
jsc2025e057255 --- NASA’s Artemis III lunar science team is pictured in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams.

jsc2025e056603 --- The Artemis II Lunar Science Team runs a simulation of lunar observation operations in the new Science Evaluation Room (SER) that serves as a backroom to Mission Control.

Francisco Rodriguez (aircraft mechanic) services liquid oxygen or LOX on the ER-2 during the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx) research project. Experts like Rodriguez sustain a high standard of safety on airborne science aircraft like the ER-2 and science missions like GEMx. The ER-2 is based out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Lori Glaze, Planetary Science Division director, NASA Headquarters, participates in a Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

A Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing is held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. Participating in the briefing from left, are Moderator DC Agle, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Lori Glaze, Planetary Science Division director, NASA Headquarters; and Ken Farley, project scientist, California Institute of Technology. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

A Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing is held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. Participating in the briefing from left, are Moderator DC Agle, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Lori Glaze, Planetary Science Division director, NASA Headquarters; and Ken Farley, project scientist, California Institute of Technology. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

This graphic illustrates the main science objectives of NASA's Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's moon Europa: to understand the nature of Europa's icy shell and confirm the existence of a subsurface ocean, investigate Europa's composition, characterize its geology, and determine the level of activity, such as possible water plumes. Clockwise from top left: an artist's concept of Europa's interior, which likely contains a global ocean beneath the icy surface, with possible hydrothermal activity on the ocean floor; water signatures at Europa's Manannán Crater made visible by mapping colors onto infrared data from NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter; ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope showing evidence of a possible plume at Europa and indicating possible activity at the moon; and a color view of Europa's Conamara Chaos region based on an image from NASA's Galileo mission. Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26461

Ken Farley, project scientist, California Institute of Technology, participates in a Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

DC Agle, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, moderates a Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch July 30, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

Lori Glaze, Planetary Science division director, NASA Headquarters, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Lori Glaze, Planetary Science division director, NASA Headquarters, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Lori Glaze, Planetary Science division director, NASA Headquarters, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

A Psyche mission and science briefing takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Participants, from left, are: Alana Johnson, NASA Communications; Lori Glaze, Planetary Science division director, NASA Headquarters; Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator, Arizona State University; Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; David Oh, Psyche chief engineer for operations, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); and Abi Biswas, Deep Space Optical Communications project technologist, JPL. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

A Psyche mission and science briefing takes place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Participants, from left, are: Alana Johnson, NASA Communications; Lori Glaze, Planetary Science division director, NASA Headquarters; Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator, Arizona State University; Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; David Oh, Psyche chief engineer for operations, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); and Abi Biswas, Deep Space Optical Communications project technologist, JPL. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Alana Johnson, NASA Communications, moderates a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Alana Johnson, NASA Communications, moderates a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator, Arizona State University, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator, Arizona State University, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

David Oh, Psyche chief engineer for operations, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Abi Biswas, Deep Space Optical Communications project technologist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

The science briefing ahead of launch for NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, a mission to a unique metal-rich asteroid. Psyche will travel nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) – to an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal. The ore will not be mined but studied from orbit in hopes of giving researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core. The Psyche spacecraft also will host a pioneering technology demonstration: NASA’s DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) experiment. This laser communications system will operate for the first two years of Psyche’s journey. Launch is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. The participants include Lori Glaze, director, Planetary Sciences Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington; Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator of Psyche, Arizona State University; Ben Weiss, deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; David Oh, chief engineer for operations, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Abi Biswas, project technologist for DSOC, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The ER-2 conducted over 80 flight hours in service of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) mission. The ER-2 is uniquely qualified to conduct the high-altitude scientific flights that this project required, and is based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

jsc2025e087237 --- Artemis lunar science team members Andrew Needham, sitting, and David Hollibaugh work in the Science Mission Operations Room (SMOR) at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston during a simulation of the Artemis II lunar flyby during which astronauts will document their observations through photographs and audio recordings to inform scientists’ understanding of the Moon. Credit: NASA/James Blair

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Sean Potter of NASA Communications; Dr. Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan; Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mary Morris, doctoral student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Sean Potter of NASA Communications; Dr. Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan; Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mary Morris, doctoral student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Sean Potter of NASA Communications; Dr. Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan; Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mary Morris, doctoral student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Dr. Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan; Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mary Morris, doctoral student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

Tylar Greene, NASA Communications, moderates a mission and science briefing for NASA’s Landsat 9 mission at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2021. Virtual participants (not shown) are Jeff Masek, Landsat 9 project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Chris Crawford, Landsat 9 project scientist at USGS; Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASA’s Harvest food security and agriculture program; Del Jenstrom, Landsat 9 project manager at Goddard; Brian Sauer, Landsat 9 project manager at USGS; Sabrina Chapman, manager, system engineering, Northrop Grumman Space Systems; and Sarah Lipscy, OLI-2 senior engineer, Ball Aerospace & Technologies. Landsat 9 is scheduled to launch at 2:11 p.m. EDT (11:11 a.m. PDT) on Monday, Sept. 27, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landsat 9 will join its sister satellite, Landsat 8, in orbit in collecting images from across the planet every eight days. This calibrated data will continue the Landsat program’s critical role in monitoring the health of Earth and helping people manage essential resources, including crops, irrigation water, and forests.

Tylar Greene, NASA Communications, moderates a mission and science briefing for NASA’s Landsat 9 mission at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2021. Virtual participants (not shown) are Jeff Masek, Landsat 9 project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Chris Crawford, Landsat 9 project scientist at USGS; Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASA’s Harvest food security and agriculture program; Del Jenstrom, Landsat 9 project manager at Goddard; Brian Sauer, Landsat 9 project manager at USGS; Sabrina Chapman, manager, system engineering, Northrop Grumman Space Systems; and Sarah Lipscy, OLI-2 senior engineer, Ball Aerospace & Technologies. Landsat 9 is scheduled to launch at 2:11 p.m. EDT (11:11 a.m. PDT) on Monday, Sept. 27, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landsat 9 will join its sister satellite, Landsat 8, in orbit in collecting images from across the planet every eight days. This calibrated data will continue the Landsat program’s critical role in monitoring the health of Earth and helping people manage essential resources, including crops, irrigation water, and forests.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

Lori Losey, an employee of Arcata Associates at Dryden, was honored with NASA's 2004 Videographer of the Year award for her work in two of the three categories in the NASA video competition, public affairs and documentation. In the public affairs category, Losey received a first-place citation for her footage of an Earth Science mission that was flown aboard NASA's DC-8 Flying Laboratory in South America last year. Her footage not only depicted the work of the scientists aboard the aircraft and on the ground, but she also obtained spectacular footage of flora and fauna in the mission's target area that helped communicate the environmental research goals of the project. Losey also took first place in the documentation category for her acquisition of technical videography of the X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle flight tests. The video, shot with a hand-held camera from the rear seat of a NASA F/A-18 mission support aircraft, demonstrated her capabilities in recording precise technical visual data in a very challenging airborne environment. The award was presented to Losey during a NASA reception at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas April 19. A three-judge panel evaluated entries for public affairs, documentation and production videography on professional excellence, technical quality, originality, creativity within restrictions of the project, and applicability to NASA and its mission. Entries consisted of a continuous video sequence or three views of the same subject for a maximum of three minutes duration. Linda Peters, Arcata Associates' Video Systems Supervisor at NASA Dryden, noted, "Lori is a talented videographer who has demonstrated extraordinary abilities with the many opportunities she has received in her career at NASA." Losey's award was the second major NASA video award won by members of the Dryden video team in two years. Steve Parcel took first place in the documentation category last year for his camera and editing

In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Moderating the science briefing are Karen Fox, far left, Goddard Space Flight Center; and Dwaye Brown, far right, NASA Communications. Briefers are Andy Driesman, Parker Solar Probe project manager, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Dr. Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan; and Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a mission science briefing for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist in the Climate and Space Department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mary Morris, doctoral student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Speaking to the media is Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directore in Washington. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

A team of experts wrap up science flights on the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California after the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Pilot Tim Williams ascends the ER-2 on the runway for one of the final science flights validating satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Researcher Jennifer Moore checks the cabling on the Roscoe instrument which flew at high altitudes on the ER-2. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Researcher Jennifer Moore from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center smiles beside the ER-2 aircraft’s forebody pod where the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) instrument will be installed. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Researcher Grant Finneman from the University of Iowa installs the insulations at the front of the ER-2 forebody pod where the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) flies. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Aircraft mechanic Darick Alvarez-Alonzo installs a satellite-simulating instrument which will fly at high altitudes on the ER-2 to validate satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts wrap up science flights on the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California after the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Pilot Tim Williams ascends the ER-2 to higher skies for one of the final science flights validating satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts prepares the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California for the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Researcher Jackson Begolka from the University of Iowa examines the instrument connectors in the ER-2 onboard the ER-2, which flies at high altitudes to validate satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

A team of experts wrap up science flights on the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California after the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Pilot Kirt Stallings ascends the ER-2 on the runway for one of the final science flights validating satellite-borne data. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

Sam Habbal (quality inspector), Darick Alvarez (aircraft mechanic), and Juan Alvarez (crew chief) work on the network “canoe” on top of the ER-2 aircraft, which provides network communication with the pilot onboard. Experts like these sustain a high standard of safety while outfitting instruments onboard science aircraft like the ER-2 and science missions like the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) mission. The ER-2 is based out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Vesta science orbits from NASA Dawn mission, part of the Mission Art series. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19373

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos offer a look inside the twin control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where engineers will monitor Artemis science and future landing operations for Artemis. The LUCA (Lunar Utilization Control Area) and LESA (Lander Engineering Support Area) rooms are part of the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA Marshall. The LUCA is specially designed to support a wide variety of science operations on and around the Moon – and beyond. Engineers in the LUCA monitored operations for the Lunar Node-1 experiment, an autonomous navigation payload that was part of the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) launch on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander in 2024. NASA Marshall flight controllers will use the LUCA again for Artemis II to monitor science operations. Beginning with Artemis III, members of the NASA Human Landing System Mission Insight Support Team – a group of engineers, safety leads, flight operations experts, and technical authorities – will work in the LESA. There, they will monitor lander systems in real-time and be involved in key decision-making processes throughout the mission. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

Ben Feist, software engineer on the Extravehicular Activity Mission System Software (EMSS) team, uses the suite of software he and other members of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) division at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston developed to plan and monitor spacewalks. The JETT 5 field test was the first time this software was fully integrated into a simulated mission, supporting both science and mission control operations. JETT 5 was a week-long field test conducted in the lunar-like landscape of the San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona, with a team of flight controllers and scientists at Johnson monitoring and guiding the activities. Credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas

Artemis Curation Lead Julianne Gross, left, and Brett Denevi, Artemis III Geology Team principal investigator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, work in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) during the JETT 5 field test. JETT 5 was a week-long field test in the lunar-like landscape of San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona while a team of flight controllers and scientists at Johnson monitor and guide their activities. Credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas

A large group of scientists work in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during the JETT 5 field test. The SER is the science backroom to mission control during Artemis operations. JETT 5 was a week-long field test in the lunar-like landscape of San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona while a team of flight controllers and scientists at Johnson monitor and guide their activities. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz

This drawing of the Mars Science Laboratory mission rover, Curiosity, indicates the location of science instruments and some other tools on the car-size rover.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Stephen Rinehart, TESS Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Felicia Chou, NASA Communications, asks questions from online participants during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Claire Saravia, NASA Communications, moderated the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director, NASA Headquarters, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

A pocketknife provides scale for this image of the Mars Descent Imager camera; the camera will fly on the Curiosity rover of NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., supplied the camera for the mission.

Curiosity, the big rover of NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission, will land in August 2012 near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater. The mission project science group is calling the mountain Mount Sharp.

In a series of baseline flights beginning on June 24, 2024, the G-IV aircraft flew over the Antelope Valley to analyze aircraft performance. To accommodate a new radar instrument developed by JPL, NASA’s Airborne Science Program has selected the Gulfstream-IV aircraft to be modified and operated by Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and will accommodate new instrumentation on board in support of the agency’s science mission directorate. Baseline flights began at NASA Armstrong in June 2024

The Kepler Mission Science Principal Investigator Dr William 'Bill' Borucki in his office at NASA Ames Research center.

The Kepler Mission Science Principal Investigator Dr William 'Bill' Borucki in his office at NASA Ames Research center.

Kirsten Boogaard, Deputy Project Manager for the DC-8 aircraft, leads and manages project planning, integration and resources for airborne science missions since 2020

David Bushman, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission manager in NASA Dryden's Airborne Science Program, explains the capabilities of the Altus UAV to Charles Hudgins of NASA Langley's Chemistry and Dynamics Branch.

Antonia Jaramillo, NASA Communications, moderates a What’s On Board Science Briefing on June 2, 2021, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. On screen, principal investigator Dr. Thomas Boothby describes the Cell Science-04 experiment that will be delivered to the space station. Cell Science-04 will research the effects of microgravity on tardigrades, more commonly known as water bears. The results could advance understanding of the stress factors affecting humans in space. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule atop is scheduled to launch at 1:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 3, from the center’s Launch Complex 39A. Dragon will deliver more than 7,300 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the space station.

Antonia Jaramillo, NASA Communications, moderates a What’s On Board Science Briefing on June 2, 2021, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule atop is scheduled to launch at 1:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 3, from the center’s Launch Complex 39A. Dragon will deliver more than 7,300 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the space station.

GMT075_23_42_Matthew Dominick_1076_Lots of Candid

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are moderator Claire Saravia, NASA Communications; Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director, NASA Headquarters; George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Rinehart, TESS Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are moderator Claire Saravia, NASA Communications; Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director, NASA Headquarters; George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Rinehart, TESS Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Kristin Calhoun, a research scientist with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Steve Cole of NASA Communications speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Jim Roberts, a scientist with the Earth System Research Laboratory's Office of Atmospheric Research for NOAA, left, and Kristin Calhoun, a research scientist with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, speak to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

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.

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, Daniella DellaGiustina, OSIRIS-REx lead image processing scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson, speaks to members of the media during a briefing on science experiments involved in NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Jim Roberts, a scientist with the Earth System Research Laboratory's Office of Atmospheric Research for NOAA, speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

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.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, George Morrow, deputy director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Dan Lindsey, GOES-R senior scientific advisor for NOAA, speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

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 the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, members of the media participate in a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. Briefing participants from left are: Steve Cole of NASA Communications; Dan Lindsey, GOES-R senior scientific advisor for NOAA; Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service for NOAA; Jim Roberts, a scientist with the Earth System Research Laboratory's Office of Atmospheric Research for NOAA; Kristin Calhoun, a research scientist with NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, and George Morrow, deputy director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. GOES-S is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service for NOAA, speaks to members of the media at a mission briefing on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's, or NOAA's, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. The spacecraft is the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting. GOES-S is slated to lift off at 5:02 p.m. EST on March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, speaks to members of the media during a briefing on science experiments involved in NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

A team of experts wrap up science flights on the ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California after the GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE) in February 2025. Nikolas Gibson from NASA Ames Research Center integrates the enhanced MODIS Airbrone Simulator (eMAS) instrument onto the ER-2. As a collaboration between engineers, scientists, and aircraft professionals, GLOVE aims to improve satellite data products for Earth Science applications.

Cheryl Warner of NASA Communications, left, Kirt Costello, deputy chief scientist for the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, center, and Patrick O'Neill, Marketing and Communications manager at the Center of Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), speak to members of social media in the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium. The briefing focused on research planned for launch to the International Space Station. The scientific materials and supplies will be aboard a Dragon spacecraft scheduled for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:46 a.m. EST, on Dec. 12, 2017. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the company's 13th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

Guests ask questions following presentations by NASA Science Mission Directorate Program Executive Rosa Avalos-Warren and NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysicist Dominic Bedford during the Library of Congress National Book Festival Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Guests ask questions following presentations by NASA Science Mission Directorate Program Executive Rosa Avalos-Warren and NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysicist Dominic Bedford during the Library of Congress National Book Festival Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Guests receive educational materials following presentations by NASA Science Mission Directorate Program Executive Rosa Avalos-Warren and NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysicist Dominic Bedford during the Library of Congress National Book Festival Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Guests ask questions following presentations by NASA Science Mission Directorate Program Executive Rosa Avalos-Warren and NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysicist Dominic Bedford during the Library of Congress National Book Festival Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Guests are seen during presentations by NASA Science Mission Directorate Program Executive Rosa Avalos-Warren and NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysicist Dominic Bedford during the Library of Congress National Book Festival Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Students Joe Blair, at left, and Jonathon Bonamarte, describe a CubeSat, called RamSat, during a What’s On Board Science Briefing on June 2, 2021, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services Mission for NASA to the International Space Station. The small research satellite was developed by students and faculty at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. RamSat will observe forest regrowth in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area which was devastated by wildfires in 2016. RamSat is the sole payload of the 36th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission and was selected through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule atop is scheduled to launch at 1:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 3, from the center’s Launch Complex 39A. Dragon will deliver more than 7,300 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the space station.

The two main parts of the ChemCam laser instrument for NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission are shown in this combined image.