NASA News – 2026.02.27

ARTEMIS Artemis Program Adds New Mission

HUMANS IN SPACE Dragon Returns to Earth A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth filled with several thousand pounds of science experiments and lab hardware for retrieval and analysis, completing a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Dragon parachuted to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 2:44 p.m. EST on Thursday, where NASA and SpaceX support personnel awaited the science- and cargo-packed spacecraft. Dragon undocked from the space station at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday, where it had been moored since August 25, 2025. SPACE STATION UPDATES

THE UNIVERSE Examining the Cranium Nebula Two heads are better than one in new James Webb Space Telescope images, which reveal new detail in both near- and mid-infrared light of a mysterious, little-studied nebula surrounding a dying star. The nebula, known as Nebula PMR 1, is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the “Exposed Cranium.” CAPTURING THE COSMOS

THE UNIVERSE Blowing Bubbles Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have caught a much younger version of the Sun blowing bubbles in the galaxy. The bubble—called an astrosphere—completely surrounds the juvenile star, known as HD 61005. Winds from the star’s surface are blowing up the bubble and filling it with hot gas as it expands into much cooler galactic gas and dust surrounding the star. Chandra was able to detect the astrosphere around HD 61005 because it is producing X-rays as the stellar wind runs into cooler local interstellar medium dust and gas that surrounds the star. LEARN MORE

SCIENCE Martian Spiderwebs The Curiosity Mars rover has been exploring a region full of geologic formations called boxwork—low ridges standing roughly 3 to 6 feet tall with sandy hollows in between. These giant “spiderwebs” crisscross the surface for miles, suggesting ancient groundwater flowed on this part of the Red Planet later than scientists expected. LEARN MORE

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem satellite, or PACE, is known for measuring tiny organisms in the ocean and particles in the atmosphere, now has a new capability: it can track nitrogen dioxide pollution. Researchers can use this new product to pinpoint emission sources as small as an individual factory or vehicle pollution from specific highway corridors, supporting efforts to reduce health risks, optimize urban and transportation planning, and protect agricultural productivity.

Mars has changed dramatically over time. Once warm, watery, and blanketed by a thick atmosphere, the Red Planet is now cold and draped by a thin atmospheric veil. The driving force behind this transformation is a relentless stream of particles from the Sun, known as solar wind, which the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission, or ESCAPADE, has begun investigating.

Bienvenidos a un vuelo imaginario con destino a un agujero negro. Con el astrofísico de la NASA Javier García como piloto, nos embarcamos en una odisea espacial donde el tiempo se dilata, la luz se curva, y las leyes de la física colapsan. Descubre cómo la NASA detecta y estudia estos fascinantes objetos cósmicos, qué es la espaguetización, y qué misterios aguardan más allá del horizonte de eventos. Advertencia: este es un viaje solo de ida. ¿Te atreves a sumarte a la aventura?

Forty million years ago, a star in a nearby galaxy exploded, spewing material across space and generating a brilliant beacon of light. That light traveled across the cosmos, reaching Earth on June 29, 2025, where it was detected by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae. Astronomers immediately turned their resources to study this new supernova, but one team of scientists turned to archives, seeking images to identify exactly which star among many had exploded.

On Wednesday, actors Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller, screenwriter Drew Goddard, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and producer and writer of the Project Hail Mary novel Andy Weir stopped by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to talk about their experience making the movie and the collaboration between scientists and creative media.

Last week, we asked what module the space shuttle Atlantis delivered to the International Space Station during the STS-98 mission in Feb. 2001. The answer? Destiny Laboratory Module. Over the last 25 years, astronauts have carried out hundreds of groundbreaking scientific studies in Destiny’s microgravity environment. Across a multitude of scientific fields, the discoveries made in the laboratory are yielding benefits to all of us here on Earth and helping us prepare for future long-term missions in space.

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