NASA Ames

Safer skies one test at a time ✈️ We teamed up with @WiskAero to test how autonomous air taxis could safely integrate into the national airspace. Insights from the multi-day simulation may help shape future standards and tech that keep U.S. skies safe as new aircraft take flight.

Here, a Rocket Lab capsule outfitted with Ames-made heat shield materials is inspected inside the STAR Labs.

We give this lab five STARs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ At our Sensors and Thermal Protections Systems Advanced Research Laboratory—STAR Labs—we specialize in the design, engineering, and fabrication of cutting-edge thermal protection materials and flight instrumentation that keep astronauts and spacecraft safe during atmospheric re-entry. Learn how the teams’ innovative approaches push the boundaries of space exploration: go.nasa.gov/4fe62IT

Our resource-mapping Moon rover 🔍🌙 The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, will explore the lunar South Pole in search of water ice and other potential resources to help characterize the Moon’s environment. VIPER will inform future landing sites under Artemis and bring us a significant step closer to NASA’s long-term presence on the Moon.

Builders of the future 🤖 Our ARMADAS project is developing software and hardware that will autonomously assemble structures on future deep space missions, such as lunar infrastructure, landing pads, habitation components, and more. Learn how this work is preparing us for exploration on the Moon: go.nasa.gov/4w738Ni

Fresh from space! ☄️ Scientists snagged a meteorite days after it fell to Earth. Inside, they uncovered clues about ancient water, long-lost minerals, and the early evolution of asteroids. Explore more: go.nasa.gov/457ctJ6

Ultra-realistic Moon environment? We’ve got it! 🌕 At our Lunar Lab and Regolith Testbeds, we create custom, realistic terrain and lighting conditions in large boxes filled with simulated lunar dust to mimic the features that future robots, rovers, and astronauts will experience on the Moon’s surface. Explore how testing in this simulated lunar environment prepares us for future long-duration stays on our celestial neighbor: go.nasa.gov/4haW2Tk

🚀A new CubeSat called R5 S9 launched on the Transporter 17 mission with SpaceX from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 7! Built with commercial off the shelf components, the spacecraft advances rapid and low cost development approaches. The mission was manifested for NASA by @SEOPSLLC and carries prototypes from Sandia National Laboratories and The Aerospace Corporation, including autonomous observation technology and a low cost optical communication system. go.nasa.gov/4aOEzfH

Ethereal 🌌 Captured here by @NASAHubble is IC 486, a barred spiral galaxy located around 380 million light-years from Earth.

NASA's CAPSTONE completes its mission testing new technologies around the Moon. From being the first spacecraft to verify a unique lunar orbit for science and exploration missions to serving as a testbed for cutting edge communication and autonomous navigation tools, CAPSTONE advanced @NASA_Technology that will support a sustained human presence on the Moon. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/4gXu1OX

Happy 250th birthday, America! We got you a present. 🇺🇸 The red, white, and blue stars of this globular cluster shine like a sparkler waved on a dark night in this image from @NASAHubble, released in celebration of the United States' 250th anniversary.

Happy 250th, America! 🇺🇸 Red (Mars), white (Moon), and blue (Earth) brought to you by the solar system.

Bursting in (galactic) air 🌟 Glittering here like a cosmic firework is N44, a unique and complex nebula captured by @NASAHubble. One of its most distinctive features is a dark, starry gap—a “superbubble”—spanning about 250 light-years wide. Though not actually bursting, the hole is something of a mystery to astronomers: Stellar winds may have driven the gas away or expanding supernovae could’ve created the cosmic cavern. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/44Aqcb4

Something sweet is on the rise! 🍓🌕 The Strawberry Moon will light up the night sky tonight, reaching peak illumination in late afternoon. The best time to see it will be shortly after sunset.

NASA's TESS telescope uncovers the puffiest planets ever found. The Jupiter-sized worlds are as light as cotton candy. Further study can help us learn about planetary evolution. go.nasa.gov/3T2WxEX

Last week, we welcomed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to our Silicon Valley center to explore the work powering NASA’s missions. He also addressed the Ames workforce and met Lucas Ye, the creator of Rise. Thanks for the visit, @NASAAdmin!

@NASAAdmin Thanks for visiting!

I love getting out of Washington and spending time with the people getting the job done! It was great visiting @NASAAmes for the annual center picnic, meeting employees, interns, and students, and hearing firsthand about the work shaping the future of science & exploration. I also had the chance to see some of the incredible capabilities that make Ames unique…from the world’s largest vertical motion flight simulator, where every Space Shuttle astronaut trained and no doubt those that will land on the moon will train, to the newly restored Hangar One, a landmark that represents both NASA’s history and its future. Every visit reminds me that America’s leadership in space is powered by the people who show up every day to solve hard problems and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

The young designer of Rise meets a @nasaartemis II astronaut! Eight-year-old Lucas Ye had the brightest smile as Artemis II pilot @AstroVicGlover showed him Rise and congratulated him at the Ames summer picnic. A true experience of Moon joy.