Science News
Showing 1 to 24 of 293.
Testing Begins for Katalyst-NASA Swift Boost Mission
2026.04.17
On April 14, engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to begin environmental tests of the company’s LINK robotic servicing spacecraft in preparation for its launch later this year.
NASA Researchers Probe Tangled Magnetospheres of Merging Neutron Stars
2026.01.29
New simulations performed on a NASA supercomputer are providing scientists with the most comprehensive look yet into the maelstrom of interacting magnetic structures around city-sized neutron stars in the moments before they crash.
NASA’s Fermi Spots Young Star Cluster Blowing Gamma-Ray Bubbles
2025.12.18
For the first time, astronomers using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have traced a budding outflow of gas from a cluster of young stars in our galaxy — insights that help us understand how the universe has evolved as NASA explores the secrets of the cosmos for the benefit of all.
Black Hole Eats Star: NASA Missions Discover Record-Setting Blast
2025.12.08
Astronomers have been poring over a flood of data from NASA satellites and other facilities as they try to work out what was responsible for an extraordinary cosmic outburst discovered on July 2.
NASA Awards Company to Attempt Swift Spacecraft Orbit Boost
2025.09.24
Driving rapid innovation in the American space industry, NASA has awarded Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona, a contract to raise a spacecraft’s orbit. Katalyst’s robotic servicing spacecraft will rendezvous with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and raise it to a higher altitude, demonstrating a key capability for the future of space exploration and extending […]
NASA Explores Industry Possibilities to Raise Swift Mission’s Orbit
2025.08.11
To drive the development of key space-based capabilities for the United States, NASA is exploring an opportunity to demonstrate technology to raise a spacecraft’s orbit to a higher altitude. Two American companies – Cambrian Works of Reston, Virginia, and Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona – will develop concept design studies for a possible orbit […]
3 Black Holes Caught Eating Massive Stars in NASA Data
2025.06.04
Black holes are invisible to us unless they interact with something else. Some continuously eat gas and dust, and appear to glow brightly over time as matter falls in. But other black holes secretly lie in wait for years until a star comes close enough to snack on. A new study using space and ground-based […]
Astronomers Catch Unprecedented Features at Brink of Active Black Hole
2025.01.13
International teams of astronomers monitoring a supermassive black hole in the heart of a distant galaxy have detected features never seen before using data from NASA missions and other facilities.
NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode
2024.11.20
After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to explore gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. “The idea […]
NASA’s Swift Studies Gas-Churning Monster Black Holes
2024.11.13
Scientists using observations from NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have discovered, for the first time, the signal from a pair of monster black holes disrupting a cloud of gas in the center of a galaxy. “It’s a very weird event, called AT 2021hdr, that keeps recurring every few months,” said Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at […]
NASA’s Mini BurstCube Mission Detects Mega Blast
2024.09.03
The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months.
Tyler Parsotan Takes a Long Look at the Transient Universe with NASA’s Swift
2024.08.20
Through a nonlinear path to success, research astrophysicist Tyler Parsotan discovers transformational science using Swift’s observations. Name: Tyler ParsotanFormal Job Classification: Research astrophysicistOrganization: Astroparticle Physics Laboratory (Code 661), Astrophysics Science Division, Sciences and Exploration Directorate What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I help operate the Burst Alert […]
Primary Instrument for Roman Space Telescope Arrives at NASA Goddard
2024.08.13
The primary instrument for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a sophisticated camera that will survey the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Called the Wide Field Instrument, it was recently delivered to the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, […]
Regina Caputo Charts the Future of High-Energy Astrophysics
2024.08.09
Research astrophysicist Regina Caputo puzzles out how the universe works by studying the most extreme events in the cosmos. Name: Regina CaputoTitle: Research Astrophysicist Organization: Astroparticle Physics Laboratory (Code 661) What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I’m a research astrophysicist in the particle astrophysics lab at Goddard. […]
Bindu Rani Explores Black Holes, Mothers Hard, Balances Life
2024.08.06
Bindu Rani had childhood dreams of flight. Today she lifts her gaze even higher, helping researchers study stars, planets beyond our solar system, and black holes billions of times more massive than our Sun. Name: Bindu RaniTitle: Astrophysicist, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Guest Investigator Program Lead ScientistOrganization: Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, Science Directorate (Code 661) What […]
NASA’s Fermi Finds New Feature in Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Yet Seen Summary
2024.07.25
In October 2022, astronomers were stunned by what was quickly dubbed the BOAT — the brightest-of-all-time gamma-ray burst (GRB). Now an international science team reports that data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals a feature never seen before.
New NASA Black Hole Visualization Takes Viewers Beyond the Brink
2024.05.06
Ever wonder what happens when you fall into a black hole? Now, thanks to a new, immersive visualization produced on a NASA supercomputer, viewers can plunge into the event horizon, a black hole’s point of no return. “People often ask about this, and simulating these difficult-to-imagine processes helps me connect the mathematics of relativity to […]
Explore the Universe with the First E-Book from NASA’s Fermi
2024.04.23
To commemorate a milestone anniversary for NASA’s Fermi spacecraft, the mission team has published an e-book called “Our High-Energy Universe: 15 Years with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.”
NASA’s Fermi Mission Sees No Gamma Rays from Nearby Supernova
2024.04.16
A nearby supernova in 2023 offered astrophysicists an excellent opportunity to test ideas about how these types of explosions boost particles, called cosmic rays, to near light-speed. But surprisingly, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected none of the high-energy gamma-ray light those particles should produce. On May 18, 2023, a supernova erupted in the nearby […]
NASA’s Tiny BurstCube Mission Launches to Study Cosmic Blasts
2024.03.22
NASA’s BurstCube, a shoebox-sized satellite designed to study the universe’s most powerful explosions, is on its way to the International Space Station.
NASA Invites Media to 61st Annual Goddard Space Science Symposium
2024.03.14
Media are invited to attend the 61st annual Goddard Space Science Symposium (formerly the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium), which will take place March 20-22, 2024, at the Brendan Iribe Center on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. The symposium will also be streamed online.
NASA’s Fermi Detects Surprise Gamma-Ray Feature Beyond Our Galaxy
2024.01.11
Astronomers analyzing 13 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found an unexpected and as yet unexplained feature outside of our galaxy.
NASA’s Fermi Mission Creates 14-Year Time-Lapse of the Gamma-Ray Sky
2023.12.20
The cosmos comes alive in an all-sky time-lapse movie made from 14 years of data acquired by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Our Sun, occasionally flaring into prominence, serenely traces a path through the sky against the backdrop of high-energy sources within our galaxy and beyond. “The bright, steady gamma-ray glow of the Milky Way […]
NASA’s BurstCube Passes Milestones on Journey to Launch
2023.12.18
Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed testing for BurstCube, a shoebox-sized spacecraft designed to study the universe’s most powerful explosions.
Showing 1 to 24 of 293.