NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Completes First Wheels-Up Flight | NASA Armstrong

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Completes First Wheels-Up Flight | NASA Armstrong

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft is on display in its sleek configuration following its first wheels-up flight on April 3, 2026, from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The transition marks a key milestone for the Quesst mission and an important step in the aircraft’s test campaign, which aims to enable quiet commercial supersonic flight over land.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.”

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

For more information about the X-59 and NASA's Quesst mission, visit www.nasa.gov/quesst

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Duration: 43 seconds
Release Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Sonicbooms #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis Moon Program: How to Recover a Spacecraft | Johnson Space Center

NASA's Artemis Moon Program: How to Recover a Spacecraft | Johnson Space Center

At the end of the Artemis II mission around the Moon, the Orion spacecraft and its crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, where a joint NASA and U.S. Navy team was ready to recover both the astronauts and the capsule. Lili Villarreal is the Artemis II Landing and Recovery Director at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and she explains the process.

After splashdown, the recovery team secured Orion, opened the side hatch, and assisted the crew out of the spacecraft. The astronauts were then airlifted by helicopter to the Navy recovery ship, and Orion was brought into the ship’s well deck for transport back to shore. It was a complex operation that ensured the safe return of both the crew and the capsule after their historic mission.

This is how to recover a spacecraft.

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Writer: Erika Peters
Editor: Phil Sexton
Producers: Rad Sinyak, Erika Peters
Duration: 4 minutes, 27 seconds
Release Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #ParachuteLanding #USNavy #SLS #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #PacificOcean #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2026 Recap | NASA Marshall

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2026 Recap | NASA Marshall

From the Artemis II mission finish line to ours! 🏁 

April 10-11, 2026, 42 student teams from across the world competed in NASA's 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) in Huntsville, Alabama. These teams navigated challenging obstacles and performed complex tasks with their human-powered or remote-controlled rovers.

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge is a hands-on, research-based, engineering activity that is preparing the next generation of STEM students to reach for the stars!

Learn more about NASA's HERC at nasa.gov/herc

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center: 
https://www.nasa.gov/marshall/

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 21 seconds
Release Date: April 13, 2026  

#NASA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #LunarRovers #SpaceTechnology #Earth #RoverChallenge #NASAHERC #Students #StudentCompetitions #Engineering #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #International #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia: Deepest Lake on Earth | International Space Station

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia: Deepest Lake on Earth | International Space Station

Expedition 74 commander and Russian cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov: "Every cosmonaut, before launching into orbit, has a list of places on Earth they'd like to see from an altitude of 400 km. These can be very different places: first and foremost, places connected with personal experiences, places of origin, or places they've visited before. And, of course, they also want to see the most extraordinary creations of nature from space, and, of course, the most outstanding human-made creations."

"I think Lake Baikal is on every cosmonaut's or astronaut's list, because there are reasons to consider it special."

"This is the deepest lake in the world (1,642 m deep), and it contains more than 23,000 cubic kilometers of purest fresh water. This is more than all the Great Lakes of North America combined. It represents 20% of all the surface fresh water on our planet."

"This is the oldest lake on Earth, 25-30 million years old. Around the same time, the Caucasus began to form, and the Sahara Desert did not yet exist."

· "Lake Baikal's water transparency can reach 40 meters. Due to this, as well as its depth and enormous volume, sunlight does not warm the surface layers, but penetrates deeper and is dispersed by the enormous volume of water. Therefore, Baikal remains cool even in hot summers, and a dense haze does not form over its surface, making its shores a convenient location for astronomical observations. Baikal is also used for underwater space exploration: a unique project, the Baikal-GVD (Gigaton Volume Detector), operates at the bottom of the lake. This is one of the world's largest neutrino telescopes, along with Antarctica's IceCube."

· "About 330 rivers and streams flow into Lake Baikal, but only one river, the Angara, flows out."

· "Baikal is home to 2,600 animal species, most of which are endemic. For example, the Baikal seal is the world's only freshwater seal."

"In short, Lake Baikal is a whole story, the story of our planet."

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov
Date: April 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Baikal #LakeBaikal #ОзероБайкал #DeepestLake #Siberia #Сибирь #Astronauts #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #Cosmonauts #SergeiKudSverchkov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship V3 & Super Heavy Testing: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship V3 & Super Heavy Testing: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

Full-duration static fire for the first time on Starship V3

SpaceX Super Heavy reusable rocket booster: Starship first-stage

SpaceX Update: Starship and Super Heavy continue preflight testing. Starship V3 static fire successful.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: "I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability."

As of October 13, 2025, the SpaceX Starship has been "launched 11 times with 6 successes and 5 failures." SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale. It aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Release Dates: April 12 & 14, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #StarshipV3 #StarshipV3SN1 #StarshipFlight12 #ReusableSpacecraft #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Cosmonaut Photos: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Cosmonaut Photos: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station

Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft prior to being grappled by Canadarm2

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Chris Williams after CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft arrival and prior to being grappled by Canadarm2

International Space Station configuration as of April 13, 2026

Five spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL, the Soyuz MS-28 crew ship, and the Progress 93 and 94 resupply ships

Northrop Grumman NG-24 emblem

Expedition 74 emblem

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Congratulations to NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway on their first cargo vehicle capture using the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station! Mission accomplished today. Hatch opening and cargo ops, including many scientific experiments (and even some fresh food), commence early tomorrow. We’re very excited for the science, hardware, and supplies that she brings! Well done, Northrop Grumman, NASA & SpaceX!" 

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft was installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port of the International Space Station on Monday, April 13, 2026. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 (CRS-24), or as the Northrop Grumman NG-24 Mission.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of research and supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft, carried on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched at 7:41 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This mission is the second flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft.

Cygnus will remain at the International Space Station until October when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will harmlessly burn up.

Learn more about NASA's Commercial Resupply Missions:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: Russian Cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov, NASA/JSC, Northrop Grumman

Date: April 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #CRS24 #NorthropGrumman #CSA #Canadarm2 #Canada #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #CosmonautPhotography #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Cosmonaut Video: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Cosmonaut Video: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Congratulations to NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway on their first cargo vehicle capture using the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station! Mission accomplished today. Hatch opening and cargo ops, including many scientific experiments (and even some fresh food), commence early tomorrow. We’re very excited for the science, hardware, and supplies that she brings! Well done, Northrop Grumman, NASA & SpaceX!"

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft was installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port of the International Space Station on Monday, April 13, 2026. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 (CRS-24), or as the Northrop Grumman NG-24 Mission.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of research and supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft, carried on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched at 7:41 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This mission is the second flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft.

Cygnus will remain at the International Space Station until October when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will harmlessly burn up.

Learn more about Cygnus and NASA's Commercial Resupply Missions:
https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/space/spacecraft/cygnus
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: Russian Cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov

Duration: 26 seconds

Date: April 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #CRS24 #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #CosmonautVideography #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Russian Progress 94 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Russian Progress 94 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

The Russian Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, approaches the International Space Station while soaring into an orbital sunset 267 miles above the Russia–Mongolia border.

The Russian Progress 94 cargo spacecraft, loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, nears the International Space Station ahead of its docking on March 24, 2026.

The Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, approaches the International Space Station for a docking to the Poisk module. 

The Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, is pictured shortly after docking to the International Space Station's Poisk module. The orbital outpost was soaring 265 miles above the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time of this photograph.

A new spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on March 16, 2026, carrying 2,509 kilograms of cargo. The cargo included everything necessary for living and working in space. The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 94 spacecraft docked at the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 9:40 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov manually piloted the spacecraft during docking using the Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System (TORU) control panel inside the space station’s Zvezda Service Module after one of the spacecraft’s two KURS automated rendezvous antennas failed to deploy after launch. 

The spacecraft delivered about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew. It will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about six months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. 

It launched at 7:59 a.m. (4:59 p.m. Baikonur time) March 22, 2026, on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: NASA, Cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov
Dates: March 16-17, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Progress94 #Progress94CargoSpacecraft #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #SergeiKudSverchkov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Falcon 9 & The Sun: Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

Falcon 9 & The Sun: Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

At 7:41 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on April 11, 2026, more than 11,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo launched to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft for the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24. The spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams will capture Cygnus XL using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm at approximately 12:50 p.m. on Monday, April 13. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and will remain at the station until October. NASA will not provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s installation.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 14 seconds

Date: April 11, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #CRS24 #NorthropGrumman #Canadarm2 #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Landspace Lijian-1 Y12 Commercial Launch of Earth Observation Satellites

China Landspace Lijian-1 Y12 Commercial Launch of Earth Observation Satellites

A CAS Space Lijian-1 Y12 carrier rocket (also known as Kinetica-1 Y12) blasted off at 12:03 p.m. Beijing Time on April 14, 2026 from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, delivering eight satellites, including the Jixing Gaofen 07A02 into their planned orbits. The launch mission was a complete success. Lijian-1 successfully launched "One Arrow, Eight Satellites".  

This was the Lijian-1 rocket's 12th successful mission with a total of 92 satellites and more than 12 tonnes of payload launched. Developed by CAS Space, this rocket targets the microsatellite market with quick one-month turnaround times and double-digit annual production. It also plans for sea launches, signaling China's push toward high-frequency, flexible access to space.

The Youchuyinhang (Postal Savings Bank of China, PSBC) series of satellites were also delivered in this flight. Kinetica-1 is now producing ten flights per year using pulse-line manufacturing. Manufacturing is divided into several key nodes, operating in parallel to improve efficiency and quality control.

The rocket put into orbit eight Earth remote sensing satellites with a resolution of <0.5 m: 

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07A02"

"Gaofen 07A03/Yuchu Yinghan"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07A04"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B02"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B03"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B04"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07C02"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07C03".

CAS Space is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou, capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) was founded in 1958. It was the first of China's four spaceports. The launch center has been the focus of many of China's historic space ventures, including the country's first satellite Dong Fang Hong I in 1970 and their first crewed space mission, Shenzhou V, on October 15, 2003. JSLC is now a home for many new Chinese launch firms, like CAS Space.

Video Credit: CAS Space
Duration: 1 minute

Date: April 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y12Rocket #Lijian1Y12 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #CAS #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Landspace Lijian-1 Y12 Commercial Launch of Earth Observation Satellites

China Landspace Lijian-1 Y12 Commercial Launch of Earth Observation Satellites

A CAS Space Lijian-1 Y12 carrier rocket (also known as Kinetica-1 Y12) blasted off at 12:03 p.m. Beijing Time on April 14, 2026 from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, delivering eight satellites, including the Jixing Gaofen 07A02 into their planned orbits. The launch mission was a complete success. Lijian-1 successfully launched "One Arrow, Eight Satellites".  

This was the Lijian-1 rocket's 12th successful mission with a total of 92 satellites and more than 12 tonnes of payload launched. Developed by CAS Space, this rocket targets the microsatellite market with quick one-month turnaround times and double-digit annual production. It also plans for sea launches, signaling China's push toward high-frequency, flexible access to space.

The Youchuyinhang (Postal Savings Bank of China, PSBC) series of satellites were also delivered in this flight. Kinetica-1 is now producing ten flights per year using pulse-line manufacturing. Manufacturing is divided into several key nodes, operating in parallel to improve efficiency and quality control.

The rocket put into orbit eight Earth remote sensing satellites with a resolution of <0.5 m: 

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07A02"

"Gaofen 07A03/Yuchu Yinghan"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07A04"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B02"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B03"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B04"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07C02"

"Jilin-1 Gaofen 07C03".

CAS Space is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou, capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) was founded in 1958. It was the first of China's four spaceports. The launch center has been the focus of many of China's historic space ventures, including the country's first satellite Dong Fang Hong I in 1970 and their first crewed space mission, Shenzhou V, on October 15, 2003. JSLC is now a home for many new Chinese launch firms, like CAS Space.

Image Credit: CAS Space

Date: April 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y12Rocket #Lijian1Y12 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #CAS #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education

New Lunar Flyby Images Released | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

New Lunar Flyby Images Released | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is in nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region.

The Orion spacecraft is seen in the foreground lit up by the Sun. A waxing gibbous Moon is visible in the background. Orientale basin, a 600-mile-wide impact crater ringed by mountains, is visible toward the center bottom of the Moon. This basin straddles the Moon’s near and far sides. To the left of Orientale, which has a patch of ancient lava in its basin, is the far side; this is the hemisphere we don’t get to see from Earth. To the right of Orientale is the near side, the hemisphere we see every day from Earth. The nearside is notable for giant, dark patches of ancient lave flows that cover its surface.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is seen in the foreground, lit up by the Sun. A first quarter Moon is visible behind it, with sunlight coming from the right. Near the bottom right edge of the Moon, Orientale basin stands out with a black patch of ancient lava in its center. A 600-mile-wide impact crater ringed by mountains, Orientale straddles the near and far sides of the Moon.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft captures the Moon and the Earth in one frame during the Artemis II crew’s deep space journey at 6:42 p.m. ET on the sixth day of the mission. The right side of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is seen lit up by the Sun. A waxing crescent Moon is visible behind it. And then, a crescent Earth, tiny compared to the Moon, is about to set below the Moon’s horizon on the right.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft captures the Moon and the Earth in one frame during the Artemis II crew’s deep space journey at 6:39 p.m. ET on the sixth day of the mission. The right side of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is seen lit up by the Sun. A waxing crescent Moon is visible behind it. And then, a crescent Earth, tiny compared to the Moon, is about to set below the Moon’s horizon on the right.

Earthrise captured from a camera mounted on one of the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings at 7:22 p.m. ET during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon’s far side. Earth appears as a delicate sliver with the portion on the left darkened by shadow and a portion on the right tucking away behind the Moon. A closer look reveals that the Moon occupies the bottom right portion of the photo, identifiable by the edge of it seen in visible light near the bottom corner.

The solar eclipse captured from a camera mounted on one of the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon’s far side. The science community is investigating whether the glow around the Moon is from zodiacal light—interstellar dust that is reflecting sunlight—the solar corona, or a combination of the two. Unlike minutes-long eclipses as viewed from Earth, the Artemis II crew saw the Sun hide behind the Moon for nearly an hour. In this image, Venus can be spotted on the left, and Saturn on the right of the Moon.

A portion of the Moon’s farside is seen along the terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—where low-angle sunlight casts long shadows across the surface. A section of Orientale Basin is visible along the upper right portion of the lunar disk, its structure subtly revealed under grazing illumination. This lighting enhances contrast across the cratered terrain, highlighting variations in surface features and providing insight into the Moon’s geologic history.

The Artemis II Mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and capturing images of the lunar far side. During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

As the lunar observation period ended, the crew witnessed a nearly hour-long solar eclipse as the spacecraft, the Moon and the Sun aligned. With a view of a mostly darkened Moon, the crew analyzed the solar corona—the Sun’s outermost atmosphere—as it appeared around the Moon’s edge.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century.

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Image Dates: April 6-7, 2026

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Supernova Remnant SN 1006 in Centaurus: Stars and a Stripe | Hubble

Supernova Remnant SN 1006 in Centaurus: Stars and a Stripe | Hubble

A delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an alien spaceship? A jet from a black hole? Actually this image, taken by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago.

On or around 1 May 1006 A.D., observers from Africa to Europe to the Far East witnessed and recorded the arrival of light from what is now called SN 1006, a tremendous supernova explosion caused by the final death throes of a white dwarf star nearly 7,000 light-years away. The supernova was probably the brightest star ever seen by humans, and surpassed Venus as the brightest object in the night time sky, only to be surpassed by the Moon. It was visible even during the day for weeks, and remained visible to the naked eye for at least two and a half years before fading away.

SN 1006 resides within our Milky Way Galaxy. Located more than 14 degrees off the plane of the galaxy's disk, there is relatively little confusion with other foreground and background objects in the field when trying to study this object. In the Hubble image, many background galaxies (orange extended objects) far off in the distant universe can be seen dotting the image. Most of the white dots are foreground or background stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

This image is a composite of hydrogen-light observations taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006 and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in blue, yellow-green, and near-infrared light taken in April 2008. The supernova remnant, visible only in the hydrogen-light filter was assigned a red hue in the Heritage color image.

Image Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)
Release Date: July 1, 2008

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Supernovae #SupernovaeRemnants #SN1006 #CentaurusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HydrogenLightObservations #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #History #STEM #Education

"Welcome to The Artemis Generation" | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

"Welcome to The Artemis Generation" | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

"The world watched."

"Artemis II carried humans farther into space than we’ve ever been in over half a century and showed a new generation what exploration looks like."

"The journey back to the Moon is underway."

"Artemis III is up next."

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce. The crew now will begin their postflight reconditioning, medical and human performance evaluations, and lunar science debriefs.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Video Credit: NASA
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: April 13, 2026

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Young Stars Reduce X-ray Emissions Surprisingly Quickly | NASA Chandra

Young Stars Reduce X-ray Emissions Surprisingly Quickly | NASA Chandra

Scientists have found that young stellar cousins of our Sun are calming down and dimming in their x-ray output more quickly than previously thought, according to a new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

This quieting of young stars is a benefit for the prospects for life on orbiting planets around these stars—not a threat.

Astronomers used Chandra and other telescopes to monitor how powerful radiation from young stars—often in the form of dangerous x-rays—can pummel planets surrounding them. They did not know, however, how long this high-energy barrage continued.

This latest study looked at eight clusters of stars between the ages of 45 million and 750 million years old. The researchers found that Sun-like stars older than about 100 million years in these clusters unleashed only about a quarter to a third of the x-rays they expected. For context, our Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, so significantly older than the stellar cousins in this study.

These real observations reveal a natural ‘quieting’ of young Sun-like stars in x-rays. The researchers found the generation of magnetic fields inside the stars becomes less efficient.

In fact, this calming could be a boon to the formation of life on planets around stars that are younger versions of our own Sun. This is because large amounts of x-rays can erode a planet’s atmosphere and prevent formation of molecules necessary for organic life as we know it. On average, three million year old stars with a mass equal to the Sun produce about a thousand times more x-rays than today's Sun. Meanwhile, 100 million year old solar-mass stars are about 40 times brighter in x-rays than the present Sun.

The scientists in this new study suggest it is possible that humans owe our existence to our Sun quieting down several billion years ago. 

By studying X-rays from stars that are hundreds of millions of years old, we have filled in a large gap in our understanding of stellar evolution.

Trumpler 3 and NGC 2353 are so-called open clusters that contains hundreds of young stars. These stars are tied to each other through gravity, having been formed from the same clouds of gas. Many of these stars have masses that are similar to our Sun, but are much younger. 

In these new composite images of Trumpler 3 and NGC 2353, X-rays from Chandra (purple) have been combined with an optical image from the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii (red, green, and blue). Another star cluster from the new Chandra study, NGC 2301 is shown in the same color schemes with the X-ray and optical data.

Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: April 14, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Trumpler3 #NGC2353 #NGC2301 #YoungStars #Xrays #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #XrayAstronomy #CXC #PanSTARRSTelescope #UH #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China's Coastal Launchpad for Commercial Space: Haiyang in Shandong Province

China's Coastal Launchpad for Commercial Space: Haiyang in Shandong Province

The Oriental Aerospace Port in Haiyang, east China's Shandong province, is now a key hub for China's commercial space sector with rapid progress in satellite launches, rocket manufacturing, and offshore recovery.

Shandong is a coastal province in East China. It is on the eastern edge of the North China Plain and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and extends out to sea as the Shandong Peninsula. Shandong borders the Bohai Sea to the north, Hebei to the northwest, Henan to the west, Jiangsu to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the northeast, east and southeast. It shares a short border with Anhui between Henan and Jiangsu.

Credit: New China TV
Duration: 3 minutes, 37 seconds
Release Date: April 10, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #SmartDragon3Rockets #Jielong3Rockets #捷龙三号运载火箭 #SolidFueledRockets #SeaLaunches #RocketLaunches #CALT #CASC #Spaceflight #SpaceTechnology #CommunicationSatellites #SatelliteInternetTechnology #CommercialSpace #TSLC #Haiyang #Shandong #YellowSea #STEM #Education #HD #Video