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NASA, OPM Announce New NASA Force Website, Open Job Applications

2026-04-17 17:04

Image showing NASA Force.gov website homepage

NASA and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management opened a new NASA Force website on Friday, April 17, 2026.

Credit: NASA

NASA and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) launched the NASA Force website on Friday, opening applications for roles aimed at recruiting the nation’s top engineers and technologists to support America’s air and space program.

NASA Force, a new hiring initiative developed in partnership with OPM, will recruit and place high-impact technical talent into mission-critical roles supporting NASA’s exploration, research, and advanced technology priorities, ensuring the agency has the cutting-edge expertise needed to maintain U.S. leadership in air and space.

“NASA Force is bringing highly skilled early- to mid-career engineers, technologists and innovators to help us achieve our world-changing missions,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Our successful Artemis II mission has inspired the world and generated tremendous interest to join our workforce to be part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration.”

NASA Force is part of a broader US Tech Force  initiative established by OPM to recruit elite technical professionals into federal service at multiple agencies to modernize systems, accelerate innovation, and strengthen mission delivery.

“NASA has always shown the world what American talent can achieve when it’s pointed at a bold mission,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor. “NASA Force is about making sure the agency has access to the next generation of innovation and strong partnerships with private sector talent to drive its very ambitious agenda.”

The first job application under NASA Force is for aerospace engineer positions for a two-year term position, with the potential for additional term extensions. Additional openings are expected in the coming weeks and months.

If interested in jobs in addition to NASA Force, visit:

https://www.usajobs.gov

NASA is taking deliberate steps to retain and bolster its internal talent pipeline, strengthen technical core competencies and in-house capabilities, and foster an enduring culture of technical resilience.  NASA Force is one part of the agency’s workforce efforts aimed at achieving the President’s national space policy and maintaining unrivaled U.S. leadership in air and space exploration.

To learn more about NASA Force and apply for jobs, visit:

https://www.nasaforce.gov

-end-

Camille Gallo / Jennifer Dooren 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1600 
camille.m.gallo@nasa.gov / jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov

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Last Updated

Apr 17, 2026

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Jennifer M. Dooren

Location

NASA Headquarters

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Quality Assessment Report Evaluates Tomorrow.io Precipitation Radar Data

2026-04-17 15:06

Issued March 9, 2026, the Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program Tomorrow.io Radar Quality Assessment Report documents the evaluation process of the NASA subject matter experts (SMEs) enlisted to analyze the data quality of the Ka-band Precipitation Radars aboard Tomorrow.io’s R1 and R2 spacecraft.

NASA/CSDA

A new quality assessment report from NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program approves the use of precipitation radar data from Tomorrow.io for NASA scientific use.

Issued March 9, 2026, the Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program Tomorrow.io Radar Quality Assessment Report documents the evaluation process of the NASA subject matter experts (SMEs) enlisted to analyze the data quality of the Ka-band Precipitation Radars aboard the company’s R1 and R2 spacecraft.

The SMEs assessed the company’s Level 2 Precipitation products and geolocation accuracy and their results were generally in agreement with the analysis provided by Tomorrow.io in its algorithm theoretical basis document. The geolocation assessment showed “excellent correlation” of 0.98 with a digital elevation model (DEM) reference. In addition, comparisons to ground radar were in good agreement for both radars, with correlations to ground radar of 0.73 and 0.93. (R2 showed slightly higher accuracy than R1, with biases of –22% (R1) and –6% (R2)). Based on these results, the SMEs concluded that Tomorrow.io precipitation radar data be considered for NASA scientific use, contingent upon alignment with science objectives and application needs.

To Tomorrow.io, the CSDA program’s independent evaluation process provides the confidence the scientific community needs to rely on commercial Earth observation data.

“When NASA’s own subject matter experts validate that a commercially built space-based radar system can contribute meaningfully alongside programs like NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement missions, that opens a new chapter for Earth observation,” said Rei Goffer, Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Tomorrow.io. “We built these instruments to demonstrate that the commercial sector can deliver science-quality data from space, and we’re proud that NASA’s assessment supports that vision.”

About the CSDA Program

NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) established the CSDA program to identify, evaluate, and acquire commercial remote sensing data that enhances NASA’s Earth science research and applications. CSDA provides structured on-ramping opportunities for emerging commercial satellite data vendors, enabling NASA to continuously integrate innovative data sources as the private sector evolves. By leveraging these partnerships, NASA’s ESD aims to accelerate scientific discovery and expand applications of Earth observation data for the NASA Earth science research and applications community and societal benefit.

Since its initial pilot, the CSDA Program has conducted three on-ramp activities, resulting in the addition of several vendors into sustainment. Since then, the program has streamlined its evaluation process by introducing high-quality, SME-led data assessments, accelerating reviews and strengthening NASA’s engagement with the rapidly growing commercial data ecosystem. The CSDA’s evaluation criteria include:

Accessibility of data
Completeness and accuracy of metadata
User support services provided by the commercial entity
Usefulness of submitted data for science and applications

This approach ensures NASA gains timely access to high-quality, mission-relevant commercial data, and provides valuable feedback to private-sector providers, fostering innovation, improved data products, and alignment of industry capabilities with NASA’s evolving scientific needs.

Resources

To read the Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program Tomorrow.io Radar Quality Assessment Report, visit the CSDA website.

For more information about the CSDA program’s process for identifying commercial satellite vendors for on-ramp and evaluation, visit the CSDA website.

Learn more about Tomorrow.io commercial data available through the CSDA program’s recent Vendor Focus webinar.

Volunteers Discover Rare Space Weather Events Using Their Ears

2026-04-17 15:04

Our planet rests inside a magnetic cocoon filled with plasma – but it’s not always peaceful and quiet. Activity from the Sun can send waves through this space, and some of those disturbances can even reach Earth, affecting our power grid.

Scientists are working to understand exactly how these waves behave, and the team behind NASA’s Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas (HARP) citizen science project approaches this in a unique way: they compare the Earth’s magnetic field to a giant harp in space. The HARP team translated magnetic field measurements into sound. This translation allowed HARP project volunteers to use their ears to study a particular type of plasma wave that plays a role in space weather. What they heard surprised everyone.

The science team expected lower pitches farther from Earth and higher pitches closer to it. But when they played back data from NASA’s THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) mission, volunteers noticed something unexpected. Some plasma waves revealed the opposite pattern – lower pitches close to Earth and higher pitches farther away.

The HARP volunteers were thrilled to help discover this anomaly, which will help scientists better understand geomagnetic storms. One volunteer said of the HARP project, “I only signed up for this group because my friend was participating, but now I think I’m going to change my major to physics – this was just too cool.” These findings now appear in a new article in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.

Thank you to all the HARP volunteers who helped develop the project’s audio analysis protocol, beta tested the graphical user interface, and identified and labeled the myriad plasma waves that the team will be studying for years to come.

The HARP project was sponsored by NASA and continues to be sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The project is no longer actively seeking volunteers.

Graphic promoting the HARP (Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas) project. Earth sits within a glowing blue magnetic field filled with flowing lines representing plasma waves. A small satellite from NASA’s THEMIS mission appears to the right, connected by a line showing its orbit. At the top is the word “HARP” with a harp icon incorporating Earth, and across the center reads “Listen to the Sounds of Space!” NASA Partner and THEMIS logos appear at the bottom.

HARP volunteers uncovered unexpected patterns in plasma wave activity near Earth using data from the NASA THEMIS mission. Image credit: Emmanuel Masongsong and the HARP team

Credit: Emmanuel Masongsong and the HARP team

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Last Updated

Apr 17, 2026

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NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory Maps Interstellar Ice in Milky Way

2026-04-17 14:14

Wispy filaments of vibrant orange and electric blue cosmic dust and gas weave through a dark, star-studded expanse of outer space, creating a chaotic and intricate web of celestial matter.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC/Hora et al.

An observation made by NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) shows the chemical signatures of water ice (shown in bright blue) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (orange) in Cygnus X, one of the most active and turbulent regions of star birth in our Milky Way galaxy. The image was released on April 15, 2026, along with a study detailing the observation.

One of SPHEREx’s main goals is to map the chemical signatures of various types of interstellar ice. This ice includes molecules like water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, which are vital to the chemistry that allows life to develop. Researchers believe these ice reservoirs, attached to the surfaces of tiny dust grains, are where most of the universe’s water is formed and stored. The water in Earth’s oceans — and the ices in comets and on other planets and moons in our galaxy — originates from these regions.

SPHEREx launched March 11, 2025, and has the unique ability to see the sky in 102 colors, each representing a different wavelength of infrared light that offers distinctive information about galaxies, stars, planet-forming regions, and other cosmic features.

Spring Rains Saturate Michigan

2026-04-17 04:01

April 16, 2025

April 11, 2026

The Grand River in Michigan winds across a false-color image from east to west. Water is dark blue, and vegetation appears in shades of green.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

The Grand River in Michigan is wider than the previous year at the same time, swollen with floodwater. Water is dark blue, and vegetation appears in shades of green in this false-color image.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

The Grand River in Michigan winds across a false-color image from east to west. Water is dark blue, and vegetation appears in shades of green.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

The Grand River in Michigan is wider than the previous year at the same time, swollen with floodwater. Water is dark blue, and vegetation appears in shades of green in this false-color image.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

April 16, 2025

April 11, 2026

The Grand River in Michigan flooded after above-average rainfall in March and April 2026 (right). A false-color image from April 11, 2026 (right), is compared with a view of the same location on April 16, 2025 (left). The 2025 and 2026 images were acquired with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 and Landsat 9, respectively.

The start of spring 2026 brought bouts of heavy rain to much of Michigan. Above-normal levels of precipitation in March and early April—exacerbated by snowmelt in the northern part of the state—saturated soils and caused damaging flooding along multiple rivers. A flood watch spanned the entirety of both the upper and lower peninsulas as rain continued to fall in mid-April.

Flooding along the Grand River—Michigan’s longest—near Grand Rapids is visible in the image above (right), acquired on April 11, 2026. For comparison, the left image shows the area the previous April. The images are false-color to better distinguish water from vegetation and other land cover.

At the time of the 2026 image, river gauge data showed the Grand River at Comstock Park was in minor flood stage. The river had crested on April 8 at about half a foot beneath the major flood level at this gauge, making it one of the harder-hit locations along the river. Water had already submerged roads and trails along its banks and encroached on homes, according to news reports, and more water was still to come. After another round of rain, the river was rising again as of April 16, with the potential to reach one of the highest levels on record in Grand Rapids.

The area has been beset by many weeks of soggy weather. Grand Rapids saw approximately double the normal March rainfall totals in 2026. In the first half of April, it received 5.79 inches (147 millimeters), exceeding the average for the entire month by nearly 2 inches.

The story is similar throughout the state. To the north, where an above-normal snowpack still covered the ground, abundant rainfall combined with melt to amplify flooding. Floodwaters in the northern Lower Peninsula washed out roads, including part of a scenic drive, and rendered airport runways unusable. The buildup of water has also stressed dams around the state. Officials have been monitoring several reservoirs that are close to overtopping and have advised some residents to prepare to evacuate.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.