What can’t we see from Earth orbit? Dark matter signatures hidden in the Dark Ages. The magnetic fields shielding habitable worlds around nearby stars. Gravitational waves from merging intermediate-mass black holes. The surfaces of Sun-like stars at unprecedented milliarcsecond resolution.

These are just some of the discoveries waiting beyond Earth’s atmosphere and interference. The Astrophysics from the Moon, Mars, & Beyond Science & Technology Interest Group (AMMB STIG) is formulating the science cases and defining the next-generation technologies needed to build the next great observatory – and it might just be on the Moon!

If you’re attending the AAS Summer Meeting this week, stop by the PhysCOS table to learn more about AMMB STIG, or reach out to nmahesh@caltech.edu to get involved.

To stay up to date, you can join our mailing list by sending an email to AMMB-STIG-join@lists.nasa.gov with the subject line “subscribe.”

The post Announcing the AMMB STIG appeared first on NASA Science.

In Effect from 5 August 2026

Dear NASA grantee community, 

In accordance with Grant Information Circular 26‑02 [PDF], Research Security Training Requirements, all covered individuals named on NASA grant and cooperative agreement proposals will be required to attest that they have completed research security training prior to proposal submission beginning 5 August 2026. This attestation will be made by signing a certification included in the NASA biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support forms. To support your preparation, NASA is providing advance copies of the updated forms that will be required starting 5 August 2026. The new attestation related to research security training is highlighted within these documents.

Please note: Do not use these updated forms before August 5, 2026. Until that date, continue to use the current biographical sketch and current and pending support forms available on the NASA Grant Operations Management website under “Grant Forms.”

The post Forthcoming Revisions to NASA Disclosure Forms appeared first on NASA Science.

Respond By 31 July 2026

The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) aims to capture the most reliable census of extragalactic objects and provide essential data and tools to facilitate astrophysics research and exploration. 

NED has new APIs which provide access to more data and services! See the new NED API specification document for details. Notice: The legacy APIs are deprecated and cannot access data ingested after January 2026.

We are currently assessing the importance of some data types in NED to the research of our users, and how to best deliver these and other data. Please help make NED better by taking this short survey (5 mins to complete) by 31 July 2026.

The post NASA-IPAC NED – New APIs and Survey appeared first on NASA Science.

Comments Due by 13 July 2026

Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)-2025 is an ongoing “omnibus” or “umbrella” solicitation meaning that it includes many individual program elements each with its own topics and due dates. Refer to Table 3 of ROSES-25 for a list of those program elements. The ROSES-25 “Summary of Solicitation” is the front matter that sets the default backstop rules for each of the program elements in ROSES-25.

ROSES-25 Amendment 59 makes several additions, changes, and clarifications to the ROSES-25 Summary of Solicitation [PDF] to conform with Agency and administration priorities, see Sections I, I(g), II(a), II(b), III(b), III(d), V(b)ii, VI(c) & VIII(b). New text is in bold.

Important and substantial revisions to 2 CFR 200, the government-wide guidance for grants and cooperative agreements are proposed to take effect October 1, 2026; see the proposed regulation webpage on the Federal Register. Many types of currently allowable costs, such as but not limited to publications, research or events outside the United States, and domestic conferences may be restricted, denied, or may be allowable by legal exception or special award conditions only. Public comments on the revisions to 2 CFR 200 may be submitted until 13 July 2026, using the OMB comments portal.

Questions concerning this amendment to ROSES-25 may be directed to SARA@nasa.gov.

The post ROSES-25: Updates to ROSES-25 Summary of Solicitation appeared first on NASA Science.

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) announces the release of an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to solicit Principal Investigator (PI)-led space science investigations for the Small Explorer (SMEX) opportunity under the Astrophysics Explorers Program. The SMD strategic goal of expanding human knowledge through new scientific discoveries in astrophysics includes the broad objective: “to understand the Sun, Earth, Solar System, and Universe.” SMD addresses this objective through astrophysics investigations that address one or more of these science goals:

• How does the Universe work? Probe the origin and destiny of our universe, including the nature of black holes, dark energy, dark matter and gravity.
• How did we get here? Explore the origin and evolution of the galaxies, stars, and planets that make up our universe.
• Are we alone? Discover and study planets around other stars and explore whether they could harbor life. 

The 2026 Astrophysics SMEX (APSMEX26) Schedule is as follows:

• AO Release Date: 9 June 2026 
• Preproposal Conference Date: 30 June 2026
• Mandatory Notice of Intent Due Date: 21 July 2026 
• Proposal Due Date: 9 September 2026

For the full, final text of the Astrophysics Explorers Program 2026 SMEX AO, visit its NSPIRES webpage.

Prospective investigators from any category of organizations or institutions, U.S. or non-U.S. with some restrictions as specified in Section 4.2.1 of the AO, are welcome. Specific categories of organizations and institutions include, but are not limited to, educational, industrial, and not-for-profit organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), NASA Centers, and other Government agencies. Both U.S. and non-U.S. participation is subject to China restrictions described in Sections 4.2.2 and 5.8.1 of the AO.

All interested parties must read the final APSMEX26 AO carefully for significant changes from the draft AO (NNH25ZDA008J) and prior years’ SMD Explorers Program AOs. Of particular importance is the change in evaluation and selection to a single-step competitive process. NASA intends to select one investigation proposal from the APSMEX26 responses to proceed into a combined Phase A&B. All proposals must comply with the requirements, constraints, and guidelines contained within the AO. 

The Science Office for Mission Assessments (SOMA) will post the virtual Preproposal Conference agenda, connection information, and related information on the official 2026 Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) website, which also provides further information, including the SMEX Program Library and SMEX Question & Answer (Q&A) page. Anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved. Proposers are encouraged to send comments and questions early so that they may be fully addressed. Questions posed at least one week before the Pre-Proposal Conference may be addressed in the Pre-Proposal Conference presentation or on the SMEX Q&A page. The deadline for other questions is two (2) weeks before the proposal due date.

Please address all questions or comments about the Astrophysics SMEX 2026 AO Daniel Moses, APSMEX26 Lead Program Scientist, dan.moses@nasa.gov; Hannah Jang-Condell, APSMEX26 Deputy Program Scientist, hannah.jang-condell@nasa.gov; and Omar Torres, Lead Acquisition Manager for the 2026 Astrophysics SMEX AO, SOMA omar.torres@nasa.gov using subject line “APSMEX26” to be properly routed.

The post Astrophysics Explorers Program 2026 SMEX AO appeared first on NASA Science.

Ten days ago, in a moment of very high drama in orbit, NASA directed its astronauts living on the International Space Station to briefly seek emergency refuge in a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Since then, neither the US space agency nor Roscosmos has provided additional public information about the situation in orbit. But according to sources who spoke to Ars, following the spectacle in space, the problem has been successfully fixed.

At issue were persistent cracks in a small area of the International Space Station attached to the Russian Zvezda service module, known as the PrK module. The problem has been ongoing since 2019, and Russian astronauts have been attempting various fixes, often using a sealant called Germetall-1.

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