NPR News: How a Black fossil digger became a superstar in the very white world of paleontology

How a Black fossil digger became a superstar in the very white world of paleontology
In South Africa, paleontology has been dominated by white people. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that dynamic — and coloring in the picture of the world our distant ancestors once inhabited.

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Station Nation: Erin Edwards, Deputy Branch Chief for Crew Operations and Capsule Communicator

As a member of the Crew Operations Office, Erin Edwards and her team manage astronaut candidate training schedules, including field medical exercises, land survival, and underwater operations at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. She also develops and tests new training programs to keep crews mission-ready.   Along with her role as a crew operations officer, Edwards works in the […]

February 04, 2026
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ARMD Research Solicitations (Updated Feb. 4)

THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 4, 2026 This Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems. Most opportunities to participate in research are officially announced through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated […]

February 04, 2026
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TB 26-01 Evaluation of Adhesive and Solvent Alternatives for Polymeric Bonding Applications

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) conducted a technical assessment to evaluate alternatives to dichloromethane, traditionally used for bonding transparent polymeric materials. This effort was initiated in response to potential regulatory restrictions under the EPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which could impact critical bonding processes used in spaceflight hardware and experimental systems. Download […]

February 04, 2026
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NASA Armstrong Contributions Propel Artemis, Deep Space Innovation

NASA is leveraging expertise, capabilities, and partnerships across its centers to make Artemis campaign and deep space exploration safer, more reliable, and efficient. At NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, contributions include technical leadership, unique flight-testing capabilities, and management of a key technology program that advances critical exploration concepts. Artemis II is an […]

February 04, 2026
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NASA’s SPHEREx Examines Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Coma

Description These observations by NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) show the infrared light emitted by the dust, water, organic molecules, and carbon dioxide contained within comet 3I/ATLAS’s coma. The comet brightened significantly during the December 2025 period when SPHEREx made the observations — about two […]

February 04, 2026
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NASA Heat Shield Tech Contributes to America’s Space Industry

This Jan. 29, 2026, photo captures the streak the Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule made while returning to Earth. The capsule uses a protective heat shield Varda produced made of cutting-edge material it licensed from NASA. The material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive, and more efficient thermal protection […]

February 04, 2026
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