NASA is heading back to the Moon with Artemis II.

With available launch windows from February through April, the first crewed flight of the Artemis program will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Four astronauts will fly aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft and confirm the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed in the deep space environment.

Watch the Artemis II launch and live mission coverage on NASA+, YouTube, and other streaming platforms.

Learn more: https://plus.nasa.gov/

Credit: NASA/Ashlee Brookens

NASA is making steady progress on building the Orion spacecraft, which will take astronauts deeper into space than ever before. Take a look at the latest achievements and milestones in “Orion: From Factory to Flight” as Orion gets ready for its first orbital test flight in 2014.

On March 21, 2022, the number of known exoplanets passed 5,000 according to the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This animation and sonification tracks humanity’s discovery of the planets beyond our solar system over time. Turning NASA data into sounds allows users to hear the pace of discovery, with additional information conveyed by the notes themselves.

As each exoplanet is discovered, a circle appears at its position in the sky. The size of the circle indicates the relative size of the planet’s orbit and the color indicates which planet detection method was used to discover it. The music is created by playing a note for each newly discovered world. The pitch of the note indicates the relative orbital period of the planet. Planets that take a longer time to orbit their stars are heard as lower notes, while planets that orbit more quickly are heard as higher notes.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Russo, A. Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds)

It’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere on Earth, but we’re not the only place with ice and snow! From the frozen polar craters of Mercury to methane frost on the mountains of Pluto, enjoy season’s greetings from around the solar system.

Now that our Perseverance Mars Rover successfully landed on the Red Planet after a nearly seven-month journey, mission experts will talk about the robotic scientist’s touchdown in the most challenging terrain on Mars ever targeted.
 
Perseverance, which launched July 30, 2020, will search for signs of ancient microbial life, collect carefully selected rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) samples for future return to Earth, characterize Mars’ geology and climate, and pave the way for human exploration beyond the Moon. 

Tune in to watch a live broadcast from the Von Karman Auditorium at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

On February 18, 2021, the Perseverance Mars Rover will touch down on the Red Planet. The rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Similar in size to a car, Perseverance is the heaviest rover we’ve ever sent to the surface of Mars, carrying a variety of out-of-this-world experiments that will help prepare us for future human exploration.

Producer/Editor: Lacey Young
Music: Universal Production Music