NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to seventh graders from Clear Spring Middle School at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to seventh graders from Clear Spring Middle School at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to seventh graders from Clear Spring Middle School at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Dr. John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Dr. John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Adam Reiss, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Adam Reiss, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University speaks at the presentation of the permanent exhibit of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Dr. John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, far right, speaks with U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski about the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. Looking on are Van Reiner, President and CEO of the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, far left; NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Jeffrey Grant, VP and General Manager of the Space Systems Division, Northrop Grumman. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA, space science industry and government officials are seen in front of a full-size model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. From left, back row are: Dr. John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore; Jeffrey Grant, VP and General Manager of the Space Systems Division, Northrop Grumman; Van Reiner, President and CEO of the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore and Adam Reiss, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University. In the front row are NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, left, and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), third from right, cuts the yellow ribbon presenting the James Webb Space Telescope permanent exhibit at the Maryland Science Center on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 in Baltimore. Mikulski is joined by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, far left; Adam Reiss, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University; Jeffrey Grant, VP and General Manager of the Space Systems Division, Northrop Grumman; Van Reiner, President and CEO of the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore and Dr. John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore. The Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed and explore planets around distant stars. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Lunar science lead for Artemis II and Artemis II science officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Kelsey Young, stands in the lunar-like landscape of Iceland during an Artemis II crew geology field training.

Maryland School for the Blind students Andrea Washington, left, and Derontay Taylor, right, along with science teacher Colleen Shovestull, center, use their sense of touch on topographical maps to learn about the Moon during a visit to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Seven students from the Maryland School for the Blind visited NASA and participated in activities to learn about NASA'smission, functions, and careers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Maryland School for the Blind students Andrea Washington, left, and Derontay Taylor, right, along with science teacher Colleen Shovestull, center, use their sense of touch on topographical maps to learn about the Moon during a visit to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Seven students from the Maryland School for the Blind visited NASA and participated in activities to learn about NASA'smission, functions, and careers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Maryland School for the Blind students Andrea Washington, left, and Derontay Taylor, right, along with science teacher Colleen Shovestull, center, use their sense of touch on topographical maps to learn about the Moon during a visit to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Seven students from the Maryland School for the Blind visited NASA and participated in activities to learn about NASA'smission, functions, and careers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, Nancy Neal-Jones of NASA Communications at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, moderates a media briefing on science experiments involved in NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, members of the media participate in a briefing on science experiments involved in NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. From left are: Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington; Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Daniella DellaGiustina, OSIRIS-REx lead image processing scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists for this conversation are, from the left, Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist; Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists in view are, from the left, Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Also participating in the panel discussion are Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist and Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists for this conversation are, from the left, Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist; Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>   N

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>   N

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>   N

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is seen in the audience as MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee delivers remarks prior to the singing of a joint statement between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee delivers remarks prior to the signing of a joint statement between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

On Sept. 10, 2025, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the Sun. SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26681

Nzinga Tull, Hubble systems anomaly response manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, works in the control room on July 15, 2021, to restore Hubble to full science operations. --- More info: Hubble’s payload computer, which controls and coordinates the observatory’s onboard science instruments, halted suddenly on June 13. When the main computer failed to receive a signal from the payload computer, it automatically placed Hubble’s science instruments into safe mode. That meant the telescope would no longer be doing science while mission specialists analyzed the situation. In response to the anomaly, NASA began a switch to backup spacecraft hardware on Hubble in response to an ongoing problem with its payload computer. This was a multi-day event. Science observations restarted the afternoon of Saturday, July 17.

Nzinga Tull, Hubble systems anomaly response manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, works in the control room on July 15, 2021, to restore Hubble to full science operations. --- More info: Hubble’s payload computer, which controls and coordinates the observatory’s onboard science instruments, halted suddenly on June 13. When the main computer failed to receive a signal from the payload computer, it automatically placed Hubble’s science instruments into safe mode. That meant the telescope would no longer be doing science while mission specialists analyzed the situation. In response to the anomaly, NASA began a switch to backup spacecraft hardware on Hubble in response to an ongoing problem with its payload computer. This was a multi-day event. Science observations restarted the afternoon of Saturday, July 17.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, members of the media participate in a briefing on science experiments involved in NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. From left are: Nancy Neal-Jones of NASA Communications; Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington; Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Daniella DellaGiustina, OSIRIS-REx lead image processing scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator for science, NASA Headquarters, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Senator Mikulski views the James Webb Space Telescope being assembled in a clean room at Goddard. Webb project manager Bill Oches talked to the Senator about the progress being made with the installation of its 18 primary mirrors. The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6, 2015. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Astronauts Piers Sellers and Scott Altman chatting prior to the start of a town hall meeting at NASA Goddard. Senator Mikulski views the James Webb Space Telescope being assembled in a clean room at Goddard. Webb project manager Bill Oches talked to the Senator about the progress being made with the installation of its 18 primary mirrors. The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6, 2015. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mi...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

A science instrument flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative is expected to significantly expand our knowledge of the Moon. Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector, or NGLR-1, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by the University of Maryland in College Park, NGLR-1 is designed to reflect very short laser pulses from Earth-based lunar laser ranging observatories using a retroreflector, or a mirror designed to reflect the incoming light back in the same incoming direction. Investigations and demonstrations, such as NGLR-1, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks with Barbara Cohen, associate project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland during a event where it was announced that nine U.S. companies are eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The companies will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use these commercial landing services. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee display the Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea after signing them, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee sign a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee shake hands after signing a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee sign a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras performs "Clair du Lune" with Guest Conductor Emil de Cou during the National Tribute to Sally Ride at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Monday, May 20, 2013 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee pose for a photo after signing a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee sign a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Martin Weisskopf, IXPE principal investigator, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Brian Ramsey, deputy principal investigator, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, participates in a payload briefing for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

The main body of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has been delivered to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where, over the next two years, engineers and technicians will finish assembling the craft by hand before testing it to make sure it can withstand the journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Here it is being unwrapped in a main clean room at JPL, as engineers and technicians inspect it just after delivery in early June 2022. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built the spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Set to launch in October 2024, Europa Clipper will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, which scientists are confident harbors an internal ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans combined. And the moon may currently have conditions suitable for supporting life. The spacecraft's nine science instruments will gather data on the moon's atmosphere, surface, and interior – information that scientists will use to gauge the depth and salinity of the ocean, the thickness of the ice crust, and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25237

The main body of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is seen in its shipping container, just after arriving aboard a C-17 cargo plane at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California. From there it was delivered by truck to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where, over the next two years, engineers and technicians will finish assembling the craft by hand. Then it will be tested to make sure it can withstand the journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built the spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Set to launch in October 2024, Europa Clipper will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, which scientists are confident harbors an internal ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans combined. And the moon may currently have conditions suitable for supporting life. The spacecraft's nine science instruments will gather data on the moon's atmosphere, surface, and interior – information that scientists will use to gauge the depth and salinity of the ocean, the thickness of the ice crust, and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25238

The main body of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has been delivered to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where, over the next two years, engineers and technicians will finish assembling the craft by hand before testing it to make sure it can withstand the journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Here it is visible in a main clean room at JPL, as engineers and technicians inspect it just after delivery in early June 2022. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built the spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Set to launch in October 2024, Europa Clipper will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, which scientists are confident harbors an internal ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans combined. And the moon may currently have conditions suitable for supporting life. The spacecraft's nine science instruments will gather data on the moon's atmosphere, surface, and interior – information that scientists will use to gauge the depth and salinity of the ocean, the thickness of the ice crust, and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25236

The main body of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is seen in its shipping container as it rolls into the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Over the next two years, engineers and technicians will finish assembling the craft by hand. Then it will be tested to make sure it can withstand the journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built the spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Set to launch in October 2024, Europa Clipper will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, which scientists are confident harbors an internal ocean containing twice as much water as Earth's oceans combined. And the moon may currently have conditions suitable for supporting life. The spacecraft's nine science instruments will gather data on the moon's atmosphere, surface, and interior – information that scientists will use to gauge the depth and salinity of the ocean, the thickness of the ice crust, and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25239

A scale model of NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft is on display during a payload briefing for IXPE on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

Karen Fox, NASA Communications, moderates a payload briefing for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Julianna Scheiman, director, civil satellite missions, SpaceX, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, civil space, Ball Aerospace, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Greg Harland, NASA Communications, moderates a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

Mike McAleenan, 45th Weather Squadron, Space Launch Delta 45, participates in a prelaunch news conference for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

Luca Baldini, Italian co-principal investigator, National Institute for Nuclear Physics, participates in a payload briefing for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

MacKenzie Ferrie, IXPE program manager, Ball Aerospace, participates in a payload briefing for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

Elisabetta Cavazzuti, ASI IXPE program manager, Italian Space Agency, participates in a payload briefing for NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft on Dec.7, 2021 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. IXPE is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 9, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 provides range support for this launch. SpaceX is providing the launch vehicle for this mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roars off the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1 a.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, carrying NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. NASA’s Launch Services Program managed this launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the IXPE mission. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations with support from the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media at a prelaunch news conference for the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. From left are: George Diller of NASA Communications; Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington; Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson; Tim Dunn, NASA launch manager at Kennedy; Scott Messer, program manager for NASA missions at United Launch Alliance in Centennial, Colorado; Michael Donnelly, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Rich Kuhns, OSIRIS-REx program manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver; and Clay Flinn, launch weather officer for the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.