At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Sydney this week, representatives from the United States and Australia gathered to sign a framework agreement that strengthens collaboration in aeronautics and space exploration between the two nations.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy and Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo signed the agreement Tuesday on behalf of their countries, respectively.

“Australia is an important and longtime space partner, from Apollo to Artemis, and this agreement depends on that partnership,” said Duffy. “International agreements like this one work to leverage our resources and increase our capacities and scientific returns for all, proving critical to NASA’s plans from low Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

Australian Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science Tim Ayres said the signing builds on more than half a century of collaboration between the two nations.

“Strengthening Australia’s partnership with the U.S. and NASA creates new opportunities for Australian ideas and technologies, improving Australia’s industrial capability, boosting productivity, and building economic resilience,” Ayres said.

Known as the “Framework Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Australia on Cooperation in Aeronautics and the Exploration and Use of Airspace and Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes,” it recognizes cooperation that’s mutually beneficial for the U.S. and Australia and establishes the legal framework under which the countries will work together.

Potential areas for cooperation include space exploration, space science, Earth science including geodesy, space medicine and life sciences, aeronautics research, and technology.

NASA has collaborated with Australia on civil space activities since 1960, when the two countries signed their first cooperative space agreement. The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex played a vital role in supporting NASA’s Apollo Program, most notably during the Apollo 13 mission. Today, the complex is one of three global stations in NASA’s Deep Space Network, supporting both robotic and human spaceflight missions.

One of the original signatories to the Artemis Accords, Australia joined the United States under President Donald Trump and six other nations in October 2020, in supporting a basic set of principles for the safe and responsible use of space. Global space leaders from many of the 56 signatory countries met at IAC in Sydney this week to further their implementation.

As part of an existing partnership with the Australian Space Agency, Australia is developing a semi-autonomous lunar rover, which will carry a NASA analysis instrument intended to demonstrate technology for scientific and exploration purposes. The rover is scheduled to launch by the end of this decade through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

NASA’s international partnerships reflect the agency’s commitment to peaceful, collaborative space exploration. Building on a legacy of cooperation, from the space shuttle to the International Space Station and now Artemis, international partnerships support NASA’s plans for lunar exploration under the Artemis campaign and future human exploration of Mars.

To learn more about NASA’s international partnerships, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/

The (Proto) Planet: 

WISPIT 2b 

The Discovery: 

Researchers have discovered a young protoplanet called WISPIT 2b embedded in a ring-shaped gap in a disk encircling a young star. While theorists have thought that planets likely exist in these gaps (and possibly even create them), this is the first time that it has actually been observed.

Key Takeaway: 

Researchers have directly detected – essentially photographed – a new planet called WISPIT 2b, labeled a protoplanet because it is an astronomical object that is accumulating material and growing into a fully-realized planet. However, even in its “proto” state, WISPIT 2b is a gas giant about 5 times as massive as Jupiter. This massive protoplanet is just about 5 million years old, or almost 1,000 times younger than the Earth, and about 437 light-years from Earth. 

Being a giant and still-growing baby planet, WISPIT 2b is interesting to study on its own, but its location in this protoplanetary disk gap is even more fascinating. Protoplanetary disks are made of gas and dust that surround young stars and function as the birthplace for new planets. 

Within these disks, gaps or clearings in the dust and gas can form, appearing as empty rings. Scientists have long suggested that these growing planets are likely responsible for clearing the material in these gaps, pushing and scattering dusty disk material outwards and greeting the ring gaps in the first place. Our own solar system was once just a protoplanetary disk, and it’s possible that Jupiter and Saturn may have cleared ring gaps like this in that disk  many, many years ago. 

But despite continued observation of stars with these kinds of disks, there was never any direct evidence of a growing planet found in one of these ring gaps. That is, until now. As reported in this paper, WISPIT 2b was directly observed in one of the ring gaps around its star, WISPIT 2. 

Another interesting aspect of this discovery is that WISPIT 2b appears to have formed where it was found, it didn’t form elsewhere and move into the gap somehow. 

Details: 

The star WISPIT 2 was first observed using VLT-SPHERE (Very Large Telescope – Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch), a ground-based telescope in northern Chile operated by the European Southern Observatory. In these observations, the rings and gap around this star were first seen. 

Following these observations of the system, researchers looked at WISPIT 2, and spotted the planet WISPIT 2b for the first time, using the University of Arizona’s MagAO-X extreme adaptive optics system, a high-contrast exoplanet imager at the Magellan 2 (Clay) Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. 

This technology adds another unique layer to this discovery. The MagAO-X instrument captures direct images, so it didn’t just detect WISPIT 2b, it essentially captured a photograph of the protoplanet.    

The team used this technology to study the WISPIT 2 system in what is called H-alpha, or Hydrogen-alpha, light. This is a type of visible light that is emitted when hydrogen gas falls from a protoplanetary disk onto young, growing planets. This could look like a ring of super heated plasma circling the planet. This plasma emits the H-alpha light that MagAO-X is specially designed to detect (even if it is a very faint signal compared to the bright star nearby). 

When looking at the system in H-alpha light, the team spotted a clear dot in one of the dark ring gaps in the disk around WISPIT 2. This dot? The planet WISPIT 2b. 

In addition to observing the protoplanet’s H-alpha emission using MagAO-X, the team also studied the protoplanet in other wavelengths of infrared light using the LMIRcam detector as part of the The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer instrument on the University of Arizona’s Large Binocular Telescope.

Fun Facts: 

In addition to discovering WISPIT 2b, this team spotted a second dot in one of the other dark ring gaps even closer to the star WISPIT 2. This second dot has been identified as another candidate planet that will likely be investigated in future studies of the system. 

The Discoverers: 

WISPIT-2b was discovered by a team led by University of Arizona astronomer Laird Close and Richelle van Capelleveen, an astronomy graduate student at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. This followed the recent discovery of the WISPIT 2 disk and ring system using the VLT, which was led by van Capelleveen. 

This discovery was detailed in the paper “Wide Separation Planets in Time (WISPIT): Discovery of a Gap Hα Protoplanet WISPIT 2b with MagAO-X,” published August 26, 2025 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. A second paper led by van Capelleveen and the University of Galway published on the same day in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

This research was partially supported by a grant from the NASA eXoplanet Research Program. MagAO-X was developed in part by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation with support from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

A recent update to the PSI database improves how large dataset downloads are handled, resulting in more efficient processing for users.

Download requests larger than 1GB are now delivered via email, rather than downloading directly from the website. This allows the system to prepare your files in the background so you can continue working without delays, accessing the files at your convenience once your request is processed.

Why The Change?

This update improves user experience by:

• Reducing system lag and download interruptions.
• Allowing you to stay productive while files are processed in the background.
• Increasing reliability of large downloads.
• Delivering files in manageable parts, making them easier to handle and extract.

How Does it Work?

To download files larger than 1GB:

1. Users select 2 or more desired files and click “Download Zip.”

2. In the Prepared Large Download section:

• Enter the email address where the download access links should be sent.

• Check the box to confirm: “I understand large downloads are delivered in multiple parts via email.”

• Click “Send me the links.”

3. Users will receive an email confirming the download request has been submitted.

4. Once the files are ready, users receive a second email with link(s) to access the download. NOTE: Download links are valid for 7 days from the time you receive the email. Be sure to save the requested files before the links expire.

Best Practices

To ensure a smooth and efficient download experience, especially when working with large datasets, follow these best practices to help reduce processing time, prevent errors, and simplify file handling.

• Download only what you need: Smaller requests are processed faster.
• Split very large requests: If possible, divide and submit large requests into smaller sets to speed up processing.
• Avoid simultaneous large requests: Submit one large download at a time for smoother performance.
• Before extracting, save all ZIP parts to the same folder: This ensures proper extraction of multi-part downloads.
• Download promptly: Remember, download links will expire. Save your files while the link is active.
• Use a reliable email address: Double-check for typos and check your spam/junk folder if you don’t receive the emails.

At the virtual 2025 ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSDRC), Joe A. Adam of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, presented the topic titled “Surface Science in Microgravity – Fluid Geometry in the Ring-Sheared Drop,” presented to a broad audience from academia and the scientific community during the Physical Sciences and Materials Development session.

Dr. Adam provided a comprehensive overview of the Ring Sheared Drop (RSD) hardware, experiment campaigns and the evolving role of RSD in advancing biophysical science, particularly in the characterization of proteins. Leveraging the absence of gravity aboard the ISS, the RSD enables researchers to isolate shear-induced aggregation processes relevant to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, offering insight into mechanisms that are difficult to observe with ground-based experiments.

The presentation traced the RSD development, beginning with the initial campaign in 2016 which was funded by Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) for hardware development and the first science campaign, and culminating in the most recent 2025 flight campaign, which involved the study of three key proteins: Immunoglobulin G (IgG), Insulin, and Human Serum Albumin (HSA).

A highlight of the session was a discussion of the RSD’s custom camera configuration, which has enabled a novel fluid characterization technique known as Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV). This method allows researchers to visually track particle motion within the fluid drop, supporting the validation and refinement of theoretical and computational models describing protein behavior in microgravity.

Adam further explained how in-situ imaging and velocimetry techniques, enabled by the unique RSD camera setup, enhance the analysis of fluid flow and shear-driven aggregation at the molecular level.

The presentation showcased a series of comparative videos from past and current RSD campaigns, illustrating protein dynamics under varying sample compositions. He emphasized how flight data are being compared against Earth analog experiments to 1) validate predictive models and 2) inform the design of future microgravity research – the two-fold focus of the research from the beginning.

The session concluded with a summary of preliminary findings from the 2025 campaign, including multi-geometry rheometry results, which offer deeper insight into the viscoelastic behavior of proteins under shear. These findings may well contribute to the development of future pharmaceutical and therapeutic strategies.

To view the entire presentation, a recording is available for downloaded from the 2025 ISSRDC site.

Visit the Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) database to access experiment data from two RSD campaigns, Interfacial Bioprocessing of Pharmaceuticals (IBP-I) and Amyloid Fibril Formation (AFF) with additional RSD data planned for release in 2026.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image released on Sept. 12, 2025, features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. Today’s image depicts a portion of the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region, which is called N11. (The most massive and prolific star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula, is a frequent target for Hubble.) We see bright, young stars lighting up the gas clouds and sculpting clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation.

This image marries observations made roughly 20 years apart, a testament to Hubble’s longevity. The first set of observations, which were carried out in 2002–2003, capitalized on the exquisite sensitivity and resolution of the then-newly-installed Advanced Camera for Surveys. Astronomers turned Hubble toward the N11 star cluster to do something that had never been done before at the time: catalog all the stars in a young cluster with masses between 10% of the Sun’s mass and 100 times the Sun’s mass.

The second set of observations came from Hubble’s newest camera, the Wide Field Camera 3. These images focused on the dusty clouds that permeate the cluster, providing us with a new perspective on cosmic dust.

@NASAHubble

NASA announced its newest class of astronaut candidates on Sept. 22, 2025, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. After the welcome ceremony, the 10 highly qualified individuals rolled up their sleeves and prepared for the next step in their journey to the stars: nearly two years of training to become flight-eligible for missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and ultimately, Mars.

The training astronaut candidates complete is comprehensive and rigorous. They learn about NASA’s history and vision, and how astronauts advance the agency’s mission. They take classes on space health – gaining an understanding of radiation exposure, microgravity’s effects on the human body, space food and nutrition, and how to use the exercise equipment aboard the International Space Station. They also study first aid and practice providing medical care for crewmates. Each candidate will receive flight training, learning to pilot or improving their current piloting skills through the T-38 supersonic jet and other aviation platforms.

With NASA’s plans for the future of exploration, this class of astronauts may have opportunities to fly to low Earth orbit, or even beyond. Some may contribute to research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station – which is about to celebrate 25 years of continuous human presence in space. Others may venture to the Moon to prepare for future Mars missions.   

To be ready for any destination, this class will complete both space station training and advanced preparation for deep space. These exercises allow astronaut candidates to work through problems and build relationships with their classmates while preparing them for space flights.

“Training was such an intense period that we got to know each other really well,” said NASA astronaut Anil Menon, who joined the agency as part of the 2021 class – astronaut group 23. “Now when we come together, there are these moments – like we might be handing off a capcom shift, or we might be flying a jet together – and in those moments, I feel like I know them so well that we know how to navigate all sorts of challenges together and just be our best selves as a team.”

Astronaut candidate training also teaches foundational skills that can be applied to any destination in space. The group will complete several dives in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, simulating spacewalks in different environments and learning how to do maintenance tasks in microgravity with a full-scale underwater mockup of the International Space Station as their worksite. They will also train inside other mockups of space vehicles, learning emergency procedures, maintenance, and repair of spacecraft, along with how to contribute to future developmental programs.

Robotics training will prepare them to use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. They will trek through the wilderness as part of their land and water survival training, and they will study geology in the classroom and in the field. The group will practice tasks in a variety of simulations, leveraging Johnson’s world-class facilities, virtual reality, and immersive technologies. Additionally, the class will work shifts in the Mission Control Center in Houston to experience a day in the life of the people who keep watch over the astronauts and vehicles.

Astronaut candidates who successfully complete the training program celebrate their achievement in a graduation ceremony, after which they are officially flight-eligible members of NASA’s astronaut corps. They will also receive office and ground support roles at Johnson while they await future flight assignments.

“I’ve been exposed to a lot of different parts of what we do at Johnson Space Center, working both with the current increment of supporting operations aboard the International Space Station, as well as supporting some development of the Orion spacecraft and Artemis II preparations,” said NASA astronaut Chris Birch, another member of astronaut group 23.

Many members of NASA’s active astronaut corps emphasize that the learning does not stop when astronaut candidate training ends. “You have the foundational training and you continue to build off of that,” said Deniz Burnham, adding that the hardest days can be the most educational. “You get to learn, you get to improve, and then you’re still getting the opportunity. It’s such a positively unique experience and environment, and you can’t help but be grateful.”

As NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, class mentor, told the group, “You’ll become part of a legacy of those who trained before you, continuing the adventure they started, and looking ahead to future human exploration.”

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disk encircling a large exoplanet. The carbon-rich disk surrounding the world called CT Cha b, which is located 625 light-years away from Earth, is a possible construction yard for moons, although no moons are detected in the Webb data.

The results published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The young star the planet orbits is only 2 million years old and still accreting circumstellar material. However, the circumplanetary disk discovered by Webb is not part of the larger accretion disk around the central star. The two objects are 46 billion miles apart.

Observing planet and moon formation is fundamental to understanding the evolution of planetary systems across our galaxy. Moons likely outnumber planets, and some might be habitats for life as we know it. But we are only now entering an era where we can witness their formation.

This discovery fosters a better understanding of planet and moon formation, say researchers. Webb’s data is invaluable for making comparisons to our solar system’s birth over 4 billion years ago.

“We can see evidence of the disk around the companion, and we can study the chemistry for the first time. We’re not just witnessing moon formation — we’re also witnessing this planet’s formation,” said co-lead author Sierra Grant of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington.

“We are seeing what material is accreting to build the planet and moons,” added main lead author Gabriele Cugno of the University of Zürich and member of the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS.

Image A: Circumplanetary Disk (Artist’s Concept)

Dissecting starlight

Infrared observations of CT Cha b were made with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) using its medium resolution spectrograph. An initial look into Webb’s archival data revealed signs of molecules within the circumplanetary disk, which motivated a deeper dive into the data. Because the planet’s faint signal is buried in the glare of the host star, the researchers had to disentangle the light of the star from the planet using high-contrast methods.

“We saw molecules at the location of the planet, and so we knew that there was stuff in there worth digging for and spending a year trying to tease out of the data. It really took a lot of perseverance,” said Grant.

Ultimately, the team discovered seven carbon-bearing molecules within the planet’s disk, including acetylene (C₂H₂) and benzene (C₆H₆). This carbon-rich chemistry is in stark contrast to the chemistry seen in the disk around the host star, where the researchers found water but no carbon. The difference between the two disks offers evidence for their rapid chemical evolution over only than 2 million years.

Genesis of moons

A circumplanetary disk has long been hypothesized as the birthplace of Jupiter’s four major moons. These Galilean satellites must have condensed out of such a flattened disk billions of years ago, as evident in their co-planar orbits about Jupiter. The two outermost Galilean moons, Ganymede and Callisto, are 50% water ice. But they presumably have rocky cores, perhaps either of carbon or silicon.

“We want to learn more about how our solar system formed moons. This means that we need to look at other systems that are still under construction. We’re trying to understand how it all works,” said Cugno. “How do these moons come to be? What are their ingredients? What physical processes are at play, and over what timescales? Webb allows us to witness the drama of moon formation and investigate these questions observationally for the first time.”

In the coming year, the team will use Webb to perform a comprehensive survey of similar objects, to better understand the diversity of physical and chemical properties in the disks around young planets.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

To learn more about Webb, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/webb

Related Information

Read more: NASA’s Webb Finds Planet-Forming Disks Lived Longer in Early Universe

Explore more: ViewSpace Detecting Other Worlds: Direct Imaging

Explore more: How to Study Exoplanets: Webb and Challenges

Read more: Webb’s Star Formation Discoveries

More Webb News

More Webb Images

Webb Science Themes

Webb Mission Page

Related For Kids

What is the Webb Telescope?

SpacePlace for Kids

When you think about national park and public land astronomy programs, you might picture remote locations far from city lights. But a recent NASA Earth to Sky training, funded by NASA’s Science Activation Program, challenges that assumption, demonstrating how urban parks, wildlife refuges, museums, and green spaces can be incredible venues for connecting communities with space science. Programs facilitated in urban spaces can reach people where they already live, work, and recreate. This creates opportunities for ongoing engagement as urban astronomy program participants can discover that the skies above their neighborhoods hold the same wonders as remote locations.

During the first week of August in 2025, NASA Earth to Sky collaborated with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deliver an innovative astronomy training program called “Rivers of Stars and Stories: Interpreting the Northern Night Sky” at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Minneapolis-St. Paul. This three-day course brought together 28 park ranger interpreters, environmental educators, and outdoor communicators from across the Twin Cities area. Presentations and discussions centered around engaging urban audiences with the wonders of space science by leveraging the benefits of metropolitan spaces and the unique opportunities that city skies provide.

Throughout this immersive training, participants explored everything from lunar observations and aurora science to NASA’s Artemis Program and astrobiology. The training empowered participants by affirming that everyone is an effective stargazer and night sky storyteller, transforming beginners into confident astronomy communicators. One participant captured their experience by noting they went from “not knowing much of anything to having a much better grasp on basic concepts and most importantly, where to find more resources!” In addition to sharing resources, this training also launched a community of practice where communicators can continue to collaborate. Participants engaged in discussions on how to respectfully incorporate the local indigenous perspectives into astronomy programming and honor the traditional stewards of the land while avoiding appropriation or misrepresentation of indigenous science.

The course also created a lasting community connection to NASA through presentations by NASA experts and demonstrations of NASA activity toolkits. As one participant noted in the evaluation, “This is just the start of a long learning journey, but I know now where to look and how to find answers.” Toolkits and resources shared included GLOBE (Global Learning & Observation to Benefit the Environment) Observer’s NUBE (cloud) game, Our Dynamic Sun by the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) and the Night Sky Network, the Aurorasaurus Citizen Science project, and the local Solar System Ambassador Network.

Participants’ sense of belonging to the Earth to Sky community increased dramatically. These outcomes support NASA’s strategic goal of building sustained public engagement with Earth and space science. The overwhelmingly positive feedback, with 100% of participants expressing interest in taking more courses like this, demonstrates the tremendous value it is for Earth to Sky to collaborate with the National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service, as all agencies’ public communication goals are addressed.

This kind of collaborative work is crucial because it builds a network of science communicators who can reach thousands of visitors across Minneapolis-St. Paul’s parks, nature centers, and outdoor spaces. By training local informal educators to confidently share NASA’s discoveries and missions, the program expands access to space science for urban audiences throughout the Twin Cities region.

The Earth to Sky team will continue fostering these valuable partnerships with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as other state and local agencies and nonprofit organizations. Learn more about Earth to Sky’s work with park interpreters and nonformal educators to share NASA space science by visiting: https://science.nasa.gov/sciact-team/earth-to-sky/

Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/.

NASA has selected Melwood Horticultural Training Center Inc. of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to provide custodial, janitorial, landscaping, and recycling services for the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The Facilities Custodial and Landscaping award is a firm-fixed-price hybrid completion and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The contract includes one 12-month base period and up to four 12-month options with a potential contract value of approximately $36 million if all options are exercised. The basic period of performance begins Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, and ends Sept. 30, 2026. The four option periods, if exercised, would extend the contract through Sept. 30, 2030.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/

-end-

Robert Garner
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-5687
rob.garner@nasa.gov

The NASA Community College Network (NCCN) and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have teamed up to provide an exciting and impactful program that brings top astronomy researchers into the classrooms of community colleges around the United States.

The Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureship Program, named for astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), has a history dating back to the 1950s, when it provided support for a scientist to give a series of astronomy-themed lectures at a college or university, coupled with a public talk to the local community. In 2024, AAS partnered with NCCN to broaden the impact of the Shapley lectureship program to community colleges, making use of NCCN’s existing network of 260 college instructors across 44 states and 120 participating Subject Matter Experts (SME) to “matchmake” community colleges with astronomers.

NCCN has supported the teaching of astronomy at community college since 2020. Community colleges serve a vital role in STEM education, with one-third of their students being first-generation college attendees and 64% being part-time students working jobs and raising families. Factor in that up to 40% of students taking introductory astronomy courses nationally each year do so at a community college, and the motivation behind NCCN and the initiatives of the AAS become clear.

In 2024, the pilot collaboration between NCCN and the AAS matched two community colleges — Chattanooga State Community College in Tennessee and Modesto Junior College in California — with SMEs from University of Virginia and Stanford University. In 2025, nine NCCN subject matter experts are engaging with 14 community colleges in six states. They are:

Joe Masiero (Caltech) at Grossmont Community College CA
Vivian U (Caltech) at Scottsdale & Chandler Gilbert Community Colleges AZ
Dave Leisawitz (NASA) & Michael Foley (Harvard) at Elgin Community College IL
Michael Rutkowski (MN State) at Dallas Area Colleges (five colleges) TX
Joe Masiero (Caltech) at Mt. San Jacinto College, Menifee Campus CA
Quyen Hart (STScI) at Casper College WY
Nathan McGregor (UCSC) at Yakima Valley College WA
Patrick Miller (Hardin-Simmons) at Evergreen Valley College CA
Kim Arcand (Harvard-Smithsonian) at Anne Arundel Community College MD
Natasha Batalha (NASA) at Modesto Junior College CA

Each visit of an AAS Shapley Lecturer is unique. The center of each event is the public Shapley Lecture, which is broadly advertised to the local community. Beyond the Shapley Lecture itself, host institutions organize a variety of local engagement activities – ranging from star parties and classroom visits to meeting with college deans and faculty – to make the most of their time with the Shapley Lecturer.

Astronomy instructor James Espinosa from Weatherford College said, “[The visiting Shapley Lecturer’s] visit made a permanent change in how my classes will be taught, in the sense that ‘honors’ projects will be available for ambitious students. I intend to keep in touch with him for several years to come, which is a big impact for our present and future students.”

Dr. Tom Rice, AAS Education Program Manager and AAS lead on the partnership with NCCN, stated, “The AAS’s Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureship Program represents one of the most impactful ways that astronomers can share our scientific understanding with the widest possible audience, and I am very proud that we have partnered with the SETI Institute and NASA to bring astronomers to their network of community colleges.”

NCCN is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0009 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/.

By Savannah Bullard

One year after winning second place in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, members of the small business Starpath visited NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of their prize opportunity to test their upgraded lunar regolith excavation and transportation rover in the center’s 20-foot thermal vacuum chamber.

The technology startup headquartered in Hawthorne, California, won second place overall at the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge’s live demonstration and finale in June 2024. This competition, one of NASA’s Centennial Challenges, tasked competitors to design, build, and demonstrate robotic technologies that could excavate and transport the icy, rocky dirt – otherwise known as regolith – found on the Moon.

“NASA’s Centennial Challenges are a great way to discover new, innovative technologies, including those for future use on the Moon and even Mars,” said Naveen Vetcha, Break the Ice Lunar Challenge manager at NASA Marshall. “Working with winners after the challenge concludes is a perfect example of how we can use NASA facilities to continue advancing these technologies to generate valuable solutions for the agency and industry.”

Starpath built a four-wheeled rover capable of excavating, collecting, and hauling material under extremely harsh environmental conditions that simulate the lunar South Pole. On the rover, a dual drum barrel can extend from the body of the robot – mimicking a movement similar to a crab’s claws – and scrape into rough, hard regolith to excavate material quickly without compromising finite battery life.

Before Starpath made the 2,000-mile drive from California to Alabama this summer, NASA Marshall’s Engineering Test Facility staff prepared a concrete slab outfitted with rocky terrain to act as a testbed for the robot to interact inside the chamber. The V-20 Thermal Vacuum Chamber, located at Marshall’s Environmental Test Facility, can simulate harsh environments by manipulating the chamber’s vacuum, temperature, humidity, and pressure effects. Starpath staff spent about three days at NASA Marshall in August, testing their robot with excavation and mobility trials while collecting data on its performance.

The Starpath team is honing the development of its technology for missions located at the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar South Pole. As a future landing site for NASA’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon and prepare to send the first Americans to Mars, the South Pole region of the Moon is known to contain ice within its regolith. This was the leading inspiration behind the development of the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, as NASA will require robust technologies that can excavate and transport lunar ice for extraction, purification, and use as drinking water or rocket fuel.

NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge was a NASA Centennial Challenge that ran from 2020 to 2024. The challenge was led by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center with support from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Centennial Challenges are part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program under NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

For more information about the challenge and its conclusion, visit:

nasa.gov/winit

NASA’s 2026 Human Lander Challenge is seeking ideas from college and university students to help evolve and transform technologies for life support and environmental control systems. These systems are critical for sustainable, long-duration human spaceflight missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The Human Lander Challenge supports NASA’s efforts to foster innovative solutions to a variety of areas for NASA’s long-duration human spaceflight plans at the Moon under the Artemis campaign. The Human Lander Challenge is sponsored by the Human Landing System Program within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

The 2026 competition invites undergraduate and graduate-level teams based in the U.S., along with their faculty advisors, to develop innovative, systems-level solutions to improve aspects for a lander’s ECLSS (Environmental Control and Life Support System) performance. These air, water, and waste systems provide vital life support so future Artemis astronauts can live and work safely and effectively on the Moon during crewed missions.

Each proposed solution should focus on one of the following long-duration ECLSS subtopics:

• Noise suppression and control
• Sensor reduction in hardware health monitoring systems
• Potable water dispenser
• Fluid transfer between surface assets on the Moon and Mars

“A robust ECLSS transforms a spacecraft like a lander from just hardware into a livable environment, providing breathable air, clean water, and safe conditions for astronauts as they explore the Moon,” said Kevin Gutierrez, acting office manager for the Human Landing Systems Missions Systems Management Office at NASA Marshall. “Without ECLSS we can’t sustain human presence on the Moon or take the next steps toward Mars. The subtopics in the 2026 Human Lander Challenge reflect opportunities for students to support the future of human spaceflight.”

2026 Competition

Teams should submit a non-binding notice of intent by Monday, Oct. 20, if they intend to participate. Proposal packages are due March 4, 2026.

Based on proposal package evaluations in Phase 1, up to 12 finalist teams will be selected to receive a $9,000 stipend and advance to Phase 2 of the competition, which includes a final design review near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, June 23-25, 2026. The top three placing teams from Phase 2 will share a total prize of $18,000.

Landers are in development by SpaceX and Blue Origin as transportation systems that will safely ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface and back for the agency’s Artemis campaign. NASA Marshall manages the Human Landing System Program.

The challenge is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace on behalf of the agency.

Through the agency’s Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.

For more information on NASA’s Human Lander Challenge and how to participate, visit:

https://hulc.nianet.org/

In 2016, NASA awarded a Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract to Sierra Space, formerly part of Sierra Nevada Corporation, to resupply the International Space Station with its Dream Chaser spaceplane and companion Shooting Star cargo module. As part of its contract, Sierra Space was awarded a minimum seven flights, and the agency previously issued firm-fixed price task orders for four Dream Chaser resupply missions based on the needs of the space station.

After a thorough evaluation, NASA and Sierra Space have mutually agreed to modify the contract as the company determined Dream Chaser development is best served by a free flight demonstration, targeted in late 2026. Sierra Space will continue providing insight to NASA into the development of Dream Chaser, including through the flight demonstration. NASA will provide minimal support through the remainder of the development and the flight demonstration. As part of the modification, NASA is no longer obligated for a specific number of resupply missions, however, the agency may order Dream Chaser resupply flights to the space station from Sierra Space following a successful free flight as part of its current contract. 

“Development of new space transportation systems is difficult and can take longer than what’s originally planned.  The ability to perform a flight demonstration can be a key enabler in a spacecraft’s development and readiness, as well as offering greater flexibility for NASA and Sierra Space,” said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program. “As NASA and its partners look toward space station deorbit in 2030, this mutually agreed to decision enables testing and verification to continue on Dream Chaser, as well as demonstrating the capabilities of the spaceplane for future resupply missions in low Earth orbit.”

NASA, and its commercial and international partners, will continue to supply the orbital complex with critical science, supplies, and hardware as the agency prepares to transition to commercial space stations in low Earth orbit.   NASA continues to work with a variety of private companies to develop a competitive, space industrial base for cargo services, which will be needed for future commercial space stations. With a strong economy in low Earth orbit, NASA will be one of many customers of private industry as the agency explores the Moon under the Artemis campaign and Mars along with commercial and international partners.