Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA's diminutive BurstCube satellite is now making its way to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Dragon resupply spacecraft. It lifted off at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, BurstCube is poised to embark on a significant mission.BurstCube Satellite Mission ObjectiveUpon arrival at the ISS, BurstCube will be unpacked and subsequently released into orbit. Its primary objective? To detect, locate, and analyze short gamma-ray…

An ambitious NASA project designed to test satellite refueling in space, known as OSAM-1, has been discontinued after significant technical, cost, and scheduling difficulties. The cancellation comes in the wake of an October 2023 report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General that cited “poor performance” by Maxar, the primary contractor for the project.First Full-Color Images From Webb Space TelescopeNASA announced the cancellation of the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project on Friday March…

NASA still has plenty of cool projects afoot in the real world—did you hear about that asteroid-redirecting test? Or those space-friendly cameras?—but it’s also trying to stir imaginations in fantastically creative ways, too. Enter The Lost Universe, the agency’s first-ever tabletop roleplaying game. What Will VR Solve, Anyway? Its first what now? Yes, a TTRPG crafted at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with a gameplay instructional booklet currently available for free download here (plus a Tolkien-esque map); it’s for…

NASA’s diligent lunar orbiter transmitted a laser beam to a dome-shaped aluminum device the size of a billiard ball on India’s Vikram lander, pinging its location on the Moon. This laser-enabled technique could one day help NASA astronauts find their way on the lunar surface.Moon Knight Gives Us HopeThe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) pointed its laser altimeter instrument, called LOLA, toward a tiny retroreflector on Vikram, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) lunar lander, on December 12, 2023 at 3 p.m.…

In a groundbreaking study, NASA has unveiled a revelation that expands the search for extraterrestrial life. Researchers have identified 17 exoplanets positioned beyond our solar system that might boast subsurface oceans beneath their icy exteriors. The intriguing aspect lies in the possibility of periodic eruptions, resembling geysers, breaking through the frozen crusts of these distant worlds. Subsurface OceansThe research, conducted by scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, included a meticulous analysis of…

NASA's Lucy mission has advanced further towards Asteroid Dinkinesh using precise maneuvers and now faces a communication blackout behind the Sun. Principal investigator Hal Levison leads the team's efforts, with mission management by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and spacecraft construction by Lockheed Martin Space.Over the past month, the Lucy Mission spacecraft team has observed that Asteroid Dinkinesh becoming brighter as the spacecraft approaches, along with a consistent brightness variation indicating a…

The Webb Space Telescope’s latest subject is a wet one: a gigantic plume of water vapor spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus.What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodo’s Molly Taft | TechmodoWebb launched in December 2021 and has since been using its infrared gaze to investigate some of the oldest light in the universe, as well as objects local to our solar system. Examining other planets, like Uranus, and their moons is a useful way of understanding the dynamics between heavenly bodies and how they may have formed.Enceladus is…

Gif: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab/GizmodoA video recently shared by NASA showcases just how big supermassive black holes can get. Supermassive black holes have masses greater than 100,000 Suns, and NASA’s new visualization shows the extent to which our local star pales in comparison. What Is Planet Nine and Why Can’t We Find It?The smallest of the lot is the relatively puny J1601+3113, a dwarf galaxy with a black hole at its center. NASA said in a release that even though J1601+3113 has 100,000…

NASA is setting up an independent review board to oversee the Mars Sample Return mission plans, in an effort to make sure the mission will be completed on time and—crucially—under budget.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe mission—set to be completed in 2033—entails picking up Martian rock samples collected by the Perseverance rover and bringing them to Earth. Should the mission be pulled off, they will be the first samples ever brought to Earth from another world, and in the…

When Dr. Makenzie Lystrup was sworn in as the new director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center last week, she didn’t take her oath of office on the Bible or the U.S. Constitution, but rather on a tome revered by space enthusiasts everywhere: Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot.Lower Drought Conditions In California | Extreme EarthThe book, published in 1994, is named after an iconic image of Earth, snapped by the Voyager I probe, that depicts the planet as a small speck smothered by the emptiness of space. That photo inspired…