Written by William Farrand, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science Institute

Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 28, 2026

The span of sols spanned by this blog post is noteworthy in several ways. First, Curiosity became a world-class (for Mars at least) mountaineer by passing the 1 kilometer mark of elevation from its landing site on the floor of Gale crater. This writer was on the Mars Exploration Rover science team and we were excited when the Spirit rover got to the top of Husband Hill in Gusev crater in August 2005. But that was a climb of 106 meters (about 348 feet) above its landing site, and Curiosity has passed 1000 meters (about 0.62 miles). 

Second, Saturday, Aug. 29, marked 5,000 Martian days (or sols) since Curiosity landed on Mars (that’s more than 5,137 Earth days, because a day on Mars lasts 24.6 hours). Congratulations are in order to the engineers and scientists who have made this landmark possible. 

Finally, in terms of its science activities Curiosity is examining a wind-formed, long, narrow, large ripple which has been named “Chocolatal.” Further examination will help determine if this feature could be classified as a “transverse aeolian ridge” or TAR. TARs have been observed across the Martian surface based on orbital imaging. The long axis of a TAR is oriented perpendicular to the local predominant wind direction. While this is not the first potential TAR that has been examined by Curiosity, its location, higher on the slopes of Mount Sharp invites questions about whether it will be composed of the same types of granular materials found in the lower TARs, or whether it has a different range of grain sizes and/or layering. 

Other questions to be addressed include how the ridge formed, whether it is active, how it has migrated, and, if it is immobile, then how has it stabilized?

At the start of the planning week, Curiosity was en route to the sand ripple and encountered interesting science targets along the way. In Monday’s two-sol plan, in-situ examinations were planned of the light-toned bedrock occurring along the rover’s path. Some of the rocks encountered near the rover had dark-toned thick coatings or remnant layers, and these were targeted for chemical examination by the rover’s ChemCam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument. Mastcam and ChemCam Remote Micro Imager (RMI) mosaics were planned, for layers in buttes along the rover’s path, and on more distant sets of sand ripples.

A midweek planning session took advantage of the last drive, leaving the rover only a few meters from Chocolatal. ChemCam was able to target sand at the base of Chocolatal as well as nearby bedrock. Stand-off Mastcam high-resolution image mosaics of the ripple were also targeted. The drive planned midweek took the rover right into Chocolatal with one of its wheels and then backing off a little, so in the end-of-week plan, contact science could be planned within the trenched region.

The final planning session of the week, which extended through the landmark Sol 5000, involved MAHLI mosaics of the right wall of the trench to see if there is layering, and to assess any variations in grain size. It’s noteworthy that these MAHLI mosaics are being named in honor of our late colleague Paul Geissler, who was one of the foremost experts on the study of Martian TARs and who was working with the MAHLI team before his untimely passing earlier in the year. In-situ APXS measurements were planned of the coarse-grained surface of the ripple, and ChemCam LIBS measurements were planned on the top of Chocolatal, a sinuous feature looking like a “mohawk” haircut (see the accompanying image). LIBS was also planned on a dark band on its flank and at the back of the scuff/trench. Other activities in the three-sol plan included Mastcam mosaics, an AM Navcam dust-devil survey, Navcam suprahorizon survey, and APXS atmospheric measurements.

With 5000 sols of outstanding scientific accomplishments, the Curiosity science and engineering team looks forward to the next 5000 sols.

Source: science.nasa.gov

Following their landmark Artemis II mission earlier this year, distinguished NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning in September to emeritus status at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In an emeritus role, individuals with a high degree of technical and professional knowledge can continue to support the agency by donating their time to train and mentor the current workforce. This allows the agency to maintain access to top talent in a specialized consultant role, while simultaneously providing the individual with the flexibility to pursue other opportunities.

“I’ve had the privilege of knowing Reid and Victor for years, and both exemplify the leadership, character, and commitment that define NASA at its best.” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Reid commanded Artemis II after previously spending 165 days aboard the International Space Station, while Victor brought his experience as a naval aviator, test pilot, and Crew-1 astronaut to his role as pilot. Together, they took on one of the most challenging missions in human spaceflight and helped return America to the lunar environment. As Reid and Victor transition to emeritus status, I’m grateful they will continue sharing what they learned with our astronauts, flight controllers, and engineers as we prepare for Artemis III in 2027 and the missions that follow.”

Glover will support aerospace, leadership, and public service efforts as he transitions within and outside of NASA. He’s committed to transferring his knowledge of Orion and its spacecraft systems, among other expertise, to future Artemis missions.

“As I grow into this new role, NASA and spaceflight remain a meaningful part of my journey of service,” said Glover. “I’m excited to keep uplifting my friends and cheering them on as they reach for the Moon. Together, we’ll keep pushing boundaries and inspiring the next giant leap.”

Wiseman is set to share his spaceflight experience with colleagues ahead of the agency’s Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial human landing systems.

“There is no better place to work, and there are no better people to work with, than those in this agency,” said Wiseman. “NASA gave me tremendous responsibility, supported me through two space missions, and my time as chief astronaut, and was always there for my family when we needed it most. I’m thrilled to continue serving future missions and programs through the emeritus program.”

“Reid and Victor’s commitment to exploration, steady leadership, and service to our astronaut corps and our nation have made a lasting impact,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Throughout their careers, they have each brought excellence, humility, and purpose to every role they have held at NASA. Their contributions have helped advance our mission and inspire those around them, leaving a legacy that will continue to shape the future of human spaceflight. We are immeasurably grateful for all they have given to NASA and are glad that this is not the end of their journey with the agency.”

“Reid and Victor are trusted teammates whose professionalism, calm leadership, and unwavering commitment to NASA have strengthened our office and inspired everyone around them,” said Scott Tingle, chief of the Astronaut Office at Johnson. “As they transition into their emeritus roles, they leave a legacy of operational excellence that will continue shaping the astronaut corps for years to come. We’re grateful that they will still be part of our community, sharing their experience and insight as they begin this next chapter.”

Among their many accomplishments at NASA, as Artemis II crew members, Glover and Wiseman were two of the four astronauts to first launch on top NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket aboard the Orion spacecraft for a mission around the Moon. Following a 10-day mission with crewmates NASA astronaut Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, they safely splashed down on April 10 as the first humans to travel to lunar orbit in more than 50 years, ultimately flying farther in space than anyone had before.

Support and knowledge transfer from both Glover and Wiseman is critical for the upcoming Artemis III mission as NASA prepares to return American astronauts to the lunar surface on the Artemis IV mission in 2028.

To learn more about NASA astronauts, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts

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George Alderman / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-356-1600
[email protected] / [email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission – NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen – visited Huntsville, Alabama, Sept. 1, 2026, where they met with the NASA workforce at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The event gave the crew an opportunity to share firsthand experiences from their mission, reflect on their time in space, and connect with the workforce that supported the mission through an engaging question-and-answer session.

Image credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock

Source: www.nasa.gov

Last November, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure, and benefit commercial industries, including shipping. The satellite now is flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Both satellites are providing precise sea level height measurements during what oceanographers expect to be a historic El Niño, a naturally occurring oceanic phenomenon in which warmer-than-usual Pacific waters shift global weather patterns.

The two satellites make up the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, the latest in a series of ocean-observing radar altimetry missions that have been monitoring Earth’s changing seas continuously since the early 1990s.

The data each satellite is collecting will not only allow scientists to better understand this year’s El Niño but will also help them create more accurate hurricane predictions.

“This El Niño was a late-bloomer,” said Josh Willis, Sentinel-6B’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It didn’t kick off until the middle of the year and is just now reaching a strength similar to what we’ve seen in the satellite record during significant El Niños in 1997 and 2015. We expect it to be big, and it’s already having big impacts.”

El Niños generally scramble weather patterns tied to rainfall and storms, including hurricanes. They also redistribute heat in the ocean, which affects sea level. Normally, Earth’s warmest ocean waters sit along the equator in the western Pacific. During El Niño, weakened winds, which usually blow westward along the equator, result in heat spreading east toward South America. The change in ocean heat shifts hurricane activity from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Predicting hurricane strength

On July 15, Sentinel-6B began delivering low-latency data to scientists that could be used for weather predictions. That data will take some time to work its way into the research models on which meteorologists and climate scientists rely, but when it does, those improved models could save lives.

Data from Sentinel-6 satellite missions feeds into hurricane tracking algorithms used by federal and state agencies. Those predictions can activate disaster response efforts, mobilizing resources ranging from sandbag placement to National Guard activation. They also can lead to evacuation orders that require quick but well-informed decisions about logistics at a local level. More severe events may require engaging larger organizations, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A tropical storm can take a week or more to become a hurricane and make its way to a coastline, but a hurricane can rapidly intensify in the 48 hours prior to landfall, leaving planners little time to prepare.

“Hurricanes have been known to speed up quickly at the last moment, so the window in which to decide what to do is short,” said Deirdre Byrne, an oceanographer and altimetry expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “The goal is to forecast how much and how rapidly intensification will happen so that officials can make the right calls.”

Byrne oversees one of the country’s most crucial hurricane forecasting algorithms, NOAA’s Satellite Ocean Heat Content Suite, which has been operating since 2012.

Each Sentinel-6 satellite measures ocean height, as well as the size of waves and marine wind speed, using a radar altimeter, which bounces thousands of radar pulses a second off the crests and troughs of waves. Ocean height varies from place to place and provides insight into the ocean’s heat content, since warm water expands. That, in turn, helps forecast how fast hurricanes will grow.

The satellites each carry a second instrument, called the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO), which measures atmospheric properties, such as humidity, pressure, and temperature.

Among the measurements Sentinel-6 is gathering, Byrne is most anticipating the ocean height data, which she plans to begin incorporating into the current Satellite Ocean Heat Content Suite algorithm by the end of the year.

“In terms of data quality, the Sentinel-6 missions are unparalleled,” Byrne said.

Together, the missions are also extending a precise dataset deep into its fourth decade. This record of sea level observations traces back to the TOPEX/Poseidon mission, which launched in 1992, and continues through to the present day with Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Sentinel-6B will take over for its predecessor as the reference satellite for global sea level measurements later this year.

“The key is consistency, measuring the same way, every time,” said Severine Fournier, Sentinel-6B deputy project scientist, JPL. “That’s what lets us predict hurricanes, and, in turn, protect coastal communities and infrastructure.”

More about Sentinel-6B

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, named after a former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, is one of two satellites that compose the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission.

Sentinel-6/Jason-CS, a part of the European Union’s Earth observation program called Copernicus, was jointly developed by ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), NASA, and NOAA, with funding support from the European Commission and technical support on performance from the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales). Spacecraft monitoring and control, as well as the processing of all the altimeter science data, is carried out by EUMETSAT on behalf of the European Union’s Copernicus Programme, with the support of all partner agencies.

NASA JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, contributed three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the GNSS-RO, and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA also contributed launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the agency’s science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the United States members of the international Ocean Surface Topography Science Team.

For more about Sentinel-6B, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6B

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Media Contacts

Andrew Good / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433 / 626-379-6874
[email protected] / [email protected]

2026-060

Source: www.nasa.gov

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new class of objects behaving unlike any they have seen before. Astronomers suggest these newly spotted objects in other galaxies may help solve not one, but two long-standing questions in astrophysics.

These mysterious objects give off unusually low-energy X-rays but intense levels of ultraviolet radiation. This discovery is featured in a paper published Wednesday in Nature Astronomy.

“We’ve never encountered a group of objects that act like this,” said Mustafa Muhibullah of the University of Alabama who led the study. “Of course, the next step was to try to figure out what these things are.”

The researchers found a total of 84 of these “hypersoft X-ray sources” – so named because they give such low-energy X-rays – in the six different galaxies they searched, using data openly available to the public in the Chandra archive. Two of the galaxies are spirals, M31 (the Andromeda galaxy) and M101 (the Pinwheel galaxy), while the other four are ellipticals. They found hypersoft X-ray sources both in regions of active star formation and areas where there are older stars.

The team spotted the sources by finding objects that appeared in Chandra images taken at the lowest X-ray energies but vanished in higher-energy images. That means these objects give off far more low-energy X-rays than high-energy ones. Because low-energy X-rays border energetic ultraviolet radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, the researchers determined that these sources are producing large amounts of energetic ultraviolet radiation as well.

It is unclear what types of objects are responsible for these low-energy X-rays and intense ultraviolet radiation. The team thinks they most likely involve a black hole, neutron star, or white dwarf pulling material from a companion star. The material pulled from the companion star is heated up to produce X-rays before falling onto the white dwarf or neutron star, or into the black hole. Such binary systems have been seen before, but not with such bright ultraviolet radiation and low-energy X-rays.

The discovery suggests that there may be large populations of binary systems with energetic ultraviolet radiation that have been undetected until now.

“These clandestine X-ray sources are actually among the most energetic objects in galaxies, and they could be solving two cosmic mysteries at once,” said Muhibullah.

Scientists think that some white dwarf systems pulling material from companion stars may eventually explode as a supernova – known as a Type Ia – that is critical for measuring the expansion of the universe. These supernovae played a key role in discovering that this expansion is accelerating. Astronomers have been looking for the stars that turn into Type Ia supernovae for many years, so far without success.

“If we could find a way to spot these Type Ia supernova explosions before they go off, that would be really important,” said co-author Jimmy Irwin, also of the University of Alabama. “Right now, we study them after they’ve exploded, and astronomers have struggled to understand what is actually ignited.”

The other mystery these hypersoft X-ray sources might explain is what strips electrons from gas between the stars in some galaxies. This stripping of electrons is important to probe because it can affect how quickly stars form and influence the life cycles of galaxies. Hot, massive stars play a role, but they do not completely explain what is causing this stripping. The intense levels of ultraviolet radiation from the hypersoft X-ray sources may play a vital role.

Why were these hypersoft X-ray sources not found until now? In addition to the low-energy X-ray output, which is very difficult for X-ray telescopes to detect, the high-energy ultraviolet radiation is readily absorbed by helium and hydrogen gas that fills the space between the stars, creating a nearly impenetrable barrier to look through.

“By combing through the Chandra archive, we were able to eliminate what used to be a blind spot for telescopes,” said co-author Rosanne Di Stefano of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. “That’s how we found what appears to be a new class of cosmic objects with remarkable qualities.”

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, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

To learn more about NASA’s Chandra mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/chandra

Visual Description

This release features a composite image of a spiral galaxy, M101; one of six identified galaxies housing a new class of mysterious objects that give off unusually low-energy X-rays.

In this composite image, M101 faces us directly. It has multiple arms in shades of purple, spiraling clockwise around a golden yellow core. Scattered along and between the arms are scores of tiny specks in white and purple. Most of those specks are pairs of stars, but seven of them are a mystery.

To casual observers, the unusual objects are visually indistinguishable from the other specks of light in the galaxy. An annotated version of the composite image is included in this release, with red circles around the mysterious specks for easy identification.

These mystery specks behave like no other class of object discovered before. The curious objects give off X-rays of such low energy, they in fact produce large amounts of ultraviolet radiation, as UV radiation borders X-rays on the electromagnetic spectrum. Searching images of galaxies with low-energy X-rays in the Chandra Observatory archive, scientists have found a total of 84 such objects spread across M101 and five other galaxies. They have dubbed these mysterious objects “hypersoft X-ray sources.”

Source: science.nasa.gov

A NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract has been awarded by the agency to Relativity Space Inc., and its Terran R launch service in accordance with the contract’s on-ramp provision. The Terran R launch service will be available to NASA’s launch services to use for future missions.

The NLS II contracts are multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with an ordering period through June 2030 and an overall period of performance through December 2032. The NLS II contracts include an on-ramp provision that provides an opportunity annually for new launch service providers to compete for future missions and allows existing contractors to introduce launch vehicles not currently on their NLS II contracts.

The NLS II contracts support the goals and objectives of the agency’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate, and the Research and Technology Mission Directorate. Under the contract, NASA also can provide launch services to other government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NASA’s Launch Services Program Office at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the NLS II contracts. For more information about NASA, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected] / [email protected]

Amanda Griffin
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-593-6244
[email protected]

Source: www.nasa.gov

Army Cpl. Freddie Stowers served as an infantryman during World War I and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor more than 70 years after his heroic actions in France in September 1918.

Source: www.war.gov

Four unassuming memorials offer daily reminders of 9/11 at and around Fort Knox, Ky.

Source: www.war.gov

Air Force Capt. Hanna Born is on a personal mission to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by running 2,977 miles — one mile for each person killed that day.

Source: www.war.gov

For some, remembering 9/11 means passing the stories of that day from one generation to the next. For others like Army 1st Sgt. Robert Henderson, it means answering the call to serve as a soldier, police officer, firefighter or other first responder.

Source: www.war.gov