Discovery Bay

Ensuring U.S. leadership of in-space manufacturing in low Earth orbit by enabling the use of the ISS National Laboratory to demonstrate the production of advanced materials Hundreds of experiments flew aboard the International Space Station in 2023, covering a wide range of scientific topics, including biology, human research, and Earth science. Take a glimpse back at a year of science in space.

Compilation of b-roll for media. Collecting samples from Mars and bringing them back to Earth will be a historic undertaking that starts with the launch of NASA's Perseverance rover, part of the Mars 2020 mission. Perseverance will collect samples and leave them on Mars for a future mission to retrieve and return to Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are solidifying concepts for this Mars sample return campaign. The current concept includes a lander, a fetch rover, an ascent vehicle to launch the sample container to Martian orbit, and a retrieval spacecraft with a payload for capturing and containing the samples and then sending them back to Earth.

We’re recruiting for our next class of NASA astronauts. Selected candidates could fly on Artemis missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars. Will you be one of them? Applications are open from March 5 through April 2, 2024. Read the requirements and start your application by visiting https://go.nasa.gov/astro2024. Don't think you have what it takes? There's no such thing as a typical astronaut. We’re seeking out team players, passionate people, candidates who thrive under pressure and excel in what they do. The universe is calling. Explore with us.

Hardware for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft was developed at various institutions and facilities across the U.S. and Europe, including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That work included the science instruments and other spacecraft components, such as the propulsion module, radio frequency module, solar arrays, electronics vault, and more. During the assembly, test, and launch operations phase of the mission, engineers put together the spacecraft, test its various components, and prepare it for its launch and journey to Jupiter’s ice-encrusted moon Europa. In this episode of the Spacecraft Makers video series, spacecraft assembly, test, and launch operations mechanical engineer Steve Barajas and science systems engineer Jenny Kampmeier provide a behind-the-scenes look at the nearly completed spacecraft in the High Bay 1 clean room at JPL.

With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

An historic delivery to the Moon’s South Pole, a record-breaking scientific balloon flight, and an asteroid mission’s close pass of the Sun …

A commercial lander touches down on the Moon, discussing the science on the space station, and preparing for the next space station crew rotation mission … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! Video Producer: Andre Valentine Video Editor: Andre Valentine Narrator: Emanuel Cooper Music: Universal Production Music Credit: NASA

For 40 years, NASA has expanded our view of the universe with space telescopes that detect infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. Observing the infrared realm helps us study the origins of planets, stars, galaxies, and even the universe itself. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the agency’s latest infrared space telescope, adding new insights to targets first discovered and studied by infrared missions that came before it. Infrared space telescope missions have built upon one another to reveal stars, galaxies, and all manner of cosmic objects with ever-increasing clarity. Here you will see images from the pioneering Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), launched in 1983, the Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003, and the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in 2021 and is sending back extremely detailed images today.

Dec. 11, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft reenters the atmosphere after completing a 1.4 million-mile, 25.5 day Artemis I mission to the Moon.

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, currently aboard the International Space Station, talk about the similarities between training for space travel and training for the Big Game. Spoiler: It’s all about teamwork. The crew aboard the orbiting laboratory are studying a variety of microgravity experiments that benefit people on Earth, including research in human heart health, cancer therapies, space manufacturing techniques, and technology demonstrations.

Landing science on the Moon, demonstrating quiet supersonic aircraft, and launching two new Earth climate satellites, plus a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's icy moons, are just a FEW of the milestones we have planned for 2024.