Set to track sea levels across more than 90% of Earth’s ocean, the mission must first get into orbit. Here’s what to expect.   Sentinel-6B, an ocean-tracking satellite jointly developed by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), is ready to roll out to the launch pad, packed into the payload fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 […]

Data from Sentinel-6B will continue a decades-long record of sea surface height, helping to improve coastal planning, protect critical infrastructure, and advance weather forecasts. With launch set for no earlier than 12:21 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 17, Sentinel-6B is the latest satellite in a series of spacecraft NASA and its partners have used to measure […]

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 […]

This image released on June 30, 2025, combines data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to visualize dark matter. Researchers used Webb’s observations to carefully measure the mass of the galaxy clusters shown here as well as the collective light emitted by stars that are no longer bound to individual […]

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland has earned 2025 R&D 100 Awards for developing a system that delivers high-speed internet for space and co-inventing technology for a new class of soft magnetic nanocrystalline materials designed to operate at extreme temperatures. This brings NASA Glenn’s total to 130 R&D 100 Awards.  High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking   NASA […]

Stars of all ages are on display in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the sparkling spiral galaxy called NGC 6000, located 102 million light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. NGC 6000 has a glowing yellow center and glittering blue outskirts. These colors reflect differences in the average ages, masses, and temperatures of the […]

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 […]

By Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, U.K. Earth planning date: Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 I am writing this blog and it’s still daytime — and I am looking forward to accompanying one of my favorite kids to trick-and-treating afterwards. That’s a new feeling for me because I am usually […]

Written by William Farrand, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science Institute Earth planning date: Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 Curiosity has successfully drilled its 44th hole on Mars, which is a major milestone in our investigation of the enigmatic “boxwork unit,” a region of resistant ridges surrounding pits or “hollows” of less-resistant rock. The drilling took place […]

Written by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, APXS Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead, University of New Brunswick Earth planning date: Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 Curiosity has been investigating the “boxwork unit” for several months now. Readers might remember we drilled at the edge of the boxwork at “Altadena,” back in June. Since then, we have driven just under a kilometer […]