NASA Archives

NASA Astrobiology Community Update & NASA-DARES at AbSciCon 2026

by Keith CowingMay 18, 2026May 18, 2026

Date/Time: Monday, May 18th, 2026, 7:00–8:30 pm CDT

Conferences and Meetings, NASA Astrobiology Program, Press Release

Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon26) Media Tips 2: Technosignatures, Life in Space, Existential Questions, Robot Explorers

by Keith CowingMay 18, 2026May 18, 2026

This media advisory is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/abscicon26-tipsheet-2-technosignatures-life-in-space-existential-questions-robot-explorers/

Atacama with a drill hole - NASA Larger image

Astrogeology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Curiosity Rover Shakes Loose A Pesky Mars Rock Named “Atacama”

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2026May 17, 2026

After NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drilled a sample from this rock on April 25, 2026, it withdrew its robotic arm and pulled the entire rock off the surface with it.

This view of the whole sky was constructed from 96 TESS sectors. By the end of September 2025, when the last image of this mosaic was captured, TESS had discovered 679 exoplanets (blue dots) and 5,165 candidates (orange dots). The glowing arc running through the center is the plane of the Milky Way. The Large Magellanic Cloud can be seen along the bottom edge just left of center. Black areas within the oval indicate regions TESS has not yet imaged. NASA/MIT/TESS and Veselin Kostov (University of Maryland College Park)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Citizen Science / Open Science, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

TESS Planet Hunter Reveals A Map Of The Dazzling Night Sky

by Keith CowingMay 16, 2026May 16, 2026

NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has released its most complete view of the starry sky to date, filling in gaps from previous observations.

Artist’s conception of a starshade (a disk surrounded by “petals” at the top left) blocking starlight from a star so that a space-based telescope (at right) can image the two planets. Credit: NASA Exo-S Study Team

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release

New Ultra-Black Coating Could Enable the Search for Life on Exoplanets

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2026May 14, 2026

What is a Starshade and What Could it Do?

Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing processor packs the power of a full system-on-a-chip. This next-generation processor is made to survive deep space while delivering a massive leap in computational speed compared to current spacecraft technology. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: NASA’s Next-Gen Space Processor Undergoes Testing

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Editor’s note: for more than half a century we have been learning how to use the viewpoint from space to study our home world. The instruments we have developed often […]

NASA’s Perseverance looks down at a rocky outcrop nicknamed “Arethusa” and then appears to look into the camera in this animated selfie, which is composed of 61 images taken March 11, 2026, during the rover’s deepest push west beyond Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Analog Studies, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Perseverance Rover Snaps Selfie in Mars’ Western Frontier

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

The agency’s six-wheeled geologist took a self-portrait during its survey of an ancient landscape that may predate the formation of Jezero Crater itself.

ID: ESP_076976_1775 date: 28 December 2022 altitude: 265 km larger images -- NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Astrogeology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Subsiding Terrain On Mars

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2026May 11, 2026

This observation features a plateau adjacent to subsiding terrain in Xanthe Terra, possibly traversed by a fault.

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrobiology (general), Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Citizen Science / Open Science, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, NASA Astrobiology Program, Status Report

NASA Redesigns Science Discovery Engine Infrastructure

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2026May 10, 2026

The Science Discovery Engine (SDE), NASA’s centralized, search capability for all open-source science data and information, recently released a major upgrade to its backend infrastructure. Shifting to OpenSearch, an Amazon […]