Medals of Freedom are displayed Thursday, July 7, 2022, before a ceremony at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith) President Joe Biden will present Dr. Ellen Ochoa, former center director and astronaut at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Dr. Jane Rigby, senior project scientist for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, each with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday in a ceremony at the White House in Washington. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor award, and these two NASA recipients are among the 19 awardees ann ..read more

NASA/Bill Ingalls The Moon (left), Saturn, and Jupiter (lower right; Saturn is above and to the left of Jupiter) were seen in the sky above the Washington Memorial on Dec. 17, 2020. At the time, Saturn and Jupiter were nearing each other in the sky, culminating in a “great conjunction” on Dec. 21, where they appeared a tenth of a degree apart. Great conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn happen every 20 years, making the planets appear to be close to one another. This closeness occurs because Jupiter orbits the Sun every 12 years, while Saturn’s orbit takes 30 years, causing Jupiter to catc ..read more

2 min read Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the dwarf galaxy IC 776. ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the dwarf galaxy IC 776. This swirling collection of new and old stars is located in the constellation Virgo, in the Virgo galaxy cluster, 100 million light-years from Earth. Although IC 776 is a dwarf galaxy, it’s also classified as a SAB-type or ‘weakly barred’ spiral. This highly detailed Hubble view demonstrates that complexity. IC 776 has a ragged, disturbed disc that appear ..read more

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Economic Benefits Study: 2015 Economic Benefits Study 2010 Economic Benefits Study 2010 Economic Benefits Study – Appendices Development Plans: NASA Ames Development Plan – Dec 2002 Environmental Issues and Management Plan US Fish and Wildlife Service Information Consultations on Proposed Development of NASA Ames Research Center Record of Decision NASA Research Park Environmental Reports: Building 19 Lead, Asbestos, Mold Report – Feb 2002 Lead Impacted Soil Summary – Jul 2002 Lead Impacted Soil Sampling – Jan ..read more

2 min read 2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Prediction vs. Reality Image Before/After Before a total solar eclipse crossed North America on April 8, 2024, scientists at Predictive Science Inc. of San Diego aimed to foresee what the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, would look like during totality. The predictions help researchers understand the accuracy of their models of the Sun’s corona, which extends along its magnetic field. A solar eclipse offers a rare opportunity to view the entire corona from Earth, guiding research into how its energy can cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections, whi ..read more

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Synthetic cell development could lead researchers to new developments in food and medical sciences and a better understanding of the origins of life on Earth. NIH/Rhoda Baer Cells are the fundamental units of life, forming the variety of all living things on Earth as individual cells and multi-cellular organisms. To better understand how cells perform the essential functions of life, scientists have begun developing synthetic cells – non-living bits of cellular biochemistry wrapped in a membrane that mimic speci ..read more

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The High-Resolution Coronal Imager, or Hi-C, launches aboard a Black Brant IX sounding rocket April 17 at Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska. NASA By Jessica Barnett  After months of preparation and years since its last flight, the upgraded High Resolution Coronal Imager Flare mission – Hi-C Flare, for short – took to the skies for a never-before-seen view of a solar flare. The low-noise cameras – built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama – are part of a suite of state ..read more

3 min read Sols 4173-4174: Reflections This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4171 (2024-04-30 19:41:16 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Today’s planning was a little out of the ordinary. Not in terms of the plan itself, Curiosity’s team built an exciting plan utilizing much of its science toolkit. Today’s plan was unusual rather due to my role as APXS PUDL Reverse Shadow (PUDL = Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead). While I normally staff the APXS PUDL role, the person on-shift responsible for APXS ..read more

Earth (ESD) Earth and Climate Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data More For Researchers 5 Min Read NASA Is Helping Protect Tigers, Jaguars, and Elephants. Here’s How. NASA satellites are helping track tiger habitat, offering new insights for conservation as these predators face the consequences of habitat loss. Credits: Wildlife Conservation Society / Dale Miquelle As human populations grow, habitat loss threatens many creatures. Mapping wildlife habitat using satellites is a rapidly expanding area of ecology, and NASA satellites play a crucial role in these ..read more

NASA/JPL-Caltech This Dec. 21, 2002, artist’s concept of NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer imagines what the space telescope would look like during its mission. Launched April 28, 2003, it studied the shape, brightness, size and distance of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history. By observing ultraviolet wavelengths, the telescope measured the history of star formation in the universe. This space telescope allowed astronomers to uncover mysteries about the early universe and how it evolved, as well as better characterize phenomena like black holes and dark matter. The mission was ..read more