Sarah Nance at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, 2019.
Courtesy of Sarah Nance
Sarah Nance uses geologic data and a variety of artistic media to help people think about their place in the landscapes they use and occupy.
Illustration of the Japanese moon
lander separating in orbit.
JAXA
Japan’s space agency is landing its first lunar probe this week. This makes the Moon an increasingly busy target for spacefaring nations – with conflicting political stances among them.
The entrance to For All Mankind’s Happy Valley.
Apple
In sci-fi depictions, extraterrestrial habitats have evolved tandem with scientific understanding of conditions on planets
The Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The successful Artemis I mission was the first in an increasingly complex planned series of missions, which have now been delayed.
(NASA/Cory Huston)
NASA announced that the next two Artemis missions — Artemis II and III — will be delayed for safety reasons. However, Artemis IV remains on schedule.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
The nature of dark energy remains one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.
Photograph: Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center)
The Peregrine and Nova-C landers are due to carry out valuable science at two diverse lunar locations.
A sunspot emitting a flare on the surface of the sun.
(NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics Observatory)
The sun is expected to reach its solar maximum in 2025. Recent auroras suggest that the maximum may be bigger than predicted.
NASA isn’t the only space agency with exciting missions to watch for in 2024.
AP Photo/John Raoux
Expect lots of space missions to launch this coming year, with exciting new science to follow.
The Moon, shot from Pakistan during a lunar eclipse.
AP Photo/Fareed Khan
Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon made 2023 a big year for lunar exploration, and future years will come with even more discoveries.
Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system.
NASA/JPL
Five of the Uranus moons might be ocean worlds − and if there’s water, there might be life.
The restored image of Earthrise. A high quality black and white image was coloured using hues from the original colour photos.
Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License: Jim Weigang
Borman’s professionalism helped the risky Apollo 8 mission become a success.
The stark landscape of the Moon as viewed by the Apollo 12 astronauts on their return to Earth.
NASA / The Planetary Society
Some dark craters on the Moon are never exposed to light − ice could be hiding in these permanently shadowed regions, and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission marked a big step toward finding it.
The OSIRIS-REx capsule carrying samples from the asteroid Bennu lands in Utah on Sept. 24, 2023.
(NASA/Keegan Barber)
In September 2023, a NASA mission successfully brought samples of an asteroid down to Earth in a sealed capsule. Analysis of these samples may reveal information about the origins of the universe.
Astronauts prepare to leave the International Space Station.
NASA via AP
When you’re an astronaut landing on the Moon, you can’t rely on the same gravitational cues we have on Earth. But regimented training with sensory devices could one day prevent spatial disorientation.
Masha Mashkova and Joel Kinnaman in For All Mankind.
Apple TV+
For All Mankind is set in an Apollo era transformed by the inclusion of women, characters of colour and LGBTQ+ protagonists.
Growing Beyond Earth
Astronauts living and working on the Moon will need something to eat. The Growing Beyond Earth program supports international space crop research.
An illustration of an asteroid orbiting through space.
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Scientists have been searching Earth’s surface for superheavy elements too difficult to make in the lab, but now, many are looking to the skies instead.
An image from January 2023 showing an X1.2 class flare erupting on the Sun (far left hand side).
NASA/GSFC/SDO
A more active Sun could disable satellites and affect electrical grids on Earth.
Meteorites can get pricey, but they’re not the most expensive material.
AP Photo/Thibault Camus
Some space rocks you can get for free – if you know how to identify them. Rarer materials cost more, and the asteroid sample NASA just brought back has a high price tag.
Earth and Moon as seen by the Galileo spacecraft from a distance of 6 million km away.
NASA
Control experiments are critical in informing the search for alien life.