NASA announces the award of 18 grants for exciting new Space Biology research that will advance NASA’s understanding of how living systems respond, acclimate, and adapt to the space environment in support of human space exploration.

We’ve never met some of the Sun’s closest neighbors until now. In a new study, astronomers report the discovery of 95 objects known as brown dwarfs, many within a few dozen light-years of the Sun. They’re well outside the solar system, so don’t experience heat from the Sun, but still inhabit a region astronomers consider our cosmic neighborhood. This collection represents some of the coldest known examples of these objects, which are between the sizes of planets and stars.

Several years ago, planetary scientist Lynnae Quick began to wonder whether any of the more than 4,000 known planets beyond our solar system might resemble some of the watery moons around Jupiter and Saturn. Though some of these moons don’t have atmospheres and are covered in ice, they are still among the top targets in NASA’s search for life beyond Earth. Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa, which scientists classify as “ocean worlds,” are good examples.

A Facebook live event brought together nearly 1,450 researchers from 18 countries, representing 100 institutions—to present recent findings about COVID-19 coronavirus transmission, host interactions, screening diagnosis and treatment therapies.  

Balloons are often associated with meteorological studies—gauging weather conditions such as temperature, pressure and humidity in the Earth’s atmosphere. But for NASA and other scientists, they also serve as a stepping-stone for other critical space research.

Do you have ideas for potential scientific, exploration, and technology demonstration investigations for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program? If you are from U.S. industry, a university, a non-profit organization, a NASA center or other U.S. government agency, NASA wants your ideas. 

It’s a once-in-a-decade opportunity: the chance to identify the most compelling science and technology questions facing the decade ahead. This year, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) will be announcing a solicitation for white papers for the second Decadal Survey in the areas of Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

To some, it may seem an unlikely collaboration: Procter & Gamble (P&G), a world leader in consumer-packaged goods, partnering with NASA. Both, however, share a common goal: bettering life on Earth by defying gravity and conducting research in space.

Researchers from around the world convened at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August for a two-day workshop focused on the use of autonomy and robotics for crop production in space. Over seventy researchers representing NASA, industry, academia and other government agencies came together to share their expertise in robotics, controlled environment agriculture, systems engineering, and horticulture.