Friends of NASA

Monday, September 28, 2026

Artemis II Moon Crew Visits NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

Artemis II Moon Crew Visits NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

The team at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility is still filled with joy after a recent visit from the Artemis II crew! The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). While at America's Rocket Factory, the four shared stories and reflections from their historic trip around the Moon, connected with the workforce, and took time to answer questions.

Are you team "Moon Joy," "Earth Joy," or "Rocket Joy"?

In early April 2026, the Artemis II crew became the first to travel beyond the Moon in more than 50 years and traveled farther in space than humans have ever before.

Planned to launch in 2027, the Artemis III Mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit.

On future missions, including Artemis IV in 2028, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities NASA needs to return—this time to stay.

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/

Video Credit: NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #CSA #Canada #NASAMichoud #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon spacecraft are now at pad 40 in Florida for NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station as of September 27, 2026. Plus, crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia arrived Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1.

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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: SpaceX

Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #SpaceXFalcon9Rockets #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew13 #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #LukeDelaney #JoshuaKutryk #CSA #Canada #SergeyTeteryatnikov #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition75 #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Launch on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Launch on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

Watch Starship liftoff on its 14th test flight on Monday morning, September 28, 2026 from Starbase Texas. Starship later deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch the full event here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond 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

Image Credit: SpaceX

Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest14 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12: Scientific Research Work | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12: Scientific Research Work | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission with agency astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will soon return to Earth after a successful long-duration science expedition to the International Space Station. During their mission, Meir, Hathaway, and Adenot performed hundreds of hours of research aboard the orbiting lab, advancing scientific knowledge and expanding commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit.

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #SpaceXCrewDragonSpacecraft #Crew12 #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #JackHathaway #SophieAdenot #Europe #ESA #Cosmonauts #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Europe #ESA #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship: Pacific Ocean Landing on First Orbital Mission | Test Flight#14

SpaceX Starship: Pacific Ocean Landing on First Orbital Mission | Test Flight#14

Watch SpaceX Starship land in the Pacific Ocean after its first orbital mission on Flight Test#14, Monday, September 28, 2026. Starship also deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch a full flight replay here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond 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

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds

Date: Sept. 28, 2026

SpaceX Starship: Earth Orbital Views on Test Flight#14

SpaceX Starship: Earth Orbital Views on Test Flight#14

Watch Starship's views of Earth during its first orbital mission on its 14th test flight, Monday, September 28, 2026, after launch from Starbase Texas. Starship also deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch the full event here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond 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

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 54 seconds

Date: Sept. 28, 2026

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

Follow updates and watch the full event here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-14

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond 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

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 46 seconds

Date: Sept. 28, 2026

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

Image Credit: SpaceX

Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026

Sunday, September 27, 2026

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

Video Credit: SpaceX

Duration: 25 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026

The Little Ghost Nebula: NGC 6369 in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

The Little Ghost Nebula: NGC 6369 in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

Known as the Little Ghost Nebula, NGC 6369 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. The nebula is relatively faint with an apparent magnitude of 12.9 and the clear detail of this image shows the power of the Adaptive Optics Facility-equipped MUSE instrument of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The white dwarf star is clearly visible in the middle of the nebular gas that is expanding out in rings.

The Little Ghost Nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. Round and planet-shaped, the nebula is also relatively faint. The high energy radiation from the central white dwarf star causes the surrounding nebula to emit light. A white dwarf is a dense, Earth-sized stellar remnant formed when a star like the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel and sheds its outer layers. The nebula's main ring structure is about a light-year across and the glow from ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen atoms are colored blue, green, and red respectively.

The Little Ghost Nebula should not be confused with the Ghost Nebula (Sh2-136) or the Ghost Head Nebula (NGC 2080).

Learn more about the VLT and its MUSE instrument:

https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/muse/overview.html

Credit: ESO/P. Weilbacher (AIP)
Release Date: Aug. 2, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #LittleGhostNebula #NGC6369 #OphiuchusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #VLTMUSE #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

Cosmic fireflies: Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Cosmic fireflies: Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxies glow like fireflies in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image. This flickering swarm of cosmic fireflies is a rich cluster of galaxies called Abell 2163. Abell 2163 is a member of the Abell catalog, an all-sky catalog of over 4,000 galaxy clusters. It is particularly well-studied because the material sitting at its core (its intracluster medium) exhibits exceptional properties, including a large and bright radio halo and extraordinarily high temperatures and x-ray luminosities. It is the hottest cluster in the catalog. Observing massive clusters like Abell 2163 can contribute to the study of dark matter, and provide a new perspective on the distant Universe via phenomena, such as gravitational lensing.

Distance from Earth: 3 billion light years

This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3, partially for an extensive observing program called RELICS. The program was imaging 41 massive galaxy clusters to find the brightest distant galaxies.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Dec. 11, 2017

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Abell2163 #GravitationalLenses #DarkMatter #OphiuchusConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #EarlyUniverse #Cosmology #Astrophysics #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA's Crew 12: Homeward Bound | International Space Station

NASA's Crew 12: Homeward Bound | International Space Station

Expedition 75 commander, flight engineer, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Homeward bound. This week we donned our SpaceX suits to ensure a good fit—it has been almost 8 months since we’ve worn them! We’ve had an amazing time on-board the International Space Station, but after Crew-13 arrives, it will be time for us to depart. Stay tuned!"

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway along with European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Russia are currently packing their personal items and other cargo inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will fly them back to Earth in October.

Follow Expedition 75:

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

Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir
Date: Sept. 26, 2026

The Medusa Nebula: Abell 21 in Gemini | Mayall Telescope

The Medusa Nebula: Abell 21 in Gemini | Mayall Telescope

The Medusa Nebula, known scientifically as Abell 21 and as Sharpless 2-274, is an old planetary nebula about 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. It is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.

The Medusa Nebula was originally discovered in 1955 by University of California, Los Angeles astronomer George O. Abell. The central star of this planetary nebula is a PG 1159 star. A PG 1159 star, often also called a pre-degenerate, is a star with a hydrogen-deficient atmosphere that is in transition between being the central star of a planetary nebula and being a hot white dwarf. These stars are hot, with surface temperatures between 75,000 K and 200,000 K. They are characterized by atmospheres with little hydrogen and absorption lines for helium, carbon and oxygen.

This image was taken by the Mayall Telescope's mosaic camera with [OIII] (assigned a blue color) and H-alpha (orange) filters.

Learn more about the Mayall Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/kpno/telescopes/nicholas-mayall-4m-telescope

Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and H. Schweiker/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Image Date: Oct. 24, 2008
Release Date: April 21, 2009

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #MedusaNebula #Sh2274 #Abell21 #GeminiConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Star Cluster NGC 6520 & Nebula Barnard 86 in Sagittarius | Victor Blanco Telescope

Star Cluster NGC 6520 & Nebula Barnard 86 in Sagittarius | Victor Blanco Telescope

An image of the open star cluster NGC 6520 and nearby dust cloud Barnard 86 in the constellation Sagittarius, one of the densest parts of our Galaxy. This cosmic pair is set against millions of glowing stars from the brightest part of the Milky Way—a region so full of stars that barely any dark sky is seen across the picture. The bright young stars of this star cluster probably formed out of gas related to the nearby dust cloud. They stand out in contrast to the background of older stars in the bulge of our Galaxy.

Distance: 6,000 light years

This image was taken by the National Science Foundation's Victor Blanco 4-m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile with B (blue), V (green) , I (orange) and H-alpha (red) filters.

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Image Credit: T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Release Date: April 6, 2009

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6520 #Nebulae #StarFormation #DarkClouds #Barnard86 #SagittariusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VictorBlancoTelescope #CTIO #CerroTololo #Chile #NOIRLab #NSF #AURA #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Reflection Nebula IC 348 in Perseus (infrared view) | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Reflection Nebula IC 348 in Perseus (infrared view) | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

IC 348 is a star-forming region in the constellation Perseus located about 1,000 light years from the Sun. In regions like IC 348, cold clouds of molecular hydrogen gas collapse to form new stars, creating glowing, sculpted scenes like this one. The star-formation process can create impressively varied objects, from massive stars that expire after only a few million years in core-collapse supernova explosions to the smallest and most common stars that are long lived and produce powerful stellar storms.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope that was active between 2003 and 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, following IRAS (1983) and ISO (1995–1998). It was the first spacecraft to use an Earth-trailing orbit, later used by the Kepler planet-finder telescope.

Learn more about Spitzer:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spitzer-space-telescope/

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Cieza (University of Texas at Austin)
Release Date: Oct. 25, 2006

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #ReflectionNebulae #StellarNurseries #IC348 #BrownDwarfs #Protostars #HerbigHaroObjects #PerseusConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #NASASpitzer #SpitzerSpaceTelescope #InfraredAstronomy #SpaceTelescopes #Europe #NASAJPL #Caltech #UTA #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Aurora Borealis: View from Alaska

Aurora Borealis: View from Alaska

Astrophotographer Todd Salat: "Here’s a few aurora shots I harvested in the bright moonlight just before 1am on September 25, 2026, near Delta Junction, Alaska. These lights were so brilliant and fast-moving that I had to dial down the camera exposure to a fraction of a second to freeze the action. Pareidolia is taking shape here and someone mentioned they see a saguaro cactus in the first image, and I keep seeing a cat then a dog in the next two which were photographed only 12 seconds apart. I was racing to keep up because for 20 solid minutes multidimensional auroras were racing across the whole sky and left me breathless! Thank you solar wind stream."

Pareidolia: Dictionaries describe this term as a human tendency to see recognizable shapes in objects or data that are otherwise not familiar to us.

Known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras:
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of the Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south.

Image Credit: Todd Salat
Location: Delta Junction, Alaska, United States

Todd's website: https://www.aurorahunter.com
Date: Sept. 25, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planets #Earth #Moon #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Stars #Astrophotography #ToddSalat #Photographer #DeltaJunction #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

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