2026-03-20 22:45
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NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft made its second flight on Friday, kicking off a series of dozens of test flights in 2026.
Although the flight duration was abbreviated due to a technical issue, the team was able to collect information that will inform future tests.
“Despite the early landing, this is a good day for the team. We collected more data, and the pilot landed safely,” said Cathy Bahm, project manager for NASA’s Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California. “We’re looking forward to getting back to flight as soon as possible.”
The aircraft took off at 10:54 a.m. PDT from Edwards Air Force Base, near NASA Armstrong. Several minutes into the flight, pilot Jim “Clue” Less saw a vehicle system warning in the aircraft’s cockpit. Following flight procedures, the aircraft landed at 11:03 a.m. after a return-to-base was called.
“As we like to say, it was just like the simulator – and that’s what we like to hear,” Less said. “This is just the beginning of a long flight campaign.”
The X-59 is designed to fly supersonic – or faster than the speed of sound – while generating only a quiet thump instead of a loud sonic boom. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which is working to make commercial supersonic flight over land a reality.
The aircraft is set to accelerate testing in 2026, demonstrating performance and airworthiness during a process known as envelope expansion, where it will gradually fly faster and higher, on its way to supersonic speeds.
2026-03-20 20:53
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on April 25, 2022 and has been updated to reflect changes including the completion of Hangar One’s restoration.
Restoration has been completed on Hangar One, a historic landmark in the San Francisco Bay Area and a key part of the region’s early aviation history.
In December 2025, Planetary Ventures completed restoration of the Hangar One landmark at Moffett Federal Airfield, located at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Work focused on modernizing the structure while maintaining its original visual characteristics as closely as possible. The restoration work included the remediation, clean-up, and recladding of the siding and roof, as well as a variety of structural upgrades. Hangar One — now more than 90 years old — was restored according to U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of historical buildings.
This project started years ago when the U.S. Navy removed all the hangar’s roof, siding, windows, doors, and other materials, which were contaminated with toxic chemicals. The Navy then sealed the hangar’s structural frame with epoxy to ensure the chemicals would not pose a health risk, leaving it intact until further work could be completed.
In 2014, NASA signed a lease with Planetary Ventures to operate Moffett Federal Airfield and rehabilitate Hangar One.
In 2022, Planetary Ventures removed the remaining toxic chemicals from the hangar. First, working section by section, areas of Hangar One were surrounded with scaffolding and encased to keep contaminated materials inside. Only then were they carefully removed and stored in the vicinity of the hangar until being taken off-site for proper disposal. After the contaminated materials were removed, the steel frame was primed and repainted to protect it from the elements until siding, windows, and doors were added.
The team also made several structural upgrades — as well as other mechanical, plumbing, electrical, landscape, and hardscape improvements — to ensure the hangar’s long-term operational integrity for generations to come.
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2026-03-20 19:30
NASA selected 14 university teams from across the nation as finalists in the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition. This NASA challenge tasks students to design innovative concepts that could further human life and work on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The competition links academia and the aerospace community, fostering innovation, collaboration, and workforce development in support of NASA’s long-term exploration goals.
“The innovation and technical depth demonstrated this year are exemplary of the next generation of aerospace leaders,” said Daniel Mazanek, RASC-AL program sponsor and senior space systems engineer from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The strongest teams demonstrated not only creativity, but also the disciplined analysis and systems engineering required to develop credible solutions for space exploration challenges facing the agency.”
The 2026 RASC-AL competition invited university teams to develop technically rigorous proposals addressing one of four mission themes: Communications, Position, Navigation, and Time (CPNT) Architectures for Mars Surface Operations; Lunar Surface Power and Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) Architectures; Lunar Sample Return Concepts; and Lunar Technology Demonstrations Leveraging Common Infrastructure. Each topic reflects relevant areas of exploration technology development aligned with NASA’s Artemis program and long-term human missions to Mars.
The 2026 RASC-AL Finalists are:
CPNT Architectures for Mars Surface Operations
Lunar Surface Power and Power Management and PMAD Architectures
Lunar Sample Return Concept
Lunar Technology Demonstrations Leveraging Common Infrastructure
Each team submitted an initial proposal paper and a two-minute video presentation, which were evaluated by a review panel of NASA and aerospace industry experts.
“The RASC-AL competition challenges students to address many of the same technical and operational questions we encounter working on Artemis, from surface infrastructure to mobility and resource utilization,” added Dr. Christopher Jones, RASC-AL program sponsor and chief technologist for the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. “The concepts developed through the competition help expand NASA’s thinking as we plan and refine future exploration missions.”
As finalists, each team will further develop their concept into a comprehensive technical paper and oral presentation, culminating in an in-person showcase beginning on June 2 at the 2026 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida. During the Forum, students will present their work to NASA leaders, industry professionals, and fellow finalist teams, gaining valuable feedback and professional experience in systems-level mission design. The top-performing teams at the forum will be recognized for technical merit, innovation, and presentation excellence.
NASA’s RASC-AL Competition is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace. The RASC-AL Competition is sponsored by NASA’s Strategy and Architecture Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and by the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, manages the challenge.
For more information about RASC-AL, visit RASCAL.nianet.org.
2026-03-20 19:06
5 min read

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will soon leave our solar system, never to return, but the observations of the comet will live on in NASA’s public data archives. More than a dozen NASA science missions turned their instruments to observe the comet, which is only the third identified object to be visiting our solar system from interstellar space.
The NASA-funded ground-based ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile first discovered 3I/ATLAS July 1, 2025. However, queries to another NASA data archive revealed that the comet first appeared on camera long before its official identification in July.
NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which scans the sky for planets outside our solar system, has a wide field of view that happened to capture 3I/ATLAS in May 2025. This allowed astronomers to better track the comet’s trajectory and understand more about its path through the solar system. TESS data is publicly available in the NASA-funded Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).
“NASA’s scientific data archives are a gold mine of discoveries waiting to be made,” said Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The early observations of 3I/ATLAS from the TESS mission represent just one example of the exciting insights our open data can reveal.”
Decades of observations have given scientists a good idea of the usual chemical makeup and structure for comets formed within our solar system, but because 3I/ATLAS formed elsewhere, scientists anticipated this comet would have different characteristics. To date, few, if any, comets have been observed by as many spacecraft as 3I/ATLAS, and combining data from these different missions can deliver powerful new insights.
For example, researchers discovered the relative water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide production rates of 3I/ATLAS differed from typical comets. They found this result by combining spectral data from NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) Mars orbiter with infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) mission.

NASA’s commitment to open science makes it easier than ever to work with data from different sources. For example, the agency’s Planetary Data System sets standards that guide planetary science missions to store their data in the same format. It also develops tools that can work across data from several different missions.
“Open science, as a set of principles, has been pushing us as research communities and NASA to make data more accessible,” said Thomas Statler, lead scientist for Solar System Small Bodies at NASA Headquarters, who coordinated the agency’s observation campaign for 3I/ATLAS. “It’s worked into the way we structure and establish standards for our data archives. That’s what makes our data usable.”
Data from SPHEREx, including its observations of 3I/ATLAS, can be accessed through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Data from MAVEN is available through the Planetary Data System. Webb’s observations can be found in the MAST archive.
In the short term, scientists and researchers will be able to use 3I/ATLAS data to learn even more about the comet’s structure and composition. However, the impact of NASA’s observations will have effects far beyond this one target.
Humans only recently developed technologies capable of spotting interstellar objects passing through our solar system. The first one ever detected, ‘Oumuamua, was discovered in 2017, but scientists estimate an interstellar object may pass through our solar system about once per year. With the advent of ever more powerful telescopes, these discoveries will become much more common.
As we become more aware of interstellar objects, scientists will increasingly be able to compare and contrast interstellar objects with each other and understand them as a group.
The amount of data collected about 3I/ATLAS means this comet could become an important part of the context for understanding interstellar comets for the rest of time. This makes it even more beneficial for that data to be available for everyone to access.
“Thirty-five years from now, when astronomers have seen another thirty-five years’ worth of data on interstellar comets, they’re going to be asking different questions,” Statler said. “The way we leave a legacy so scientists of the future can answer the questions of the future is by having these data here and preserved for them to use.”
NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer leads the open science efforts for the agency. Public sharing of scientific data, tools, research, and software maximizes the impact of NASA’s science missions. To get more stories about the impact of NASA’s science data delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for the NASA Open Science newsletter. To learn more about NASA’s commitment to transparency and reproducibility of scientific research, visit:
By Lauren Leese
Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer
2026-03-20 18:27
NASA astronaut Chris Williams smiles at the camera during a spacesuit fit verification on Jan. 2, 2026, inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. This procedure confirms that the spacesuit is airtight and properly configured, assesses comfort and mobility, and helps prevent potential safety risks.
Williams and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir completed an approximately seven-hour and two-minute spacewalk on March 18, 2026. The pair did tasks that will enable the future installation of roll-out solar arrays. These arrays will provide additional power for the orbiting laboratory, supporting critical systems and its safe, controlled deorbit.
Learn more about station activities on the International Space Station blog.
Image credit: NASA/Zena Cardman
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