Shenzhou-21 Astronauts Conduct Science Experiments & Drills | China Space Station

Shenzhou-21 Astronauts Conduct Science Experiments & Drills | China Space Station

The Shenzhou-21 crew members aboard China's Tiangong Space Station carried out multiple science experiments and their first full-system emergency response drills, among other tasks, in orbit over the past week.

The three astronauts—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—have been in orbit for a month as of Sunday, November 30, 2025.

Using laptops aboard the space station, the astronauts conducted microgravity experiments on intuitive physical behavior, collecting relevant behavioral data to explore the impact of long-term spaceflight on human's intuitive physical representations and the mechanisms of their recovery.

They used space Raman spectrometer to analyze metabolic components in urine samples. The collected information will be used for further refinement and improvement of the relevant characteristic metabolite indicator system and evaluation criteria.

Additionally, the crew completed the installation of new software for space medical experiments. In microgravity physics science, the crew completed scheduled tasks including replacing the high-speed image storage unit in the two-phase system experiment cabinet and disassembling and assembling experimental modules.

Additionally, per experimental schedule, they cleaned and replaced samples within the containerless cabinet's experimental chamber, cleaned window cover lenses and conducted other relevant mission tasks.

The crew also conducted their first full-system emergency pressure response drills in orbit as planned. This simulated the full emergency response process for an internal depressurization scenario, reinforcing and enhancing the crew's emergency handling capabilities and ground-space coordination.

In equipment inspection and maintenance, the crew performed patrols of the cryogenic storage units and the minus 80-degree space refrigerator, checked pressures in the environmental control gas cylinder, and conducted maintenance on the regenerative life support system equipment.

In station management, the crew organized supplies and cleaned the cabin, keeping their orbiting home tidy. In addition, they underwent multiple medical examinations, including non-invasive cardiac function tests, providing data for ground teams to closely monitor their health in orbit.

Shenzhou-21 Crew
Zhang Lu (张陆) - Commander & Pilot - 2nd spaceflight
Wu Fei (武飞)  Flight Engineer - 1st spaceflight
Zhang Hong Zhang (张洪章) - Payload Specialist - 1st spaceflight

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 30, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Shenzhou21Mission #神舟二十一号 #Shenzhou21 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ZhangLu #WuFei #ZhangHongzhang #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityExperiments #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A 'Double Helix' Lunar Eclipse with Zodical Light & The Milky Way over China

A 'Double Helix' Lunar Eclipse with Zodical Light & The Milky Way over China

This image was timed to capture a total lunar eclipse—but it came with quite a twist. First, the eclipse: the fully Earth-shadowed Moon is visible as an orange orb near the top. The eclipsed Moon's orange color is caused by a slight amount of red light scattered first by Earth's atmosphere, adding a color like a setting Sun. Now, the twist: one of the apparent double helix bands is the Milky Way, the central disk of our home galaxy. The second band is zodiacal light, sunlight scattered by dust within our Solar System. The reason they cross is because the plane where dust orbits our Sun is tilted relative to the plane where stars orbit our Galaxy. This well-known tilt is shown dramatically in the featured wide-angle Mercator-projected picture, spanning from horizon to horizon, captured in early September from Mingantu Observing Station in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Zodiacal light is produced by starlight reflecting off of dust orbiting our Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being investgated, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals inwards toward the Sun.

Image Description: A wide angle image of the night sky is punctuated by a radio telescope on the lower left. Two bands of light run through the sky—the Milky Way and zodiacal light. The bands intertwine like a double helix. Near the top is an orange orb that is a totally eclipsed moon.

Learn more about China's Mingantu Observing Station (MOS) for radio astronomy:
https://english.nao.cas.cn/Research2015/Research_Divisions2015/solar/202012/t20201217_256816.html

Image Credit & Copyright: Chunlin Liu
Release Date: Nov. 3, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #SolarSystem #Sun #ZodiacalLight #Planets #Earth #Moon #LunarEclipse #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #ChunlinLiu #Astrophotographers #MingantuObservingStation #InnerMongolia #内蒙古自治区 #China #中国 #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

NASA's ESCAPADE Mission to Mars: Spacecraft Commissioning with Rocket Lab

NASA's ESCAPADE Mission to Mars: Spacecraft Commissioning with Rocket Lab

"Our operators have spent recent days stabilizing spacecraft attitudes, deploying solar arrays, checking guidance and navigation systems, and powering up all flight computers and antennas on Blue and Gold as they begin their journey to Mars for NASA's ESCAPADE mission." 

"Take a look at what goes on behind the scenes in mission control."

The twin spacecraft for NASA's ESCAPADE Mars Mission were manufactured by Rocket Lab:

https://rocketlabcorp.com/missions/escapade/

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket launched NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) twin-spacecraft into its designated orbit on November 13, 2025, from Cape Canaveral.

The NASA Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) Mars Mission will study the planet's unique hybrid magnetosphere. ESCAPADE will investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. It will take ESCAPADE about 11 months to arrive at Mars after leaving Earth orbit.

ESCAPADE is led by the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. It is responsible for mission management, systems engineering, science leadership, navigation, operations, the electron and ion electrostatic analyzers, plus science data processing and archiving.

Key partners are Rocket Lab USA (spacecraft), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (magnetometers), Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Langmuir probes), Advanced Space LLC (mission design), and Blue Origin (launch).

Learn more about the two identical spacecraft designed, built, integrated, and tested by Rocket Lab for the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory and NASA's Mars Mission:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/escapade
https://escapade.ssl.berkeley.edu

🚀Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket:

https://www.blueorigin.com/new-glenn

Video Credit: Rocket Lab
Duration: 1 minute, 51 seconds
Release Date: Nov 26, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #SpaceWeather #Planets #Mars #Magnetosphere #MartianAtmosphere #ESCAPADEMission #ESCAPADESpacecraft #RocketLab #PeterBeck #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #GSFC #SSL #UCBerkeley #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Journey to Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

Journey to Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

This video zooms from an image of constellation of Cetus (the Sea Monster) into a closeup of the galaxy NGC 1073, imaged by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is thought to have a similar barred spiral shape, and the study of galaxies such as NGC 1073 can help astronomers learn more about our celestial home.

Distance: 55 million light years from Earth

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Digitized Sky Survey 2, Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Duration: 56 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 3, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC1073 #SpiralGalaxies #SB #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

Close-up: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073. It is found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is thought to be a similar barred spiral, and the study of galaxies, such as NGC 1073, can help astronomers learn more about our celestial home.

Distance: 55 million light years from Earth

Credit: NASA & European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Feb. 3, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC1073 #SpiralGalaxies #SB #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and The Milky Way over China

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and The Milky Way over China

What did Comet Lemmon look like when it was at its best? One example is pictured here, featuring three celestial spectacles all at different distances. The closest spectacle is the snowcapped Meili Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China's southwestern Yunnan province. The middle marvel is Comet Lemmon near its picturesque best earlier this month, showing not only a white dust tail trailing off to the right but its blue solar wind-distorted ion tail trailing off to the left. Far in the distance on the left is the magnificent central plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, featuring dark dust, red nebula, and including billions of Sun-like stars. 

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is already fading as it heads back into the outer Solar System, while the Himalayan mountains will gradually erode over the next billion years. The Milky Way Galaxy, though, will live on, forming new mountains and comets, for many billions of years into the future. Comet Lemmon passed nearest to the Earth—about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21, 2025.

The Himalayas, or Himalaya, is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has examples of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peaks exceeding elevations of 7,200 m (23,600 ft) above sea level lie in the Himalayas. The Himalayas abut on or cross territories of six countries: Nepal, India, China, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Yunnan is an inland province in southwestern China. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, autonomous regions of Guangxi and Tibet, as well as Southeast Asian countries Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, and Laos.

Image Credit & Copyright: Lin Zixuan (Tsinghua University)
Release Date: Nov. 25, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #LinZixuan #Astrophotographers #MeiliMountains #梅里雪山 #Yunnan #云南 #China #中国 #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

Globular Star Cluster Messier 15 in Pegasus (Deep field image)

Globular Star Cluster Messier 15 in Pegasus (Deep field image)

Stars, like bees, swarm around the center of bright globular cluster Messier 15 (M15) or NGC 7078. The central ball of over 100,000 stars is a relic from the early years of our Galaxy, and continues to orbit the Milky Way's center. M15, one of about 150 globular clusters remaining, is noted for being easily visible with only binoculars, having at its center one of the densest concentrations of stars known, and containing a high abundance of variable stars and pulsars. 

This image of M15 was taken by combining very long exposures—122 hours in all—and so brings up faint wisps of gas and dust in front of the giant ball of stars. M15 lies about 35,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Winged Horse (Pegasus).

Image Credit & Copyright: Alvaro Ibanez Perez

Alvaro Ibanez Perez's website: 

https://aipastroimaging.com/sobre-mi/
Release Date: Nov. 26, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #GlobularStarClusters #Messier15 #M15 #NGC7078 #Pegasus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #APoD

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1073 in Cetus | Hubble Space Telescope

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073. It is found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is thought to be a similar barred spiral, and the study of galaxies, such as NGC 1073, can help astronomers learn more about our celestial home.

Distance: 55 million light years from Earth

Credit: NASA & European Space Agency (ESA)
Release Date: Feb. 3, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC1073 #SpiralGalaxies #SB #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

Gulf of California & Mexico's Baja California Peninsula | International Space Station

Gulf of California & Mexico's Baja California Peninsula | International Space Station

The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, separates mainland Mexico from the Baja California Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above California. Geologically, it is Earth’s youngest sea, formed around 5 million years ago due to tectonic activity. In 2005, the Gulf was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its unique oceanographic processes and extraordinary biodiversity.

The Gulf of California is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). 

Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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
Date: Oct. 1, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #PacificOcean #GulfOfCalifornia #GolfoDeCalifornia #BajaCalifornia #Mexico #Astronauts #Japan #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #UnitedStates  #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Wide-field view of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus

Wide-field view of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus

This image from a ground-based telescope shows the region surrounding NGC 1055, seen side-on, in the lower right-hand corner. Can you spot it? The spiral galaxy at the center of this picture is NGC 1073 in the Cetus constellation.

Several other galaxies are also visible here, such as Messier 77 located nearly at the bottom of the frame.

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, Digitized Sky Survey 2 

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin
Image Credit: Feb. 3, 2012

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #NGC1055 #SpiralGalaxies #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #STScI #DSS #DSS2 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus

Spiral Galaxy NGC 1055 in Cetus

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. Notice the pinkish star forming regions and young blue star clusters scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.

Image Credit & Copyright: John Hayes

John's website: 

https://app.astrobin.com/u/jhayes_tucson
Release Date: Nov. 27, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC1055 #SpiralGalaxies #Cetus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #JohnHayes #Astrophotographer #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

The Crescent Nebula in Cygnus: NGC 6888

The Crescent Nebula in Cygnus: NGC 6888

NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is about 25 light-years across. It is a cosmic bubble blown by winds from its central, massive star. This deep telescopic image includes narrowband image data, to isolate light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the nebula's detailed folds and filaments. Visible within the nebula, NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. In fact, the Crescent Nebula's complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life, this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away.

Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Bass

Greg's website: 

https://app.astrobin.com/u/1loosetooth#gallery
Release Date: Nov. 28, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #CrescentNebula #NGC6888 #Caldwell27 #Sharpless105 #WR136 #WolfRayetStar #WR136 #Cygnus #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotographers #GregBass #Astrophotography #CitizenScience #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

'Frosty' Aurora over Anchorage, Alaska

'Frosty' Aurora over Anchorage, Alaska

Astrophotographer Todd Salat: ". . . Caught a nice little aurora dancing over Anchorage, Alaska, last night for about 15 minutes and took this shot from our back deck at 12:30 am on November 25, 2025."

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]

Earth auroras have different names depending on the pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

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 

Todd's website: https://www.aurorahunter.com

Date: Nov. 25, 2025 

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #ToddSalat #Astrophotographer #Anchorage #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft after Docking | International Space Station

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft after Docking | International Space Station

Expedition 73 Flight Engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Astronaut Kimiya Yui: "Hello, everyone! Three new crew members have arrived at the ISS aboard the Soyuz spacecraft!  In this photo, too, the two spacecraft are parked side by side so amicably, aren't they? With 10 crew members on the ISS during the handover period, it's quite lively.  I fondly remember how enjoyable the handover period with Mr. Onishi and the others was."

The crewed Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft safely reached orbit and docked with the International Space Station for a planned eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), following a launch at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia) and Sergei Mikaev (Russia) aboard.

NASA astronaut Christopher Williams Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-christopher-l-williams/

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/K. Yui

Date: Nov. 27, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28Crew #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeyMikaev #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #UnitedStates #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition73 #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Waiting for Soyuz | International Space Station

Waiting for Soyuz | International Space Station

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Expedition 73 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim: "Expedition 73 crew excited to watch the launch of MS-28 Soyuz crew with our friends Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikayev aboard, as we passed overhead . . ."

The crewed Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft safely reached orbit and headed for the International Space Station for a planned eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), following a launch at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia) and Sergei Mikaev (Russia) aboard.

NASA astronaut Christopher Williams Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-christopher-l-williams/

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: Roscosmos

Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds
Date: Nov. 27, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28Crew #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeyMikaev #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #UnitedStates #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition73 #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Cloudy with a Chance of Star Formation: Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy

Cloudy with a Chance of Star Formation: Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy

This is an image of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy that appears cloud-like in the Southern Hemisphere. This image was captured by photographer Petr Horálek, a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador, using a wide-aperture telephoto lens on a commercial camera. Petr photographed the LMC over about four hours during three nights on Cerro Pachón in Chile, home of Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab. 

The LMC is one of the 60+ satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. Satellite galaxies are usually smaller than their host galaxy. Case in point, the LMC consists of around 20 billion stars, while our Milky Way galaxy holds between 100–400 billion stars. The LMC is also considered an irregular galaxy because of its indistinct shape. Its central bright bar is geometrically off-center, which has led astronomers to believe this galaxy was once a barred spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way. The LMC’s once well-defined spiral arms have been warped by the pull of gravity, likely from the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), another dwarf galaxy visible near the LMC.

Like most irregular galaxies, the LMC is a prime site for star formation. It even hosts the most active star-forming region among our nearby galaxies, the nebula Doradus 30 (Tarantula Nebula). The LMC also has an extra advantage: the more massive LMC has been observed to “steal” gas and stars from the neighboring SMC. As the stellar materials are pulled from the SMC, they collide with the LMC’s own materials and form an intergalactic gaseous bridge between the clouds. These collisions pressurize and concentrate the gas, making star formation much more likely in the LMC and the bridge itself.

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)
Release Date: Nov. 19, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #LargeMagellanicCloud #LMC #IrregularGalaxies #Dorado #Constellations #Universe #InternationalGeminiObservatory #GeminiSouthTelescope #GMOS #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #Astrophotographer #PetrHorálek #Astrophotography #CerroPachón #Chile #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Black Hole Enviroments Explained | NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Black Hole Enviroments Explained | NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

If light cannot escape black holes, how do we know where they are? The regions around them tell an incredible story. From blazing coronas and swirling accretion disks to powerful jets that stretch millions of miles, these extreme environments reveal black holes' secrets and how these mysterious objects affect the universe.

Join host Sophia Roberts as she talks with researchers Jenna Cann and Cecilia Chirenti at NASA Goddard about how scientists study these unusual structures, the challenges of observing the unseeable, and the discoveries that continue to change our understanding of black holes.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Duration: 10 minutes
Release Date: Nov. 28, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #BlackHoles #Galaxies #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 74 Launch Day: Behind The Scenes (Extended) | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Launch Day: Behind The Scenes (Extended) | International Space Station

A Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft launched to the International Space Station (ISS) with two Russians and an American on Thursday, November 27, 2025. The Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:28 pm Moscow time (0928 GMT).

The crew included Russian commander Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, making his second spaceflight, fellow Russian cosmonaut Sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, both flying to space for the first time.

After lift-off, the Soyuz was scheduled to orbit the Earth twice before performing an automated docking with the ISS Rassvet module at 1238 GMT later on Thursday.

The trio are due to spend the next eight months aboard the ISS. Their return to Earth is currently planned for late July 2026.

NASA astronaut Christopher Williams Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-christopher-l-williams/

Selected as a candidate in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. He began training for his first space station flight assignment immediately after completing initial astronaut candidate training. Williams was working as a clinical physicist and researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston when he was selected as an astronaut candidate.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: ShanghaiEye
Duration: 4 minutes
Release Date: Nov. 27, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28Crew #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #SergeyMikaev #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #UnitedStates #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition73 #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Moon, Earth & Spacecraft Views | International Space Station

Moon, Earth & Spacecraft Views | International Space Station

The waxing gibbous Moon rises above Earth’s blue atmosphere in this photograph taken from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above a cloudy Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Quebec, Canada.

The Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft is pictured docked to the International Space Station's Prichal module as the orbital outpost soared 257 miles above a gleaming blue Atlantic Ocean, north of the Dominican Republic.

This Russian Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft launched three Expedition 73 crew members to the International Space Station. It is pictured docked to the Prichal module. Prichal is itself connected to the Nauka science module on the station’s Roscosmos (Russian) segment. Below, the Pacific Ocean fades from view as an orbital sunset descends 258 miles beneath the orbiting complex.

This view of the International Space Station’s Roscosmos segment shows (from left) the Russian Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft docked to the Prichal module. Prichal is connected to the Nauka science module, which in turn is attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zvezda service module. At the time of this photograph, the orbital complex was soaring into a sunset 270 miles above the Indian Ocean, between South Africa and Antarctica, at approximately 8:22 p.m. local time.

The Canadarm2 robotic arm, with Dextre—its fine-tuned robotic hand—attached, extends from the International Space Station’s Harmony module as the orbital outpost soars 263 miles above Kazakhstan. At upper center is Lake Balkhash, notable for its two distinct segments: the western portion contains freshwater, while the eastern portion holds saltwater due to a combination of geography, hydrology, and limited water circulation.

The HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is pictured attached to the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module while in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The International Space Station was orbiting 271 miles above New Zealand at the time of this photograph.

A yellow-green airglow blankets Earth’s horizon beneath a star-filled sky in this long-exposure photograph taken from the International Space Station as it orbited 265 miles above the cloudy Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. In the right foreground, the Russian Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft is docked to the Prichal module, which is itself attached to the Nauka science module.

The Progress 93 resupply ship from Roscosmos (Russia), carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 73 crew, is pictured automatically approaching the International Space Station before docking to the Zvezda service module's rear port for six months of cargo activities.

Expedition 73 wrapped up the work week on November 27, 2025, at 10:16 a.m. EST, the hatch opened between the International Space Station and the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.

The spacecraft arrived at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 7:34 a.m., after launching at 4:27 a.m. (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev aboard. The trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the space station before returning to Earth in summer 2026.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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 
Release Dates: Nov. 25-27, 2025

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2025 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season Wrap Up | NOAA/NASA/CIRA

2025 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season Wrap Up | NOAA/NASA/CIRA

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30, 2025. It demonstrated near-normal activity, marked by periods of very strong storms. While the climatological peak of the hurricane season (September 10) was quiet with no tropical activity, the season as a whole generated three Category 5 hurricanes. No other year with similar or less total activity has had three Category 5 storms. The Atlantic season was notable for its striking contrast—wavering between periods of relative calm and bursts of intense activity, generating very powerful storms. 

Nevertheless, the overall season fell within the predicted ranges for named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes issued by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in the August Outlook. 

The Atlantic basin produced 13 named storms (winds of 39 mph or greater), of these five became hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) and four intensified to major hurricanes with winds reaching 111 mph or greater. No hurricanes made landfall in the continental U.S. for the first time since 2015. An average season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.

Learn more: 
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/2025-atlantic-hurricane-season-marked-high-powered-storms-no-us-landfalling-hurricanes

Credits: NOAA, NASA, The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 25, 2025

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Artemis III Moon Rocket Liquid Oxygen Tank | NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

Artemis III Moon Rocket Liquid Oxygen Tank | NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

The liquid oxygen tank for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage for the Artemis III Moon landing mission is lifted into a production cell at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Nov. 7, 2025. Move crews use an overhead crane system to lift the tank from the mobile transporter that carried it from another area of the factory and set it atop the previously loaded intertank. Once the liquid oxygen tank is mated to the intertank, team will mate the stage’s forward skirt atop the tank to complete the forward join.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Over the course of about 30 days, the Artemis III astronauts will travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for mid-2027.

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)
https://www.nasa.gov/sls

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

Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf

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

Image Credit: NASA/Steven B. Seipel
Image Date: Nov. 7, 2025 

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Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff: Russian Soyuz Spacecraft | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff: Russian Soyuz Spacecraft | International Space Station

The crewed Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft safely reached orbit and headed for the International Space Station for a planned eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), following a launch at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia) and Sergei Mikaev (Russia) aboard.

NASA astronaut Christopher Williams Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-christopher-l-williams/

Selected as a candidate in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. He began training for his first space station flight assignment immediately after completing initial astronaut candidate training.

Williams was born in New York City, and considers Potomac, Maryland, his hometown. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University in California and a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where his research focused on astrophysics. Williams completed medical physics residency training at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was working as a clinical physicist and researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston when he was selected as an astronaut candidate.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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: Roscosmos

Duration: 25 seconds
Date: Nov. 27, 2025

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Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff & Prelaunch Highlights | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Crew Liftoff & Prelaunch Highlights | International Space Station

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev (Russia), top, NASA astronaut Chris Williams, middle, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft for launch, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 74 crew members: NASA astronaut Chris Williams, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia) and Sergei Mikaev (Russia), onboard, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian Orthodox Priest blesses the Soyuz rocket, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian Orthodox Priest blesses the Soyuz rocket, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian Orthodox Priest blesses the Soyuz rocket, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The crewed Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft safely reached orbit and headed for the International Space Station for a planned eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), following a launch at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, November 27, 2025, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia) and Sergei Mikaev (Russia) aboard.

NASA astronaut Christopher Williams Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-christopher-l-williams/

Selected as a candidate in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. He began training for his first space station flight assignment immediately after completing initial astronaut candidate training.

Williams was born in New York City, and considers Potomac, Maryland, his hometown. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University in California and a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where his research focused on astrophysics. Williams completed medical physics residency training at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was working as a clinical physicist and researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston when he was selected as an astronaut candidate.

Follow Expedition 73:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

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/Bill Ingalls/Victor Zelentsov
Dates: Nov. 26-27, 2025

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