Category: Space & Astronomy

Written by Alex Jones, Ph.D. candidate at Imperial College London Sept. 29, 2026 After spending the last six months exploring “Lac de Charmes,” a region of ancient rock beyond Jezero crater’s western rim, Perseverance has stumbled upon a vast field of light-toned rocks peppering the Martian surface.  Light-colored rocks are a strange sight on Mars,…

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Oct. 7, for the undocking of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission from the International Space Station, pending weather conditions. An Oct. 7 undock puts NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev…

NASA astronaut and mission specialist of the agency’s Artemis II mission, Christina Koch, leads the fans in singing the Eagles Fight Song from the field at an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Philadelphia. NASA’s engagement at NFL games is…

NASA is leveraging its expertise and enhancing its test facilities to help address a rare but persistent aviation hazard: icing that occurs when aircraft encounter unusually large, very cold water droplets in clouds.   The problem, known as “supercooled large droplet icing,” occurs when aircraft fly through clouds containing unusually large drops of water that are…

New analysis of archival Hubble data points to the possibility of “dead” white dwarf stars hosting second-generation planetary systems.

A bright lens of anorthosite, a rock type prevalent on the lunar surface, is cradled within sheared rocks in the country’s south.

Written by Lucy Thompson, Senior Research Scientist, University of New Brunswick, Canada Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 Before we landed, the area of Gale crater that we planned to explore was divided up into rectangular parcels with designated names. The names were chosen after small towns associated with significant geological features. Our selected…

“I want to be able to look at a rocket launch and say, ‘I touched a piece of this.’” That’s how Richard Spolzino describes the thing he’s chasing. Not a title, not a specific mission, not even NASA itself, just the ability to point at something real and know his work made it possible. At…

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 3 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day 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. Selfie at Vera…

As part of NASA’s ongoing Inspiration Tour, NASA astronaut Christina Koch will highlight America’s strengths in space exploration and aeronautics innovation at the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams game in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 4. A self-proclaimed Philadelphia sports fan, Koch is an explorer and engineer who spent a total of 338 days in…

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission is ending, with the crew scheduled to return in early October. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will head home from the International Space Station after supporting research that benefits life on Earth and prepares humans for missions…

The engineering development unit for NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) probe is photographed prior to a major thermal evaluation. The DAVINCI team put the yoga ball-sized vessel into a ceramic-lined chamber with heat-scorched walls and ratcheted up the temperature to 869 F, or 465 C, over the course…