Europe’s Scorching Summer

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Earth Observatory Science Earth Europe’s Scorching Summer Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search   To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Output from NASA’s…

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China’s Chang’e 7 moon probe will launch this weekend on the most ambitious lunar mission in history

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China’s moon exploration program is readying an ambitious robotic mission, one composed of an orbiter, a lander, a rover, a hopper, and a wide range of international experiments including a U.S.-supported payload. In April of this year, Chang’e-7 hardware was transported to the Wenchang launch site, targeting an Aug. 24 (Beijing time) launch atop a Long March 5 Y14 rocket. The lander’s destination is the edge of Shackleton Crater in the lunar south pole region. After launch, the Chang’e-7 orbiter will spend several months orbiting the moon before releasing its…

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SmallSat 2026

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Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News In Memoriam Announcements Archives SmallSat 2026 Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth # 635, 835, 641, and 940) for Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Agenda below. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 9:00 – 10:00 AM Welcome Jose Nunez BryceTech’s Smallsats by the Numbers: 2026 Fletcher Franklin Supply Chain Observations Bruce Yost Technology Shortfall  Rudy de Rosee SPARCS Camera and Early Science Observations Kaitlyn Ashcroft JPL: Skyfall Tim Canham SWIFT LINK Reboost Bo Naasz Flight…

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Artemis Mission Patches

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NASA/Clayton Rougelot A jacket decorated with Artemis I and II mission patches, along with other NASA patches hangs on the back of a chair on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, inside the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a terminal countdown simulation for the Artemis III mission. NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team conducted the terminal count simulation, which runs through the final five hours of launch countdown, including terminal count – the remaining 10 minutes of the countdown. Artemis III will carry out…

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Watch Rocket Lab launch a private Japanese Earth-observing satellite to orbit today

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Rocket Lab will launch a private Japanese Earth-observing satellite to orbit this morning (Aug. 20), and you can watch the action live. An Electron vehicle is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site today, during a window that opens at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT; 1 a.m. on Aug. 21 local New Zealand time), carrying aloft a radar satellite for the Tokyo-based company iQPS. Rocket Lab will stream the proceedings live, starting at about 30 minutes before liftoff. You can watch via the company, and Space.com will…

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APOD: 2026 August 20 – The Elephant’s Trunk in Cepheus

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APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 20 – The… 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. The Elephant’s Trunk in Cepheus Explanation: Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula winds through the emission region and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off…

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Scientists just found the fastest known star in the Milky Way. It zooms around our black hole at 15,500 miles per second

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Astronomers have found the fastest known star in the Milky Way, a faint object racing around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy. Dubbed S301, the star reaches about 15,500 miles (25,000 kilometers) per second at its fastest — more than 8% the speed of light. “What is special about this star is that it’s orbiting Sagittarius A* on a very tight orbit, taking just 8.7 years to complete it, and is approaching the black hole at a mere 12 times the distance of Earth…

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NASA TechLeap Prize: Orbital Clarity Challenge

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1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Orbital Clarity Challenge — the sixth in the NASA TechLeap Prize series — is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Heliophysics Division, Flight Opportunities program, and Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. The Heliophysics Division studies space weather, including how it heats and expands Earth’s outer atmosphere during intense solar activity, creating orbital drag through atmospheric density changes. The challenge calls for low-cost methods of measuring thermospheric density, pressure, or drag in low Earth orbit. NASA is seeking approaches that are inexpensive and…

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NASA Updates Next Steps for Commercial Swift Boost Mission

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NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, shown in this artist’s concept, has orbited Earth for more than 20 years, studying the ever-changing universe. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab Due to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an agency satellite to a higher altitude to extend its science mission as planned. However, LINK still will attempt to conduct rendezvous and proximity operations with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to demonstrate key capabilities for…

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Human-Related Microbes May Survive Moon’s South Pole, NASA Finds

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This image was taken by an Artemis II astronaut from the Orion capsule in April 2026, as the spacecraft traveled past the Moon and back over 10 days. The gray-brown, heavily cratered Moon dominates the frame against black space, with a partially lit crescent Earth setting behind its upper-left edge. NASA Lee esta historia en español aquí. Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA scientists say.  Published on…

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