NASA has selected the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide the necessary systems required to return temperature sensitive science payloads to Earth from the Moon.
The Lunar Freezer System contract is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award with cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery orders. The contract begins Thursday, Dec. 4, with a 66-month base period along with two optional periods that could extend the award through June 3, 2033. The contract has a total estimated value of $37 million.
Under the contract, the awardee will be responsible for providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective hardware and software systems NASA needs to maintain temperature-critical science materials, including lunar geological samples, human research samples, and biological experimentation samples, as they travel aboard Artemis spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface. The awarded contractor was selected after a thorough evaluation by NASA engineers of the proposals submitted. NASA’s source selection authority made the selection after reviewing the evaluation material based on the evaluation criteria contained in the request for proposals.
For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:
25 Years of Scientific Discovery Aboard the International Space Station
November marks 25 years of human presence aboard the International Space Station, a testament to international collaboration and human ingenuity. Since the first crew arrived on Nov. 2, 2000, NASA and its partners have conducted thousands of research investigations and technology demonstrations to advance exploration of the Moon and Mars and benefit life on Earth.
Researchers have taken advantage of the unique microgravity environment to conduct experiments impossible to replicate on Earth, transforming research across disciplines. More than 4,000 experiments have pushed the boundaries of science, sparked discoveries, and driven scientific breakthroughs.
“25 years ago, Expedition 1 became the first crew to call the International Space Station home, beginning a period of continuous human presence in space that still continues to this day,” said NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy. “This historic milestone would not have been possible without NASA and its partners, as well as every astronaut and engineer who works to keep the lights on in low Earth orbit.”
To celebrate a quarter century of innovation in microgravity, NASA is highlighting 25 scientific breakthroughs that exemplify the station’s enduring impact on science, technology, and exploration.
Building the road to the Moon and Mars
The waxing crescent moon appears just above the Earth’s atmosphere as the International Space Station orbits the Earth.
Navigation, communication, and radiation shielding technologies proven aboard the space station are being integrated into spacecraft and missions to reach the Moon and Mars.
Robotic systems, for example a robotic surgeon and autonomous assistants, will expand available medical procedures and allow astronauts to dedicate time to more crucial tasks during missions far from Earth.
Astronauts have used recycled plastic and stainless steel to 3D print tools and parts. The ability to 3D print in space lays the groundwork for on-demand repair and fabrication during future deep space missions where resupply isn’t readily available.
Humanity’s push to the Moon and Mars begins with discoveries in low Earth orbit. From demonstrating how astronauts can live, work, and repair equipment off Earth to testing life-support systems and advanced materials, every innovation aboard the station helps to advance NASA’s Artemis and other exploration initiatives and brings humanity closer to thriving beyond our planet.
Sustaining life beyond Earth
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, front, and Bob Hines, back, work on XROOTS aboard the International Space Station. This experiment used the station’s Veggie facility to test soilless hydroponic and aeroponic plant growth.
NASA
As NASA prepares to return humans to the Moon through the Artemis program and push onward to Mars, sustaining life beyond Earth is more critical than ever.
Astronauts have grown more than 50 species of plants in space, including tomatoes, bok choi, romaine lettuce, and chili peppers.
Advanced life support systems are capable of recycling up to 98% of water in the U.S. segment aboard the space station, the ideal level needed for exploration missions.
Researchers have sequenced DNA in orbit and are advancing techniques to enable real-time assessment of microbial life in space, which is essential to maintaining astronaut health.
Why this matters:
By growing food, recycling water, and improving medical care in space, NASA is paving the way for future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars while revolutionizing agriculture and medicine back home.
Helping humanity on Earth
Pharmaceutical crystals grown aboard the International Space Station are shown after returning to Earth.
Redwire
Research aboard the orbiting laboratory not only pushes humanity farther into the cosmos but can help address complex human health issues on the ground. By providing a platform for long-term microgravity research, the space station fosters breakthroughs that yield direct benefits to people on Earth.
Research aboard the space station provides new insights to develop treatments for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and heart disease by revealing how microgravity alters cellular functions.
New developments in medicine for cancer, muscular dystrophy, and neurodegenerative diseases have come from growing protein crystals in microgravity with larger, more organized structures.
High quality stem cells can be grown in greater quantities in space, helping to develop new regenerative therapies for neurological, cardiovascular, and immunological conditions.
Pioneering efforts in 3D bioprinting, which uses cells, proteins, and nutrients as source material, have produced human tissue structures such as a knee meniscus and heart tissue, a major step toward manufacturing organs in space for transplant patients on Earth.
Researchers are using miniaturized tissue models to observe how space affects tissues and organ systems, offering new ways to develop and test medicines to protect astronauts on future missions and improve treatments on Earth.
Photos taken by astronauts have supported emergency response to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, with targeted views from space.
Instruments mounted on the space station protect critical space infrastructure and provide data on the planet’s natural patterns by measuring Earth’s resources and space weather.
Why this matters:
Microgravity research is moving us closer to manufacturing human organs in space for transplant and revealing new ways to fight cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, neurodegenerative disease, and other serious illnesses that affect millions of people worldwide. The station also serves as an observation platform to monitor natural disasters, weather patterns, and Earth’s resources.
Understanding our universe
Artist concept of operations inside NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the International Space Station.
NASA
The space station offers scientists an unparalleled vantage point to learn about the fundamental behavior of the universe. By studying cosmic phenomena typically blocked or absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere and observing physics at an atomic level, researchers can probe mysteries impossible to study from Earth.
Researchers have recorded billions of cosmic events, helping scientists search for antimatter and dark matter signatures in space.
Scientists have created and studied the fifth state of matter on the space station, allowing researchers to use quantum science to advance technology like space navigation, satellite operations, and GPS systems on Earth.
Why this matters:
Research aboard the space station is helping us unravel the deepest mysteries of our universe, from the smallest quantum particles to the most powerful cosmic explosions. Observations of collapsing stars and black holes could inspire new navigation tools using cosmic signals and expand our grasp of space-time. Studies of antimatter and dark matter bring us closer to understanding the 95% of the universe invisible to the human eye. Creating the fifth state of matter in space unlocks new quantum pathways that could transform technology on Earth and in space.
Learning new physics
This image shows a flame ignited as part of the Flame Design investigation on the International Space Station.
NASA
Physical processes behave differently in microgravity, offering scientists a new lens for discovery.
Engineers can design more efficient fuel and life support systems for future spacecraft thanks to studies of fluid boiling, containment, and flow.
Analyzing gels and liquids mixed with tiny particles in space helps researchers fine-tune material compositions and has led to new patents for consumer products.
Breakthroughs in fundamental physics aboard the space station drive innovation on Earth and advance spacecraft fuel, thermal control, plant watering, and water purification systems. Research in soft materials is improving products in medicine, household products, and renewable energy, while cool flames studies may lead to cleaner, more efficient engines.
Enabling global access to space
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers talks on a ham radio with students from Lakeside Junior High School in Springdale, Arkansas. Ayers answered questions from the students about her experience living and working aboard the International Space Station.
NASA
Since 2000, the space station has opened doors for private companies, researchers, students, and astronauts around the world to participate in exploration and help propel humanity forward to the Moon and Mars.
The space station is a launchpad for the commercial space economy, enabling private astronaut missions and hosting hundreds of experiments from commercial companies, giving them the chance to strengthen their technologies through in-orbit research, manufacturing demonstrations, and innovation.
CubeSats deployed from the space station enable students and innovators around the world to test radio antennas, small telescopes, and other scientific demonstrations in space.
More than one million students have engaged with astronauts via ham radio events, inspiring the next generation to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The space station has enabled the space economy, where commercial research, manufacturing, and technology demonstrations are shaping a new global marketplace. NASA and its international partners have established a leadership position in low Earth orbit, creating new opportunities for industry and paving the way for exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Learn more about the research aboard the International Space Station at:
El telescopio espacial Hubble captó esta imagen del cometa interestelar 3I/ATLAS el 21 de julio de 2025, cuando el cometa se encontraba a 445 millones de kilómetros (277 millones de millas) de la Tierra. Hubble muestra que el cometa tiene una envoltura de polvo en forma de lágrima que se desprende de su núcleo sólido y helado.
Crédito: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Procesamiento de imágenes: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
La NASA ofrecerá un evento en vivo (en inglés) a las 3 p.m. EST del miércoles 19 de noviembre para compartir imágenes del cometa interestelar 3I/ATLAS captadas por varias misiones de la agencia. El evento tendrá lugar en el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA, en Greenbelt, Maryland.
El cometa 3I/ATLAS, descubierto el 1 de julio por el observatorio ATLAS (por las siglas en inglés de Sistema de Última Alerta de Impacto Terrestre de Asteroides), financiado por la NASA. El cometa es el tercer objeto identificado hasta la fecha que ha entrado en nuestro sistema solar procedente de otra parte de la galaxia. Aunque no supone ninguna amenaza para la Tierra y no se acercará a menos de 273 millones de kilómetros (170 millones de millas) de nuestro planeta, el cometa pasó a menos de 30 millones de kilómetros (19 millones de millas) de Marte a principios de octubre.
El evento se retransmitirá en NASA+, la aplicación de la NASA, el sitio web y el canal de YouTube de la agencia, y Amazon Prime.
Entre los participantes en la sesión informativa, que proceden de la sede central de la NASA en Washington, se encuentran:
Amit Kshatriya, administrador asociado de la NASA
Nicky Fox, administradora asociada, Dirección de Misiones Científicas
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director interino, División de Astrofísica
Tom Statler, científico jefe para cuerpos pequeños del sistema solar.
Para participar virtualmente en el evento NASA Live, los miembros de los medios de comunicación deben enviar su nombre completo, afiliación mediática, dirección de correo electrónico y número de teléfono a más tardar dos horas antes del inicio del evento a Molly Wasser: molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov. Los miembros del público también podrán hacer preguntas utilizando #AskNASA en las redes sociales, y sus preguntas podrían ser respondidas, en inglés y en tiempo real, durante la transmisión. También contamos con un experto en la materia con disponibilidad limitada para entrevistas de seguimiento en español. Para solicitar una entrevista en español, póngase en contacto con María José Viñas: maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov
Recursos de misiones científicas de la NASA proporcionan a Estados Unidos la capacidad única de observar a 3I/ATLAS prácticamente durante todo el tiempo que permanecerá en nuestra vecindad celeste y estudiar, con instrumentos científicos complementarios y desde diferentes direcciones, cómo se comporta el cometa. Estos instrumentos incluyen tanto naves espaciales en todo el sistema solar como observatorios terrestres.
Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus.
Credit: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
NASA will host a live event at 3 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 19, to share imagery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS collected by a number of the agency’s missions. The event will take place at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) observatory on July 1, is only the third object ever identified as entering our solar system from elsewhere in the galaxy. While it poses no threat to Earth and will get no closer than 170 million miles to Earth, the comet flew within 19 million miles of Mars in early October.
The event will air on NASA+, the NASA app, the agency’s website and YouTube channel, and Amazon Prime.
Tom Statler, lead scientist for solar system small bodies
To participate virtually in the NASA Live event, members of the media must send their full name, media affiliation, email address, and phone number no later than two hours before the start of the event to Molly Wasser at: molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov. Members of the public also may ask questions, which may be answered in real time during the broadcast, by using #AskNASA on social media.
Assets within NASA’s science missions give the United States the unique capability to observe 3I/ATLAS almost the entire time it passes through our celestial neighborhood, and study – with complementary scientific instruments and from different directions – how the comet behaves. These assets include both spacecraft across the solar system, as well as ground-based observatories.
In this artist’s concept, the ocean-observing satellite Sentinel-6B orbits Earth with its deployable solar panels extended.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for Sentinel-6B, an international mission delivering critical sea level and ocean data to protect coastal infrastructure, improve weather forecasting, and support commercial activities at sea.
Launch is targeted at 12:21 a.m. EST, Monday, Nov. 17 (9:21 p.m. PST, Sunday, Nov. 16) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Watch coverage beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST (8:30 p.m. PST) on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The Sentinel-6B mission continues a decades-long effort to monitor global sea level and ocean conditions using precise radar measurements from space. Since the early 1990s, satellites launched by NASA and domestic and international partners have collected precise sea level data. The launch of Sentinel-6B will extend this dataset out to nearly four decades.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Saturday, Nov. 15
4 p.m. – NASA Prelaunch Teleconference on International Ocean Tracking Mission
Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington
Pierrik Veuilleumier, Sentinel-6B project manager, ESA (European Space Agency)
Parag Vaze, Sentinel-6B project manager, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California
Tim Dunn, senior launch director, Launch Services Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science Missions, SpaceX
1st Lt. William Harbin, launch weather officer, U.S. Air Force
11:30 p.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.
Audio-only coverage
Audio-only of the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220 or -1240. On launch day, “mission audio” countdown activities without NASA+ launch commentary will be carried at 321-867-7135.
NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the agency’s website. Coverage will include links to live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 11 p.m. EST, Nov. 16, as the countdown milestones occur. Streaming video and photos of the launch will be accessible on demand shortly after liftoff. Follow countdown coverage on NASA’s Sentinel-6/Jason-CS blog.
For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
Attend launch virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.
Watch, engage on social media
Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
Sentinel-6B is the second of twin satellites in the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, a collaboration among NASA, ESA, EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The first satellite in the mission, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in November 2020. The European Commission contributed funding support, while France’s space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) provided technical expertise. The mission also marks the first international involvement in Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission launched at 3:55 p.m. EST atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Credit: Blue Origin
A pair of NASA spacecraft ultimately destined for Mars will study how its magnetic environment is impacted by the Sun. The mission also will help the agency prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft launched at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“Congratulations to Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, UC Berkeley, and all our partners on the successful launch of ESCAPADE. This heliophysics mission will help reveal how Mars became a desert planet, and how solar eruptions affect the Martian surface,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “Every launch of New Glenn provides data that will be essential when we launch MK-1 through Artemis. All this information will be critical to protect future NASA explorers and invaluable as we evaluate how to deliver on President Trump’s vision of planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars.”
The twin spacecraft, built by Rocket Lab, will investigate how a never-ending, million-mile-per-hour stream of particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, has gradually stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere, causing the planet to cool and its surface water to evaporate. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley.
Ground controllers for the ESCAPADE mission established communications with both spacecraft by 10:35 p.m. EST.
“The ESCAPADE mission is part of our strategy to understand Mars’ past and present so we can send the first astronauts there safely,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Understanding Martian space weather is a top priority for future missions because it helps us protect systems, robots, and most importantly, humans, in extreme environments.”
New Glenn also carried a space communications technology demonstration from Viasat Inc., supporting NASA’s efforts to commercialize next-generation satellite relay services for science missions. Funded by the agency’s Communications Services Project, the demonstration transmitted launch telemetry data from the rocket’s second stage to an operations center on Earth through Viasat’s geostationary satellite network.
Blazing new trails
Recent solar activity, which triggered widespread auroras on Earth, caused a slight delay in launch to prevent solar storms from negatively impacting post-launch spacecraft commissioning. When ESCAPADE arrives at Mars, it will study present-day effects of the solar wind and solar storms on the Red Planet in real time. This will provide insights about Martian space weather and help NASA better understand the conditions astronauts will face when they reach Mars.
“The ESCAPADE spacecraft are now about to embark on a unique journey to Mars never traversed by any other mission,” said Alan Zide, ESCAPADE program executive at NASA Headquarters.
Rather than heading directly to Mars, the twin spacecraft will first head to a location in space a million miles from Earth called Lagrange point 2. Right now, Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, which makes it harder to travel from one planet to the other. In November 2026, when Earth and Mars are closely aligned in their orbits, the ESCAPADE spacecraft will loop back to Earth and use Earth’s gravity to slingshot themselves toward Mars.
In the past, Mars missions have waited to launch during a brief window of time when Earth and Mars are aligned, which happens roughly every two years. However, with the type of trajectory ESCAPADE is using, future missions could launch nearly anytime and wait in space, queueing up for their interplanetary departure, until the two planets are in position.
This original “Earth-proximity” or “loiter” orbit also will make ESCAPADE the first mission to ever pass through a distant region of Earth’s magnetotail, part of our planet’s magnetic field that gets stretched out away from the Sun by the solar wind.
Studying Mars in stereo
After a 10-month cruise, ESCAPADE is expected to arrive at Mars in September 2027, becoming the first coordinated dual-spacecraft mission to enter orbit around another planet.
Over several months, the two spacecraft will arrange themselves in their initial science formation, in which the twin spacecraft will follow each other in the same “string-of-pearls” orbit, passing through the same areas in quick succession to investigate for the first time how space weather conditions vary on short timescales. This science campaign will begin in June 2028.
Six months later, both spacecraft will shift into different orbits, with one traveling farther from Mars and the other staying closer to it. Planned to last for five months, this second formation aims to study the solar wind and Mars’ upper atmosphere simultaneously, allowing scientists to investigate how the planet responds to the solar wind in real time.
In addition, ESCAPADE will provide more information about Mars’ ionosphere — a part of the upper atmosphere that future astronauts will rely on to send radio and navigation signals around the planet.
The ESCAPADE mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Advanced Space support the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, secured the launch service with Blue Origin under the Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract.
NASA’s new ESCAPADE mission is launching to Mars to help us better understand the Sun’s influence on Mars’ past and present. Its work could help protect futu...
NASA’s Webb Telescope Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet
An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet, CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Full image, annotation, and caption shown below.
Credits: Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Gabriele Cugno (University of Zürich, NCCR PlanetS), Sierra Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disk encircling a large exoplanet. The carbon-rich disk surrounding the world called CT Cha b, which is located 625 light-years away from Earth, is a possible construction yard for moons, although no moons are detected in the Webb data.
The young star the planet orbits is only 2 million years old and still accreting circumstellar material. However, the circumplanetary disk discovered by Webb is not part of the larger accretion disk around the central star. The two objects are 46 billion miles apart.
Observing planet and moon formation is fundamental to understanding the evolution of planetary systems across our galaxy. Moons likely outnumber planets, and some might be habitats for life as we know it. But we are only now entering an era where we can witness their formation.
This discovery fosters a better understanding of planet and moon formation, say researchers. Webb’s data is invaluable for making comparisons to our solar system’s birth over 4 billion years ago.
“We can see evidence of the disk around the companion, and we can study the chemistry for the first time. We’re not just witnessing moon formation — we’re also witnessing this planet’s formation,” said co-lead author Sierra Grant of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.
“We are seeing what material is accreting to build the planet and moons,” added main lead author Gabriele Cugno of the University of Zürich and member of the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS.
Image A: Circumplanetary Disk (Artist’s Concept)
An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet, CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Spectroscopic data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope suggests the disk contains the raw materials for moon formation: diacetylene, hydrogen cyanide, propyne, acetylene, ethane, carbon dioxide, and benzene. The planet appears at lower right, while its host star and surrounding circumstellar disk are visible in the background.
Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Gabriele Cugno (University of Zu00fcrich, NCCR PlanetS), Sierra Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI)
Dissecting starlight
Infrared observations of CT Cha b were made with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) using its medium resolution spectrograph. An initial look into Webb’s archival data revealed signs of molecules within the circumplanetary disk, which motivated a deeper dive into the data. Because the planet’s faint signal is buried in the glare of the host star, the researchers had to disentangle the light of the star from the planet using high-contrast methods.
“We saw molecules at the location of the planet, and so we knew that there was stuff in there worth digging for and spending a year trying to tease out of the data. It really took a lot of perseverance,” said Grant.
Ultimately, the team discovered seven carbon-bearing molecules within the planet’s disk, including acetylene (C2H2) and benzene (C6H6). This carbon-rich chemistry is in stark contrast to the chemistry seen in the disk around the host star, where the researchers found water but no carbon. The difference between the two disks offers evidence for their rapid chemical evolution over only 2 million years.
Genesis of moons
A circumplanetary disk has long been hypothesized as the birthplace of Jupiter’s four major moons. These Galilean satellites must have condensed out of such a flattened disk billions of years ago, as evident in their co-planar orbits about Jupiter. The two outermost Galilean moons, Ganymede and Callisto, are 50% water ice. But they presumably have rocky cores, perhaps either of carbon or silicon.
“We want to learn more about how our solar system formed moons. This means that we need to look at other systems that are still under construction. We’re trying to understand how it all works,” said Cugno. “How do these moons come to be? What are their ingredients? What physical processes are at play, and over what timescales? Webb allows us to witness the drama of moon formation and investigate these questions observationally for the first time.”
In the coming year, the team will use Webb to perform a comprehensive survey of similar objects, to better understand the diversity of physical and chemical properties in the disks around young planets.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet (lower right), CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Spectroscopic data from Webb suggests the disk contains the raw materials for moon formation.
NASA’s Webb Telescope Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet
An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet, CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Full image, annotation, and caption shown below.
Credits: Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Gabriele Cugno (University of Zürich, NCCR PlanetS), Sierra Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disk encircling a large exoplanet. The carbon-rich disk surrounding the world called CT Cha b, which is located 625 light-years away from Earth, is a possible construction yard for moons, although no moons are detected in the Webb data.
The young star the planet orbits is only 2 million years old and still accreting circumstellar material. However, the circumplanetary disk discovered by Webb is not part of the larger accretion disk around the central star. The two objects are 46 billion miles apart.
Observing planet and moon formation is fundamental to understanding the evolution of planetary systems across our galaxy. Moons likely outnumber planets, and some might be habitats for life as we know it. But we are only now entering an era where we can witness their formation.
This discovery fosters a better understanding of planet and moon formation, say researchers. Webb’s data is invaluable for making comparisons to our solar system’s birth over 4 billion years ago.
“We can see evidence of the disk around the companion, and we can study the chemistry for the first time. We’re not just witnessing moon formation — we’re also witnessing this planet’s formation,” said co-lead author Sierra Grant of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.
“We are seeing what material is accreting to build the planet and moons,” added main lead author Gabriele Cugno of the University of Zürich and member of the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS.
Image A: Circumplanetary Disk (Artist’s Concept)
An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disk encircling the young exoplanet, CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Spectroscopic data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope suggests the disk contains the raw materials for moon formation: diacetylene, hydrogen cyanide, propyne, acetylene, ethane, carbon dioxide, and benzene. The planet appears at lower right, while its host star and surrounding circumstellar disk are visible in the background.
Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Gabriele Cugno (University of Zürich, NCCR PlanetS), Sierra Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI)
Dissecting starlight
Infrared observations of CT Cha b were made with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) using its medium resolution spectrograph. An initial look into Webb’s archival data revealed signs of molecules within the circumplanetary disk, which motivated a deeper dive into the data. Because the planet’s faint signal is buried in the glare of the host star, the researchers had to disentangle the light of the star from the planet using high-contrast methods.
“We saw molecules at the location of the planet, and so we knew that there was stuff in there worth digging for and spending a year trying to tease out of the data. It really took a lot of perseverance,” said Grant.
Ultimately, the team discovered seven carbon-bearing molecules within the planet’s disk, including acetylene (C2H2) and benzene (C6H6). This carbon-rich chemistry is in stark contrast to the chemistry seen in the disk around the host star, where the researchers found water but no carbon. The difference between the two disks offers evidence for their rapid chemical evolution over only than 2 million years.
Genesis of moons
A circumplanetary disk has long been hypothesized as the birthplace of Jupiter’s four major moons. These Galilean satellites must have condensed out of such a flattened disk billions of years ago, as evident in their co-planar orbits about Jupiter. The two outermost Galilean moons, Ganymede and Callisto, are 50% water ice. But they presumably have rocky cores, perhaps either of carbon or silicon.
“We want to learn more about how our solar system formed moons. This means that we need to look at other systems that are still under construction. We’re trying to understand how it all works,” said Cugno. “How do these moons come to be? What are their ingredients? What physical processes are at play, and over what timescales? Webb allows us to witness the drama of moon formation and investigate these questions observationally for the first time.”
In the coming year, the team will use Webb to perform a comprehensive survey of similar objects, to better understand the diversity of physical and chemical properties in the disks around young planets.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Recent airborne science flights to Greenland are improving NASA’s understanding of space weather by measuring radiation exposure to air travelers and validating global radiation maps used in flight path planning. This unique data also has value beyond the Earth as a celestial roadmap for using the same instrumentation to monitor radiation levels for travelers entering Mars’ atmosphere and for upcoming lunar exploration.
NASA’s Space Weather Aviation Radiation (SWXRAD) aircraft flight campaign took place August 25-28 and conducted two five-hour flights in Nuuk, Greenland. Based out of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the mission gathered dosimetry measurements, or the radiation dose level, to air travelers from cosmic radiation. Cosmic radiation is caused by high-energy particles from outer space that originate from our Sun during eruptive events like solar flares and from events farther away, like supernovae in our Milky Way galaxy and beyond.
Science team partners from Honeywell reviewing dosimeter data on board NASA’s B200 King Air during a flight over Nuuk, Greenland.
NASA/Guillaume Gronoff
“With NASA spacecraft and astronauts exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond, we support critical research to understand – and ultimately predict – the impacts of space weather across the solar system,” said Jamie Favors, director of NASA’s Space Weather Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Though this project is focused on aviation applications on Earth, NAIRAS could be part of the next generation of tools supporting Artemis missions to the Moon and eventually human missions to Mars.”
Jamie Favors, NASA Space Weather Program director, and Chris Mertens, SWXRAD principal investigator, discussing a dosimeter at NASA’s Langley Research Center as specialized instruments are integrated onto NASA’s B200 King Air aircraft before deploying to Greenland.
NASA/Mark Knopp
NASA’s Nowcast of Aerospace Ionizing Radiation System, or NAIRAS, is the modeling system being enhanced by the SWXRAD airborne science flights. The model features real-time global maps of the hazardous radiation in the atmosphere and creates exposure predictions for aircraft and spacecraft.
NASA’s B200 King Air on the runway in Goose Bay, Canada, a stop during the flight to Nuuk, Greenland.
NASA/Guillaume Gronoff
“The radiation exposure is maximum at the poles and minimum at the equator because of the effect of Earth’s magnetic field. In the polar regions, the magnetic field lines are directed into or out of the Earth, so there’s no deflection or shielding by the fields of the radiation environment that you see everywhere else.” explained Chris Mertens, principal investigator of SWXRAD at NASA Langley. “Greenland is a region where the shielding of cosmic radiation by Earth’s magnetic field is zero.”
That means flight crews and travelers on polar flights from the U.S. to Asia or from the U.S. to Europe are exposed to higher levels of radiation.
Frozen and rocky terrain in the Polar region observed from above Nuuk, Greenland during NASA’s SWXRAD science flights.
NASA/Guillaume Gronoff
The data gathered in Greenland will be compared to the NAIRAS modeling, which bases its computation on sources around the globe that include neutron monitors and instruments that measure solar wind parameters and the magnetic field along with spaceborne data from instruments like the NOAA GOES series of satellites.
“If the new data doesn’t agree, we have to go back and look at why that is,” said Mertens. “In the radiation environment, one of the biggest uncertainties is the effect of Earth’s magnetic field. So, this mission eliminates that variable in the model and enables us to concentrate on other areas, like characterizing the particles that are coming in from space into the atmosphere, and then the transport and interactions with the atmosphere.”
An aerial view of Nuuk, Greenland.
NASA/Guillaume Gronoff
The SWXRAD science team flew aboard NASA’s B200 King Air with five researchers and crew members. In the coming months, the team will focus on measurement data quality checks, quantitative modeling comparisons, and a validation study between current NAIRAS data and the new aircraft dosimeter measurements.
All of this information is endeavoring to protect pilots and passengers on Earth from the health risks associated with radiation exposure while using NASA’s existing science capabilities to safely bring astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
Northern Lights, or auroras, seen over the city of Nuuk, Greenland. Auroras are considered space weather and are easily visible effects of activity from the Sun interacting with the magnetosphere and Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA/Guillaume Gronoff
“Once you get to Mars and even the transit out to Mars, there would be times where we don’t have any data sets to really understand what the environment is out there,” said Favors. “So we’re starting to think about not only how do we get ready for those humans on Mars, but also what data do we need to bring with them? So we’re feeding this data into models exactly like NAIRAS. This model is thinking about Mars in the same way it’s thinking about Earth.”
The SWXRAD flight mission is funded through NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Heliophysics Division. NASA’s Space Weather Program Office is hosted at NASA Langley and facilitates researchers in the creation of new tools to predict space weather and to understand space weather effects on Earth’s infrastructure, technology, and society.
For more information on NASA Heliophysics and NAIRAS modeling visit:
NASA has selected Science and Technology Corp. of Columbia, Maryland, to support atmospheric science research and development at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Atmosphere Support is a cost-plus-fixed-fee, single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering value of $163.1 million. The contract will have an effective date of Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, for a period of five years.
Under the contract, the awardee will assist NASA Goddard’s Earth Science Division with all atmospheric science research and development and will conduct a comprehensive atmospheric science research and technology development program directed toward observing, monitoring, characterizing, modeling, understanding, and advancing knowledge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
Un cohete Falcon 9 de SpaceX que transporta las misiones Sonda de Cartografía y Aceleración Interestelar (IMAP, por su acrónimo en inglés) y el Observatorio Carruthers de la Geocorona, ambos de la NASA, y la nave espacial de Seguimiento de la Meteorología Espacial en el Punto de Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NOAA, despega desde el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida el miércoles 24 de septiembre de 2025.
La NASA y la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA, por sus siglas en inglés) lanzaron el miércoles tres nuevas misiones para investigar la influencia del Sol en todo el sistema solar.
A las 7:30 a. m. EDT, un cohete Falcon 9 de SpaceX despegó del Complejo de Lanzamiento 39A del Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida, llevando a bordo las misiones Sonda de Cartografía y Aceleración Interestelar (IMAP, por su acrónimo en inglés) y el Observatorio Carruthers de la Geocorona, ambos de la NASA, y la nave espacial de Seguimiento de la Meteorología Espacial en el Punto de Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NOAA.
“Este exitoso lanzamiento mejora la preparación de nuestro país ante las condiciones meteorológicas espaciales para proteger mejor nuestros satélites, misiones interplanetarias y astronautas que viajan al espacio de los peligros de la meteorología espacial en todo el sistema solar”, afirmó el administrador interino de la NASA, Sean Duffy. “Esta información será fundamental a medida que nos preparamos para futuras misiones a la Luna y Marte con la intención de mantener a Estados Unidos a la vanguardia en el espacio”.
Estas misiones ayudarán a proteger de las duras condiciones de la meteorología espacial tanto a nuestra tecnología basada en tierra como a nuestros exploradores espaciales humanos y robóticos.
“Mientras Estados Unidos se prepara para enviar a seres humanos de vuelta a la Luna y más adelante a Marte, la NASA y la NOAA están proporcionando la guía definitiva de supervivencia interplanetaria para dar apoyo a este épico viaje de la humanidad”, afirmó Nicola Fox, administradora asociada de la Dirección de Misiones Científicas de la sede central de la NASA en Washington. “Nuestros descubrimientos científicos e innovaciones técnicas se incorporan directamente a nuestro plan de acción know-before-you-go (infórmate antes de ir) para garantizar una presencia humana bien preparada, segura y continua en otros mundos”.
Nueva ciencia para proteger a la sociedad
Cada misión investigará los diferentes efectos de la meteorología espacial y el viento solar, el cual es un flujo continuo de partículas emitidas por el Sol, desde su origen en nuestra estrella hasta el espacio interestelar.
“Estas tres misiones únicas nos ayudarán a conocer nuestro Sol y sus efectos sobre la Tierra mejor que nunca”, afirmó Joe Westlake, director de la División de Heliofísica en la sede central de la NASA. “Este conocimiento es fundamental, ya que la actividad solar afecta directamente a nuestra vida cotidiana, desde las redes eléctricas hasta el GPS. Estas misiones nos ayudarán a garantizar la seguridad y la resiliencia de nuestro mundo interconectado”.
La misión IMAP trazará los límites de la heliosfera, una burbuja inflada por el viento solar que protege nuestro sistema solar de los rayos cósmicos galácticos. Esta es una protección clave que contribuye a que nuestro planeta sea habitable. Además, la nave espacial tomará muestras y medirá las partículas del viento solar que fluyen hacia el exterior desde el Sol, así como las partículas energéticas que fluyen hacia el interior desde los límites de nuestro sistema solar y más allá.
“IMAP nos ayudará a comprender mejor cómo el entorno espacial puede perjudicarnos a nosotros y a nuestras tecnologías, y a descubrir la ciencia de nuestro vecindario solar”, afirmó David McComas, investigador principal de la misión IMAP en la Universidad de Princeton, en Nueva Jersey.
El Observatorio Carruthers de la Geocorona es la primera misión dedicada a medir los cambios en la capa más externa de nuestra atmósfera, la exosfera, la cual juega un papel importante en cómo la Tierra responde a la meteorología espacial. Al estudiar la geocorona —el brillo ultravioleta que emite la exosfera cuando la luz del sol la ilumina— la misión Carruthers revelará cómo la exosfera responde a las tormentas solares y cómo cambia con las estaciones. La misión se basa en el legado del primer instrumento que capturó imágenes de la geocorona, el cual viajó a la Luna a bordo de Apolo 16 y fue construido y diseñado por el científico, inventor, ingeniero y educador Dr. George Carruthers.
“La misión Carruthers nos mostrará cómo funciona la exosfera y nos ayudará a mejorar nuestra capacidad para predecir los efectos de la actividad solar aquí en la Tierra”, dijo Lara Waldrop, investigadora principal de la misión en la Universidad de Illinois en Urbana-Champaign.
La nave SWFO-L1 de la NOAA, la primera de su tipo, está diseñada para ser un observatorio de meteorología espacial operativo a tiempo completo. Al vigilar la actividad solar y las condiciones espaciales cerca de la Tierra las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, sin interrupciones ni obstrucciones, SWFO-L1 proporcionará pronósticos de meteorología espacial más rápidos y precisos que nunca.
“Se trata del primero de una nueva generación de observatorios de meteorología espacial de la NOAA dedicados a operaciones ininterrumpidas, que trabajarán para evitar lagunas en la continuidad. Las observaciones en tiempo real de SWFO-L1 proporcionarán a los operadores los datos fiables necesarios para emitir alertas tempranas, de modo que los responsables de la toma de decisiones puedan actuar con antelación para proteger las infraestructuras vitales, los intereses económicos y la seguridad nacional en la Tierra y en el espacio. Se trata de proteger a la sociedad contra los peligros de la meteorología espacial”, dijo Richard Ullman, subdirector de la Oficina de Observaciones de la Meteorología Espacial de la NOAA
Siguientes pasos
En las horas posteriores al lanzamiento, las tres naves espaciales se desplegaron desde el cohete con éxito y enviaron señales a la Tierra para confirmar que están activas y funcionando correctamente.
Durante los próximos meses, los satélites se dirigirán a su destino, un lugar situado entre la Tierra y el Sol, a unos 1,6 millones de kilómetros de la Tierra, denominado punto de Lagrange 1 (L1). Se espera que lleguen en enero y, una vez completadas las comprobaciones y calibraciones de sus instrumentos, comiencen sus misiones para comprender mejor la meteorología espacial y proteger a la humanidad.
David McComas, de la Universidad de Princeton, dirige la misión IMAP con un equipo internacional formado por 27 instituciones asociadas. El Laboratorio de Física Aplicada de la Universidad Johns Hopkins, ubicado en Laurel, Maryland, construyó la nave espacial y operará la misión.
La misión del Observatorio Carruthers de la Geocorona está dirigida por Lara Waldrop, de la Universidad de Illinois Urbana-Champaign. La ejecución de la misión está a cargo del Laboratorio de Ciencias Espaciales de la Universidad de California, Berkeley, que también diseñó y construyó los dos generadores de imágenes ultravioletas. BAE Systems diseñó y construyó la nave espacial Carruthers.
La División de Proyectos de Exploradores y Heliofísica de la NASA en el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA en Greenbelt, Maryland, gestiona las misiones IMAP y Observatorio Carruthers de la Geocorona para la Dirección de Misiones Científicas de la NASA.
La misión SWFO-L1 está gestionada por la NOAA y desarrollada en colaboración con el centro Goddard de la NASA y socios comerciales. El Programa de Servicios de Lanzamiento de la NASA, con sede en el centro Kennedy de la NASA, gestiona el servicio de lanzamiento de las misiones.
Para obtener más información sobre estas misiones, visite:
NASA’s Webb Explores Largest Star-Forming Cloud in Milky Way
Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. Full image and caption below.
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a colorful array of massive stars and glowing cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud, the most massive and active star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy.
“Webb’s powerful infrared instruments provide detail we’ve never been able to see before, which will help us to understand some of the still-elusive mysteries of massive star formation and why Sagittarius B2 is so much more active than the rest of the galactic center,” said astronomer Adam Ginsburg of the University of Florida, principal investigator of the program.
Image A: Sagittarius B2 (NIRCam Image)
Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. The darkest areas of the image are not empty space but are areas where stars are still forming inside dense clouds that block their light.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Sagittarius B2 is located only a few hundred light-years from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy called Sagittarius A*, a region densely packed with stars, star-forming clouds, and complex magnetic fields. The infrared light that Webb detects is able to pass through some of the area’s thick clouds to reveal young stars and the warm dust surrounding them.
However, one of the most notable aspects of Webb’s images of Sagittarius B2 are the portions that remain dark. These ironically empty-looking areas of space are actually so dense with gas and dust that even Webb cannot see through them. These thick clouds are the raw material of future stars and a cocoon for those still too young to shine.
The high resolution and mid-infrared sensitivity of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) revealed this region in unprecedented detail, including glowing cosmic dust heated by very young massive stars. The reddest area on the right half of MIRI’s image, known as Sagittarius B2 North, is one of the most molecularly rich regions known, but astronomers have never seen it with such clarity. (Note: North is to the right in these Webb images.)
Image B: Sagittarius B2 (MIRI Image)
Webb’s MIRI instrument shows the Sagittarius B2 region in mid-infrared light, with warm dust glowing brightly. Only the brightest stars emit strongly enough to appear through the dense clouds as blue pinpoints.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
The difference longer wavelengths of light make, even within the infrared spectrum, are stark when comparing the images from Webb’s MIRI and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instruments. Glowing gas and dust appear dramatically in mid-infrared light, while all but the brightest stars disappear from view.
In contrast to MIRI, colorful stars steal the show in Webb’s NIRCam image, punctuated occasionally by bright clouds of gas and dust. Further research into these stars will reveal details of their masses and ages, which will help astronomers better understand the process of star formation in this dense, active galactic center region. Has it been going on for millions of years? Or has some unknown process triggered it only recently?
Image C: Compare NIRCam and MIRI Images of Sagittarius B2
NIRCam
MIRI
Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. The darkest areas of the image are not empty space but are areas where stars are still forming inside dense clouds that block their light.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. The darkest areas of the image are not empty space but are areas where stars are still forming inside dense clouds that block their light.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NIRCam
MIRI
Compare NIRCam and MIRI Images of Sagittarius B2
Slide between these images from Webb to see what different wavelengths of infrared light reveal and conceal. Near-infrared light, which is nearest to visible red, comes from some gas and an abundance of colorful stars. The longer wavelengths of mid-infrared light are emitted by warm dust and only the brightest stars. Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Astronomers hope Webb will shed light on why star formation in the galactic center is so disproportionately low. Though the region is stocked with plenty of gaseous raw material, on the whole it is not nearly as productive as Sagittarius B2. While Sagittarius B2 has only 10 percent of the galactic center’s gas, it produces 50 percent of its stars.
“Humans have been studying the stars for thousands of years, and there is still a lot to understand,” said Nazar Budaiev, a graduate student at the University of Florida and the co-principal investigator of the study. “For everything new Webb is showing us, there are also new mysteries to explore, and it’s exciting to be a part of that ongoing discovery.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
Stars, gas and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud glow in near-infrared light, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. The darkest areas of the image are not empty space but are areas where stars are still forming inside dense clouds that block their light
Sagittarius B2 (MIRI Image)
Webb’s MIRI instrument shows the Sagittarius B2 region in mid-infrared light, with warm dust glowing brightly. Only the brightest stars emit strongly enough to appear through the dense clouds as blue pinpoints.
Sagittarius B2 (NIRCam Compass Image)
This image of the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) molecular cloud, captured by the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope includes compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.
Sagittarius B2 (MIRI Compass Image)
This image of the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) molecular cloud, captured by MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope includes compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.
Sagittarius B2 NIRCam to MIRI Fade
See what different wavelengths of infrared light reveal and conceal. Near-infrared light, which is nearest to visible red, comes from some gas and an abundance of colorful stars. The longer wavelengths of mid-infrared light are emitted by warm dust and only the brightest stars….
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) missions launches from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched three new missions Wednesday to investigate the Sun’s influence across the solar system.
At 7:30 a.m. EDT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying the agency’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1) spacecraft.
“This successful launch advances the space weather readiness of our nation to better protect our satellites, interplanetary missions, and space-faring astronauts from the dangers of space weather throughout the solar system,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, “This insight will be critical as we prepare for future missions to the Moon and Mars in our endeavor to keep America first in space.”
These missions will help safeguard both our ground-based technology, as well as our human and robotic space explorers from the harsh conditions known of space weather.
“As the United States prepares to send humans back to the Moon and onward to Mars, NASA and NOAA are providing the ultimate interplanetary survival guide to support humanity’s epic journey along the way,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Our scientific discoveries and technical innovations directly feed into our know-before-you-go roadmap to ensure a prepared, safe, and sustained human presence on other worlds.”
New science to protect society
Each mission will investigate different effects of space weather and the solar wind, which is a continuous stream of particles emitted by the Sun, from their origins at the Sun all the way outward to interstellar space.
“These three unique missions will help us get to know our Sun and its effects on Earth better than ever before,” said Joe Westlake, Heliophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters. “This knowledge is critical because the Sun’s activity directly impacts our daily lives, from power grids to GPS. These missions will help us ensure the safety and resilience of our interconnected world.”
The IMAP mission will chart the boundary of the heliosphere, a bubble inflated by the solar wind that shields our solar system from galactic cosmic rays — a key protection that helps make our planet habitable. In addition, the spacecraft will sample and measure solar wind particles streaming outward from the Sun, as well as energetic particles streaming inward from the boundary of our solar system and beyond.
“IMAP will help us better understand how the space environment can harm us and our technologies, and discover the science of our solar neighborhood,” said David McComas, IMAP mission principal investigator at Princeton University in New Jersey.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is the first mission dedicated to recording changes in the outermost layer of our atmosphere, the exosphere, which plays an important role in Earth’s response to space weather. By studying the geocorona — the ultraviolet glow given off by the exosphere when sunlight shines on it — the Carruthers mission will reveal how the exosphere responds to solar storms and how it changes with the seasons. The mission builds on the legacy of the first instrument to image the geocorona, which flew to the Moon aboard Apollo 16 and was built and designed by scientist, inventor, engineer, and educator Dr. George Carruthers.
“The Carruthers mission will show us how the exosphere works and will help improve our ability to predict the impacts of solar activity here on Earth,” said Lara Waldrop, the mission’s principal investigator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The first of its kind, NOAA’s SWFO-L1 is designed to be a full-time operational space weather observatory. By keeping a watchful eye on the Sun’s activity and space conditions near Earth 24/7, and without interruption or obstruction, SWFO-L1 will provide quicker and more accurate space weather forecasts than ever before.
“This is the first of a new generation of NOAA space weather observatories dedicated to 24/7 operations, working to avoid gaps in continuity. Real-time observations from SWFO-L1 will give operators the trusted data necessary to issue advance warnings so that decision-makers can take early action to protect vital infrastructure, economic interests, and national security on Earth and in space. It’s about safeguarding society against space weather hazards,” said Richard Ullman, deputy director of the Office of Space Weather Observations at NOAA.
Next steps
In the hours after launch, all three spacecraft successfully deployed from the rocket and sent signals to Earth to confirm they’re active and working well.
Over the next few months, the spacecraft will make their way to their destination — a location between Earth and the Sun, about a million miles from Earth, called Lagrange point 1 (L1). They should arrive by January and, once their instrument checkouts and calibrations are complete, begin their missions to better understand space weather and protect humanity.
David McComas of Princeton University leads the IMAP mission with an international team of 27 partner institutions. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, built the spacecraft and will operate the mission.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory mission is led by Lara Waldrop from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Mission implementation is led by the Space Sciences Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley, which also designed and built the two ultraviolet imagers. BAE Systems designed and built the Carruthers spacecraft.
The Explorers and Heliophysics Projects Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the IMAP and Carruthers Geocorona Observatory missions for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
The SWFO-L1 mission is managed by NOAA and developed with NASA Goddard, and commercial partners. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, manages the launch service for the missions.
An artist’s concept of a supermassive black hole, a surrounding disk of material falling towards the black hole and a jet containing particles moving away at close to the speed of light. This black hole represents a recently-discovered quasar powered by a black hole. New Chandra observations indicate that the black hole is growing at a rate that exceeds the usual limit for black holes, called the Eddington Limit. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss
A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of astronomers. This discovery from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the big bang.
The black hole weighs about a billion times the mass of the Sun and is located about 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, meaning that astronomers are seeing it only 920 million years after the universe began. It is producing more X-rays than any other black hole seen in the first billion years of the universe.
The black hole is powering what scientists call a quasar, an extremely bright object that outshines entire galaxies. The power source of this glowing monster is large amounts of matter funneling around and entering the black hole.
While the same team discovered it two years ago, it took observations from Chandra in 2023 to discover what sets this quasar, RACS J0320-35, apart. The X-ray data reveal that this black hole appears to be growing at a rate that exceeds the normal limit for these objects.
“It was a bit shocking to see this black hole growing by leaps and bounds,” said Luca Ighina of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who led the study.
When matter is pulled toward a black hole it is heated and produces intense radiation over a broad spectrum, including X-rays and optical light. This radiation creates pressure on the infalling material. When the rate of infalling matter reaches a critical value, the radiation pressure balances the black hole’s gravity, and matter cannot normally fall inwards any more rapidly. That maximum is referred to as the Eddington limit.
Scientists think that black holes growing more slowly than the Eddington limit need to be born with masses of about 10,000 Suns or more so they can reach a billion solar masses within a billion years after the big bang — as has been observed in RACS J0320-35. A black hole with such a high birth mass could directly result from an exotic process: the collapse of a huge cloud of dense gas containing unusually low amounts of elements heavier than helium, conditions that may be extremely rare.
If RACS J0320-35 is indeed growing at a high rate — estimated at 2.4 times the Eddington limit — and has done so for a sustained amount of time, its black hole could have started out in a more conventional way, with a mass less than a hundred Suns, caused by the implosion of a massive star.
“By knowing the mass of the black hole and working out how quickly it’s growing, we’re able to work backward to estimate how massive it could have been at birth,” said co-author Alberto Moretti of INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera in Italy. “With this calculation we can now test different ideas on how black holes are born.”
To figure out how fast this black hole is growing (between 300 and 3,000 Suns per year), the researchers compared theoretical models with the X-ray signature, or spectrum, from Chandra, which gives the amounts of X-rays at different energies. They found the Chandra spectrum closely matched what they expected from models of a black hole growing faster than the Eddington limit. Data from optical and infrared light also supports the interpretation that this black hole is packing on weight faster than the Eddington limit allows.
“How did the universe create the first generation of black holes?” said co-author Thomas of Connor, also of the Center for Astrophysics. “This remains one of the biggest questions in astrophysics and this one object is helping us chase down the answer.”
Another scientific mystery addressed by this result concerns the cause of jets of particles that move away from some black holes at close to the speed of light, as seen in RACS J0320-35. Jets like this are rare for quasars, which may mean that the rapid rate of growth of the black hole is somehow contributing to the creation of these jets.
The quasar was previously discovered as part of a radio telescope survey using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, combined with optical data from the Dark Energy Camera, an instrument mounted on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory’s Gemini-South Telescope on Cerro Pachon, Chile was used to obtain the accurate distance of RACS J0320-35.
A paper describing these results has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal and is available here.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
This release features a quasar located 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, presented as an artist’s illustration and an X-ray image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
In the artist’s illustration, the quasar, RACS J0320-35, sits at our upper left, filling the left side of the image. It resembles a spiraling, motion-blurred disk of orange, red, and yellow streaks. At the center of the disk, surrounded by a glowing, sparking, brilliant yellow light, is a black egg shape. This is a black hole, one of the fastest-growing black holes ever detected. The black hole is also shown in a small Chandra X-ray image inset at our upper right. In that depiction, the black hole appears as a white dot with an outer ring of neon purple.
The artist’s illustration also highlights a jet of particles blasting away from the black hole at the center of the quasar. The streaked silver beam starts at the core of the distant quasar, near our upper left, and shoots down toward our lower right. The blurry beam of energetic particles appears to widen as it draws closer and exits the image.
A new NASA mission will capture images of Earth’s invisible “halo,” the faint light given off by our planet’s outermost atmospheric layer, the exosphere, as it morphs and changes in response to the Sun. Understanding the physics of the exosphere is a key step toward forecasting dangerous conditions in near-Earth space, a requirement for protecting Artemis astronauts traveling through the region on the way to the Moon or on future trips to Mars. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Revealing Earth’s invisible edge
In the early 1970s, scientists could only speculate about how far Earth’s atmosphere extended into space. The mystery was rooted in the exosphere, our atmosphere’s outermost layer, which begins some 300 miles up. Theorists conceived of it as a cloud of hydrogen atoms — the lightest element in existence — that had risen so high the atoms were actively escaping into space.
But the exosphere reveals itself only via a faint “halo” of ultraviolet light known as the geocorona. Pioneering scientist and engineer Dr. George Carruthers set himself the task of seeing it. After launching a few prototypes on test rockets, he developed an ultraviolet camera ready for a one-way trip to space.
Apollo 16 astronaut John Young is pictured on the lunar surface with George Carruthers’ gold-plated Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first Moon-based observatory. The Lunar Module “Orion” is on the right and the Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked in the background next to the American flag.
NASA
In April 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts placed Carruthers’ camera on the Moon’s Descartes Highlands, and humanity got its firstglimpse of Earth’s geocorona. The images it produced were as stunning for what they captured as they were for what they didn’t.
“The camera wasn’t far enough away, being at the Moon, to get the entire field of view,” said Lara Waldrop, principal investigator for the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory. “And that was really shocking — that this light, fluffy cloud of hydrogen around the Earth could extend that far from the surface.” Waldrop leads the mission from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where George Carruthers was an alumnus.
The first image of UV light from Earth’s outer atmosphere, the geocorona, taken from a telescope designed and built by George Carruthers. The telescope took the image while on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.
G. Carruthers (NRL) et al./Far UV Camera/NASA/Apollo 16
Our planet, in a new light
Today, the exosphere is thought to stretch at least halfway to the Moon. But the reasons for studying go beyond curiosity about its size.
As solar eruptions reach Earth, they hit the exosphere first, setting off a chain of reactions that sometimes culminate in dangerous space weather storms. Understanding the exosphere’s response is important to predicting and mitigating the effects of these storms. In addition, hydrogen — one of the atomic building blocks of water, or H2O — escapes through the exosphere. Mapping that escape process will shed light on why Earth retains water while other planets don’t, helping us find exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, that might do the same.
NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, named in honor of George Carruthers, is designed to capture the first continuous movies of Earth’s exosphere, revealing its full expanse and internal dynamics.
“We’ve never had a mission before that was dedicated to making exospheric observations,” said Alex Glocer, the Carruthers mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s really exciting that we’re going to get these measurements for the first time.”
At 531 pounds and roughly the size of a loveseat sofa, the Carruthers spacecraft will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket along with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) spacecraft and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1) space weather satellite. After launch, all three missions will commence a four-month cruise phase to Lagrange point 1 (L1), a location approximately 1 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is. After a one-month period for science checkouts, Carruthers’ two-year science phase will begin in March 2026.
Artist’s concept of the five Sun-Earth Lagrange points in space. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses counteract, allowing spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun and will be home to three new heliophysics missions in 2025: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO – L1).
NASA’s Conceptual Image Lab/Krystofer Kim
From L1, roughly four times farther away than the Moon, Carruthers will capture a comprehensive view of the exosphere using two ultraviolet cameras, a near-field imager and a wide-field imager.
“The near-field imager lets you zoom up really close to see how the exosphere is varying close to the planet,” Glocer said. “The wide-field imager lets you see the full scope and expanse of the exosphere, and how it’s changing far away from the Earth’s surface.”
The two imagers will together map hydrogen atoms as they move through the exosphere and ultimately out to space. But what we learn about atmospheric escape on our home planet applies far beyond it.
“Understanding how that works at Earth will greatly inform our understanding of exoplanets and how quickly their atmospheres can escape,” Waldrop said.
By studying the physics of Earth, the one planet we know that supports life, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory can help us know what to look for elsewhere in the universe.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory mission is led by Lara Waldrop from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley leads mission implementation, design and development of the payload in collaboration with Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory. The Carruthers spacecraft was designed and built by BAE Systems. NASA’s Explorers and Heliophysics Projects Division at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the mission for the agency’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
By Miles Hatfield NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
NASA’s IMAP Mission to Study Boundaries of Our Home in Space
Summary
NASA’s new Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23 to study the heliosphere, a giant shield created by the Sun.
The mission will chart the heliosphere’s boundaries to help us better understand the protection it offers life on Earth and how it changes with the Sun’s activity.
The IMAP mission will also provide near real-time measurements of the solar wind, data that can be used to improve models predicting the impacts of space weather ranging from power-line disruptions to loss of satellites, to the health of voyaging astronauts.
Space is a dangerous place — one that NASA continues to explore for the benefit of all. It’s filled with radiation and high-energy particles that can damage DNA and circuit boards alike. Yet life endures in our solar system in part because of the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun that extends far beyond Neptune’s orbit.
With NASA’s new Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, launching no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23, humanity is set to get a better look at the heliosphere than ever before. The mission will chart the boundaries of the heliosphere to help us better understand the protection it offers and how it changes with the Sun’s activity. The IMAP mission will also provide near real-time measurements of space weather conditions essential for the Artemis campaign and deep space travel.
“With IMAP, we’ll push forward the boundaries of knowledge and understanding of our place not only in the solar system, but our place in the galaxy as a whole,” said Patrick Koehn, IMAP program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As humanity expands and explores beyond Earth, missions like IMAP will add new pieces of the space weather puzzle that fills the space between Parker Solar Probe at the Sun and the Voyagers beyond the heliopause.”
Download this video from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Domain of Sun
The heliosphere is created by the constant outflow of material and magnetic fields from the Sun called the solar wind. As the solar system moves through the Milky Way, the solar wind’s interaction with interstellar material carves out the bubble of the heliosphere. Studying the heliosphere helps scientists understand our home in space and how it came to be habitable.
As a modern-day celestial cartographer, IMAP will map the boundary of our heliosphere and study how the heliosphere interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond. It will chart the vast range of particles, dust, ultraviolet light, and magnetic fields in interplanetary space, to investigate the energization of charged particles from the Sun and their interaction with interstellar space.
The IMAP mission builds on NASA’s Voyager and IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) missions. In 2012 and 2018, the twin Voyager spacecraft became the first human-made objects to cross the heliosphere’s boundary and send back measurements from interstellar space. It gave scientists a snapshot of what the boundary looked like and where it was in two specific locations. While IBEX has been mapping the heliosphere, it has left many questions unanswered. With 30 times higher resolution and faster imaging, IMAP will help fill in the unknowns about the heliosphere.
Energetic neutral atoms: atomic messengers from our heliosphere’s edge
Of IMAP’s 10 instruments, three will investigate the boundaries of the heliosphere by collecting energetic neutral atoms, or ENAs. Many ENAs originate as positively charged particles released by the Sun but after racing across the solar system, these particles run into particles in interstellar space. In this collision, some of those positively charged particles become neutral, and an energetic neutral atom is born. The interaction also redirects the new ENAs, and some ricochet back toward the Sun.
Charged particles are forced to follow magnetic field lines, but ENAs travel in a straight line, unaffected by the twists, turns, and turbulences in the magnetic fields that permeate space and shape the boundary of the heliosphere. This means scientists can track where these atomic messengers came from and study distant regions of space from afar. The IMAP mission will use the ENAs it collects near Earth to trace back their origins and construct maps of the boundaries of the heliosphere, which would otherwise be invisible from such a distance.
“With its comprehensive state-of-the-art suite of instruments, IMAP will advance our understanding of two fundamental questions of how particles are energized and transported throughout the heliosphere and how the heliosphere itself interacts with our galaxy,” said Shri Kanekal, IMAP mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The IMAP mission will study the heliosphere, our home in space.
NASA/Princeton University/Patrick McPike
Space weather: monitoring solar wind
The IMAP mission will also support near real-time observations of the solar wind and energetic solar particles, which can produce hazardous conditions in the space environment near Earth. From its location at Lagrange Point 1, about 1 million miles from Earth toward the Sun, IMAP will provide around a half hour’s warning of dangerous particles headed toward our planet. The mission’s data will help with the development of models that can predict the impacts of space weather ranging from power-line disruptions to loss of satellites.
“The IMAP mission will provide very important information for deep space travel, where astronauts will be directly exposed to the dangers of the solar wind,” said David McComas, IMAP principal investigator at Princeton University.
Cosmic dust: hints of the galaxy beyond
In addition to measuring ENAs and solar wind particles, IMAP will also make direct measurements of interstellar dust — clumps of particles originating outside of the solar system that are smaller than a grain of sand. This space dust is largely composed of rocky or carbon-rich grains leftover from the aftermath of supernova explosions.
The specific elemental composition of this space dust is a postmark for where it comes from in the galaxy. Studying cosmic dust can provide insight into the compositions of stars from far outside our solar system. It will also help scientists significantly advance what we know about these basic cosmic building materials and provide information on what the material between stars is made of.
David McComas leads the mission with an international team of 27 partner institutions. APL is managing the development phase and building the spacecraft, and it will operate the mission. IMAP is the fifth mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program portfolio. The Explorers and Heliophysics Projects Division at NASA Goddard manages the STP Program for the agency’s Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the launch service for the mission.
By Mara Johnson-Groh NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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