Tag: NASA
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Firefly Secures $10 Million From NASA for Additional Lunar Mission Data
Firefly Aerospace said it received an additional $10 million from NASA after delivering extra scientific data and imagery collected during its Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the Moon earlier this year. The mission, which spanned 45 days en route to the lunar surface and two weeks of operations on it, yielded nearly 120 gigabytes of…
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U.S. Launches Three Spacecraft Aboard Falcon 9 to Boost Space Weather Monitoring
The United States launched three spacecraft on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to improve monitoring of solar activity and its effects on technology, astronauts, and infrastructure on Earth. The launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center sent the probes on a journey toward the Lagrange 1 point, around 1.5 million kilometers from the sun,…
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NASA names 24th astronaut class, including prior SpaceX crew member
NASA has named its new group of astronaut candidates. The space agency on Monday introduced the four men and six women who comprise its 2025 trainee class during a ceremony held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Following two years of basic training, the new candidates will be eligible for mission assignments in low-Earth…
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NASA, SpaceX launch IMAP and rideshare payloads to study space weather at L1
NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the agency’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) from Florida on Wednesday morning. Joining IMAP on its way to Lagrange Point 1 are two additional rideshare payloads: NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) and the joint NASA/University of Illinois Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. Liftoff took place on Wednesday, Sept. 24,…
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A geologist, a former SpaceX launch director and a commercial astronaut; meet NASA’s 10 new astronaut candidates
NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidate join together after being announced to the public on Sept. 22, 2025. From left to right, Erin Overcash, Katherine Spies, Cameron Jones, Ben Bailey, Adam Fuhrmann, Rebecca Lawler, Imelda Muller, Yuri Kubo, Anna Menon, Lauren Edgar. With its eyes on creating a persistent human presence on the Moon and pushing closer…
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NASA showcases its latest class of astronauts — including a geologist from the Seattle area
Geologist Lauren Edgar waves during NASA’s introduction of new astronaut candidates. (NASA via YouTube) NASA has named the next 10 members of its astronaut corps, and one of those 10 is a geologist with plenty of space research experience who hails from the Pacific Northwest. Lauren Edgar — who regards Sammamish, Wash., as her hometown…
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XRISM observes windy neutron star, Chandra studies a luminous quasar
Using the joint Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), scientists uncovered a dense but surprisingly slow wind coming from a neutron star. The finding sheds new light on similar winds blowing from material surrounding supermassive black holes. Another team used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory…
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NASA puts in an order with Blue Origin to work on sending VIPER rover to moon’s south pole
An artist’s conception shows NASA’s VIPER rover and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon MK1 lander on the lunar surface. (Blue Origin Illustration) NASA has selected Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture to help it resurrect a mission to send a robotic prospector to the moon’s south polar region. Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin will be tasked with…
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NASA, Northrop Grumman postpone Cygnus XL arrival to ISS following propulsion issue
File (Aug. 6, 2024) — Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft, with its prominent cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, is pictured awaiting its capture by the Canadarm2 robotic arm commanded by Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick of NASA. The maneuver marked the 50th free-flying capture for the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Image: NASA Northrop Grumman’s new Cygnus…
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Northrop Grumman’s 1st Cygnus XL spacecraft launches on cargo run to the space station
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sept. 14, 2025, to begin the NG-23 mission. This was the first launch of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight Now Northrop Grumman’s first Cygnus XL vehicle was jettisoned on…