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Launch of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Moon mission with the Odysseus (Odie) Nova-C lunar lander to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST).
Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1060) previously supported 17 missions: Transporter-2, GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat-5A, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6 and 12 Starlink missions.
If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.
China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.
In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.
Launch of IM-1 Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9 & Rocket First Stage Landing
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Moon mission with the Odysseus (Odie) Nova-C lunar lander to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST).
Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1060) previously supported 17 missions: Transporter-2, GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat-5A, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6 and 12 Starlink missions.
If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.
China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.
In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being launched in the background while the IM-1 robotic Moon lander awaits launch on another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the foreground at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Intuitive Machines IM-1 robotic Moon lander is targeted for launch no earlier than 1:05 a.m. ET, Thursday, February 15, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket via Launch Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral, Florida. If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.
China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.
In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.
A Hubble Valentine's Day Gift: Globular Star Cluster NGC 2298
This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope view shows the globular cluster NGC 2298, a sparkling collection of thousands of stars held together by their mutual gravitational attraction. Globular clusters are typically home to older populations of stars, and they mostly reside in the dusty outskirts of galaxies. Scientists utilized Hubble’s unique ability to observe the cosmos across multiple wavelengths of light to study NGC 2298 in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. This valuable information helps astronomers better understand how globular clusters behave, including their internal movements, orbits, and the evolution of their stars.
Image Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), G. Piotto (Universita degli Studi di Padova), and A. Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic University)
Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
The James Webb Space Telescope's Sunshield Explained | NASA Goddard
The Webb Telescope's sunshield is key to enabling Webb's science. This feature explains how the sunshield works, and how this tennis court-sized piece of hardware fits into a rocket (Hint: It was deployed after launch!).
Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | De vuelta a casa: 9 de febrero de 2024
Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.
Aprende más sobre la ciencia a bordo de la estación espacial:
The Kashmir Valley and The Himalayas | International Space Station
The Kashmir Valley (bottom) and the Himalayas are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)
Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov
JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)
NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
40 Years of Hubble Operations: The Space Telescope Operations Control Center
Dedicated 40 years ago, on February 14th, 1984 at NASA Goddard’s Space Flight Center, the Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC), operates the Hubble Space Telescope on its important mission.
The Operations Team members at the STOCC continue to operate the telescope, capturing data and images of the cosmos for all of us to enjoy, allowing Hubble to continue its mission of unravelling the mysteries of the universe.
The Intuitive Machines IM-1 robotic Moon lander is targeted for launch at 12:57 a.m. ET, Wednesday, February 14, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket via Launch Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral, Florida. If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.
China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.
In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.
International Space Station Views | Ax-3/European Astronaut Marcus Wandt
European Space Agency project astronaut from Sweden Marcus Wandt with the Swedish flag in the European-built Cupola on the International Space Station.
European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt's first mission to space, Muninn, takes its name from Norse mythology and the two raven accomplices of the god Odin—Muninn and Huginn. Together, the two symbolize the human mind. Huginn is the name of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s Space Station mission.
According to the myth, the ravens serve as messengers and advisors to their god, sharing all they see and hear. Muninn comes from the Old Norse word munr, that can be translated as passion and emotion, linking to Marcus’s enthusiasm for spaceflight.
Astronaut Marcus Wandt: "This is how I see the International Space Station from the inside. My work station is an incredible piece of spacecraft engineering. On it, I travel about 400 km above your heads at 28,000 km per hour, circling Earth approximately 16 times every day. The Space Station is the largest object ever built in orbit—a place that has brought humankind together to live and work in space continuously for more than two decades."
European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt's first mission to space, Muninn, takes its name from Norse mythology and the two raven accomplices of the god Odin—Muninn and Huginn. Together, the two symbolize the human mind. Huginn is the name of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s Space Station mission.
According to the myth, the ravens serve as messengers and advisors to their god, sharing all they see and hear. Muninn comes from the Old Norse word munr, that can be translated as passion and emotion, linking to Marcus’s enthusiasm for spaceflight.
Astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden lifted off on January 18, 2024, as part of the Axiom-3 Mission to the International Space Station.
Axiom Space’s Ax-3 crew to the International Space Station, commander Michael López-Alegría (United States-Spain), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden) later splashed down in their SpaceX “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Florida, on February 9, 2024.
The four Ax-3 astronauts completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory. The SpaceX Crew Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Image Credit: Axiom Space/ESA/Ax-3 Astronaut Marcus Wandt
Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)
Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov
JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)
NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
NASA Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson Training for International Space Station
NASA has assigned astronaut Tracy C. Dyson to her second long-duration mission to the International Space Station as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 70/71 crew. Dyson will launch on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft in March 2024 and spend approximately six months aboard the International Space Station. She will travel to the station with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus, both of whom will spend approximately 12 days aboard the orbital complex.
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson's Official NASA Biography:
During her expedition, Dyson will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations that help prepare humans for future space missions and benefit people on Earth. Among some of the hundreds of experiments ongoing during her mission, Dyson will continue to study how fire spreads and behaves in space with the Combustion Integrated Rack, as well as contribute to the long-running Crew Earth Observations study by photographing Earth to better understand how our planet is changing over time.
After completing her expedition, Dyson will return to Earth in fall 2024 with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. Kononenko and Chub launched Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft. Kononenko and Chub will remain aboard the orbital laboratory for about one year. O’Hara, who will spend six months aboard the space station, will return with Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft.
NASA selected Dyson as an astronaut in June 1998, and during her previous two flights, logged more than 188 days in space. Dyson first launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on STS-118 in 2007, serving as a mission specialist. During the mission, the crew successfully added the starboard-5 truss segment to the station’s “backbone” and a new gyroscope. In 2010, she served as flight engineer for Expedition 23/24 and performed three successful contingency spacewalks, logging 22 hours and 49 minutes outside the station as she helped remove and replace a failed pump module for one of two external ammonia circulation loops that keep internal and external equipment cool.
Dyson has worked inside the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as spacecraft communicator, known as capcom, for both space shuttle and space station operations. She also served as the lead capcom for various space station missions, as well as the development of the capcom cadre for Boeing’s Starliner Mission Operations Team. Other technical assignments included leading the development of the spacewalk qualification training flow, which she helped to complete for the 2017 class of NASA astronauts.
Born in Arcadia, California, Dyson received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from California State University, Fullerton, in 1993, and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Davis, in 1997.
For more than 22 years, humans have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
Developing New Battery Technologies to Help Prevent Battery Fires | NASA
NASA researchers are exploring the feasibility of predicting and preventing battery fires before they happen. SPARRCI or “Sensor-based Prognostics to Avoid Runaway Reactions and Catastrophic Ignition,” is a research activity with the goal to create a “smart” battery system with sensors inside them, that would self-monitor and send an alert well before it endangers the safety of its aircraft. The operator would then be able to correct the problem or replace the battery before the dangerous overheating ever occurs. This fine-tuned view of the inside of a battery could lead to safer and better performing energy storage—a new generation of batteries.
Dream Chaser Spaceplane's Journey to NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio
“The last several years have required an enormous amount of tenacity by our team and no other name would have been more appropriate for our first Dream Chaser spaceplane.”
– Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice
The journey of the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane "Tenacity" and its Shooting Star Cargo Module to the world's largest vibration table at the Armstrong Test Facility of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio.
The Black Sea: Türkiye (left), Georgia (right) | International Space Station
Expedition 70 Mission Specialist and NASA Astronaut Loral O'Hara aboard the International Space shared this image: "City lights along the Black Sea. Turkey on the left, Georgia on the right."
The Black Sea is a Mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. Around it are six countries: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester.
Türkiye, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest.
Georgia is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast.
Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)
Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov
JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)
NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Astronaut Loral O'Hara
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