Comet ATLAS (C/2024 G3) came within 8.3 million miles of the sun on January 13 as it reached its perihelion, and is now disintegrating.
To comply, NASA has sought to sanitize Mars rovers at a threshold of no more than 300,000 bacterial spores on any surface. That process has revealed plenty of microbes that can survive high temperatures, low nutrients, and a lack of moisture.
After years of delays, NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon commenced in a big way more than two years ago, starting with the unmanned Artemis 1 in November 2022. The legacy is continuing now with NASA announcing on Thursday that it is awarding new study contracts to nine companies in seven states with a combined total of $24 million.
The asteroid is about 33 feet (10 meters) across and poses no danger to Earth. It joins another known lunar asteroid discovered in 2016 known as 469219 Kamo’oalewa. Scientists hope that as telescopes become more powerful, we will be able to detect more bits of the Moon that have been blasted free in ancient impacts.
Nelson and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy left the agency on Monday (Jan. 20), the day that Donald Trump began his second term as president. Trump has appointed Janet Petro, who most recently served as director of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, as NASA's interim chief.
Following in the footsteps of Aristotle and Galileo, NASA scientists look to take the next step in understanding auroras.
NASA's acting administrator is moving swiftly to remove diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility—or DEIA—programs from the space agency.
In a letter addressed to the next NASA administrator—who, if Trump’s nomination is confirmed, will be Shift4 CEO and SpaceX ally Jared Isaacman—Nelson highlighted the space agency’s work during his tenure and urged continuity. He emphasized NASA’s responsibility to return Americans to the moon and land them on Mars for the first time.
"The change of seasons causes surface melting far inland from the coastal ice front," glaciologist Christopher Shuman said.
The survival of organisms in the vacuum of space could support the theory that life didn't start on Earth, but originated elsewhere in the galaxy.
Alabama State University alumnus, Larry K. Mack was recently named director of Human Capital with the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as Mississippi's Stennis Space Center and its Shared Services Center.