U.S. Air Force Academy cadets are using humanoid and quadruped robots to study how emerging technologies influence human behavior and decision-making, research that is preparing them to work with autonomous systems as future officers.
Source: www.war.gov
Retired Army Lt. Col. David Gauntlett received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor during a recent Oregon National Guard ceremony, 57 years after he stayed at his radios through three days of mortar fire during the Vietnam War.
Source: www.war.gov
Hurricane Isaias—the only Atlantic hurricane to date in 2026—made landfall in Florida as a Category 2 storm on October 9. After delivering a rainy, windy blow to the U.S. Gulf Coast and drenching much of the Eastern Seaboard, the weather system had more in store.
Riding the jet stream east over the North Atlantic, Isaias’s remnants developed into a powerful storm known as an extratropical cyclone. These low-pressure systems often feature asymmetrical, comma-shaped cloud patterns and can strike with hurricane-force winds, rain, and blizzard-like conditions.
The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite captured this image of the extratropical cyclone brushing past Iceland on the afternoon of October 14. During its journey, the system’s air pressure plummeted by more than 50 hectopascals over a 24-hour period, according to reports—approximately double the criteria for explosive cyclogenesis, or bombogenesis. Some meteorologists believe the storm may have set a new October low for barometric pressure in Iceland, after correcting for altitude, likely breaking a record that has stood since 1963.
The cyclone lashed Iceland with high winds as it grazed the coast. A gust of 205 kilometers (128 miles) per hour was recorded near Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the country’s south, while a small island just offshore saw sustained winds of 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour. Damaging winds extended into northern parts of the country, where residents also braced for sleet and snow. Farther across the Atlantic, northwestern Scotland received gusts up to 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour on October 14, according to news reports, resulting in cancellations on several ferry routes.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Lindsey Doermann.
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Hurricanes Polo and Nolo sent destructive effects ashore amid an active season in the northeastern and central Pacific.
Though it remained offshore, the storm lashed coastal areas with high winds and flooding—and produced remarkable rippling patterns in the…
The first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season brought intense rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to…
Source: science.nasa.gov
APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation: Jinkies, look at all those ghosts! It took 100 hours of observation and a special oxygen filter for today’s image to capture three faint nebulas hidden in the Cassiopeia constellation. IC 59 and IC 63, the original Ghosts of Cassiopeia, haunt the region near multi-star system γ Cassiopeia. Energetic light from γ Cassiopeia causes the hydrogen gas in IC 59 and 63 to glow red. Their dust reflects and scatters some blue-ish white starlight. Newly discovered Objects 1, 2, and 3 appear as blue phantoms, revealing the presence of ionized oxygen. But ionized by what? Like at the bow of a speeding boat, γ Cassiopeia may be piling up material as the system moves through interstellar gas and dust. It follows that Object 3 may be the compressed and heated oxygen of that bow shock. Object 1 could be a planetary nebula if a central white dwarf is identified. The origins of these astronomical apparitions remain a mystery to be solved.
Read here for more information on how you can help the observing team behind today’s APOD.
Tomorrow’s picture: it’s not easy being green
| Date: | October 21, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Credit & Copyright: | Louis Leroux-Géré, Thibault Rouillée, Vincent Martin, Cédric de Decker (Starfront Observatories) |
| Authors & editors: | Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |
Source: science.nasa.gov
From orbit, today’s space-based laser instruments measure Earth’s forests and terrain one narrow line at a time. Between those lines are enormous gaps that include millions of acres of land scientists never directly measure. NASA’s CASALS instrument will blend machine learning with an ultra-compact lidar instrument to adaptively ‘sweep’ large swaths of Earth’s surface. This new capability for space-based remote sensors allows CASALS to create truly three-dimensional (3D) topographical renderings.
A team of researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a new instrument designed to eliminate blind spots between lines of lidar data on the Earth’s surface. Built with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), the Concurrent Artificially-intelligent Spectrometry Lidar System (CASALS) could help researchers map the features of Earth’s surface with unprecedented detail. Rather than mechanically steering a laser with moving mirrors, CASALS steers light using wavelength itself, generating a continuous, 3D swath of the ground below.
John Yorks, a physical research scientist at GSFC and Principal Investigator for CASALS, explained that the instrument features a novel transmitter and optical grating system that manipulates laser pulses without heavy, failure-prone motorized mirrors.
Instead, CASALS uses a fast-pulsing, tunable “seed” laser centered at 1040 nanometers, rapidly cycling through 256 unique wavelengths as it pulses through an optical component with a microscopic pattern of ridges called a transmission grating.
At this point, the physics of diffraction takes over. Because light bends at slightly different angles depending on its exact wavelength, the grating naturally “steers” each of the 256 pulses into a distinct position across the flight path.
This non-mechanical approach paints a continuous 3D swath of the ground. Not only does this eliminate the large unmapped gaps left between the isolated tracks of legacy spaceborne lidars, but stripping away moving parts drastically reduces the instrument’s size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements. This makes it more reliable for the harsh environment of space.
Another key innovation within CASALS is its detector array. This component features a uniquely high Quantum Efficiency (QE), a variable that describes how effectively a detector converts incoming light (photons) into an electrical signal. CASALS operates at 80% QE. This means CASALS wastes almost none of the light that makes it back to the sensor.
With QE that high, CASALS can detect much weaker return signals, allowing it to collect useful measurements from darker surfaces or through denser vegetation.
This technology isn’t limited to a laboratory environment. In November 2024, an airborne CASALS prototype flew aboard NASA’s B200 King Air aircraft. The instrument produced science-quality datasets on its first campaign, exceeding the team’s expectations.
“I’m very impressed with Guang Yang, Jeffrey Chen, and all our engineers, and how well CASALS performed. This worked really well from the first time we flew it, which is pretty impressive,” said Yorks.
Flying at an altitude of roughly five kilometers, CASALS can distinguish individual tree branches and subtle changes in ground elevation, thanks to its 22-centimeter horizontal resolution.
“We’re able to see really fine details of vegetation structure and changes in the topography of the surface,” Yorks said.
The team aims to fly CASALS again as part of the Airborne Surface, Cryosphere, Ecosystem, and Nearshore Topography (ASCENT) campaign, scheduled for summer 2027.
But there’s more work to do to prepare the technology for space. The team plans to make several improvements to CASALS before creating a space-ready prototype. Specifically, they’re widening the instrument’s swath and adding onboard data processing software.
Transitioning from a successful airborne prototype to a fully realized space mission is a challenge, but the CASALS team is up to the task.
“The team’s really done a great job of sticking together and keeping on task and on schedule. We are being funded to optimize and improve the performance, and we’re also then looking at ways to take the technologies used in the airborne instrument and mature them and prepare them for a spaceborne version in the future,” said Yorks.
If successful, CASALS could become the first spaceborne lidar capable of mapping Earth’s forests and terrain as continuous three-dimensional swaths rather than isolated profiles, giving scientists a dramatically more complete picture of our changing planet.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead(s): John Yorks, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Sponsoring Organization(s): NASA’s Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) program; NASA’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP); NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; University of California, Santa Barbara; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Source: science.nasa.gov
Written by Vandi Verma, Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Oct. 12, 2026
Since the last blog update, Perseverance has achieved a major milestone on Mars. On Sol 2006 (Oct. 11, 2026), its odometer reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), setting a new record for the farthest distance driven on another celestial body. Its engineering twin here on Earth even received a plaque from Guinness World Records celebrating the achievement.
Two months ago, on Sol 1947, the odometer sat about 200 meters away from the milestone, a distance easily achievable with a single drive using Autonomous Navigation (AutoNav). However, the rover found itself in a very scientifically interesting area and spent time executing short drives to perform rock abrasions and proximity science on ancient rock outcrops. When Perseverance was finally ready to move on to a new site, it sailed past the record.
On its way to the drive record, Perseverance has navigated challenging terrain while also pioneering new ways to drive across the Martian surface. Perseverance’s various encounters with dense boulder fields and steep slopes have pushed the team to re-evaluate driving guidelines so the rover is better prepared to handle tough terrain. After running thousands of simulations, the team raised the rover’s tilt limit to 24 degrees and reduced the clearance required under the rover’s belly pan to 20 centimeters (about 7.9 inches). The team also updated the rover’s braking software to avoid rock hazards, nearly doubled steer motor current limits, updated flight software with “dynamic slip tables” to model expected slip, and used cross-slope driving to better anchor wheels on exposed bedrock.
One of the most exciting updates the team has made is an autonomous drive capability called onboard Global Localization (GBLC). GBLC repurposes the high-speed commercial processor inside the Ingenuity Helicopter Base Station to compare ground and orbital imagery to autonomously locate the rover in global coordinates at the end of a drive (as though we had GPS on a world without it), enabling Perseverance to drive longer distances without human intervention. Unlike Perseverance’s main flight computer, this coprocessor is not hardened against the punishing radiation environment of the Martian surface, where a thin atmosphere and the lack of a global magnetosphere leave little shielding. This radiation can induce “transient bit flips” in memory the software needs to function, and the team developed an effective software-based approach to radiation hardening. Looking forward to the greater demands of longer drives and to planning more activity with fewer resources, the team is also exploring the use of generative SI to help efficiently propose solutions to steer AutoNav along the many legs of a strategic path.
The team is using hard-won lessons from 45 kilometers (more than 28 miles) of driving to reinvent how the rover drives across the Martian surface. As Perseverance climbs higher along the crater rim, the next leap in autonomous exploration on Mars is just getting started.
Source: science.nasa.gov
As part of the agency’s Inspiration Tour, NASA will conduct a flyover at the University of Alabama vs. Texas A&M football game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday, Oct. 24. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will pilot one of three F-5 fighter jets during the flyover, highlighting NASA’s contributions to aeronautics and the agency’s continued commitment to advancing aviation technologies.
Ahead of the game, members of the news media are invited to visit the NASA Experience Zone on Champions Lane, where Isaacman will participate in a media opportunity at 11 a.m. CDT. Media interested in attending should confirm their attendance by 12 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, with Lance D. Davis at [email protected] to receive additional details and instructions.
Supported by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the NASA Experience Zone will be open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT, with no game ticket required. The experience will give visitors an opportunity to meet NASA team members and learn more about the people and technologies advancing the agency’s missions in aeronautics and space exploration.
Attendees can engage with NASA team members and explore exhibits highlighting the agency’s Artemis campaign and efforts to return astronauts to the Moon, including:
With stops across the nation, NASA’s Inspiration Tour convenes academic, industry, and public sector stakeholders to connect the agency with the people, technologies, and organizations that drive American leadership in space.
The tour will culminate in MAX POWER, a public exposition of American air and space innovation, Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8, on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Held in honor of America’s historic 250th anniversary, the multi-day, family-friendly event will showcase the next-generation aircraft, spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, and technologies that will help define the future of transportation in air and space.
For more information about MAX POWER and the agency’s missions, visit:
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Lance D. Davis
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-640-9065
[email protected]
Source: www.nasa.gov
5 min read
Interstellar probes. Lunar drones. Helicopters on Mars.
When a group of Caltech graduate students and enthusiasts began conducting rocket-propulsion tests in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco on Oct. 31, 1936, they had no idea that their work marked the inception of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Ninety years later, the lab, now managed by Caltech for NASA, isn’t only celebrating the long line of historic firsts accomplished here; it’s paving the way for many to come.
Initially a contractor for the U.S. Army, JPL launched America’s first satellite, Explorer 1 in 1958. But rather than just orbiting Earth like the Soviet Union’s Sputnik, Explorer 1 became the first spacecraft to conduct science, thanks to an onboard Geiger counter that discovered the protective radiation belts encircling Earth.
The lab joined part of the newly formed NASA that same year. Within six years, in 1964, JPL sent the first U.S. mission to the Moon, Ranger 7. It also went on to lead the first planetary flyby, the first probe to visit all four gas giants, the first infrared telescope, the first rovers to roll on Mars, and the first rotorcraft to fly there, among many other historic milestones.
More firsts are on the way.
“Over the course of 90 years, JPL’s first-of-a-kind missions have transformed our understanding of the universe and our place in it,” said Dave Gallagher, JPL’s director since 2025. In 1992, only a couple years after he started as an engineer at the lab, Gallagher led the JPL team that built and tested the Wide-Field and Planetary 2 Camera for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which delivered many of the mission’s most iconic images. “We stand on an extraordinary foundation, and we’re ready to push the boundaries with exciting new missions so that future generations can go even further.”
Aiming for a 2028 launch, the JPL-managed SkyFall mission will deploy three helicopters mid-descent over Mars to search to map hidden ice deposits and analyze weather patterns. Helping advance NASA’s Moon Base, JPL is developing MoonFall, a mission that will land a group of large propulsive drones at the lunar South Pole that same year. Set for a 2027 launch, SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) features six toaster-oven-size satellites that will fly in formation to create a miles-wide radio antenna dish in order to study the Sun’s activity. What it reveals could help make space exploration safer for humans.
Protecting humanity is also the goal of the asteroid-hunting NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor) mission, which, managed by JPL, will hunt for potentially hazardous space rocks that other telescopes can’t find. Once an object is spotted, NASA can offer a threat assessment and plan accordingly.
Closer to home, the same lab that launched the first oceanographic satellite in 1978 is at work on several missions that will offer a deeper reading of Earth’s vital signs. Where one mission will monitor the movement of water by measuring slight changes in gravity, another will study how powerful tropical convective storms form. A third will detail how different types of air pollution affect human health.
They add to a fleet of other Earth missions and projects JPL helps lead, including NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) a joint mission with the Indian Space Research Organisation that can pinpoint how Earth’s surface changes in relation to natural disasters. Another, one of a series of instruments called AVIRIS (Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer), can even detect rare Earth elements critical to modern technology.
Flown on airplanes, the AVIRIS sensors were developed at JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory, which invented the “camera on a chip” technology that enables cellphones to take pictures. It’s also where the detectors are being developed for PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), a newly announced NASA mission that will strengthen humanity’s understanding of the universe by studying radiant energy visible only in the far-infrared.
“Bringing together the very best of scientific brilliance and engineering ingenuity from across Caltech and JPL continues to advance NASA’s priorities and empower America’s space leadership,” said Caltech’s president Ray Jayawardhana, who is also a professor of astronomy. “I can only imagine what those Caltech students experimenting with rockets in a little patch of dry riverbed would think if they could to see what Caltech and JPL have accomplished since, and where we’re headed next. Ninety years later, the same spirit of daring is still opening new frontiers and inspiring humanity.”
The 90th anniversary comes just a few weeks before another milestone, when on Nov. 18 Voyager 1 reaches a full light-day — the distance light will travel in 24 hours, which is some 16 billion miles, or 26 billion kilometers — from Earth. Ed Stone led the mission for 50 years, serving as JPL’s director for 10 of them. Stone died in 2024, but the Voyagers are continuing on their journey deeper into interstellar space, a place no other spacecraft have ventured. Turning 50 next year, they rely on NASA’s Deep Space Network (developed by JPL in the Apollo era) to receive commands and send back science data. Stone said that with both Voyagers exploring regions never before visited, “every day is a day of discovery.” The same could be said for JPL.
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Media contact
Matthew Segal
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-8307
[email protected]
2026-073
Source: www.nasa.gov
NASA astronaut and Expedition 75 flight engineer Jessica Watkins works inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox on Oct. 9, 2026, safely mixing living cell samples with a bioink and then filling a special cartridge with the cell‑ink mixture.
The advanced research operations were part of the InSPA‑Auxilium Bioprinter‑Cell Printing investigation, which explores 3D bioprinting cartilage tissue in microgravity of higher quality than that produced on Earth. Results may advance the ability to biomanufacture cartilage, benefiting patients on Earth and crew members on long‑duration space missions.
Image credit: NASA/Anil Menon
Source: www.nasa.gov
