NASA Technology Updates

Introduction

Explore the latest technological advancements and innovations from NASA, through our curated feed. This post features the most recent technology content, news releases, and ‘Image of the Day,’ published on NASA’s official site. Gain insights into groundbreaking projects and developments, pushing the boundaries of space exploration and research. Stay informed with updates directly from NASA, showcasing the cutting-edge technologies, shaping the future of space and science.

Technology

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Field of Honeycomb Textures
July 30, 2026 by Stephen Carney
As NASA’s Curiosity rover recently began climbing up a Martian valley nicknamed “Valle Grande,” it sent back images that were a familiar sight to mission scientists: honeycomb-like textures called polygonal fractures, each one about 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 centimeters) across. The mission has spotted small patches of these geometric shapes several times […]
NASA Announces New Spacecraft Technology Demonstration Mission at Moon
July 25, 2026 by Loura Hall
NASA is working with industry to advance the next phase of cislunar infrastructure for the agency’s Artemis program and Moon Base, including orbital assets and demonstrations. Under a contract awarded to Advanced Space, the agency’s CAPSTONE 02 mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, autonomous navigation, and cislunar communication capabilities while continuing to characterize the […]
Robotic Servicing Mission Launches with NASA Support
July 23, 2026 by Rob Garner
Following its liftoff from Cape Canaveral on July 21 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) hosting the NASA-supported Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) payload is now en route to geosynchronous Earth orbit, where it will use its advanced robotics to service spacecraft. RSGS leverages in-space robotics expertise from NASA, […]
Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions
July 22, 2026 by Loura Hall
Artur Davoyan University of California, Los Angeles The goal of the proposed program is to enable the next generation of solar sails featuring very high characteristic acceleration–potentially up to 2 mm/s²–and large effective areas exceeding 10,000 m², to support future ultra–high delta-V missions. These advanced solar sails would significantly transform space exploration and utilization, making […]
A New Compact Instrument Enables High-Fidelity Measurements of Energetic Particles on CubeSats
July 21, 2026
A team of NASA-sponsored scientists and engineers has developed a novel approach to observing high-energy particles in the near-Earth space environment, incorporating miniaturized sensors into a compact, multi-view particle detection instrument unlike any before it. Built for NASA’s Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss (REAL) CubeSat mission, the innovative instrument (also called REAL) enables more complete measurements […]
Ontario Wildfire Smoke Moves East
July 16, 2026
Canadian wildfires sent plumes of smoke streaming over Ontario, Quebec, and parts of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.
Super Typhoon Bavi
July 9, 2026
The third category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026 crossed the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam before continuing toward Asia.
NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Wakes from Hibernation in Good Health
July 8, 2026
Following its longest hibernation period ever of nearly a year, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has emerged in good health and is ready to begin transmitting science data gathered in the distant Kuiper Belt far beyond Pluto. On June 23, flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, confirmed New Horizons, […]
NASA’s CAPSTONE Completes Extended Mission Testing Lunar Technologies
July 7, 2026 by Korine Powers
As NASA prepares for a sustained human presence on the Moon, missions will increasingly require spacecraft that can navigate and communicate without a direct connection to Earth. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, validated and advanced these capabilities. Designed to test and validate technologies in lunar orbit, CAPSTONE launched […]
NextSTEP-3 A: Lunar Enabling Technology
June 29, 2026 by Loura Hall
Solicitation Number: 80GRC026R0008 May 19, 2026 – Synopsis issued June 29, 2026 – Draft BAA and Appendix A Issued | Web Article NASA issued a draft Broad Agency Announcement under NextSTEP‑3, Appendix A, on June 29, 2026, to advance concepts that accelerate the technological readiness of critical systems for lunar surface and cislunar architecture. This solicitation seeks to close key technology gaps and […]