https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/

https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/nasa-provides-update-on-implementation-of-national-space-policy/676181

https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/ignition-at-nasa/

https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/isaacman-jared-isaacman/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/us-will-never-give-up-the-moon-again-nasa-unveils-lunar-base-roadmap-nuclear-mars-mission/articleshow/129778955.cms

https://www.nasa.gov/ignition/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlTwwJv1Ac

NASA Unveils Initiatives to Achieve America’s National Space Policy

Mar 24, 2026

As part of its “Ignition” event on Tuesday, NASA announced a series of transformative agencywide initiatives designed to achieve President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy and advance American leadership in space.

These actions reflect the urgency of the moment, but also the tremendous opportunity ahead for world-changing science and discovery.

“NASA is committed to achieving the near‑impossible once again, to return to the Moon before the end of President Trump’s term, build a Moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space.

This is why it is essential we leave an event like Ignition with complete alignment on the national imperative that is our collective mission. The clock is running in this great‑power competition, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

“If we concentrate NASA’s extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the Moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead.”

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said, “Today we are aligning NASA around the mission.

On the Moon, we are shifting to a focused, phased architecture that builds capability landing by landing, incrementally, and in alignment with our industrial and international partners.

In low Earth orbit (LEO), we are recognizing where the market is and where it isn’t, recognizing the incredible value of the International Space Station, and building a transition that builds a competitive commercial ecosystem rather than forcing a single outcome the market cannot support. In our science missions, we are opening the lunar surface to researchers and students nationwide, and with Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, we are finally putting nuclear propulsion on a trajectory out of the laboratory and into deep space.

And this is all possible by investing in our people, bringing critical skills back into the agency, putting our teams where the machines are being built, and creating real pathways for the next generation of NASA leaders.

Our workforce is the jewel of NASA, and from their leaders, they need clear mission goals, the tools to execute, and to get out of their way. This is what Ignition is about.”

Going back to the Moon

The announcements build on recent updates to the Artemis program, including standardizing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter.

Under this previously updated architecture, Artemis III – scheduled for 2027 – will focus on testing integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit in advance of the Artemis IV lunar landing.

Looking beyond Artemis V, NASA announced March 24 it will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface, initially targeting landings every six months, with the potential to increase cadence as capabilities mature.

To achieve an enduring human presence on the Moon, NASA also announced a phased approach to building a lunar base.

As part of this strategy, the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations.

Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives.

In the coming days, NASA will release Requests for Information (RFIs) and draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure continued progress in meeting national objectives.

Building the Moon Base

NASA’s plan for establishing a sustained lunar presence will roll out in three deliberate phases.

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Phase One: Build, Test, Learn

NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach.

Through CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deliveries and the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, the agency will increase the tempo of lunar activity, sending rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations.

Phase Two: Establish Early Infrastructure

With lessons from early missions in hand, NASA moves toward semi‑habitable infrastructure and regular logistics.

This phase supports recurring astronaut operations on the surface and incorporates major international contributions, including JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities.

Phase Three: Enable Long‑Duration Human Presence

As cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the Moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base.

This will include ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportunities for additional contributions in habitation, surface mobility and logistics.

Ensuring American presence in low Earth orbit

While building a sustainable lunar architecture, NASA is also reaffirming its commitment to low Earth orbit.

For more than two decades, the International Space Station has served as a world‑class orbital laboratory, enabling more than 4,000 research investigations, supporting more than 5,000 researchers, and hosting visitors from 26 countries.

The space station required 37 shuttle flights, 160 spacewalks, two decades, and more than $100 billion to design, develop, and build. The orbital laboratory cannot operate indefinitely.

The transition to commercial stations must be thoughtful, deliberate, and structured to support long‑term industry success.

NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station‑anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence and mature a robust commercial ecosystem.

Under this alternative approach, NASA would procure a government‑owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules that are validated using International Space Station capabilities and later detach into free flight. After maturing technical and operational capabilities and market demand is realized, the stations would detach and NASA would be one of many customers purchasing commercial services.

To stimulate the orbital economy, NASA would expand industry opportunities, including private astronaut missions, commander seat sales, joint missions, multiple module competitions, and prize‑based awards.

An industry RFI opens Wednesday, March 25, to inform partnership structures, financing, and risk mitigation.

Advancing world-changing discovery with current, developing science missions

In a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, NASA takes full advantage of every opportunity to get science into space.

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to transform our understanding of the early universe, Parker Solar Probe has flown through the atmosphere of the Sun, NASA has shown it can defend the planet by deflecting asteroids, and Earth science data is used extensively by American companies, U.S. agriculture, and disaster relief.

On the International Space Station, NASA is conducting groundbreaking experiments in quantum science.

Future opportunities will advance U.S. leadership in space science. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching as early as this fall, will advance our understanding of dark energy, and has created a new standard for the management of large science missions.

Dragonfly will launch a nuclear-powered octocopter in 2028, arriving at Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034 to explore its complex, organic-rich environment.

In 2028, NASA will launch and deliver ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosalind Franklin Rover to Mars, with NASA’s contributed mass spectrometer for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument, which may result in the most advanced detection and analysis of organic matter ever conducted on Mars.

A new Earth science mission launching next year will measure for the first time the evolution of the dynamics within convective storms to improve the prediction of extreme weather events up to six hours before the storm occurs.

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The agency detailed how advancements in lunar science also will be afforded by the build out of the Moon Base and underpin future Moon and Mars exploration.

With an accelerated CLPS cadence, targeting up to 30 robotic landings starting in 2027, NASA is expediting delivery of science and technology to the lunar surface.

There will be many opportunities for payload delivery including rovers, hoppers, and drones with contributions welcomed from industry, academia, and international partners. Near-term payloads include the VIPER rover and the LuSEE‑Night mission.

An RFI will be released March 24 that calls for payloads capable of supporting NASA’s science and technology goals for additional 2027 and 2028 flights.

It will enable students and researchers across the country to work on scientific instruments for use on the surface of the Moon in the years ahead.

This RFI also will solicit payloads incorporated on future missions to Mars including the Mars Telecom Network (MTN) and a nuclear technology demonstration mission.

The agency intends to partner with philanthropic and privately funded research organizations with shared objectives in space science.

Other RFIs released March 24 will strengthen “Science as a Service” partnerships and commercial capabilities, allowing NASA to streamline legacy operations and focus investment on the transformational missions only the agency can lead.

Finally, NASA will unveil a previously unseen pair of images from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. These images show the planet Saturn in unprecedented detail in both infrared and visible wavelengths.

America underway on nuclear power in space

In addition to these scientific missions, after decades of study and in response to the National Space Policy, NASA announced a major step forward in bringing nuclear power and propulsion from the lab to space.

NASA will launch the Space Reactor‑1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space.

Nuclear electric propulsion provides an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and enables high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective.

When SR-1 Freedom reaches Mars, it will deploy the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity‑class helicopters to continue exploring the Red Planet.

SR-1 Freedom will establish flight heritage nuclear hardware, set regulatory and launch precedent, and activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface, and long‑duration missions.

NASA and its U.S. Department of Energy partner will unlock the capabilities required for sustained exploration beyond the Moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system.

None of these endeavors can succeed without the NASA workforce.

As previously announced, the agency is rebuilding its core competencies, converting thousands of contractor positions to civil service, and restoring the engineering, technical, and operational strengths expected of the world’s premier space organization.

NASA is expanding opportunities for interns and early‑career professionals and, in partnership with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and NASA Force, is creating new pathways for experienced industry talent to serve through term‑based appointments.

The agency also is seeking to open opportunities for NASA employees to gain valuable experience working within the most technologically advanced space industry in history.

The changes announced on March 24 will be implemented during the coming months, with teams agencywide ensuring a smooth transition while advancing key programs and partnerships.

NASA will embed subject‑matter experts across the supply chain – at every major vendor, subcontractor, and critical‑path component – to challenge assumptions, solve problems, accelerate production, and help ensure the right outcomes are achieved.

Through these reforms, NASA is strengthening its ability to deliver on the President’s National Space Policy and ensure continued American superiority in space.

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also

Ignition: NASA's Plan for Science and Discovery

live in an hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYH6W9iCs2E

>>24421721

btw, NASA has potato sound and needs to work on the volume a little.

Cargo Headed to Station, Week Begins with Science Prep and Maintenance

March 23, 2026 12:41PM

A cargo spacecraft is in orbit catching up to the International Space Station for a docking tomorrow to deliver food and supplies to the Expedition 74 crew.

Aboard the orbital lab, the seven residents kicked off the week with science operations prep, routine maintenance, and getting systems ready for a future spacewalk.

In the morning, three NASA astronauts—Jessica Meir, Chris Williams, and Jack Hathaway—split up various duties. Meir conducted routine orbital plumbing and replaced a gas trap plug.

Meanwhile, Williams relocated connection cables, set up and inserted canisters in the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, and consolidated food packages. Hathaway set his sights to spacesuit work, stowing batteries and performing a cooling loop scrub on the suits.

Meir and Williams then teamed up to review procedures and checklist items for an upcoming spacewalk.

The duo was later joined by Hathaway and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot to assemble the roll-out solar array mod kit struts, which will be installed to the exterior of the orbital lab during the upcoming spacewalk.

Before teaming up with her crewmates, Adenot completed a questionnaire, donned an actigraphy device, and collected biological samples for the RelaxPro experiment.

The study tests relaxation training protocols in flight, which could contribute to the development of measures to reduce stress and behavioral risks for astronauts on future space missions.

Adenot then moved into the Kibo module, where she retrieved and swapped in new cartridges to the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace.

In the Roscosmos segment, two cosmonauts are monitoring and gearing up for the arrival of the Progress 94 cargo spacecraft tomorrow.

Progress, loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:59 a.m. EDT March 22.

The cargo spacecraft is set to dock to the space-facing port of the station’s Poisk module tomorrow, March 24, at 9:34 a.m. NASA’s live rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 8:45 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.

Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev teamed up to configure and complete training on TORU, the Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System, which is a control panel located in the Zvezda Service Module.

One of the two antennas used for an automated rendezvous and docking did not deploy after separation. Progress will arrive 200 meters from the space station autonomously, then transition to manual piloting for its final approach.

Kud-Sverchkov will manually pilot the spacecraft through TORU for rendezvous and docking at the space station’s Poisk module.

Mikaev then moved on to audit stowage, equipment, and hardware throughout the Roscosmos segment. Meanwhile, flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev charged camera batteries, conducted orbital plumbing, then backed up and sent exercise data to ground teams for analysis.

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/23/cargo-headed-to-station-week-begins-with-science-prep-and-maintenance/

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/24/progress-cargo-craft-docks-to-station-resupplying-crew-2/

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/03/24/progress-cargo-craft-approaching-station-for-docking/

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/

Moon hit by massive object as NASA declares 'once-in-a-century event'

10:16, 24 Mar 2026 Updated 11:59, 24 Mar 2026

A massive new impact crater has been discovered on the Moon and scientists say it's the kind of event only seen once in a century.

The finding comes after a routine scan of images captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, which revealed a fresh scar stretching roughly 225 metres - about the length of two football pitches laid end to end.

While the Moon has been collecting impact craters for billions of years, the latest one stands out for its size.

Based on comparisons with surrounding lunar features, researchers estimate a crater of this size should only form once every 139 years, making the discovery exceptionally rare. It comes as NASA pushes ahead with plans to return humans to the Moon.

This includes the Artemis 2 mission, which plans to launch no sooner than April 1, 2026, and is set to carry four astronauts on a loop around the Moon. But the range and spread around the new crater has generated concern amongst scientists.

Since the Moon has no atmosphere to burn up objects, impacts like this eject vast amounts of rock and dust at high speeds, which is capable of creating hazardous conditions across a wide area.

Scientists have warned that any structures built on the Moon will need to be designed to withstand high-velocity debris, including particles travelling at roughly one kilometre per second.

The new crater appears to have formed on a boundary between the cratered lunar highlands and a wide, flat mare, which developed from liquid magma pooling on the moon's surface, planetary scientist Mark Robinson said at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Meeting in The Woodlands, Texas, last week.

It is also surrounded by a blanket of rock and dust that splashed out in all directions - as far as hundreds of metres - when the impact occurred.

NASA previously delayed its Artemis 2 crewed moon mission - initially set to launch for 2024 - due to technical issues with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule, including a faulty helium system, hydrogen leaks, and safety concerns regarding the heat shield.

The mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day flight around the moon and back to Earth as soon as April 1.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/moon-hit-massive-object-nasa-36912933

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/moon-new-crater-nasa-orbiter

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nasa-finds-massive-new-moon-crater-rare-225-meter-meteor-threatening-manned-lunar-missions-1787929

NASA’s Water-Hunting Tool Will Help Scout Moon’s South Pole

Mar 24, 2026

NASA is joining international partners to hunt for ice on the Moon in support of future human exploration.

The agency is providing a water-detecting instrument, the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).

The instrument, which detects ice under the lunar surface, will be installed on LUPEX’s lunar rover planned to arrive at the Moon no earlier than 2028.

NASA’s support of LUPEX is part of an ongoing effort to identify and characterize lunar water and other materials that easily evaporate near the Moon’s South Pole.

Water is a critical material for NASA’s plans to develop an enduring presence on the Moon. Instead of relying solely on resources carried from Earth, astronauts could use the Moon’s water for breathable air, rocket fuel, and more.

The first step is to find deposits of meaningful quantities of water close to the surface to mark potential landing areas for future astronauts.

The water on the Moon is mostly found as molecules within lunar regolith, the dusty and rocky material that covers the Moon’s surface, but there may be ice deposits below the surface of the lunar South Pole.

Once we better understand the quantity and quality of the available resources, we can learn how to harness it for exploration.

“There is currently a gap in our understanding of how lunar ice is distributed at small scales, from 10s of centimeters up to 10s of kilometers,” said Rick Elphic, NSS lead at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, where the instrument was developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California.

“The only way to understand the ‘where’ and ‘how much’ of lunar ice is by exploring on the surface at these scales.”

How neutrons signal water

Scientists can search for water on the Moon without drilling into the surface. Instead, they hunt for concentrations of hydrogen, the H in H₂O.

Past missions in lunar orbit have found signs of water at the Moon’s poles, but ground missions are needed to build detailed maps of location and quantity.

Instruments like NSS can infer the presence of hydrogen by detecting interactions with particles called neutrons. Neutrons are constantly rattling around in the lunar soil, and they’re about the same size as hydrogen atoms.

When these two particles interact, fewer medium-energy neutrons are ejected from the soil. The absence of medium-energy neutrons suggests more of the particles are interacting with hydrogen underground, a deficit that can be measured with the right tools.

The NSS instrument uses a “gas proportional counter” to detect neutrons bouncing out of the lunar soil. It features two tubes that contain a rare gas called helium-3 that is very sensitive to neutrons.

When neutrons strike the helium-3 gas atoms, the gas produces electrical pulses that can be counted to infer the presence and quantity of hydrogen up to three feet underground.

Series of water-hunters

Ongoing investigation of the Moon’s water will inform how astronauts might access it in the future. To that end, NASA researchers at Ames have developed a series of NSS instruments intended to ride aboard different missions to investigate sites at the Moon’s South Pole.

The first Moon-bound NSS instrument in the series was carried aboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One, which launched in January 2024.

That mission came to an end without touching down on the lunar surface, but the NSS aboard powered on and operated on multiple days over the course of the 10-day mission.

These operations successfully captured data about the particle background of deep space, which strongly supported NSS operations on future missions.

NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission, part of the agency’s Artemis campaign, will carry another NSS.

As part of NASA’s ongoing Commercial Lunar Payload Services effort, a fourth NSS instrument will ride aboard the MoonRanger “micro rover” developed by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

“The three upcoming NSS rover expeditions will tell us what kinds of places on the Moon are most likely to host ice,” Elphic said. “Missions to the lunar surface can then be planned to similar sites where ice can be found.”

The Neutron Spectrometer System was jointly developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California.

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-water-hunting-tool-will-help-scout-moons-south-pole/

https://science.nasa.gov/learning-resources/science-activation/science-through-shadows-how-astronomical-alignments-reveal-the-universe/

extra NASA stuffs

https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/see-nasas-guardian-catch-a-tsunami/

https://www.nasa.gov/isam/robotic-refueling-mission-3/

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/swot-mission-unlocks-a-new-view-of-our-waterways/

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-hubble-webb-telescopes-survey-pinwheel-galaxy/

https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/1568753/

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/tropical-cyclone-narelle-crosses-australia/

Science Through Shadows: How Astronomical Alignments Reveal the Universe and extra NASA

Mar 23, 2026

When one celestial object passes in front of another, it can cast a shadow that travels across space – and sometimes across Earth.

These moments of alignment, known as eclipses, occultations, and transits, allow scientists to study distant objects in remarkable ways.

By observing how light changes when an object briefly blocks another, astronomers can measure sizes and shapes, detect atmospheres, and refine the orbits of asteroids and planets.

The Science Through Shadows project, funded by NASA’s Science Activation program and led by Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado Boulder, explores how these shadow-based events help scientists conduct astronomical research.

The project has produced a series of short films that explain the science behind eclipses, occultations, and solar observations while highlighting the people who help make these discoveries possible – including students, educators, and volunteer citizen scientists.

The videos are designed for use in classrooms, libraries, planetariums, and informal learning environments, and are available free of charge in both English and Spanish.

Versions are available in 2D formats for streaming and classroom use, as well as fulldome formats for planetariums worldwide.

Explore the seven films currently available:

Ring of Fire Eclipse

Focus: The annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023

On October 14, 2023, observers across North America experienced an annular solar eclipse, sometimes called a “ring of fire.”

During an annular eclipse, the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but appears slightly smaller in the sky, leaving a bright ring of sunlight visible around its edges.

This video explains how annular eclipses differ from total solar eclipses, explores the science behind these events, and highlights safe viewing practices.

It also helps viewers understand what makes eclipse observations both scientifically valuable and deeply memorable experiences.

Total Eclipse of the Sun

Focus: The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

A total solar eclipse is one of the most dramatic astronomical events visible from Earth.

On April 8, 2024, millions of people across North America had the opportunity to witness the Moon completely block the Sun, revealing the Sun’s faint outer atmosphere, known as the corona.

This video explores what happens during a total solar eclipse, why traveling to the path of totality offers a dramatically different experience, and how scientists use eclipses to study the Sun’s atmosphere.

What Causes Eclipses?

Focus: The science behind eclipses

Why don’t eclipses happen every month? What conditions must occur for the Sun, Earth, and Moon to align?

This episode explains the orbital mechanics that produce eclipses and clarifies the differences between solar and lunar eclipses.

By addressing common misconceptions, it helps viewers understand the celestial alignments that create these spectacular events.

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Chasing Polymele’s Shadow

Focus: The Lucy occultation campaign

When an asteroid passes in front of a distant star, it briefly blocks the star’s light, casting a shadow across Earth. Astronomers call this event an occultation, and it can reveal valuable information about the asteroid’s size, shape, and surrounding environment.

This video follows the Lucy Occultation Project, where scientists and citizen scientists worked together to observe the Trojan asteroid Polymele ahead of NASA’s Lucy mission flyby.

On February 3, 2023, more than 100 telescopes across two continents were deployed to capture the moment Polymele passed in front of a star. The resulting observations help scientists better understand the asteroid before the spacecraft’s encounter.

Humanity Touches the Sun

Focus: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is helping scientists explore the Sun closer than ever before. On December 24, 2024, the spacecraft made its closest approach to the Sun, traveling more than 430,000 miles per hour – faster than any human-made object.

This video explores how Parker Solar Probe studies the Sun’s outer atmosphere and helps scientists investigate long-standing questions about the solar corona and solar wind.

The Sun Touches Humanity

Focus: NASA’s PUNCH mission

NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission provides a new way to observe how the Sun influences space throughout the inner solar system.

Consisting of four suitcase-sized satellites in low-Earth orbit, PUNCH creates global, three-dimensional observations of the region between the Sun and Earth. These measurements help scientists better understand how the solar wind forms and evolves, and how solar storms travel through space.

Eclipse Participatory Science

Focus: Citizen science during recent solar eclipses

Solar eclipses create powerful opportunities for collaborative scientific research. This episode follows two large participatory science projects that took place during recent North American eclipses: the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, another NASA Science Activation-funded project that’s led by Montana State University, and Citizen CATE 2024, a NASA- and National Science Foundation-supported observing campaign.

Through balloon launches, telescope observations, and hands-on engineering challenges, students, educators, and volunteers collected atmospheric and solar data that scientists are now analyzing.

The episode highlights how people with curiosity and passion can contribute meaningfully to real scientific discovery.

2D versions of these videos in both English and Spanish can be found on Fiske Planetarium’s YouTube channel, and downloadable versions are available through the project’s distribution page.

Fulldome masters (1K, 2K, and 4K) are also available for free download via the Fiske Productions page, allowing planetariums around the world to share these stories of discovery with their audiences.

Through projects like Science Through Shadows, NASA’s Science Activation program helps connect everyone, everywhere with NASA Science content, experts, and opportunities to participate.

Whether observing an eclipse, tracking an asteroid’s shadow, or studying data from a spacecraft, these moments of alignment offer powerful opportunities to explore how the universe works – and how people everywhere can participate in the process of discovery.

NASA Citizen Science

Everyone, everywhere – regardless of country of origin or citizenship status – can collaborate with professional scientists, conduct cutting-edge science, and make real discoveries as a volunteer for NASA Citizen Science projects.

These projects give participants the opportunity to collaborate with professional scientists, conduct cutting-edge science, and make real discoveries related to NASA’s five research divisions: Earth science, planetary science, astrophysics, biological and physical sciences, and heliophysics. Explore available projects and get started: https://science.nasa.gov/citizen-science/

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