It was an abundant year of innovation, exploration, and inspiration for NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Armstrong continues to demonstrate America’s leadership in aeronautics, Earth and space science, and aerospace technology. Our researchers, engineers, and mission support teams continually seek to revolutionize aviation, add to mankind’s knowledge of the universe, and … Read more
Through Artemis, NASA plans to conduct long-duration human and robotic missions on the lunar surface in preparation for future crewed exploration of Mars. Expanding exploration capabilities requires a robust lunar infrastructure, including practical and cost-effective ways to construct a lunar base. One method is employing in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) – or the ability to use … Read more
DSOC, an experiment that could transform how spacecraft communicate, has achieved ‘first light,’ sending data via laser to and from far beyond the Moon for the first time. NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment has beamed a near-infrared laser encoded with test data fromnearly 10 million miles (16 million kilometers) away – about 40 … Read more
NASA is hosting a virtual industry forum on Nov. 13, 2023, to introduce the agency’s Lunar Infrastructure Foundational Technologies (LIFT-1) demonstration Request for Information (RFI). At this event, representatives of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) will discuss the relevant Moon-to-Mars Objectives, STMD Envisioned Future Priorities (EFPs), and will answer questions from potential respondents interested in the RFI. … Read more
As NASA ushers in an exciting era of long-term exploration on the Moon with Artemis, new strategies are being formulated to determine how technology, infrastructure, and operations will function together as a cohesive and cross-cutting system. As a sustained presence grows at the Moon, opportunities to harvest lunar resources could lead to safer, more efficient … Read more
NASA leadership, including Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, will participate in a workshop on space mobility and in-space servicing on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the University of Maryland in College Park. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST, the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities (COSMIC) workshop runs through Wednesday, Nov. 8. NASA announced the consortium in … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope truly explores the unknown, displaying stunning images of previously unseen corners of the universe only possible because of the telescope’s 21-foot segmented mirror that unfurled and assembled itself in space. Decades of testing went into the materials, design, and processes needed to develop the largest telescope in space. However, the … Read more
Some 30 years ago, a young engineer named Christopher Walker was home in the evening making chocolate pudding when he got what turned out to be a very serendipitous call from his mother. Taking the call, he shut off the stove and stretched plastic wrap over the pot to keep the pudding fresh. By the … Read more
Fictional astronaut Callie Rodriguez continues exploring space as the first woman to walk on the Moon in a new issue of NASA’s First Woman graphic novel series. Now available digitally in English and Spanish, “First Woman: Expanding Our Universe,” follows Callie and her crewmates as they work together to explore the unknown, make scientific discoveries, and … Read more
NASA’s Starling CubeSats are zipping through low Earth orbit in the agency’s latest test of robotic swarm technologies for space. The four Starling spacecraft, launched in July 2023, are testing a group of small satellites ability to coordinate and cooperate independently without real-time updates from mission control. NASA invites the public to follow the Starling … Read more