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NASA & SpaceX: Journey to the Future

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Elon Musk and experts from SpaceX and NASA are on a mission to revolutionize space exploration, and special inside access reveals how their cutting-edge spacecraft technology will carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.

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NASA and SpaceX: Journey to the Future

Elon Musk and experts from SpaceX and NASA are on a mission to revolutionize space exploration, and special inside access reveals how their cutting-edge spacecraft technology will carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.

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NASA & SpaceX: Journey to the Future

Bob Behnken (Self) Walton Goggins (Narrator) Doug Hurley (Self)

A behind-the-scenes look at the teams of SpaceX engineers, NASA employees and scientists as they prepare for a commercial flight mission to the International Space Station.

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NASA & SpaceX: Journey to the Future

A film crew was granted unprecedented access to NASA and to SpaceX headquarters, giving viewers a rare glimpse inside Launch Control and firsthand accounts from SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk, Bridentstine and the astronauts flying the mission: Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

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May 25, 2020,

Director X.

Elon Musk, Robert Behnken, Douglas Hurley, James Bridenstine, Gwynne Shotwell

Documentary

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The story of how the Los Angeles Lakers became the most successful professional basketball team in the world in the 1980s. HBO is going back in time for an upcoming, currently untitled drama series following the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties. The series is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. Adam McKay (Succession, Q: Into the Storm) is executive-producing, as well as directing the pilot episode. Adrien Brody (as Pat Riley), John C. Reilly (as Jerry Buss), Jason Segel (as Paul Westhead), Sally Field (as Jessie Buss), Jason Clarke (as Jerry West), Quincy Isaiah (as Magic Johnson), and Solomon Hughes (as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) are among the cast.

NASA & SpaceX: Journey To The Future

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Nasa & spacex: journey to the future.

Directed by Director X.

A film crew was granted unprecedented access to NASA and to SpaceX headquarters, giving viewers a rare glimpse inside Launch Control and firsthand accounts from SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk, Bridentstine and the astronauts flying the mission: Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

Elon Musk Robert Behnken Douglas Hurley James Bridenstine Gwynne Shotwell

Director Director

Director X.

Editors Editors

Sam Mussari Peter Grabicki

Storied Media Group

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English French

Alternative Titles

美国宇航局与SpaceX：飞向未来, SpaceX - La nouvelle conquête spatiale, NASA & Space X - Die Zukunft der Raumfahrt, 美国国家航空航天局与太空探索技术公司：未来之旅

Documentary

Releases by Date

25 may 2020, releases by country.

• TV Discovery Channel

83 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Nathan?

Okay so I only watched the first three and last eight minutes of this, but I will take this moment to add my perspective to the Elon Musk discourse.

He is obviously a narcissistic twat, a talentless & humorless loser. A pathetic manchild, a soulless disgrace to humanity, an entity in itself so despicable in its own right that it’s a marvel that one man could be a relative disgrace to it. But he is.

HOWEVER, in addition to this, Elon Musk is a silly goose, and he will never be more than a silly goose (derogatory).

Review by Eli ★★★½

yeah not bad. Learned a lot.

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NASA & SpaceX: Journey to the Future (2020) - full transcript

A behind-the-scenes look at the teams of SpaceX engineers, NASA employees and scientists as they prepare for a commercial flight mission to the International Space Station.

NASA & SpaceX: Journey to the Future

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A film crew was granted unprecedented access to NASA and to SpaceX headquarters, giving viewers a rare glimpse inside Launch Control and firsthand accounts from SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk, Bridentstine and the astronauts flying the mission: Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

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From planets to black holes, we look at the oddities of space

If the fabric of the universe is a flat, rubbery sheet, Earth is a pothole that bends the fabric of spacetime into a funnel around it. But what would it be like to overcome Earth’s gravity, lift off from the blue marble we call home and explore the far reaches of the universe?

We explore just that in the Short Wave Space Camp series. It's a 10-part episodic journey through the changing universe with Short Wave hosts Regina Barber and Emily Kwong.

We start with  how to get to outer space in the first place . From there, every Tuesday through Aug. 13, Short Wave will travel farther and earlier into spacetime.

Why we’re going to space

We’ve come a long way from Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to launch into space.

Scientists have moved far beyond the bounds of Earth's orbit. The James Webb Space Telescope is capturing the most detailed images yet of the infancy of the universe. NASA retrieved its first asteroid sample . Humans have not only gone to Earth's moon, but are now exploring both the sun, via the Parker Solar Probe , and the moons ringing other planets .

The science powering human curiosity is more sophisticated than ever. Meanwhile, private corporations are fundamentally changing who gets to go to space and how.

Over a decade ago, NASA retired the Space Shuttle program , while SpaceX and now Boeing carry astronauts to the International Space Station. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are ferrying billionaires, like their owners, to space. Earlier this month, SpaceX successfully launched and returned the largest rocket ever built , intended to one day put boots on Mars.

As humans push outward into space, scientists are also thinking about planetary defense.

In 2022, NASA's DART mission successfully redirected the asteroid Dimorphous , demonstrating how we might one day divert a space rock on a collision course for earth. Plus, planetary defense experts run drills for how to fend off asteroids every couple of years. That's in spite of the fact that there isn't a substantially sized asteroid that would potentially impact Earth for the next hundred years, as Terik Daly , the planetary defense section supervisor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory told NPR in a recent interview .

Technical advances like these were once unthinkable.

At the same time, lower Earth orbit is being crowded with space junk, some of which even falls back to Earth. Last year, a large battery pallet crash landed through the roof of a Florida home after detaching from the International Space Station. Events like this beg the question: Who does space belong to? And how do researchers responsibly advance science and space exploration when we still don’t fully understand the universe?

Every person has a role to play, and Short Wave wants listeners to be engaged in this evolving discourse. Which is why, all summer, we’re offering a primer on the basics of our universe – and weaving in the latest research, challenges, and opportunities for space exploration along the way.

How to mark your journey

Throughout the series, we'll meld basic physics with the latest research in astronomy, discussing everything from black holes and dark energy to dark matter and the life cycle of a star. We'll get into the human experience of living in space. Plus, we'll stretch Einstein’s thought experiment to its breaking point and ask the big questions: Did everything really begin with a bang? How is the universe going to end?

Subscribe to Short Wave on Spotify  and  Apple Podcasts to head back to camp with us! And be warned: At the end of the series, there will be a fun quiz based on scientific facts from each episode! When you pass the test, we’ll have a fun, customizable surprise.

More from Space Camp

This story is part of Short Wave 's  Space Camp series about all the weird, wonderful things happening in the universe. Check out more from the full series :

• Episode 1: From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space
• Episode 2: Pluto isn’t a planet — but it gives us clues for how the solar system formed

More from Short Wave

As we travel, email us your questions at [email protected] — we'd love to consider it for a future episode!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave .

Special thanks to our friends at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Covering the business and politics of space

NASA’s 2021 Included Mars Landing, First Flight, Artemis, More

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This year, the Biden-Harris Administration tapped NASA to join the White House Climate Task Force. The agency also established a new position of senior climate advisor and released a   climate action plan  aimed at averting mission impacts due to climate change.

• Webb is the agency’s final launch this year, and was preceded by several other scientific missions launches, including  the cosmic X-ray studying   Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer   (IXPE), the asteroid-studying   Lucy spacecraft, the world’s first planetary defense test mission – the   Double Asteroid Redirection Test  (DART) – and two   CubeSat   missions. 
• NASA’s Perseverance rover’s two-year science investigation of Mars’   Jezero Crater   is studying the rock and sediment of Jezero’s ancient lakebed and river delta and   aiding   in the search for signs of ancient microbial life. Actions included:  
• The Perseverance rover drilled, extracted, and sealed its   first rock core   into its sampling tube. The core now is enclosed in an airtight titanium   sample tube , making it available for retrieval in the future.  
• The mission is the first step in the round trip   Mars Sample Return   campaign, being planned by NASA and ESA.
• Ingenuity became the first aircraft to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet, and recently completed more than   30 minutes of cumulative flight   time.  
• In April, Perseverance’s Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment ( MOXIE ) instrument   converted the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen   for the first time.  
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission   touched the Sun   to provide us the first ever direct observations of the solar atmosphere, the corona, as well as traveling by   Venus , where it gave scientists the first complete look at   Venus’ orbital dust ring ,   detected a bright rim   around the edge of the planet that may be nightglow, and discovered   natural radio emission .  
• The Juno probe provided a fuller picture of how   Jupiter’s   distinctive and colorful atmospheric features   offer clues about the unseen processes below its clouds.  
• NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory detected evidence of   a possible planet   transiting a star in another galaxy, and, for the first time, it   detected   X-rays from Uranus.  
• A small near-Earth asteroid (NEA) made history, becoming the   1,000th NEA   to be observed by planetary radar in just over 50 years.  
• The retired Spitzer Space Telescope continued to offer new insights into the universe. Using Spitzer data, astronomers identified the three   fastest-spinning brown dwarfs   ever found and discovered a previously unrecognized   “break” in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms .  
• Using Hubble and Swift data, scientists identified a new type of supernova. Hubble data also helped astronomers trace the   locations   of five brief, powerful radio blasts to the spiral arms of distant galaxies.  
• Using observations from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers discovered a   trio of hot worlds   larger than Earth orbiting a much younger version of the Sun.  
• Highlighted two solar eclipses this year including a   partial solar eclipse   in June and a   total solar eclipse   in December visible to people in   Antarctica . Observations of total   solar eclipses   revealed the Sun’s corona maintains a fairly   constant temperature despite its solar cycles.  
• Provided   a closer look at a nearby star , which allows scientists to better understand what our Sun may have been like when it was young, and how it may have shaped the atmosphere and development of life on Earth.  
• Set up the infrastructure for a 2022   sounding rocket launch   in   Australia . This progress represents a return to launches for   Australia   and the first time NASA will launch a sounding rocket from a non-U.S. commercial launch pad.  
• NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer ( OSIRIS-REx)   spacecraft fired its main engines full throttle and departed the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and set its course back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust sample.  
• Selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its   Europa Clipper   mission in   October 2024 . Clipper is Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of   Jupiter’s   moon Europa.  
• NASA’s InSight lander celebrated its   1,000th Martian day , or Sol, and measured one of the biggest, longest lasting   marsquakes   the mission has ever detected.  
• Developed   new visualizations   to show how binary black holes distort and redirect light emanating from the hot gas that surrounds them.  
• Proposed creating a scale for evaluating and combining different lines of evidence that would ultimately lead to answering the ultimate question: Are we   alone   in the universe?  
• More than 28,000 participants from 162 countries and territories participated in the virtual Space Apps Challenge in October – the   largest such event   in its 10-year history.  
• A   solar “ Rosetta Stone ” explosion   that contained components of three different types of eruptions revealed new clues that could help scientists solve the long-standing mystery of what causes the Sun’s powerful and unpredictable eruptions.  
• The U.S. Postal Service issued a   set of stamps   highlighting views of the Sun from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, celebrating a decade of the mission.  
• Using combined data from three NASA satellites, scientists found that parts of the upper atmosphere are   gradually contracting   in response to rising response to rising human-made greenhouse gas emissions.  
• Research conducted by NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division contributed to scientific discoveries that will both enable humans to thrive in deep space and benefit life on Earth. This past year, researchers made significant discoveries in   quantum science   using the International Space Station’s Cold Atom Lab, examined the underlying causes of   muscle loss , advanced the knowledge needed to   grow plants   in space, and continued soft matter investigations on   colloids , which could have myriad benefits in the development of household products and drug treatments.
• Announced a new   Earth System Observatory   that will provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes.  
• Selected the   Investigation of Convective Updrafts   mission to launch in 2027. The mission will study the behavior of tropical storms and thunderstorms.  
• Worked with communities to support climate resilience and mitigate the effects of climate change, taking measurements of sea ice ,   global surface temperatures   and   ozone levels .  
• Announced a   sea level rise tool , which shows how sea levels will change on a local level.  
• With the U.S. Geological Survey, launched   Landsat 9 , a satellite built to monitor Earth’s changing landscapes. It will continue a 50-year satellite data record.  
• Conducted or participated in a series of climate change studies related to   high-tide floods , Earth’s   energy imbalance , and how human activities are changing   Earth’s energy budget .  
• Worked with national and international partners to lead and support a global response to climate change, with actions including:  
• Participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference ( COP26 ).  
• Co-hosting the Alliance for   Climate Action Series   with FEMA.  
• Forming a   strategic partnership with ESA   to observe Earth and its changing environment through a joint statement of intent.  
• Providing opportunities for researchers to   experiment   with NASA’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station data as part of a new tool for wildfire first responders, such as the U.S.   Forest Service .
• Coordinated with researchers in developing and supporting dashboards on the   spread and effects   of the COVID-19 pandemic, including tracking any changes to worldwide air pollution.  
• Expanded   access   to Earth imagery data for federal science agencies through contracts with space-based imagery companies, enhancing scientific research across the federal government.  
• Launched an online platform called   OpenET  to give farmers and water managers in 17 western U.S. states daily measurements of evapotranspiration, the process through which water moves into the atmosphere from soil and plants.
• Introduced 10 new   astronaut candidates , selected from more than 12,000 applicants. NASA provided resources and crew opportunities in English and   Spanish .  
• Sought recruits for the next class of   flight directors   and announced plans for the agency’s first two   private astronaut missions   to the International Space Station. The Axiom Mission 1 crew has been training at NASA facilities in advance of the   first flight , targeted for   February 2022 .  
• NASA astronauts  Kate Rubins ,  Michael Hopkins ,  Victor Glover ,   Shannon Walker ,   Mark Vande Hei ,   Shane Kimbrough ,   Megan McArthur ,   Raja Chari ,  Tom Marshburn , and  Kayla Barron  lived and worked aboard the station.  
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission successfully completed its first expedition flight, carrying astronauts to and from the space station. The mission included the first space port relocation of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Its nighttime splashdown was the first for a U.S. crew spacecraft since Apollo 8. The crew also:  
• Enabled more science and   research   to prepare humanity for missions to the Moon and Mars and benefit humans on Earth  
• Conducted experiments in areas such as   protein crystal growth , harvested radishes grown in space, and contributed many other   science investigations
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 joined Crew-1 for the first commercial crew handover between astronauts on the space station. Crew-2 spent time studying   how gaseous flames behave   in microgravity,   growing hatch green chiles , and installing   free-flying robotic assistants . They also were the first commercial crew mission to fly two international partner countries’ astronauts, and the first to reuse a Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket for a crew mission.  
• NASA astronaut   Kate Rubins   returned to Earth in April aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, following six months living and working in space. Among the science she supported was the  Cardinal Heart  experiment, which studies how changes in gravity affect cardiovascular cells at the cellular and tissue levels.  
• NASA astronaut   Mark Vande Hei ‘s mission was extended. After returning to Earth in 2022, he will hold the record for longest single spaceflight for an American.  
• NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts completed 13 spacewalks, the most in a year since 2010, to upgrade and conduct maintenance at the orbiting laboratory. They installed the first pair of six new solar arrays to augment the station’s power supply.  
• Five   commercial cargo missions   delivered more than 34,800 pounds of science investigations, tools, and critical supplies to the space station, and   returned   about 14,300 pounds of investigations and equipment to researchers on Earth. Hardware among the deliveries included an upgraded toilet, urine processor, and water processor assemblies.  
• NASA signed agreements with three companies to develop   designs   for space stations and other commercial destinations.
• Fueled the Orion spacecraft and attached it to its launch abort system before stacking it on its rocket.  
• Successfully completed green run testing of the SLS Artemis I core stage at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in   Bay St. Louis, Mississippi , with a   hot fire   of the stage’s   four RS -25 engines together.  
• Transported the   core rocket stage to Kennedy   for assembly,   installed   small satellites known as CubeSats, and   completed assembly   of SLS and Orion for the first time.   Integrated testing   remains underway.  
• Continued   simulations   for countdown team and   weather team , certified   Launch Control Systems   and the   recovery team , completed SLS   design certification review , and loaded SLS   flight software .  
• Announced the “Moonikin” that will sit in the commander’s seat on Artemis I. This realistic manikin is   named   for   Arturo Campos , a key player in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth.
• Announced a   partnership   to help share first Artemis flight crew with the world  
• Completed   welds   on the rocket core stage for the first Artemis mission.  
• Delivered the Orion spacecraft’s European   service module   and first   rocket   component to   Florida , and completed a series of Orion   water impact testing .  
• Delivered the Orion   pressure vessel   for Artemis III.  
• Selected   five U.S. companies to advance sustainable human landing system concepts, conduct risk-reduction activities, and provide feedback on NASA’s requirements to cultivate industry capabilities for crewed lunar landing missions.  
• Completed a new series of RS-25   testing ,   compression testing   for the universal stage adapter on next configuration of SLS rocket, testing for   upgraded boosters .  
• Completed   the first of many propulsion system ground tests with its commercial partner to ensure the Power and Propulsion Element for Gateway is ready for flight, and began   primary structure assembly   of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, Gateway’s initial crew cabin.  
• Japan   committed   to Gateway, becoming the third nation to support development of the lunar outpost.  
• Announced the   landing site   for the PRIME-1 lunar drill, an ice mining experiment that will land near the Moon’s South Pole in 2022.  
• Worked to advance commercial partnerships to develop   next-generation spacesuits , recruiting for a   Mars simulation mission , and   input   to position SLS for long-term success, and is working with American companies to refine the future of a   lunar terrain vehicle .  
• As part of advancing international cooperation on and around the Moon, added new signatories to the   Artemis Accords .   Australia   also signed a   new agreement   to further support human and robotic lunar exploration efforts.  
• Delivered   the ShadowCam instrument that will photograph permanently shadowed regions of the Moon to the Republic of Koreas Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter mission and provided nine scientists for its mission team.  
• Awarded Firefly Aerospace a task order to send 10   science and technology demonstrations   to the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin in 2023.  
• Selected   three new science investigations   as part of the Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM).  
• Selected Intuitive Machines to deliver one PRISM demonstration and three other demonstrations to   Reiner Gamma .  
• Announced the creation of   two new NASA mission directorates   to best position the agency for the next 20 years of human spaceflight.  
• Added   new antenna   to the Deep Space Network and   upgraded   NASA’s space communications infrastructure.  
• Crowdsourced to gather nearly   190 designs   for a mobile lunar heliostat or “Sun reflector,” a device that could be used to redirect sunlight to power technologies on the lunar surface.  
• Completed a   full-scale assembly   in a new clean room for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover ( VIPER ) plus two rounds of VIPER   practice exiting the lander   and   rolling onto the rocky surface   of the Moon as well as the rover’s   critical design review , turning the mission’s focus toward construction of the rover beginning in late 2022 for a launch in 2023.  
• Also announced the   landing site selection   for VIPER, which will be delivered to the Nobile region of the Moon’s South Pole as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services ( CLPS ) initiative.  
• Announced 18 winners for phase one of the   Deep Space Food Challenge , conducted a   45-day mission simulation to Mars’ moon, Phobos, and recruited crew members for a one-year   Mars mission simulation to   begin in 2022.
• NASA’s   X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology   aircraft continued assembly at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility, reaching milestones such as the final testing of its   eXternal Vision System   and the vehicle’s airframe   supporting   its own weight. Other equipment needed to test the vehicle’s noise production, such as a   shock-sensing probe   and   ground recorders , are being prepared. The aircraft also completed   air data probe and boom testing   in the agency’s 8′ x 6′ Supersonic Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in   Cleveland .  
• The   Transonic Truss-Braced Wing   aircraft concept, one of the promising technologies being matured under the Sustainable Flight National Partnership, underwent   wind-tunnel testing   this year.  
• With the goal of creating hybrid-electric aircraft, NASA researchers are   developing a small-core jet engine . By shrinking the size of an engine’s compressor and turbine, more thrust and electrical power can be achieved for the same amount of fuel, therefore making the engine more fuel-efficient.  
• Completed its   Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 , which will help reduce flight delays, streamline airport operations, and curb emissions, and saving more than one million gallons of   jet fuel   during the course of its research.  
• Research by the Air Traffic Management – eXploration project continued to advance the use of   unmanned aircraft systems   in U.S. skies. This year, for example, the project conducted   Integrated Dry Run   tests using a helicopter and launched a new activity,   Upper Class E Traffic Management .  
• As part of the   Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign , NASA and Joby Aviation   conducted flight tests   of Joby’s all-electric aircraft. NASA researchers collected data on the vehicle’s performance, acoustics, and communications critical to achieving the goal of   Advanced Air Mobility   mission.  
• Continued work on the   X-57 Maxwell , NASA’s first fully-electric aircraft, with the completion of   high-voltage testing , in which the vehicle’s electrical systems were powered-up and tested.  
• NASA’s Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations activity,   or STEReO , held a wildfire management   workshop . Researchers from the activity also worked on-site with   firefighting organizations   in   California .  
• The Systems Integration and Operationalization demonstration activity   concluded its research   into potential commercial applications of unmanned aircraft systems. In the final demonstration, an unmanned aircraft   simulated   the aerial inspection of a gas pipeline.  
• Software developed by the Resilient Autonomy activity successfully   saved a s imulated aircraft from crashing . This new technology is based off a NASA innovation called the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, which currently is used in U.S. military aircraft.  
• The University Leadership Initiative   selected new participants , and researchers and students in the initiative have continued to include and inspire the next generation of   aeronautical innovators .
• The agency embarked on a new paradigm for space communications with the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, which launched   Dec. 7 , along with preparations to launch another   optical communications payload   aboard Psyche.  
• NASA’s   Deep Space Atomic Clock   concluded a successful two-year mission to advance precise timekeeping in space, and a version of the instrument was selected to fly to   Venus   aboard the VERITAS mission.  
• Cutting-edge technology, such as   Terrain-Relative Navigation,   helped land Perseverance   safely on Mars , where the rover provided the   first weather report   from Mars’ Jezero Crater and tested new technology to   produce oxygen   on the Red Planet.  
• With the Department of Energy, advanced the next generation of space exploration with awards for   nuclear spacecraft propulsion   and a call for   fission surface power concepts .  
• The agency spurred innovation from students and the private sector with prizes and challenges on problems ranging from energy production   on the Moon   to creating   food for deep-space missions .   https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-winners-of-deep-space-food-challenge NASA awarded final prizes for teams who   grew human tissues   in the lab, developed code for autonomous   space robots , and demonstrated concepts for   converting carbon dioxide   in the Martian atmosphere into useful sugars.  
• A series of awards through the   NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program   encouraged out-of-the-box early-stage ideas, like a radio telescope in a lunar crater and a method for growing space habitats from fungi.  
• Established two new university-led   Space Technology Research Institutes   to advance crucial propulsion and atmospheric entry technologies for exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  
• The Space Technology Mission Directorate’s   Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative   drove technology development for living and working on the Moon,   awarding six teams   for lunar surface technology concepts and continuing collaboration with more than 500 participants in the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium.  
• Awarded more than   $200 million   to hundreds of U.S. small businesses for technology development, supporting the U.S. economy and bringing technology like   metal 3D printing   closer to use for exploration of the   Moon and beyond .  
• To light the way for lunar exploration, NASA selected five companies to develop   vertical solar array technology   that would provide reliable, stable power on the rocky, often shaded lunar surface.  
• An   inflatable heat shield technology   that could one day help land humans on Mars advanced closer to its test flight in 2022.  
• NASA’s Flight Opportunities conducted 95 tests of technology payloads across 34 commercial suborbital spacecraft, rocket, high-altitude balloon, and reduced gravity aircraft flights, including a   Moon-bound computer system , a   delivery system   to carry small payloads back to Earth from the space station, and   several technologies aboard a Blue Origin flight.  
• A NASA   Glenn study   exploring potential lunar Wi-Fi infrastructure concepts for Artemis is helping to address digital inequality on Earth. The study applied lunar network approaches to address technical challenges to Wi-Fi connectivity in   Cleveland .  
• Appointed its first diversity and inclusion advisor to advance the administration’s commitment to advance racial equity.  
• Named the   Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building   in   Washington . Jackson was the first African American female engineer at NASA, whose work was critical to sending the first Americans to space. She went on to lead programs influencing the hiring and promotion of women in NASA’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  
• Developed a standard internal community of practice for agencywide observances of heritage month events planning, integration, and communications to advance White House Administration Observance objectives.  
• Continued to expand its Spanish-language communication activities:  
• Conducted NASA’s first live Spanish-language broadcast of a planetary landing,   Juntos Perseveramos . That show has surpassed 2.6 million views and is the top video on the agency’s Spanish channel.  
• NASA also launched “ Los Martes de Marte ” (Mars’ Tuesdays), a web series for the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission from landing to Ingenuity’s first flight on Mars and completed the second season of   Hispan@s de la NASA .  
• The NASA en español social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram grew their total followers by over 30% in 2021 to more than 1.7 million. They shared over 50% more content, and saw engagements grow by nearly 160%.  
• Translated NASA’s first graphic novel translated into Spanish: “ La primera mujer “, aired the first NASA podcast episode in Spanish, focused on the Webb telescope, and hosted a   Spanish-language broadcast   of the Webb launch.
• Named a Diversity Champion winner as part of the LinkedIn Talent Awards for recruitment efforts. NASA was the only federal agency nominated in any category.  
• In May, students who are deaf, blind, or hearing or visually impaired, and their mentors had an   opportunity   to connect with astronauts serving aboard space station to promote inclusion in space and help pave the way for space explorers with disabilities.  
• Collaborated with Future Engineers to create the   Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest . Nearly 14,000 students from every state entered the contest and the   three grand prize winners   were announced in May.  
• Awarded approximately   $3.82 million   in cooperative agreements to 39 research and development projects through the agency’s   Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research   (EPSCoR) Rapid Response Research program.  
• Engaged more than a million students through the Mars Student Challenge as part of NASA’s   #CountdownToMars and connected with a diverse public with the Webb Space Telescope’s   #UnfoldTheUniverse art challenge , featured on the Webb STEM+Arts virtual platform.  
• Published “ First Woman ,” the agency’s first digital, interactive graphic novel.  
• Launched two new student challenges. The   TechRise Student Challenge   invites teams of sixth to 12th-grade students to design, build, and launch climate, remote-sensing, and space exploration experiments on suborbital rockets and high-altitude balloon flights. The   Lunabotics Junior Challenge   invites K-12 students to design a robot that digs and moves regolith from the Moon’s South Pole to a holding container for Artemis astronauts.  
• Awarded a total of approximately   $18 million   to Minority Serving Institutions, with funding to study Earth, develop space technology, and expand participation in engineering and NASA’s small business awards.  
• Awarded nearly   $1 million   to seven teams of university students for the 2021   BIG Idea Challenge.
• Grew the agency’s social media following to 277 million so far in 2021 – up 14% from 240 million in 2020.  
• Shares on social media posts across the agency reached 8.3 million in 2021, matching the pace of 2019 (8.5 million shares) and lower than 2020’s record of 12.7 million shares.  
• Three flagship NASA accounts reached follower milestones this year, passing 50 million (Twitter) and 70 million (Instagram), while our Tumblr blog reached one million followers.  
• On   Feb. 18 , 4.2 million peak viewers watched live as our Perseverance rover landed on Mars, and nearly   370K   live viewers tuned in   Feb. 22   to view images and video of the landing. Our top three most-viewed videos of 2021 all featured Perseverance, with the live landing broadcast now the most-watched video of all time on NASA’s flagship YouTube channel (23 million views).  
• On Nasa.gov, the “Send Your Name to Mars” feature was the fourth most-visited page due to interest in the Perseverance landing, with 16.9 million members of the public signing up for a boarding pass on future Mars missions, and millions also opting to receive our weekly NASA Explore newsletter, which more than doubled its signups and is near seven million total subscribers.  
• NASA hosted our first-ever Twitter Spaces   Sept. 29 , focusing on the James Webb Space Telescope, with 68,000 unique listeners joining to learn about the mission.  
• To date in 2021, NASA livestreamed 148 events to agency flagship channels. The 13 Virtual NASA Socials on Facebook have a total of 363,000 respondents.  
• NASA won three   Webby   Awards and two People’s Voice Webbys in 2021 and was nominated for six (plus one honoree).  
• On nasa.gov, nine out of 10 most-viewed agency news releases in 2021 were about Perseverance or the Ingenuity helicopter, with the release announcing the first audio from the rover taking the top spot. Nineteen new special features were launched on nasa.gov, including the   Value of NASA , the “ First Woman” graphic novel , and the “ You Are Going ” storybook.  
• NASA partnered with LEGO Education for a 10-week STEM engagement series. The Artemis Build to Launch STEM   series   primarily highlights the NASA Artemis I mission and NASA careers, but also includes features about the ISS,   James Webb   and other NASA missions. More than 4,000 educators across 90 countries signed up to participate. NASA also   announced   four minifigures will fly on the Artemis I mission in the Official Flight Kit as part of this collaboration.  
• NASA   announced   Snoopy will serve as the zero-gravity indicator on the Artemis I mission around the Moon. Snoopy will be outfitted in a custom orange flight suit, and Peanuts released a new suite of curriculum and short videos with its partners, GoNoodle and Young Minds Inspired, to encourage kids to learn about gravity, teamwork, and space exploration while they follow Snoopy along on his Artemis I journey.  
• In addition to the doll and Sliver Snoopy pins, a pen nib from   Charles M. Schulz’s   Peanuts studio will make the trek on Artemis I wrapped in a space themed comic strip as part of a collection of mementos selected by NASA to fly aboard the Orion spacecraft.  
• NASA collaborated with several commercial entities to support NASA themed merchandise, including: a LEGO Space Shuttle Discovery and Hubble model; a Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover with link to more NASA information; Lucky Charms Galaxy Edition that included Artemis box content; Frito-Lay Artemis snack packs with related educational content and scholarships for underserved children; and a Krispy Kreme Mars doughnut marking landing day for the Perseverance Mars rover.  
• NASA also collaborated with screens in Times Square and Piccadilly Circus, as well as other locations across the globe, to feature the Mars Perseverance landing and Webb Space Telescope. In addition to Mars and Webb Space Telescope content on Google’s Arts & Culture page, Google created special search features to include Mars Perseverance fireworks and a simulated Ingenuity helicopter flight against a Mars background during the first test flight.  
• At the request of the administration, NASA loaned a   Moon rock   from the 1972 Apollo 17 mission – the last crewed mission to the lunar surface – to be displayed in the White House Oval Office.  
• Collaborations to spotlight agency events included sending congrats to Scripps National Spelling Bee winner and aspiring NASA team member   Zaila Avant -garde, and a message from astronauts on the space station appearing at the MTV Video Music Awards.  
• Among the many other talent engagements with the agency this year, NASA worked with   Arnold Schwarzenegger , Sia,   William Shatner ,   Yo-Yo Ma ,   Jo-Jo Siwa ,   Kehinde Wiley ,   Shawn Mendez , and others.  
• A few highlights of the agency’s collaborations with the film and television industry included Moonfall, War of the Worlds, Don’t Look Up, and Million Miles Away.  
• The agency’s merchandise team worked with a variety of brands including Balenciaga, Target, Omega, H&M, Proctor & Gamble/Tide, and more.
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 completed the agency’s first   post-flight visit   to   Washington   in nearly two years. The astronauts met with members of Congress, presented a flag to U.S. Space Force Gen.   John Raymond , participated in local STEM activities, and more.  
• More than 458,000 people around the world registered to take part in NASA’s   virtual launch   experiences, up 11% from 2020. This initiative has continued as an alternative launch-viewing opportunity in response to COVID-19.  
• Returned to in-person events with exhibits at both Space Symposium in   Colorado Springs, Colorado , and the International Astronautical Congress in   Dubai .  
• NASA Glenn held a dedication ceremony for its Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in   Sandusky, Ohio , and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in   Houston   renamed   its Rocket Park to honor former Director   George Abbey .

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What's next for Europe's Euclid 'dark universe' telescope after stunning SpaceX launch?

The long journey is just beginning.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new space observatory is flying across the void after a dramatic launch atop a SpaceX rocket Saturday (July 1), but its journey has just begun.

The European Euclid space telescoe began its long journey to deep space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Space Coast.

"You can imagine all the tension and all the pressure that is on people," European Space Agency director-general Josef Aschbacher said at a briefing after the launch Saturday (July 1). He added not all the tension has dissipated yet.

Related: How will Europe's Euclid space telescope see into the dark universe?

"It was really a fantastic launch — from the insertion of the spacecraft into orbit separation," he noted. But he said researchers are anxious to the point "where the various instruments are being switched on. This takes a couple of weeks." 

The space observatory will now spend the next month commuting to the sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, which is about 1 million miles (1.5 million km) away from our planet on the opposite side of the sun .

Next comes a complex sequence of tests and observations to make sure its two instruments are ready to go before it is cleared for its ultimate mission: to find evidence of invisible dark matter and dark energy and how it is shaping our universe, Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca told Space.com.

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Related: We've never seen dark matter or dark energy. How do we know they exist?

Now that Euclid is in space and sending signals home, its first task is to put itself on the right trajectory for L2. That will happen roughly two days after launch, and its path will be verified along the way to make sure it is heading in the right direction.

The first month of Euclid's space journey will see it fly to L2, naturally cooling down to space temperatures, while all instruments and systems will be checked out for space. Then months 2 and 3 will see engineers assess the performance of Euclid against what we'd expect on the ground (which will include, perhaps, the release of some calibration images — although mission representatives are tight-lipped about the timing.)

"After this total of three months, then we should be ready to start science observations, but we still have to make some particular calibration even then," Racca said. Euclid will probably be fully ready in about eight months, assuming nothing goes awry during the testing.

The long calibration sequence is akin to what the NASA James Webb Space Telescope experienced after its own launch and journey to L2, which luckily happened with just minor calibration issues. JWST is peering at teeny-tiny sections of the universe in high detail, while Euclid will instead survey large swaths of the sky for the bending of light around stars or galaxies. That's a telltale sign of the dark universe.

Racca said team members will especially be anxious for image quality, which can be affected by things such as humidity — an irony considering Euclid launched from Florida during a typical damp July day. "Only a few nanometers of water ice into our optics affects our image quality," he said.

—  Euclid mission: ESA's hunt for dark matter and dark energy

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— The Euclid spacecraft will transform how we view the 'dark universe'

There fortunately is a backup plan if Euclid has a bit of stray moisture, but mission project scientist René Laureijs told Space.com it will be tricky.

"If we do have contamination, we have to heat up the satellite to cool it down again to get the moisture away," he said. "In principle, we can just do it. But it will shot a hole in our schedule."

Euclid needs to get moving quickly to map 15,000 square degrees (a third of the sky), so the team will be watching anxiously to make sure it's ready to go. If the moisture does need to be removed, Laureijs said it will be "difficult to do in order to finish the survey on time," but there is still room for it.

Elizabeth Howell's trip to Florida was co-sponsored by Canadian Geographic magazine and Canada's University of Waterloo, where Euclid's primary science coordinator (Will Percival) is based. Space.com has independent control of news coverage.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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