NASA, SpaceX Launch DART: First Test Mission to Defend Planet Earth
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first full-scale mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards, launched Nov. 24. Learn how DART will attempt to slightly change an asteroid’s motion in a way that can be accurately measured using ground-based telescopes.
NASA’s New X-ray Mission Will Unlock Secrets of Extreme Cosmic Objects
NASA is gearing up to launch a new set of X-ray eyes on the cosmos. The first space observatory of its kind, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is built to study some of the most energetic objects in the universe – the remnants of exploded stars, powerful particle jets spewing from feeding black holes, and much more.
Roasted, Shredded by Stellar Sidekick
An exhausted star still has some punches to deliver. Astronomers have found that a white dwarf is pummeling a companion object – either a lightweight star or a planet – with incessant blasts of heat and radiation plus a relentless gravitational pull tearing it apart.
Explore Advanced Life Support Systems on Space Station
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, lead development, testing, and delivery of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems for the International Space Station – proven technology which is now being refined and upgraded to support future long-term crewed missions to the Moon and beyond.
Hubble Spots Swirls of Dust in Flame Nebula
The Flame Nebula is a large star-forming region in the constellation Orion that lies about 1,400 light-years from Earth. A new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope focuses on the dark, dusty heart of the nebula, where a star cluster resides, mostly hidden from view.
For more information or to learn about other happenings at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, visit NASA Marshall. For past issues of the ICYMI newsletter, click here.