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Media are invited to attend the 63rd annual Goddard Space Science Symposium, taking place Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13, at the National Housing Center in Washington. The event also will be streamed online.
Organized by the American Astronautical Society (AAS) in conjunction with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the symposium gathers experts across NASA, other government agencies, industry, policy, and academia to discuss the latest breakthroughs in space science and space exploration at large while helping determine the collective path forward.
This year’s theme, “Advancing an Integrated Space Enterprise,” explores the burgeoning capabilities in the public and private sectors and how they accelerate current priorities, including the exploration of the Moon and Mars.
“The business of exploration is more integrated than ever,” said Stephanie Getty, co-chair of the symposium planning committee and NASA Goddard’s acting director of sciences and exploration. “Gathering the leading minds together in this setting is vital in our cooperative efforts to chart the course ahead and achieve our ambitious objectives.”
On March 12, AAS President Ron Birk will deliver opening remarks, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails will serve as opening speaker followed by a panel on advancing next-generation capabilities in space. Additional panels will discuss joint-use solutions across the space enterprise; navigation, communication, science, and exploration from the Moon to Mars; accelerating commercial space solutions; and space policy in 2026. Chris Scolese, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, is scheduled to be the day’s keynote speaker, and Steve Isakowitz, former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, will be the luncheon speaker. NASA Goddard’s Kelsey Young, science flight operations lead for the Artemis Internal Science Team, will also provide remarks.
On March 13, Cynthia Simmons, NASA Goddard acting center director, will deliver opening remarks. The day’s panels will focus on the latest developments on Capitol Hill, space weather, and space science as it relates to the economy and national security. Nicola Fox, associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, will close out the symposium as the luncheon speaker.
Media interested in arranging interviews with NASA speakers should contact Rob Garner, rob.garner@nasa.gov, 301-286-5687.
For more information on the Goddard Space Science Symposium and the updated program, or to register as a media representative, visit https://astronautical.org/events/goddard.
For more information about NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center:
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Rob Garner
301-286-5687
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
rob.garner@nasa.gov
2026-03-10 04:01
On March 3, 2026, Earth lined up directly between the Moon and the Sun, casting its shadow on the full Moon. The total lunar eclipse was visible throughout the Americas, East Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. Skygazers in those parts of the world may have witnessed a “Blood Moon,” when the dimmed lunar surface temporarily turned an orange-red color.
Meanwhile, satellites observed the effect of the darkened Moon on Earth’s surface. Changes in the amount of moonlight reflected back to Earth as the eclipse progressed appear in this composite image, composed of nighttime observations made by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite. The satellite collected these images of the Arctic about every 100 minutes, with earlier swaths toward the right and later swaths to the left.
The VIIRS day-night band detects nighttime light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights, reflected moonlight, and auroras. The darkest swath was acquired at 11:20 Universal Time (2:20 a.m. Alaska Standard Time), about 15 minutes after the total phase had begun. With very little moonlight reaching Earth, ribbons of light from the aurora borealis shine through, along with specks of artificial light from settlements in the Yukon and eastern Alaska.
When the satellite passed over western Alaska and the Bering Strait, at 13:00 Universal Time (4:00 a.m. Alaska Standard Time), the eclipse was in the partial phase. The scene is noticeably brighter than the earlier one, and light from the partially shaded Moon illuminates snow-covered topography and offshore clouds. The brightest swaths on the far right and left sides were acquired before and after the eclipse, respectively, with light from the full Moon.
The next chance to view a total lunar eclipse will occur on December 31, 2028, when it will add a dash of astronomical flair to New Year’s Eve celebrations in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS day-night band data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Lindsey Doermann.
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Astronauts and much of Earth’s population had a chance to view a coppery “Blood Moon” during a total lunar eclipse…

An astronaut photographed moonglint shimmering across the sea surface and the bright clusters of Florida’s cities at night.

The glow of city lights, the aurora, and a rising Moon illuminate the night along the northwest coast of North…
2026-03-09 19:55
3 min read
NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming solar wind that are harmful to humans and can damage technology, so understanding them is important.
As of March 9, 2026, the U.S. Space Force predicted that the roughly 1,323-pound spacecraft will re-enter the atmosphere at approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT on March 10, 2026, with an uncertainty of +/- 24 hours. NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low — approximately 1 in 4,200. NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions.
Originally designed for a two-year mission, the Van Allen Probes A and B launched on Aug. 30, 2012, and gathered unprecedented data on Earth’s two permanent radiation belts — named for scientist James Van Allen — for almost seven years. NASA ended the mission after the two spacecraft ran out of fuel and were no longer able to orient themselves toward the Sun.
The Van Allen Probes were the first spacecraft designed to operate and gather scientific data for many years within the belts, a region around our planet where most spacecraft and astronaut missions minimize time in order to avoid damaging radiation.
The NASA mission, managed and operated by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, made several major discoveries about how the radiation belts operate during its lifetime, including the first data showing the existence of a transient third radiation belt, which can form during times of intense solar activity.
When the mission ended in 2019, analysis found that the spacecraft would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in 2034. However, those calculations were made before the current solar cycle, which has proven far more active than expected. In 2024, scientists confirmed the Sun had reached its solar maximum, triggering intense space weather events. These conditions increased atmospheric drag on the spacecraft beyond initial estimates, resulting in an earlier-than-expected re-entry.
Data from NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission still plays an important role in understanding space weather and its effects. By reviewing archived data from the mission, scientists study the radiation belts surrounding Earth, which are key to predicting how solar activity impacts satellites, astronauts, and even systems on Earth such as communications, navigation, and power grids. By observing these dynamic regions, the Van Allen Probes contributed to improving forecasts of space weather events and their potential consequences.
Van Allen Probe B, the twin of the re-entering spacecraft, is not expected to re-enter before 2030.
2026-03-09 19:00
1 min read
The purpose of the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project is to engage with industry and other government organizations to identify, select, and mature key airframe technologies, such as new wing designs, that have a high probability of transition to the next generation single-aisle seat class airliner.
Moving technologies from a research environment to a production environment can be a real challenge for industry manufacturers and frequently these promising technologies do not get adopted due to a variety of technical and economic risks.
NASA in partnership with industry plan to:
Project Manager
Sarah Waechter
Deputy Project Manager
Rich DeLoof
Chief Engineer
Dr. Renee Horton
Technology Development
Tony Washburn
Program Planning and Control (PP&C) Lead
Stephanie Hamrick
2026-03-09 18:30

The FDC project conducts complex integrated small-scale flight research to validate the benefits of new technologies.
By modifying aircraft from FDC’s support fleet, the project enables aggressive, success-oriented flight campaign schedules. While many technologies are at mid-levels of technology readiness, the FDC project supports all phases of technology maturation.
FDC’s support aircraft fleet enables safety chase and in-flight experimental measurements for a variety of NASA missions.
The project collaborates with academia, industry, and government organizations to leverage flight opportunities, and engages with NASA researchers and university students to bring innovative concepts to flight.
The FDC project operates, sustains, and enhances other national flight research capabilities that enable complex high-risk flight research for both NASA and the aviation industry.
These capabilities are located at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, and includes the Aeronautics Test Data Portal, Flight Loads Laboratory, the Dryden Aeronautical Test Range, and a suite of flight simulators.
The project leverages collaborative opportunities for flight testing from across the aeronautical industry.
The FDC project validates benefits associated with critical technologies through focused flight experiments. Through the integration of appropriate flight test capabilities and assets — whether from NASA. other government agencies, or industry — FDC campaigns focus on aggressive, success-oriented schedules using the best collection of assets.
The FDC project supports tests of technology at all phases of maturation.
Research Aircraft Integration Facility
Dryden Aeronautical Test Range
Support Aircraft and Maintenance Operations
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