NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept. 19, marking another new milestone for an observatory that continues to transform our understanding of the universe. Hubble has traveled more than 5 billion miles around Earth over its 36-year lifetime, exceeding 1.7 million total observations. An observation completed on the day of…
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 23 – A… 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. AfterBefore A…
Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, APXS Strategic Planner and Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead, University New Brunswick, NB, Canada Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 This week we had two planning days (Tuesday and Friday), as Monday was Labor Day in North America, where many of the Curiosity team are based. Labor Day (the first Monday in September) marks…
NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer formed a working group in August 2026 to review the most recent data related to extravehicular activity (EVA) prebreathe testing and decompression sickness (DCS) events, venous thromboembolism (VTE) in-flight occurrences, and patent foramen ovale (PFO) implication as they relate to NASA’s Artemis (lunar and beyond) missions.…
NASA-supported scientists have discovered an organism that lives at extreme temperatures previously thought impossible for complex life. High temperatures can cause the destruction of necessary cell components, which is a big problem for cells with complex parts like a nucleus encasing delicate genetic information. In the heated waters of California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park, a…
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers found mysterious objects that give off unusually low-energy X-rays but intense levels of ultraviolet radiation. One of the galaxies they studied, M101, is pictured here in this image released on Sept. 9, 2026. Astronomers suggest these newly spotted objects in other galaxies may help solve not one, but two…
Editor’s Note: This feature was updated Sept. 22, 2026, to note the time change for the in-flight call with students. Students in New Hampshire will hear from NASA astronaut Anil Menon as he answers prerecorded STEM questions while aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will begin at 11:40 a.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 24, and…
Depending on your locale, equinoxes can be seen as harbingers of longer nights and gloomy weather, or promising beacons of nicer temperatures and more sunlight. Observing and predicting equinoxes is one of the earliest skills in humanity’s astronomical toolkit. Many ancient observatories around the world observed equinoxes along with the more pronounced solstices. These days,…
The Republic of Albania signed the Artemis Accords Monday during a ceremony hosted by NASA at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, joining the coalition of like‑minded nations committed to the responsible and transparent exploration of space. “It is my privilege to welcome the Republic of Albania as the 73rd signatory of the Artemis Accords,” said…
NASA kicked off its State Hubs for Skilled Technical Workforce initiative Sept. 15, 2026 with awardees at Space Center Houston. Agency leadership convened State Hub partners to align strategy and build momentum while focusing on partnerships, small business engagement, and next steps. “The NASA State Hubs initiative is a top priority for the agency, because…
Description NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of “Turquoise Bay,” a geologic area of interest in the “Margin Unit.” The 818 images used to create the natural-color panorama were captured between Oct. 5 and Oct. 16, 2023, the 933rd to 944th Martian days, or sols, of the mission.…