Sandia tests heat shields for space

For decades, Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility has harnessed the power of the sun to expose aerospace materials to intense heat, replicating the harsh conditions of faster-than-sound flight and atmospheric reentry to ensure the materials’ ability to protect the rest of the vehicle. The most recent of these tests is in support of two exciting NASA missions.

NASA’s Hubble Watches Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball

Using Hubble, astronomers have discovered that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) is not as stable as it might look. Hubble measurements of the GRS’s size, shape, brightness, color, and vorticity showed it can change dimensions—looking like a slightly skinnier or fatter red oval over 90 days.

NASA’s Hubble Finds that a Black Hole Beam Promotes Stellar Eruptions

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet blasting from a supermassive black hole at the core of galaxy M87 seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called novae, are not caught inside the jet, but are apparently in a dangerous neighborhood nearby. Hubble found twice as many novae going off near the jet as elsewhere in the giant galaxy during the surveyed time period.

UC Irvine receives record $668 million in research funding for fiscal 2023-24

University of California, Irvine scholars, scientists and physicians continue to blaze new paths to help improve the world. In fiscal 2023-24, which ended June 30, UC Irvine received the most research funding in campus history: $668 million in grants and contracts.

Cancer Research in Space for Life on Earth: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Selected Through International Space Station National Lab Solicitation in Partnership with NASA

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is honored to announce its selection for a pioneering cancer research project that will take place aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

UAH researcher wins $750K EPSCoR grant to support STROBE-X explorations of gravitational wave sources, black holes and dark matter

Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has won a $750,000 Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) award to support STROBE-X, a planned $1 billion probe-class NASA observatory that aims to unlock the secrets of some of the most extreme conditions in the universe.

MD Anderson and collaborators to launch project studying T cells on International Space Station

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and collaborators are initiating a research project that will send T cells to the International Space Station (ISS) to study the effects of prolonged microgravity on cell differentiation, activation, memory and exhaustion.

ND Expert: NASA’s cancellation of VIPER is a frustrating setback for lunar exploration

Last week, NASA announced it canceled its plans to send the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon’s southern polar region. The rover was meant to search for water and other resources called volatiles, such as hydrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide, which easily evaporate in warm temperatures.Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, reiterated the agency’s commitment “to exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity” through other missions.

Pillars of Creation Star in New Visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescope

Combining data from NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, a team from NASA’s Universe of Learning at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland has produced a breathtaking new 3D visualization of the towering “Pillars of Creation” in the Eagle Nebula.

Webb Captures Top of Iconic Horsehead Nebula in Unprecedented Detail

The Horsehead Nebula is prancing across the cosmic stage in new infrared views from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Extreme close-ups of the horse’s “mane” from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) showcase a dynamic region that transitions from a mostly neutral, warm area of gas and dust within the nebula (represented in blue) to surrounding hot, ionized gas (red).

Hubble Celebrates 34th Anniversary with a Look at the Little Dumbbell Nebula

To celebrate Hubble’s 34th launch anniversary, NASA released the telescope’s new observation of the Little Dumbbell Nebula. Also known as Messier 76, or M76, it is composed of a ring, seen edge-on as the central bar structure, where a central red giant star burned out, and two lobes of gas and dust that are on either opening of the ring.

Hubble Goes Hunting for Small Main Belt Asteroids

Astronomers and volunteer citizen scientists used Hubble’s unique capabilities to identify a largely unseen population of very small asteroids. The treasure hunt required perusing 37,000 archived Hubble images spanning 19 years. The payoff? Finding 1,701 asteroid trails, with 1,031 of the asteroids previously uncatalogued. About 400 of these uncatalogued asteroids are smaller than 1 kilometer.

Supporting the Future of Mars Exploration with Supercomputers

You may have flown a flight simulator in a computer game or at a science museum. Landing without crashing is always the hardest part. But that’s nothing compared to the challenge that engineers are facing to develop a flight simulation of the very large vehicles necessary for humans to explore the surface of Mars. The Red Planet poses innumerable challenges to astronauts, not the least of which is getting there. That’s where the Department of Energy Office of Science’s user facility supercomputers come in. Researchers at DOE’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) are working with NASA engineers and scientists to simulate the process of slowing down a huge spacecraft as it moves towards Mars’ surface.

Nobel Laureate and NASA Astronaut to Speak at American Physiology Summit

Nobel Laureate Brian Kobilka, MD, and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir, PhD, are among the highlighted speakers who will attend the American Physiology Summit, the American Physiological Society’s (APS) flagship annual meeting. The Summit will be held April 4–7, 2024, in Long Beach, California.

NASA’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists

The best measurements from Hubble show the universe is now expanding faster than predicted based on observations of how it looked shortly after the big bang. Some scientists suggested that Hubble observations are wrong due to some creeping inaccuracy in its deep-space yardstick. However, Webb’s sharp infrared views of milepost markers known as Cepheids agree with Hubble data.

Webb Unlocks Secrets of One of the Most Distant Galaxies Ever Seen

Delivering on its promise to transform our understanding of the early universe, the James Webb Space Telescope is probing galaxies near the dawn of time. One of these is the exceptionally luminous galaxy GN-z11, which existed when the universe was just a tiny fraction of its current age. One of the youngest and most distant galaxies ever observed, it is also one of the most enigmatic. Why is it so bright? Webb appears to have found the answer.

El Observatorio Rubin impulsará una nueva era en misiones espaciales sin salir de la tierra

El Observatorio Vera C. Rubin ayudará a los científicos a identificar objetivos intrigantes para dar prioridad a futuras misiones espaciales, mediante la detección de millones de nuevos objetos en el Sistema Solar y revelar, con el mayor detalle jamás visto, el contexto más amplio en el que existen.

Rubin Observatory will Inspire a New Era in Space Missions without Ever Leaving the Ground

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help scientists identify intriguing targets to prioritize for future space missions by detecting millions of new Solar System objects, and by revealing — in more detail than we’ve ever seen — the broader context in which these objects exist.