Expedition 74: The Russian Matryoshka Doll Crew Collection | Johnson Space Center

Expedition 74: The Russian Matryoshka Doll Crew Collection | Johnson Space Center

In this close-up photo, matryoshka dolls depicting Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, left, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia, right, are seen as NASA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Recovery Forces met at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, Saturday, July 25, 2026, to discuss the readiness for the landing of the trio from the International Space Station. 

Traditional Russian matryoshka dolls depicting Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, left, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia were provided as gifts by the Russian search and recovery team and Roscosmos officials shortly after the crew landed. The Russian Soyuz MS‑28 spacecraft touched down at 5:27a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m. local time), July 26, 2026, completing a parachute‑assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe southeast of Dzhezkazgan.

Matryoshka dolls (Russian: матрёшка), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside that has in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by woodturning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by folk crafts painter Sergey Malyutin.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia wrapped up a 241‑day mission as members of Expeditions 73 and 74 aboard the International Space Station, orbiting Earth 3,856 times and traveling more than 102 million miles. Soyuz MS‑28 launched and docked with the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2025. This flight marked the first mission for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud‑Sverchkov.

After routine post‑landing medical checks, recovery teams will fly the crew by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Williams then will board a NASA aircraft bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: July 25, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28 #CrewSpacecraft #SpacecraftLanding #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeiMikaev #MatryoshkaDolls #матрёшка #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Expedition 74 Crew Receives Matryoshka Dolls after Landing in Kazakhstan

Expedition 74 Crew Receives Matryoshka Dolls after Landing in Kazakhstan

Traditional Russian matryoshka dolls depicting Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, left, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia were provided as gifts by the Russian search and recovery team and Roscosmos officials. The Russian Soyuz MS‑28 spacecraft touched down at 5:27a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m. local time), July 26, 2026, completing a parachute‑assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe southeast of Dzhezkazgan.

Matryoshka dolls (Russian: матрёшка), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside that has in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.

The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by woodturning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by folk crafts painter Sergey Malyutin. 

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia wrapped up a 241‑day mission as members of Expeditions 73 and 74 aboard the International Space Station, orbiting Earth 3,856 times and traveling more than 102 million miles. Soyuz MS‑28 launched and docked with the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2025. This flight marked the first mission for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud‑Sverchkov.

After routine post‑landing medical checks, recovery teams will fly the crew by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Williams then will board a NASA aircraft bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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.

Video Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Duration: 12 seconds
Date: July 26, 2026

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Expedition 74 Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

Expedition 74 Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, with Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev aboard, Sunday, July 26, 2026. 

Note: Notice the retro-rockets firing on the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft just before touchdown to help protect the crew.

The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, with Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev aboard, Sunday, July 26, 2026.

The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, with Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev aboard, Sunday, July 26, 2026.

Expedition 74 emblem

The Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft is seen as it performs a parachute-assisted landing in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, with Expedition 74 NASA astronaut Chris Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia aboard. The Russian spacecraft touched down at 5:27a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m. local time), July 26, 2026. Notice the retro-rockets firing on the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft just before touchdown to help protect the crew.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia wrapped up a 241‑day mission as members of Expeditions 73 and 74 aboard the International Space Station, orbiting Earth 3,856 times and traveling more than 102 million miles. Soyuz MS‑28 launched and docked with the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2025. This flight marked the first mission for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud‑Sverchkov.

After routine post‑landing medical checks, recovery teams will fly the crew by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Williams then will board a NASA aircraft bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: July 26, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28 #CrewSpacecraft #SpacecraftLanding #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeiMikaev #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Expedition 74 Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

Expedition 74 Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Landing in Kazakhstan

NASA astronaut Chris Williams is seen outside the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft after he landed with Expedition 74 Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, July 26, 2026.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Russia is seen outside the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft. 

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev of Russia is seen outside the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams, left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), center, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev (Russia) are seen inside the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft after they landed.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams, left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), center, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev (Russia) are seen inside the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft after they landed.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Russia is helped out of the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft

NASA astronaut Chris Williams is helped out of the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev of Russia is helped out of the Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.

The Russian Soyuz MS‑28 spacecraft touched down at 5:27a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m. local time), July 26, 2026, completing a parachute‑assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe southeast of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia wrapped up a 241‑day mission as members of Expeditions 73 and 74 aboard the International Space Station, orbiting Earth 3,856 times and traveling more than 102 million miles. Soyuz MS‑28 launched and docked with the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2025. This flight marked the first mission for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud‑Sverchkov.

After routine post‑landing medical checks, recovery teams will fly the crew by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Williams then will board a NASA aircraft bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: July 26, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28 #CrewSpacecraft #SpacecraftLanding #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeiMikaev #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Farewell 'Huggles" for Expedition 74 | International Space Station

Farewell 'Huggles" for Expedition 74 | International Space Station

All ten International Space Station crew members currently aboard. Clockwise from bottom right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov (Russia), NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway; Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (Russia), European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot; NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Chris Williams; Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Mikaev and Anna Kikina of Russia.

All ten International Space Station crew members. From right to left on bottom row: Roscosmos cosmonauts Anna Kikina, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikaev of Russia; NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov (Russia). From left to right on top row: NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway; Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (Russia), European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Chris Williams

Station commander, flight engineer, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "A bittersweet day on the International Space Station, as we prepare to say goodbye to the Soyuz 74S crew. Expedition 74 has been full of science, technology demonstrations and station maintenance, and most importantly, enduring friendship and 'huggles'. See you back on Earth my friends!"

Expedition 75 officially begins and Expedition 74 ends when the Soyuz departs the orbital outpost. Following MS-28's departure on Sunday, July 26, 2026, NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev of Russia are scheduled to land on the steppe of Kazakhstan that same day at approximately 6:25 a.m. EDT (1025 UTC).

Follow Expedition 74:

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

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams, 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.

Credit: NASA/JSC/J. Meir
Release Date: July 25, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Astronauts #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Delivers AI-powered Satellites

China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Delivers AI-powered Satellites

China on July 24, 2026, launched a CAS Space Lijian-1 Y15 carrier rocket, sending five satellites into space with two of them equipped with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large models in a pioneering effort to expand AI application use in space.

The Jitian Star A-04 satellite is equipped with embodied intelligent models developed by Zhejiang Lab, a research institution based in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The model enables the satellite to manage itself as it can autonomously complete multiple in-orbit tasks, such as monitoring the satellite's status, as well as planning and executing onboard missions for a single satellite or a satellite cluster.

The Xiguang-2 03 satellite carries three AI meteorological models that can improve efficiency and precision of forecast for sudden weather events like short-duration torrential rains and strong winds.

It typically takes conventional meteorological satellites 90 minutes to transmit weather data to ground stations after recording it. The ground team also need time to parse and correct data before releasing the forecasts, resulting in slow data refresh rates. The workflow is efficient enough for conventional weather services but falls short of the demand to issue timely forecast for abrupt weather events.

The two satellites are part of the "Three-Body Computing Constellation" project. This was initiated by the Zhejiang Lab and aims to send AI into space to achieve in-orbit data processing.

On May 14, 2025, the first batch of 12 computing satellites of the "Three-Body Computing Constellation" successfully entered orbit.

According to the plan, the constellation will reach a scale of 100 satellites by 2027.

Experts said that by strengthening coordination among satellites and equipping them with AI models, data collected across the globe can be processed more efficiently.

"Currently, there is no joint global efforts to process data in space and the real-time data transmission cannot be ensured. These can only be addressed by strengthened coordination among satellites. With the assistance of AI models, the satellites can achieve real-time process of data collected across the globe, thus pushing AI application from the ground into space," said Li Chao, chief technology engineer of the "Three-Body Computing Constellation" project.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 48 seconds
Release Date: July 25, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #JitianStarA04 #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Xiguang203 #WeatherSatellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y15 #SolidFuelRockets #CGSTL #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Drone view: SpaceX Starship Liftoff—Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

Drone view: SpaceX Starship Liftoff—Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship successfully launched Friday, July 24, 2026, at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This was the second flight of the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles and the first Starship flight to deploy "next generation" Starlink V3 satellites.

Watch the launch broadcast and read the flight report here: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor 3 engines and ascending over the Gulf of Mexico. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver. The startup sequence was modified for this flight to be more robust to timing variability in engine startup and flip in the desired direction. This is done to increase overall performance. The booster successfully completed the high thrust portion of the boostback burn with all 33 engines, the first time with a Super Heavy V3, before ending the burn early. It attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn with a subset successfully igniting before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf.

After completing a full-duration ascent burn on all six Raptor engines, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. Starship then successfully deployed all 20 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX engineers were able to successfully communicate with every satellite using radio frequency and laser links and downloaded key telemetry from the satellites. The Starlink satellites were deployed on the pre-planned trajectory and are expected to have demised upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

The vehicle also reignited a single Raptor engine in an in-space demonstration of a core capability for future orbital missions.

Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather critical data on the performance of its heatshield before executing a dynamic banking move to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean. After relighting all three Raptor engines, Starship executed a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown, coming to rest intact in the Indian Ocean and providing critical views of an intact heatshield for the first time.

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 19 seconds

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Liftoff: SpaceX Starship Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

Liftoff: SpaceX Starship Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship successfully launched Friday, July 24, 2026, at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This was the second flight of the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles and the first Starship flight to deploy "next generation" Starlink V3 satellites.

Watch the launch broadcast and read the flight report here: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor 3 engines and ascending over the Gulf of Mexico. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver. The startup sequence was modified for this flight to be more robust to timing variability in engine startup and flip in the desired direction. This is done to increase overall performance. The booster successfully completed the high thrust portion of the boostback burn with all 33 engines, the first time with a Super Heavy V3, before ending the burn early. It attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn with a subset successfully igniting before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf.

After completing a full-duration ascent burn on all six Raptor engines, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory. Starship then successfully deployed all 20 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX engineers were able to successfully communicate with every satellite using radio frequency and laser links and downloaded key telemetry from the satellites. The Starlink satellites were deployed on the pre-planned trajectory and are expected to have demised upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

The vehicle also reignited a single Raptor engine in an in-space demonstration of a core capability for future orbital missions.

Starship re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and was able to gather critical data on the performance of its heatshield before executing a dynamic banking move to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly. Starship then guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean. After relighting all three Raptor engines, Starship executed a landing flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown, coming to rest intact in the Indian Ocean and providing critical views of an intact heatshield for the first time.

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Astrophotographer Mikko Peussa: "Bright noctilucent clouds of striking shapes."

At high latitudes in the summer months, iridescent clouds form in a part of the atmosphere roughly 50 to 86 kilometers (30 to 54 miles) above the surface of our planet. Their high altitude allows them to reflect sunlight after the Sun has set. These are called noctilucent or polar mesospheric clouds.

Noctilucent clouds (NLCs), or night shining clouds are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere. They consist of ice crystals and from the ground are only visible during astronomical twilight. Noctilucent roughly means "night shining" in Latin. They are most often observed during the summer months from latitudes between ±50° and ±70°. Too faint to be seen in daylight, they are visible only when the observer and the lower layers of the atmosphere are in Earth's shadow while these very high clouds are still in sunlight. Recent studies suggest that increased atmospheric methane emissions produce additional water vapor through chemical reactions once the methane molecules reach the mesosphere—creating, or reinforcing existing, noctilucent clouds.

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Mikko Peussa 
Location: Rusko, Finland
Photographer's website: https://www.taivaanvahti.fi/observations/show/146405
Release Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Sun #Planets #Earth #Weather #Meteorology #Atmosphere #WaterVapor #Clouds #IceCrystals #NoctilucentClouds #PolarMesosphericClouds #Astrophotography #Astrophotographers #MikkoPeussa #CitizenScience #Finland #Suomi #STEM #Education

Aurora Australis: A Tribute to Sergey, Sergei & Chris | International Space Station

Aurora Australis: A Tribute to Sergey, Sergei & Chris | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Our crewmate Chris Williams, stated a few weeks ago that he was hoping for another round of aurora viewing from the International Space Station before his departure, and the solar system delivered! Wishing the 74S crew a journey home that is as spectacular as the ethereal glow of the Aurora Australis. It has been an absolute honor flying with you Sergey, Sergei, and Chris."

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey-Kud-Sverchkov of Russia handed over command of the orbital outpost to Jessica Meir this Saturday morning, July 25, 2026. Then he, Sergei Mikaev, and Chris Williams will end their eight-month space research mission at 3:03 a.m. on Sunday when they undock from the Rassvet module aboard the Soyuz MS-28. Expedition 75 officially begins and Expedition 74 ends when the Soyuz departs the orbital outpost. They will parachute back to Earth inside the Soyuz and land in Kazakhstan at 6:25 a.m. EST (3:25 p.m. local time).

Also 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/

Follow Expedition 74:

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

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams, 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.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Aurora #AuroraAustralis #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #AstronautVideography #ChrisWilliams #Europe #France #ESA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition74 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Splashdown on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Splashdown on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

"Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship!"

The thirteenth flight test of Starship successfully launched Friday, July 24, 2026 at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This flight aimed to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

Watch the launch broadcast here and read about the flight's objectives: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 1 minute, 21 seconds

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Flight Test#13 | Starbase Texas

The thirteenth flight test of Starship launched Friday, July 24, 2026 at 5:51 p.m. Central Time (CT). This flight aims to complete similar objectives targeted on the previous flight test that debuted the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles, while also carrying next-generation Starlink V3 satellites for the first time.

Watch the launch broadcast here: 

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13

The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America. There have been several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight.

At stage separation on Flight 12, slight differences in engine startup on the ship caused the directional flip of the booster to be off by approximately 90 degrees. The startup sequence has been modified to be more robust to timing variability and more reliably flip in the desired direction, which is done to increase overall performance. After stage separation and the flip, the Super Heavy booster attempted its boostback burn. Five of its 33 engines experienced issues when attempting to re-light causing the boostback burn to end early. The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve re-light reliability along with updates to engine alarms and aborts to match the conditions seen in the multi-engine flight environment.

The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. There have also been several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system to address the engine out issue experienced on the previous flight.

Approximately 40 seconds after stage separation, Starship lost one of its three Raptor vacuum optimized engines. The vehicle was able to demonstrate its engine out capability and reach its planned suborbital trajectory. Several hardware and operational modifications have been made to address the interconnected causes with additional reliability improvements planned in upcoming versions of the Raptor engine.

For the first time, Starship will carry V3 Starlink satellites to space, which aim to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds. As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.

Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.

Several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield will also be tested to continue iteration towards a fully and rapidly reusable design. Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship’s aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heatshield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options. Finally, Starship’s heatshield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability.

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 46 seconds

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX's Starbase Texas: Starship Test Launch Site | International Space Station

SpaceX's Starbase Texas: Starship Test Launch Site | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Anil Menon shared this image from the International Space Station today: "Our view of Starbase from space! Here's to a successful launch."

Starbase is located in Cameron County, Texas, USA, near the mouth of the Rio Grande and adjacent to the Mexico-United States border. Starbase serves as the headquarters for SpaceX's Starship program, where the company builds, tests, and launches its spacecraft. Starbase was officially incorporated as a city in May 2025, with a near-unanimous vote by SpaceX employees. 

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

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, Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams, 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: NASA's Johnson Space Center/A. Menon

Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #ISS #Astronauts #AnilMenon #AstronautPhotography #Expedition74 #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest13 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Close-up: Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654—A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

Close-up: Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654—A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble picture is a spiral galaxy struggling against titanic forces that appear on galactic scales in space. This is NGC 4654, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). “Intermediate” means that it lies between the spiral galaxies that have a bar across the center and those that do not with a weak bar structure in its center. It is situated 72 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo Cluster, a particularly massive and populous galaxy cluster. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from the northern hemisphere and most of the southern hemisphere. 

NGC 4654 is particularly asymmetric with a rounded and clearly-defined edge on one side and a long tail of gas stretching out from the opposite side—beyond Hubble’s view in this image. The cause of this gaseous tail is the same as for many of the other galaxies jostling in the crowded Virgo Cluster: namely, ram pressure stripping. NGC 4654 moves with such high velocity through space that it sweeps up and rams through the intracluster medium, the hot, rarefied gas filling the space between the Virgo Cluster’s galaxies. The intracluster medium in turn exerts a “ram pressure” on the galaxy, compressing the galaxy’s leading edge and tugging at its gas, creating the elongated tail. 

It is not just the galaxy’s gas that is unevenly distributed, its stars are too. This is more unusual for a spiral galaxy. While the spiral arm on its leading edge is rich with stars and gas, the opposite arm noticeably lacks stars, influencing the galaxy’s lopsided spiral shape. It is thought that ram pressure alone is unlikely to have had this effect. Rather, NGC 4654 has also been subjected to the gravitational force of the fellow Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4639. While the two galaxies are far apart now, a fly-by interaction between them around 500 million years ago ripped away NGC 4654’s gas along one side, limiting star formation there and creating the asymmetry in its shape.

Many galaxies that undergo ram pressure stripping suffer reduced star formation rates as the cold gas that collapses to form their stars is pulled away and lost. NGC 4654, however, is still forming nearly two Suns’ worth of stars every year, a rate comparable to other galaxies of similar size. The active star formation can be seen in the latest Hubble data used in this image that picks up on a wavelength of red light emitted by the clouds of energized gas where newborn stars lurk. The bright pink bubbles appear all across NGC 4654, from its forward spiral arm, to around its weak bar, and out to the edge of its disc.

The data used for this image come from two observing programs that have the aim of linking gas in galaxies with star formation. By observing many prominent galaxies in the vicinity of our own, researchers hope to better understand how gas moves around in galaxies, where and when it collapses to form stars and star clusters, and what effect those new stars have on the gas around them.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has a prominent spiral arm on one side (lower left) and a wide, glowing core. Dark brown filaments of dust swirl through its disc, while blue clusters of stars are found mostly going out to its arm. On the opposite side to the arm (upper right), gas trails off from the disc, out of the view in this image. A matching spiral arm is not visible on this side. The galaxy lies on a dark background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team

Duration: 30 seconds
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Galaxies #IntermediateSpiralGalaxies #VirgoCluster #NGC4654 #InteractingGalaxies #NGC4639 #RamPressureStripping #VirgoConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654: A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4654: A One-sided Spiral | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble picture is a spiral galaxy struggling against titanic forces that appear on galactic scales in space. This is NGC 4654, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). “Intermediate” means that it lies between the spiral galaxies that have a bar across the center and those that do not with a weak bar structure in its center. It is situated 72 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo Cluster, a particularly massive and populous galaxy cluster. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from the northern hemisphere and most of the southern hemisphere. 

NGC 4654 is particularly asymmetric with a rounded and clearly-defined edge on one side and a long tail of gas stretching out from the opposite side—beyond Hubble’s view in this image. The cause of this gaseous tail is the same as for many of the other galaxies jostling in the crowded Virgo Cluster: namely, ram pressure stripping. NGC 4654 moves with such high velocity through space that it sweeps up and rams through the intracluster medium, the hot, rarefied gas filling the space between the Virgo Cluster’s galaxies. The intracluster medium in turn exerts a “ram pressure” on the galaxy, compressing the galaxy’s leading edge and tugging at its gas, creating the elongated tail. 

It is not just the galaxy’s gas that is unevenly distributed, its stars are too. This is more unusual for a spiral galaxy. While the spiral arm on its leading edge is rich with stars and gas, the opposite arm noticeably lacks stars, influencing the galaxy’s lopsided spiral shape. It is thought that ram pressure alone is unlikely to have had this effect. Rather, NGC 4654 has also been subjected to the gravitational force of the fellow Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4639. While the two galaxies are far apart now, a fly-by interaction between them around 500 million years ago ripped away NGC 4654’s gas along one side, limiting star formation there and creating the asymmetry in its shape.

Many galaxies that undergo ram pressure stripping suffer reduced star formation rates as the cold gas that collapses to form their stars is pulled away and lost. NGC 4654, however, is still forming nearly two Suns’ worth of stars every year, a rate comparable to other galaxies of similar size. The active star formation can be seen in the latest Hubble data used in this image that picks up on a wavelength of red light emitted by the clouds of energized gas where newborn stars lurk. The bright pink bubbles appear all across NGC 4654, from its forward spiral arm, to around its weak bar, and out to the edge of its disc.

The data used for this image come from two observing programs that have the aim of linking gas in galaxies with star formation. By observing many prominent galaxies in the vicinity of our own, researchers hope to better understand how gas moves around in galaxies, where and when it collapses to form stars and star clusters, and what effect those new stars have on the gas around them.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has a prominent spiral arm on one side (lower left) and a wide, glowing core. Dark brown filaments of dust swirl through its disc, while blue clusters of stars are found mostly going out to its arm. On the opposite side to the arm (upper right), gas trails off from the disc, out of the view in this image. A matching spiral arm is not visible on this side. The galaxy lies on a dark background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Galaxies #IntermediateSpiralGalaxies #VirgoCluster #NGC4654 #InteractingGalaxies #NGC4639 #RamPressureStripping #VirgoConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Drone views: China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites

Drone views: China CAS Space Lijian-1 Commercial Rocket Launches 5 Satellites

China successfully launched five satellites aboard the Lijian-1 Y15 carrier rocket at 7:33am Beijing time on July 24, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. 

The five satellites, including an orbital data center demonstrator and a weather satellite, were placed into their preset sun-synchronous orbits. This mission marks the 15th flight of the Lijian-1 carrier rocket.

Satellite list: Tianyi-48, Gande-1-01, Xiguang-2-03, Jitianxing-A-04, and Yinglong Fengguang-1

Tianyi-48, developed by Spacety, adds another member to the company's remote sensing satellite constellation. Gande-1-01 is a scientific experiment satellite, while Xiguang-2-03 serves optical remote sensing purposes. Jitianxing-A-04 and Yinglong Fengguang-1 are dedicated to Earth observation and scientific experiments in their respective domains. Four out of five customer payloads delivered from Dongfeng have a form of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for operational use or trials.

Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1) is CAS Space’s first launch vehicle and consists of four stages, all burning solid fuel. CAS Space offers the ability to launch a single satellite to utilize all of the rocket’s payload capacity, however more ‘rideshare’ missions occur for multiple satellites to be delivered in one launch.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is:

2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket booster that burns an unspecified solid fuel, generating 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is also powered by a solid rocket booster, producing 110 tons of thrust with the same unidentified propellant. The-third stage, also using the undisclosed propellant, generates 45 tons of thrust. Finally, the fourth-stage is powered by another solid rocket booster, providing 8 tons of thrust with the same solid propellant.

On its launch pad, Lijian-1 stands at 30 meters tall. The first two stages have a diameter of 2.65 meters, the fairing has a diameter of either 2.65 or 3.35 meters. When prepared for launch Lijian-1 weighs a believed 135,000 kilograms.

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).

Video Credit: CAS Space

Text Credit: Jack C.
Duration: 28 seconds
Date: July 24, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica1 #Lijian1 #Lijian1Y15Rocket #Lijian1Y15 #LaunchVehicles #SolidFuelRockets #CGSTL #SatelliteLaunches #CommercialSpace #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video