&h=100&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 100w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=200&h=200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 200w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=400&h=400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 400w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=600&h=600&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 600w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=900&h=900&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 900w, https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/hubble/releases/2005/02/STScI-01EVT8D2PRXPF512PH8C8DCXXM.tif?w=1200&h=1200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1651px) 100vw, 1651px" /></figure>
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<title>NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Ready to Fly Crew</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esdmd/common-exploration-systems-development-division/space-launch-system/nasa-artemis-ii-moon-rocket-ready-to-fly-crew/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mohon]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 20:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Space Launch System (SLS)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artemis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artemis 2]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Exploration Ground Systems]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marshall Space Flight Center]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=915422</guid>
<description><![CDATA[NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket poised to send four astronauts from Earth on a journey around the Moon next year may appear identical to the Artemis I SLS rocket. On closer inspection, though, engineers have upgraded the agency’s Moon rocket inside and out to improve performance, reliability, and safety. SLS flew a […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket poised to send four astronauts from Earth on a journey around the Moon next year may appear identical to the Artemis I SLS rocket. On closer inspection, though, engineers have upgraded the agency’s Moon rocket inside and out to improve performance, reliability, and safety.</p>
<p><a>SLS flew a </a><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/data-from-the-first-sls-flight-to-prepare-nasa-for-future-artemis-missions/">picture perfect</a> first mission on the Artemis I test flight, meeting or exceeding parameters for performance, attitude control, and structural stability to an accuracy of tenths or hundredths of a percent as it sent an uncrewed Orion thousands of miles beyond the Moon. It also returned volumes of invaluable flight data for SLS engineers to analyze to drive improvements.</p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="Image shows orange rocket stage with two large solid rocket boosters stacked alongside on March 23." style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg 8192w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ksc-20250323-ph-fmx01-0250.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems integrate the SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket with the solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in March 2025. Artemis II is the first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.</div><div class="hds-credits">NASA/Frank Michaux</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>For Artemis II, the major sections of SLS remain unchanged – a central core stage, four RS-25 main engines, two five-segment solid rocket boosters, the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage), a launch vehicle stage adapter to hold the ICPS, and an Orion stage adapter connecting SLS to the Orion spacecraft. The difference is in the details.</p>
<p>“While we’re proud of our Artemis I performance, which validated our overall design, we’ve looked at how SLS can give our crews a better ride,” said John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS Program manager. “Some of our changes respond to specific Artemis II mission requirements while others reflect ongoing analysis and testing, as well as lessons learned from Artemis I.”</p>
<p>Engineers have outfitted the ICPS with optical targets that will serve as visual cues to the astronauts aboard Orion as they manually pilot Orion around the upper stage and practice maneuvers to inform docking operations for Artemis III.</p>
<p>The Artemis II rocket includes an improved navigation system compared to Artemis I. Its communications capability also has been improved by repositioning antennas on the rocket to ensure continuous communications with NASA ground stations and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 which controls launches along the Eastern Range.</p>
<p>An emergency detection system on the ICPS allows the rocket to sense and respond to problems and notify the crew. The flight safety system adds a time delay to the self-destruct system to allow time for Orion’s escape system to pull the capsule to safety in event of an abort.</p>
<p>The separation motors that push the solid rocket booster away after the elements are no longer needed were angled an additional 15 degrees to increase separation clearance as the rest of the rocket speeds by.</p>
<p>Additionally, SLS will jettison the spent boosters four seconds earlier during Artemis II ascent than occurred during Artemis I. Dropping the boosters several seconds closer to the end of their burn will give engineers flight data to correlate with projections that shedding the boosters several seconds sooner will yield approximately 1,600 pounds of payload to Earth orbit for future SLS flights.</p>
<p>Engineers have incorporated additional improvements based on lessons learned from Artemis I. During the Artemis I test flight the SLS rocket experienced higher-than-expected vibrations near the solid rocket booster attachment points that was caused by unsteady airflow.</p>
<p>To steady the airflow, a pair of six-foot-long strakes flanking each booster’s forward connection points on the SLS intertank will smooth vibrations induced by airflow during ascent, and the rocket’s electronics system was requalified to endure higher levels of vibrations.</p>
<p>Engineers updated the core stage power distribution control unit, mounted in the intertank, which controls power to the rocket’s other electronics and protects against electrical hazards.</p>
<p>These improvements have led to an enhanced rocket to support crew as part of NASA’s Golden Age of innovation and exploration.</p>
<p>The approximately 10-day Artemis II test flight is the first crewed flight under NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis">Artemis</a> campaign. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions on the Moon’s surface that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts – Americans – to Mars.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis">https://www.nasa.gov/artemis</a></p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Media Contact</h2>
<p>Jonathan Deal<br>Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. <br>256.544.0034<br><a href="mailto:jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov">jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov</a></p>
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<div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Editor</div></div><div class="grid-col-8">Lee Mohon</div></div><div class="grid-row margin-bottom-3"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Contact</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><div class="margin-bottom-3"><div>Jonathan Deal</div><div></div></div></div></div><div class="grid-row"><div class="grid-col-4"><div class="subheading">Location</div></div><div class="grid-col-8"><a class="hds-location-tag-name" href="/marshall/"><span class="hds-meta-heading">Marshall Space Flight Center</span></a></div></div> </div>
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<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0"><div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black "><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2></div><ul class="article-tags"><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/">Space Launch System (SLS)</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/">Artemis</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/">Artemis 2</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/">Exploration Ground Systems</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/marshall-space-flight-center/">Marshall Space Flight Center</a></li></ul></div></div>
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<title>NASA’s Tally of Planets Outside Our Solar System Reaches 6,000</title>
<link>https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/nasas-tally-of-planets-outside-our-solar-system-reaches-6000/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Anthony Greicius]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Exoplanets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Exoplanet Discoveries]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gas Giant Exoplanets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kepler / K2]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Neptune-Like Exoplanets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Super-Earth Exoplanets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Terrestrial Exoplanets]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Search for Life]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.nasa.gov/?p=914820</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The milestone highlights the accelerating rate of discoveries, just over three decades since the first exoplanets were found. The official number of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by scientists from around the world, so no […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="" class="padding-top-5 padding-bottom-3 width-full maxw-full hds-module hds-module-full alignfull wp-block-nasa-blocks-article-intro"><div class="width-full maxw-full article-header"><div class="margin-bottom-2 width-full maxw-full"><p class="label carbon-60 margin-0 margin-bottom-3 padding-0">6 min read</p><h1 class="display-48 margin-bottom-2">Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)</h1></div></div></div>
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<iframe title="NASA Confirms 6,000 Exoplanets" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vAna9jBZRd8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It’s been 30 years since the discovery of the first planet around another star like our Sun. With every new discovery, scientists move closer to answering whether there are other planets like Earth that could host life as we know it. NASA/JPL-Caltech</figcaption></figure>
<p><em>The milestone highlights the accelerating rate of discoveries, just over three decades since the first exoplanets were found.</em></p>
<p>The official number of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by scientists from around the world, so no single planet is considered the 6,000th entry. The number is monitored by NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI), based at Caltech’s IPAC in Pasadena, California. There are more than 8,000 additional candidate planets awaiting confirmation, with NASA leading the world in searching for life in the universe.</p>
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<p>“This milestone represents decades of cosmic exploration driven by NASA space telescopes — exploration that has completely changed the way humanity views the night sky,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Step by step, from discovery to characterization, NASA missions have built the foundation to answering a fundamental question: Are we alone? Now, with our upcoming <a href="https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="noopener">Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope</a> and <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/habitable-worlds-observatory/" rel="noopener">Habitable Worlds Observatory</a>, America will lead the next giant leap — studying worlds like our own around stars like our Sun. This is American ingenuity, and a promise of discovery that unites us all.”</p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1357" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="Artist’s concept, from small, rocky worlds and gas giants" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg 5760w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=768,509 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=1024,678 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=1536,1018 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=2048,1357 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=400,265 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=600,398 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=900,596 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=1200,795 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e1-6000-exoplanets-artists-concept-web.jpg?resize=2000,1325 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Scientists have found thousands of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) throughout the galaxy. Most can be studied only indirectly, but scientists know they vary widely, as depicted in this artist’s concept, from small, rocky worlds and gas giants to water-rich planets and those as hot as stars. </div><div class="hds-credits">NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<p>The milestone comes 30 years after the first exoplanet was <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/exoplanet-travel-bureau/pegasi-51b-guided-tour/?intent=021" rel="noopener">discovered around a star similar to our Sun</a>, in 1995. (Prior to that, a <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/historic-timeline/#first-exoplanets-discovered" rel="noopener">few planets</a> had been identified around stars that had burned all their fuel and collapsed.) Although researchers think there are <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/history/more-planets-than-stars-keplers-legacy/">billions of planets</a> in the Milky Way galaxy, finding them remains a challenge. In addition to discovering many individual planets with fascinating characteristics as the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/discoveries-dashboard/" rel="noopener">total number</a> of known exoplanets climbs, scientists are able to see how the general planet population compares to the planets of our own solar system.</p>
<p>For example, while our solar system hosts an equal number of rocky and giant planets, rocky planets appear to be more common in the universe. Researchers have also found a range of planets entirely different from those in our solar system. There are Jupiter-size planets that <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1335/investigating-the-mystery-of-migrating-hot-jupiters/" rel="noopener">orbit closer to their parent star</a> than Mercury orbits the Sun; planets that <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/exoplanet-travel-bureau/kepler-16b-guided-tour/?intent=021" rel="noopener">orbit two stars</a>, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/where-the-nightlife-never-ends/" rel="noopener">no stars</a>, and <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/psr-b125712-b/" rel="noopener">dead stars</a>; planets <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/55-cancri-b/" rel="noopener">covered in lava</a>; some with the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/kepler-7b/" rel="noopener">density of Styrofoam</a>; and others with clouds <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/exoplanet-clouds-jewels-of-new-knowledge/" rel="noopener">made of gemstones</a>.</p>
<p>“Each of the different types of planets we discover gives us information about the conditions under which planets can form and, ultimately, how common planets like Earth might be, and where we should be looking for them,” said Dawn Gelino, head of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP), located at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “If we want to find out if we’re alone in the universe, all of this knowledge is essential.” </p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Searching for other worlds</strong></h3>
<p>Fewer than 100 exoplanets have been <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/direct-imaging/" rel="noopener">directly imaged</a>, because most planets are so faint they get lost in the light from their parent star. The other four <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/ways-to-find-a-planet/?intent=021" rel="noopener">methods of planet detection</a> are indirect. With the transit method, for instance, astronomers look for a star to dim for a short period as an orbiting planet passes in front of it.</p>
<p>To account for the possibility that something other than an exoplanet is responsible for a particular signal, most exoplanet candidates must be confirmed by follow-up observations, often using an additional telescope, and that takes time. That’s why there is a long list of candidates in the <a href="https://nexsci.caltech.edu/" rel="noopener">NASA Exoplanet Archive</a> (hosted by NExScI) waiting to be confirmed.</p>
<p>“We really need the whole community working together if we want to maximize our investments in these missions that are churning out exoplanets candidates,” said Aurora Kesseli, the deputy science lead for the NASA Exoplanet Archive at IPAC. “A big part of what we do at NExScI is <a href="https://nexsci.caltech.edu/tools/" rel="noopener">build tools</a> that help the community go out and turn candidate planets into confirmed planets.”</p>
<p>The rate of exoplanet discoveries has accelerated in recent years (the database reached <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cosmic-milestone-nasa-confirms-5000-exoplanets/" rel="noopener">5,000 confirmed exoplanets</a> just three years ago), and this trend seems likely to continue. Kesseli and her colleagues anticipate receiving thousands of additional exoplanet candidates from the ESA (European Space Agency) Gaia mission, which finds planets through a technique called <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/ways-to-find-a-planet/?intent=021#/5" rel="noopener">astrometry</a>, and NASA’s upcoming <a href="https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="noopener">Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope</a>, which will discover thousands of new exoplanets primarily through a technique called <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/microlensing/" rel="noopener">gravitational microlensing</a>.</p>
<div id="" class="hds-media hds-module wp-block-image"><div class="margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline"><div class="hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto"><figure class="hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit "><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1325" src="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?w=2048" class="attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048" alt="Artists concept of various exoplanet missions" style="transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;" block_context="nasa-block" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg 5100w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=300,194 300w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=768,497 768w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=1024,663 1024w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=1536,994 1536w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=2048,1325 2048w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=400,259 400w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=600,388 600w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=900,582 900w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=1200,776 1200w, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/e2-exoplanet-missions-infographic.jpg?resize=2000,1294 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></a></figure><figcaption class="hds-caption padding-y-2"><div class="hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0">Many telescopes contribute to the search for and study of exoplanets, including some in space (artists concepts shown here) and on the ground. Doing the work are organizations around the world, including ESA (European Space Agency), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and NSF (National Science Foundation). </div><div class="hds-credits">NASA/JPL-Caltech</div></figcaption></div></div></div>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Future exoplanets</strong></h3>
<p>At NASA, the future of exoplanet science will emphasize finding rocky planets similar to Earth and studying their atmospheres for <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/what-is-a-potential-biosignature/" rel="noopener">biosignatures</a> — any characteristic, element, molecule, substance, or feature that can be used as evidence of past or present life. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has already <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/curious-universe/webbs-search-for-habitable-worlds">analyzed the chemistry</a> of over 100 exoplanet atmospheres.</p>
<p>But studying the atmospheres of planets the size and temperature of Earth will require new technology. Specifically, scientists need better tools to block the glare of the star a planet orbits. And in the case of an Earth-like planet, the glare would be significant: The Sun is about <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/exoplanet-detection-methods/coronagraph/hiding-in-the-sunshine-the-search-for-other-earths/" rel="noopener">10 billion times brighter</a> than Earth — which would be more than enough to drown out our home planet’s light if viewed by a distant observer.</p>
<p>NASA has two main initiatives to try overcoming this hurdle. The Roman telescope will carry a technology demonstration instrument called the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/coronagraph/" rel="noopener">Roman Coronagraph</a> that will test new technologies for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zfz-OEKH8" rel="noopener">blocking starlight</a> and making faint planets visible. At its peak performance, the coronagraph should be able to directly image a planet the size and temperature of Jupiter orbiting a star like our Sun, and at a similar distance from that star. With its microlensing survey and coronagraphic observations, Roman will reveal new details about the diversity of planetary systems, showing how common solar systems like our own may be across the galaxy.</p>
<p>Additional advances in coronagraph technology will be needed to build a coronagraph that can detect a planet like Earth. NASA is working on a concept for such a mission, currently named the Habitable Worlds Observatory.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>More about ExEP, NExScI </strong></h3>
<p>NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program is responsible for implementing the agency’s plans for the discovery and understanding of planetary systems around nearby stars. It acts as a focal point for exoplanet science and technology and integrates cohesive strategies for future discoveries. The science operations and analysis center for ExEP is NExScI, based at IPAC, a science and data center for astrophysics and planetary science at Caltech. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA.</p>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>News Media Contact</strong></h3>
<p>Calla Cofield<br>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br>626-808-2469<br><a href="mailto:calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov">calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov</a></p>
<p>2025-119</p>
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<div class="grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0"><div class="padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black "><div class="margin-bottom-2"><h2 class="heading-14">Related Terms</h2></div><ul class="article-tags"><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/" rel="noopener">Exoplanets</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/exoplanet-discoveries/">Exoplanet Discoveries</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/gas-giant/">Gas Giant Exoplanets</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/kepler" rel="noopener">Kepler / K2</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope" rel="noopener">Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/neptune-like/">Neptune-Like Exoplanets</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/super-earth/">Super-Earth Exoplanets</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/terrestrial/">Terrestrial Exoplanets</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tess" rel="noopener">TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)</a></li><li class="article-tag"><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/search-for-life/" rel="noopener">The Search for Life</a></li></ul></div></div>
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