Category Archives: NASA

NASA Awards Lunar Freezer System Contract

NASA has selected the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide the necessary systems required to return temperature sensitive science payloads to Earth from the Moon. The Lunar Freezer System contract is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award with cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery orders. The contract begins Thursday, Dec. 4, with a 66-month base period along with two optional periods […]

NASA’s Fly Foundational Robots Demo to Bolster In-Space Infrastructure

NASA and industry partners will fly and operate a commercial robotic arm in low Earth orbit through the Fly Foundational Robots mission set to launch in late 2027. This mission aims to revolutionize in-space operations, a critical capability for sustainably living and working on other planets. By enabling this technology demonstration, NASA is fostering the […]

Waxing Gibbous Moon

The waxing gibbous moon rises above Earth’s blue atmosphere in this photograph taken from the International Space Station on Oct. 3, 2025, as it orbited 263 miles above a cloudy Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Quebec, Canada. In our entire solar system, the only object that shines with its own light is the Sun. […]

NASA Tests Drones in Death Valley, Preps for Martian Sands and Skies

Next-generation drone flight software is just one of 25 technologies for the Red Planet that the space agency funded for development this year. When NASA engineers want to test a concept for exploring the Red Planet, they have to find ways to create Mars-like conditions here on Earth. Then they test, tinker, and repeat.  That’s […]

NASA’s Moon Rocket Celebrates 250 Years of American Innovation

NASA is marking America’s 250th year with a bold new symbol of the nation’s relentless drive to explore. The America 250 emblem is now on the twin solid rocket boosters of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis II — the powerhouse that will launch a crew of four around the Moon next year. […]

Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Samples

The asteroid Bennu continues to provide new clues to scientists’ biggest questions about the formation of the early solar system and the origins of life. As part of the ongoing study of pristine samples delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft, three new papers published Tuesday by […]

The International Space Station Marks 25 Years of Continuous Human Presence 

On Nov. 2, 2025, NASA honored 25 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station. What began as a fragile framework of modules has evolved into a springboard for international cooperation, advanced scientific research and technology demonstrations, the development of a low Earth orbit economy, and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including […]

What is AI? (Grades 5-8)

This article is for students grades 5-8. What is AI? Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a type of technology that helps machines and computers have “thinking” abilities similar to humans. Devices using AI can learn words and concepts, recognize objects, see patterns, or make predictions. They can also be taught how to work autonomously. AI […]

Sagittarius B2 Molecular Cloud

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured glowing cosmic dust heated by very young massive stars in unprecedented detail in this image of the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) molecular cloud released on Sept. 24, 2025. Sgr B2 is the most massive, and active star-forming region in our galaxy, located only a […]

Mark Elder: Building the Future of Spacewalking for Artemis and Beyond 

For more than 25 years, Mark Elder has helped make human spaceflight safe and possible. As the International Space Station EVA hardware manager in the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office within the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program, he leads the team responsible for the spacesuits, tools, and logistics that keep astronauts protected during spacewalks—and ensures […]