The Wildhorse grass fire in eastern Idaho erupted with a massive pulse of smoke. No one had expected it, but the wildfire had launched what’s known as a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, or pyroCb. It was an elusive weather phenomenon that scientists on NASA’s INSPYRE (INjected Smoke and PYRocumulonimbus Experiment) campaign spent weeks this summer hunting across…
NASA selected 16 companies to provide Enterprise Logistics Support Services under new agreements that will standardize requirements, improve reporting, and streamline the management of costs and resources. The $1.4 billion blanket purchase agreements will support equipment and property management, transportation, disposal, product support, flight hardware support operations, equipment maintenance and repair, export control, move operations,…
NASA has awarded Modulate Space Corporation a contract to develop key elements of a 5G communications system for use on the lunar surface with built-in Wi-Fi 6, for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This accelerated effort is organized into two primary work areas that together will develop a scalable, standards-based communications capability designed to…
In accordance with a contract on-ramp clause, NASA has added Blue Origin’s New Glenn 9×4 launch service to the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract. The New Glenn 9×4 launch service will be available to NASA’s Launch Services Program Office to use for future missions. The NLS II contracts are multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with an…
A commercial mission to boost NASA’s Swift observatory concluded without raising the spacecraft’s orbit, but the agency and industry vendor gained valuable experience that will benefit future in-space servicing programs.
Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated on Sept. 28, 2026, with ticketing information for the public. The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II mission will participate in an event hosted by industry and community partners at the University of Houston to discuss their mission around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. It will be the…
The idea of humans and robots working side-by-side in space was once the stuff of science fiction, but with NASA launching increasingly complex missions deeper into space, human-robot collaboration could become reality. Advanced robotic systems are critical for human spaceflight because they can enhance a crew’s performance and productivity while reducing risk and expanding the…
A new map of the terrain beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet links hundreds of valleys that previous maps missed or left fragmented.
Spacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space. NASA is working to change that paradigm. Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently completed a rigorous series of environmental and physical tests on a new small satellite designed to make spaceflight safer…
NASA announced the winners of the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table Thursday, with the top $300,000 prize being awarded to Chinyere Ukeje of Philadelphia, Pa. for the Adaptive Nourishment Infrastructure (ANI) food system concept. This competition challenged solvers to explore innovative solutions for integrated space food systems that would provide safe, nutritious meals…
