Imagine you traveled thousands of miles to see a total solar eclipse, but as the Moon began moving in front of the Sun, the sky grows cloudy, blocking your view of the unique celestial spectacle.

That's what happened to University of Hawaii astronomer Shadia Habbal—several times.

After traveling all the way to Antarctica on her latest expedition to study the inner part of the Sun's outer atmosphere—the corona—Habbal was met with clouds once again.

A vital subsystem for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was recently delivered to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado, and installed in the spacecraft's Wide Field Instrument (WFI). Called the Simplified Relative Calibration System (sRCS), this component will allow astronomers to measure the total light output of cosmic objects like galaxies and supernovae with extreme accuracy. When Roman launches by May 2027, scientists will use this data to unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, discover exoplanets, and explore many topics in infrared astrophysics.

"Without this calibration tool, we wouldn't be able to gather accurate enough measurements to achieve the next-level science Roman is designed to do," said Joshua Schlieder, a research astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

As NASA builds a blueprint for human exploration throughout the solar system for the benefit of humanity, the agency released Tuesday the outcomes from its first Architecture Concept Review, a robust analysis process designed to align NASA's moon to Mars exploration strategy and codify the supporting architecture.

"Our first Architecture Concept Review is a milestone that will help our moon to Mars strategy unfold through the objectives in missions both near and long term," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. "We're aligned with partners toward a future of expanded economic opportunity, scientific discovery, and greater activity on and around the moon, and with limitless possibilities deeper in the solar system."

NASA's Architecture Definition Document written for highly technical audiences, and an associated executive summary, provide a deep dive into NASA's moon to Mars architecture approach and development process. Six supporting white papers also released address frequently discussed exploration architecture topics.

"NASA now has a goal-based foundation upon which to build our current and future exploration plans," said Cathy Koerner, deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.