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NASA astronaut F. Story Musgrave, STS-6 mission specialist, performs the first Extra Vehicular Activity of the Space Shuttle era in the payload bay of Challenger. Also on the EVA, but out of the frame here, was Donald Peterson. NASA astronaut Karol J. Bobko, pilot, took photographs through the aft flight deck windows. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: STS-6 was a Mission of Firsts

First flight of Challenger includes the first spacewalk of the shuttle program and an important test of a new generation of spacesuits.

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Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, seen here encapsulated inside a SpaceX rocket fairing before launch, landed on the Moon on March 2, and returned high-definition images of the lunar surface, an eclipse, and a lunar sunset. The images could help find the cause of an unusual glow observed by NASA’s Apollo astronauts. Credit: SpaceX
Scientists Examine New Data on Unusual Glow

CLPS Blue Ghost mission delivers high-definition images of sunset from the lunar surface.

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NASA’s SPHEREx observatory, shown here in a clean room after environmental testing at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in late 2024, launched on March 11, 2025. The team is preparing the telescope to begin gathering sweeping data that could help answer fundamental questions about the history of the Universe. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems
SPHEREx Will Map Night Sky on Grand Scale

Compact infrared telescope will look for evidence of cosmic inflation and ice in the Milky Way. 

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A Mercury capsule is mounted inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel for a test of its escape tower rockets at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: The X-Plane that Became a Capsule

Maxime Faget built on groundbreaking work by H. Julian Allen to shape the future of NASA space exploration.  

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The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in Utah. The sample sealed inside has surprised scientist who have only begun to analyze it. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
Historic OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Holds Surprises

The parent of Bennu was deep in the solar system, held many of the building blocks of life, and likely contained salty brines below the surface. 

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A 3D printer at a facility of NASA partner RPM Innovations additively manufactures a large-scale aerospike rocket engine nozzle using one of Elementum 3D’s specialized, 3D-printable aluminum alloys. Credit: RPM Innovations Inc.
NASA Technology Improves Life on Earth

Spinoff publication highlights innovations for space that improve everyday life for millions. 

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NASA Astronaut Bruce McCandless II reaches a maximum distance of about 100 yards from the Space Shuttle Challenger before reversing direction in his manned maneuvering unit (MMU) and returning to the spacecraft again and again during the nearly seven-hour untethered spacewalk. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: Untethered Spacewalk Becomes a Reality

Long envisioned in science fiction, NASA’s Manned Maneuvering Unit was built to support critical tasks during the shuttle era.

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Artist concept of the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO)–one of the flight missions making up the Mars Sample Return campaign to bring martian rock and atmospheric samples back to Earth. This European Space Agency (ESA) orbiter would be the first interplanetary spacecraft to capture samples in orbit and make a return trip between Earth and Mars. Credits: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC
NASA Exploring Mars Sample Return Architecture

Sky Crane landing, commercial options are being considered to return samples from Mars to Earth.

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The Blue Ghost lander will attempt to land in the Mare Crisium, an impact basin that may provide NASA with the first geophysical measurements that are representative of the bulk of the Moon. Research indicates that the Apollo missions landed in a region that is compositionally distinct from the rest of the lunar surface. Credit: NASA
CLPS Mission Heads for Vast Basalt Plain

Third spaceflight in the program will carry a varied NASA payload of scientific instruments to the lunar surface.

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