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June 2025 INSIGHT Now Available

Don’t miss the latest issue of INSIGHT, APPEL Knowledge Services’ online publication featuring our new podcast episodes, columns, articles, lessons learned and more. We invite you to read it today on our website.

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NASA aerospace engineer John Houbolt explains Lunar Orbital Rendezvous at a blackboard that illustrates the escape weights of the proposal. Credit: NASA
The Science Behind Managing Stress in High-Stakes Conversations

Understanding how pressure impacts performance can yield better decisions.

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Podcast episode graphic showing a composite image of a supernova remnant in purple coloring. The text above it says #156: A New Era of X-ray Astronomy with IXPE
Podcast Episode 156: A New Era of X-ray Astronomy with IXPE

IXPE, or the Infrared X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, is NASA’s first space telescope dedicated to studying X-ray polarization from extreme objects like black holes and quasars.

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Astronauts Thomas Stafford (right) and Eugene Cernan wave to the crowd aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp as they emerge from their Gemini-IX-A capsule on June 6, 1966. John C. Stonesifer (far right), with the Manned Spacecraft Center’s Landing and Recovery Division, was onboard to greet the astronauts. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: Gemini IX-A Overcomes

Astronauts struggled with EVA unit and docking target during three-day mission overshadowed by pre-launch accident.

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Podcast title graphic with the text that reads #155: Risk Management at NASA. Illustration of Europa Clipper spacecraft above Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The surface is blue and icy. Jupiter, partially lit, looms in the background. The spacecraft reflects the Sun's light. Credit: NASA
Podcast Episode 155: Risk Management at NASA

Big or small, we all take risks nearly every day. But how does NASA manage it? Dr. Mary Skow, NASA’s first agency risk management officer, explains.

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This artist's illustration shows the sky crane maneuver that delivered NASA's Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars in 2012, concluding what is known as the “seven minutes of terror”—the nail-biting descent through the thin Martian atmosphere. Credit: NASA
NASA’s Robust Risk Management Approach Enables Engineers to Address Challenges

Continuous, integrated risk management process enables NASA to develop missions with complex, state-of-the-art engineering systems designed to achieve ambitious science objectives. 

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SPHEREx, an anagram for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, will create a map of the cosmos like no other. Using a technique called spectroscopy to image the entire sky in 102 wavelengths of infrared light, SPHEREx will gather information about the composition of and distance to millions of galaxies and stars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems
May 2025 INSIGHT Now Available

Don’t miss the latest issue of INSIGHT, APPEL Knowledge Services’ online publication featuring our new podcast episodes, columns, articles, lessons learned and more. We invite you to read it today on our website.

Read More
Credit: NASA
Podcast Episode 154: NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration Project

NASA’s Air Traffic Management-eXploration Project aims to accommodate the growing demand of traditional and emerging aircraft that share the friendly skies. 

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These dark streaks, also known as "slope streaks," are in an area of Mars known as Acheron Fossae. The source of these features is a topic of a recent machine learning research project. Credit: NASA
New Study Uses AI to Examine Dark Streaks on Mars

Researchers cross-check curious features with temperature, geological features, and wind speed data to check key theory. 

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