NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program is a science‑enabling program that provides licensed access to high‑quality commercial Earth observation data, strengthens data quality through calibration/validation (cal/val) partnerships and transparent evaluations, and funds the development of science and application use cases to help turn commercial data into actionable research and applied solutions.
The program augments NASA’s gold standard fleet of freely and openly available Earth observing satellite observations and data products with high-resolution, high-frequency, and taskable commercial datasets.
During this webinar, speakers will provide an overview of the CSDA program’s activities and progress. Topics will include data modalities available through the program, updates to the evaluation process, the new cal/val initiative, and the status of existing task orders with CSDA data providers. In addition, presenters will cover the types of end-user licensing agreements, data availability and access, new data archive and tasking capabilities available through the Satellite Data Explorer, user engagement opportunities, and new learning resources.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
A Daytime Eclipse: Moon Occults Venus
There was something behind the clouds. Upon close inspection, it was the Moon, which was hard to see yesterday around noon above the small village of Cessy, France. But soon, it was not only the Moon. As expected, a bright dot suddenly appeared from behind the Moon — the planet Venus far in the distance. Captured in the single featured exposure, both appeared to show a crescent phase. The Moon’s crescent was quite slight — with only about 10 percent of its face illuminated by the Sun. In contrast, Venus’s crescent was more full — showing about 25 percent illumination. Venus appeared brighter because it is nearer the Sun and because its clouds are more reflective than the dark lunar surface. An occultation of Venus by the Moon is visible to only about 10 percent of the Earth, but in yesterday’s event even most of that was experiencing daytime.
The NSSC provides travel reimbursement services for all authorized Agency travel including: domestic, foreign, local, ETDY, and Change of Station (COS).
POV Mileage for NASA Travelers
For Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates for TDY and ETDY Travel please refer to the GSA Web site: http://www.gsa.gov/mileage
NASA Domestic Travel: Day that Travel Ends
For the day travel ends (the day a traveler returns to the PDS, home, or other authorized point), the per diem allowance is 75% of M&IE.
NASA Domestic Travel Rental Car Liability
When making a reservation for a rental car, please remember the Government is only responsible to pay for rental car charges for official travel time. If a traveler decides to take annual leave in conjunction with official travel and keeps the rental car during annual leave, the portion of the rental rate applicable to annual leave is the responsibility of the traveler. Please refer to 41 CFR 301-10.453
What is my liability for unauthorized use of a rental automobile obtained with Government funds?
You are responsible for any additional cost resulting from the unauthorized use of a commercial rental automobile for other than official travel-related purposes.
NASA Domestic Travel: Tax Exemption
Prior to traveling, refer to the GSA State Tax Information webpage: https://smartpay.gsa.gov/smarttax. Select your State/US territory of interest to see the exemption status and download the appropriate form, if required.
Extended Temporary Duty (ETDY)
Reduced Per Diem rate
NASA’s standard reduced per diem rate for ETDY travel is 65 percent under the current policy as defined in the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 9750.1-3.1.2.
a. Consistent with 41 CFR 301-11.200, an ETDY authorization can include reasonable further reductions from this standard rate or limitations on approved lodging for unique circumstances, to the extent it can be determined in advance that such will substantially lower costs without mission impact. For example, if lodging is obtained at 50 percent per diem, the ETDY authorization should be adjusted to authorize a lower rate.
b. The reduced rate of reimbursement begins on the first day of travel regardless of the mode of transportation, except as noted in 3.1.3. Allowances are covered by the reduced per diem rate; therefore, NASA will authorize the employee a per diem rate (up to 65 percent) to reasonably cover expenses for a one bedroom furnished apartment. For ETDY greater than 90 days, first consideration should be given to long-term lodging facilities. Long-term lodging facilities are available on the GSA schedule at http://www.gsa.gov. If a long-term facility is not selected, proper justification should be provided.
Find more about Allowable ETDY Expenses Included in Reduced Per Diem Rate, please see the following document:
GSA’s Schedule 48 is designed for lodging needs of 30 days or more. This program provides housing accommodations for temporary or permanent relocation. Typical facilities include apartment or condominium type properties that may be furnished with all the amenities of a regular home. The current list of vendors is available by clicking on the link above. Most of these properties will accommodate NASA Extended TDY travelers within the 65% reduce per diem rate and will allow use of the government charge card.
Foreign Travel
Please consult the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), NPR 9710.1, and NPR 9750.1. Please call the NSSC Contact Center using this form for additional information.
NASA’s Webb Reveals Dynamic Panorama of Star Formation
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed IC 348, a star-forming region just 1,000 light-years away from Earth. Webb’s sharp vision revealed tiny brown dwarfs, some just twice Jupiter’s mass, and young stars ejecting powerful jets crashing into surrounding gas and dust.
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Kevin Luhman (PSU), Catarina Alves de Oliveira (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)
This starry view of the nearby star-forming region IC 348 is one of the largest images released to date from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Using Webb, astronomers searched IC 348 for brown dwarfs, which are less massive than the smallest stars. The researchers discovered brown dwarfs just twice the mass of Jupiter, bringing the study of these curious objects into a new mass range and revealing new insights about the star formation process.
The star-forming region IC 348 is located just 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. In regions like IC 348, cold clouds of molecular hydrogen gas collapse to form new stars, creating glowing, sculpted scenes like this one. The star-formation process can create widely varied objects, from massive stars that expire after only a few million years in core-collapse supernova explosions to the smallest and most common stars, which are long lived and produce powerful stellar storms.
IC 348 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed IC 348, a star-forming region just 1,000 light-years away from Earth. Webb’s sharp vision revealed tiny brown dwarfs, some just twice Jupiter’s mass, and young stars ejecting powerful jets crashing into surrounding gas and dust.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Kevin Luhman (PSU), Catarina Alves de Oliveira (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)
The smallest stars weigh in at around 8 percent of the Sun’s mass. Below this mass lies a strange class of objects called brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs form in the same way stars do, through the collapse of molecular clouds. However, unlike stars, the cores of brown dwarfs never become hot enough to fuse ordinary hydrogen into helium (though many briefly fuse deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, early in their lives).
What’s still not clear, and what researchers hoped to learn by using Webb’s sensitive instruments to study IC 348, is how small the smallest objects created by the star-formation process are. In other words, how small is the smallest brown dwarf?
The team used Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) in 2024 to capture the warm glow of young brown dwarfs and newborn stars seen in this new image of IC 348. After selecting candidate brown dwarfs based on their colors and brightness, they followed up with Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) in 2025 to conduct spectroscopic observations to study the masses of the brown dwarfs.
These deep Webb observations revealed something remarkable to the researchers: brown dwarfs with masses as low as just twice the mass of Jupiter or only 0.19 percent of the Sun’s mass — far smaller than theory predicts brown dwarfs should be. These are the least massive brown dwarfs known and their existence poses a challenge to models of how stars form.
In addition to the discovery of these unexpectedly lightweight brown dwarfs, the Webb observations contained even more surprises. One of the lightest newfound brown dwarfs showed signs of a disk, suggesting that small planets could be forming around an object that is itself only the mass of a planet.
While inspecting the spectra of IC 348’s brown dwarfs, the research team also found a feature they attributed to an unidentified hydrocarbon — molecules made only of hydrogen and carbon atoms. This specific feature has only been seen in the atmospheres of the lowest-mass brown dwarfs, suggesting that these extreme objects might exist in a spectral class of their own.
The stars and brown dwarfs of IC 348 aren’t the only attractions in this image. A brilliantly detailed collection of protostars occupies the upper right corner. Several of these protostars are accompanied by Herbig-Haro objects, which are luminous regions that form when jets from growing newborn stars crash into the gas and dust around the star.
The long, narrow feature that is oriented horizontally in this corner is the Herbig-Haro object HH 797. Upon close inspection, this source is revealed to be two protostars with nearly parallel outflows. Just to the right of HH 797 is the propeller-shaped source HH 211, which features both narrow jets and broader outflows.
IC 348 Collage
This collage features a collection of insets from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of star-forming region IC 348: embedded stars, a central star cluster, faint outflows, Herbig-Haro objects, gravitational lensing, and spiral galaxies.
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Kevin Luhman (PSU), Catarina Alves de Oliveira (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)
The data used to create this image comes from the Webb General Observer Program 4866. In addition to studying the lowest-mass objects created through the star-formation process, this program also seeks to understand how the populations of planetary-mass objects like brown dwarfs vary between star-forming regions, as well as the origins of the hydrocarbon feature in the lowest-mass brown dwarfs.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
The following sections contain links to download this article’s images and videos in all available resolutions followed by related information links, media contacts, and if available, research paper and Spanish translation links.
Related Images & Videos
IC 348 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed IC 348, a star-forming region just 1,000 light-years away from Earth. Webb’s sharp vision revealed tiny brown dwarfs, some just twice Jupiter’s mass, and young stars ejecting powerful jets crashing into surrounding gas and dust.
IC 348 Collage
This collage features a collection of insets from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of star-forming region IC 348: embedded stars, a central star cluster, faint outflows, Herbig-Haro objects, gravitational lensing, and spiral galaxies.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik (left) and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano view progress on the solid rocket booster integration in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026.
Bresnik, Parmitano, and NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, and Bob Hines made the first visit to Kennedy by the entire crew and backup crew members of the Artemis III mission. Artemis III will launch four crew members aboard the Orion spacecraft to carry out a series of objectives in low Earth orbit designed to demonstrate critical systems needed for future lunar landings, beginning with Artemis IV.
In April, the world watched as four humans circled the Moon for the first time in over 50 years with NASA’s Artemis II mission. On Saturday, Sept. 19, the public is invited to look up again with NASA events across the country, including the International Observe the Moon Night celebration held at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
This year, NASA will celebrate International Observe the Moon Night with people around the world on Sept. 19.
NASA/Vi Nguyen
International Observe the Moon Night is an annual celebration that brings people together to learn about the Moon and explore our connection to Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor. Since the program began in 2010, people around the world have participated through lunar observations, hands-on activities, artwork, music, and more.
At NASA Goddard, this year’s celebration will highlight the agency’s ongoing exploration of the Moon, including the historic Artemis II mission. Visitors can peer behind the scenes to learn more about what it took to make Artemis II’s journey around the Moon a success and discover how Goddard scientists and engineers are helping advance our understanding of the Moon, solar system, and beyond.
The event will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.
Throughout the event at NASA Goddard, visitors can take part in interactive hands-on activities, create artwork and crafts, and capture selfies at a photo kiosk. Telescopes will also be set up outside (depending on weather), giving attendees an opportunity to observe the Moon and other astronomical objects up close. Inside the Visitor Center, guests can even see a real Apollo 14 Moon rock on display.
At 6:30 p.m., Dr. Amanda Nahm, planetary scientist at NASA Headquarters, will explore the lunar science and Moon joy from Artemis II.
At 7:30 p.m., Ernie Wright, scientific visualizer at NASA Goddard, will offer a more technical look at how scientists use real data to create videos and visualizations of the Moon.
A family observes the Moon through a telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. during the International Observe the Moon Night celebration on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.
NASA/Britt Griswold
The event will also offer a chance to learn more about the groundbreaking research happening at NASA Goddard as scientists work to unlock the secrets of the Moon with missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and explore our solar system and the universe beyond.
International Observe the Moon Night at Goddard is free and family friendly. Registration is not required, although registering in advance will help the Visitor Center team plan for the event. The event will take place rain or shine, and free parking is available at the Visitor Center.
For people who cannot travel to Greenbelt, there are opportunities to participate in International Observe the Moon Night from all around the planet. Join lunar observers around the world by observing the Moon with friends and family, attending a virtual event or finding an event in your area. Learn more and register your participation at go.nasa.gov/ObserveTheMoon.
International Observe the Moon Night is sponsored by NASA’s LRO mission and the Solar System Exploration Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with support from many partners. The celebration is a way for people to pause and look up at our future destination, as NASA prepares for deep space missions to the Moon and beyond.
NASA will host an International Observe the Moon Night celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m. CST on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the official visitor center for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
International Observe the Moon Night celebrates the Moon, the science behind it, and its connection to space exploration and human culture. NASA’s free public event will include agency experts delivering talks on lunar science and exploration and highlighting lunar observations made by the Artemis II crew in April.
Media interested in covering the event should confirm their attendance with Joel Wallace, [email protected], in the NASA Marshall newsroom by 3 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18. Media must report to the Davidson Center to participate in the event. Visitor parking is available at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
NASA will have opportunities for media to capture visuals and interview agency experts. Activities available for coverage include hands-on STEM activities, a science stage show, an event photo booth, and face-painting.
The event also features Janet Ivey, the host of the television children’s series, “Janet’s Planet.” The Von Braun Astronomical Society will be on-site with telescopes, providing attendees with guided tours of the Moon, planets, and other celestial objects.
The evening is presented by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA Marshall.
For more information about International Observe the Moon Night, visit:
Autumn color sweeps across the low-growing shrubs and tundra vegetation of Nunavut, Canada, in this image pair captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9. NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison.
As North America rode out a summer of remarkable heat, fall foliage and cool, crisp weather still seemed like distant, alien concepts across much of the continent in early September 2026. But fall comes early in the tundra and subarctic ecosystems of Nunavut, in far northern Canada.
Vivid signs of the season were already sweeping across the landscape on September 6 when the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 captured this image (right) of the Coppermine River winding through low-growing shrubs and tundra vegetation upriver of Kugluktuk, a community at the river’s mouth. The other image (left) shows the same area on July 27, 2026, when vegetation was still green.
The region is known for willow and birch shrubs, blueberries, bearberries, and other low-growing tundra plants that turn shades of red, orange, and yellow each fall. A NASA and South Dakota State University analysis of seven years of satellite data found that foliage in the region begins to change in early September and peaks in mid-month, making this one of the first places on the North American continent to change color. But blink and you might miss it: the analysis also showed that far northerly regions tend to have shorter periods of peak color—sometimes a week or less—compared to many lower-latitude areas.
In the fall, leaves change colors as they lose chlorophyll, the molecule that plants use to synthesize food. Chlorophyll makes plants appear green because it absorbs the red and blue light from sunlight as it strikes leaf surfaces. However, chlorophyll is not a stable compound, and plants must continuously synthesize it, a process that requires ample sunlight and warm temperatures. As temperatures drop and days shorten in autumn, levels of chlorophyll fall as well.
As concentrations of chlorophyll decline, the green fades from leaves, presenting an opportunity for other pigments—carotenoids and anthocyanins—to take the stage. Carotenoids absorb blue-green and blue light, so in the absence of chlorophyll, they cause leaves to appear yellow. Anthocyanins absorb blue, blue-green, and green light, so light reflecting off the pigments appears red.
Citizen scientists have an opportunity to help NASA scientists track fall color and contribute to long-term environmental databases with the GLOBE North American Phenology Campaign. Participants observe and record leaf color changes during the spring and fall, helping scientists understand plant responses to climate and environmental changes.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.Story by Adam Voiland.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Where Your Elements Came From
Explanation: The hydrogen in your body and present in every molecule of water came from the Big Bang. There are no other appreciable sources of hydrogen in the universe. The carbon in your body was made by nuclear fusion in the interior of stars, as was the oxygen. Much of the iron in your body was made during supernovas of stars that occurred long ago and far away. The gold in your jewelry was likely made from neutron stars during collisions that may have been visible as short-duration gamma-ray bursts or gravitational wave events. Elements like phosphorus and copper are present in our bodies in only small amounts but are essential to the functioning of all known life. The featured periodic table is color coded to indicate humanity‘s best guess as to the nuclear origin of all known elements. The sites of nuclear creation of some elements, such as copper, are not really well known and are continuing topics of observational and computational research.
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The members of NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class pose with rock samples collected during their geology training at the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico, in May 2026.
NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
Did you spend part of your summer camping, hiking, at the pool, or in an aircraft? So did NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class.
The 10 candidates have been working their way through a comprehensive and rigorous training program since the agency introduced them to the public on Sept. 22, 2025, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. They are approximately halfway through the nearly two-year training program, which will equip them for missions to low Earth orbit, the Moon, and ultimately, Mars.
Geology Studies
Since the astronaut candidates can one day be assigned to a future Artemis mission to the lunar surface, geology courses are an important part of their training. In May, candidates completed classroom trainings at Johnson before venturing to the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico for additional classroom instruction and training in the field. Several candidates also joined NASA astronauts and Artemis mission support teams for geology field training in Iceland in July. They practiced geologic observations, sampling with tools, navigation, and teamwork, all skills and processes that translate directly to Artemis lunar missions.
NASA astronaut candidates study rock samples during a geology classroom training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
NASA astronaut candidates Anna Menon, left, and Imelda Muller study a rock sample during a geology classroom training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA astronaut candidates hiked through Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico, during geology field training.
NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and NASA astronaut candidates Cameron Jones and Yuri Kubo participated in geology field training in Iceland, alongside NASA astronauts, Artemis mission support teams, and geology instructors.
NASA/James Blair
Flight Training
Whether learning to become a pilot or sharpening their existing piloting skills, astronaut candidates train in aircraft to build confidence, coordination, adaptability, and resilience in high-stakes environments. This summer, that training included flights on NASA’s WB-57s – a trio of long-range, high-altitude airplanes that have flown research missions since the 1960s. The class also began flying NASA’s T-38 supersonic jets.
NASA astronaut candidate Lauren Edgar prepares for flight training in one of NASA’s T-38 jets.
NASA astronaut candidate Rebecca Lawler, right, rides out to one of NASA’s WB-57 aircraft ahead of flight training at Ellington Field.
NASA/Josh Valcarcel
NASA astronaut candidate Adam Fuhrmann completes preflight checks of a WB-57 aircraft at Ellington Field.
NASA/Josh Valcarcel
NASA astronaut candidate Adam Furhmann sits inside the cockpit of a WB-57 aircraft as he prepares for flight training.
NASA/Josh Valcarcel
Altitude Chamber Runs
Candidates have also spent time in one of Johnson’s altitude chambers as part of their flight training. These unique facilities allow NASA to simulate physical pressure levels ranging from those at sea level to near vacuum. After donning flight suits and helmets, candidates enter the chamber to familiarize themselves with the conditions they will face on high-altitude flights and in space, and to practice different protocols and interventions designed to keep them safe.
April 8, 2025
NASA astronaut candidates Adam Fuhrmann and Rebecca Lawler prepare to conduct altitude chamber runs as part of their flight training.
NASA astronaut candidate Adam Fuhrmann sits inside the altitude chamber at NASA’s Sonny Carter Training Facility in Houston.
NASA/James Blair
A NASA team member observes astronaut candidate Adam Fuhrmann as he completes an altitude chamber run.
NASA/James Blair
Water Survival Training
Candidates continued survival training to prepare for the unlikely event of landing in remote environments after a mission. Water survival exercises in Johnson’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL, simulate these scenarios while also building teamwork and decision-making skills.
Some components of astronaut candidates’ water survival training are completed during simulated storms inside of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
NASA/Morgan Gridley
A NASA astronaut candidate practices being lifted out of the water during survival training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
NASA/Robert Markowitz
NASA astronaut candidate Rebecca Lawler floats in a raft during water survival training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
NASA/Robert Markowitz
On top of these exercises, candidates are completing intensive Russian language classes and cross-cultural training to prepare for missions spanning countries and continents. They are learning to operate spacecraft systems used in human spaceflight missions, conducting spacewalk training at the NBL, and training inside other mockups of space vehicles. They are also learning emergency procedures, maintenance, and repair of spacecraft.
The class is on track to graduate in 2027, when they will join NASA’s active astronaut corps and await their first flight assignments. Whether they go on to contribute to research taking place aboard the International Space Station or venture to the Moon to prepare for future Mars missions, the graduates will have the operational expertise, scientific knowledge, and technical background necessary to advance NASA’s deep space exploration goals and sustain a long-term human presence beyond low Earth orbit.
