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This week NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit joined station Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos (Russia), and checked their Sokol launch and entry suits for leaks. The trio wore the suits when they launched together aboard the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship and docked to the Rassvet module on Sept. 11, 2024. They will wear the suits again when they return to Earth on April 19, 2025, inside the Soyuz MS-26 completing a seven-month space research mission.
The next cargo mission from SpaceX is due to launch later this month replenishing Expedition 72 with new science experiments and crew supplies.
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia) Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi
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.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
Shape of The Orion Constellation in 3D | Space Telescope Science Institute
This visualization reveals the stars of the Orion constellation in three dimensions. Watch as the familiar pattern on the sky distorts into a whole new perspective.
The sequence begins with a view of Orion in our sky. Featured in this scene are examples of the night's brightest stars, including Betelgeuse and Rigel within Orion, and Sirius at its lower left, a star in the constellation Canis Major.
Departing from the earthbound view, the camera begins to circle through interstellar space while maintaining the connecting lines of the constellation stick figure. Note how quickly the "flat" constellation shape transforms into an elongated mesh. In addition, the stars change their brightness markedly as they pass nearer or farther from the camera. The onscreen graphic depicts the direction, distance, and speed of the camera motion.
The most distant star in this visualization is Chi2 Orionis, a bright supergiant with an estimated distance of 4,300 light-years (ly). During the journey around Orion, we travel out to over 6,000 ly away from the Sun. This provides a stunning view of the Milky Way's galactic plane and the dust lanes within it.
This visualization features over 11 million stars down to a magnitude of 13.5 across the sky. The positions, colors, and luminosities are based on the Gaia and Hipparcos star catalogs, complemented by the HYG Database, which includes data from the Yale and Gliese catalogs. Insterstellar dust is visualized using the Edenhofer map out to adistance of 1.25 kiloparsecs (~4,000 ly) from the Sun. The rest of the Milky Way plane is recreated using simulated spiral galaxy data for stars and dust from the Horizon GalMer database.
Credits: Visualization: Christian Nieves, Frank Summers (STScI) Motion Graphics: Ralf Crawford (STScI) Data: Gaia DR3 – Gaia Mission/ESA/DPAC Hipparcos Catalog – ESA HYG-Database (v4.1) – Astronexus CC BY-SA 4.0 Edenhofer et al (2023). A Parsec-Scale Galactic 3D Dust Map out to 1.25 kpc from the Sun -- Dataset for the 1.25 kpc 3D Dust Map and the 2 kpc 3D Dust Map (v1.0.2) [Data set]. Zenodo. Horizon GalMer Database – Chilingarian I. V., Di Matteo P., Combes F., Melchior A.-L., Semelin B., 2010, A&A, 518, A61
How to Know You’re in Space: Zero Gravity Indicators | NASA
Have you ever wanted to design something that could fly around the Moon? This is your opportunity. The Artemis II astronauts will use a zero gravity indicator during their mission to demonstrate when their Orion spacecraft has reached microgravity. This plushie needs to be soft, small, and importantly, remind us of home.
The Moon Mascot contest challenges people of all ages from all over the world to submit a design to be made by NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab and flown aboard Artemis II.
The Artemis II test flight will be sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a ten-day journey around the Moon and back.
Artemis II will launch no earlier than April 2026.
Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:
Journey to Star Cluster NGC 346 in Tucana | Hubble
This new image showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium—what astronomers call metals—than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthsite of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it—a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble), N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)
Close-up: Stellar Sculptors of Star Cluster NGC 346 in Tucana | Hubble
This new image showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium—what astronomers call metals—than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthsite of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it—a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
Image Description: A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in color. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble), N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)
Stellar Sculptors of Star Cluster NGC 346 in Tucana | Hubble
This new image showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium—what astronomers call metals—than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthsite of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it—a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
Image Description: A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in color. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) Release Date: April 4, 2025
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia) Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi
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.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
China's New Moon Missions to Look for Water, Test Lunar-Soil Bricks at South Pole
China plans to launch the Chang'e-7 mission around 2026 to explore the environment and resources of the south pole of the Moon, especially the evidence of water, and the subsequent Chang'e-8 Mission will test technologies for building habitats using lunar soil, a space official said on Tuesday.
The country's lunar exploration program has maintained a 100 percent mission success rate over the past two decades and is now advancing to its fourth phase, Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, told China Central Television (CCTV).
Chang'e-7, the next mission scheduled for launch around 2026, will target the moon's south pole to search for the evidence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters—a critical resource to sustain long-term human activity.
If confirmed, such deposits could revolutionize future lunar exploration by providing drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel production capabilities.
Major spacefaring nations are focusing on the lunar poles due to their unique conditions which resemble those on Earth.
The lunar south pole's unique lighting conditions—with select areas receiving near-continuous sunlight for more than 100 days—create an environment where humans could potentially live and work for extended periods, Wu explained.
"This feature (of the south pole) lays a foundation for our exploration of the Moon because it will enable human beings to live and work there for long time. That's why we say we will be looking for water—is there water in the craters? If so, that would be a huge discovery and a monumental achievement," he said.
The follow-up Chang'e-8 mission, set for around 2028, will conduct experiments for the in-situ utilization of lunar resources, Wu said.
Apart from building communication systems and energy systems, the Chang'e-8 mission will test the possibility of building a research station on the Moon.
"Now we have developed the world's first device that produces bricks made of lunar soil. This system harnesses sunlight, collects solar energy, and transmits it to the Moon using fiber optics. By concentrating the sunlight, we can achieve temperatures between 1400 to 1500 degrees Celsius, which is sufficient to melt lunar soil. Our device then utilizes 3D printing technology to shape the molten material into bricks of various specifications. This approach allows us to utilize resources found on the Moon, free from transporting water and other materials from the Earth," Wu said.
China's planned International Lunar Research Station has attracted participation from Egypt, Bahrain and other countries with six foreign payloads confirmed for Chang'e-7 probe.
Once verified, the cutting-edge lunar soil brick technology will provide key support for the international research station project on the moon, Wu stressed.
"I hope more countries, more international scientific research institutions and more foreign scientists will participate in the construction of our entire project. I think in the next 10 to 20 years, we should mainly take the international lunar research station as a starting point or as a guide to push the lunar exploration program to a higher stage," Wu said.
Video Credit: CCTV Duration: 1 minute, 39 seconds Release Date: April 2, 2025
New US GOES-19 Weather Satellite Begins Operations as GOES East | NOAA
NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, the latest and final satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, officially began operations as GOES East today. This milestone comes after its June 25, 2024, launch and subsequent post-launch testing of its instruments, systems and data.
GOES-19 replaces GOES-16 as GOES East, positioned 22,236 miles above the equator at 75.2 degrees west longitude. GOES-16 will now become a backup for NOAA’s operational geostationary constellation, maintaining its operational readiness for future use, if needed.
Dark Energy Breakthrough Sheds New Light on Universe's Accelerated Expansion
Chinese and international astronomers have achieved a breakthrough in dark energy research, offering fresh insights into the physical mechanisms behind the accelerated expansion of the universe.
The findings, announced by the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, suggest potential new physics beyond the standard cosmological model.
Dark energy remains one of the most profound mysteries in modern physics. Since the discovery of accelerated cosmic expansion in the late 1990s, scientists have attributed this phenomenon to an enigmatic cosmic component called dark energy. Yet its true nature remains a mystery.
The standard cosmological model interprets dark energy as a static vacuum energy. While successfully explaining a large number of cosmological observations for over two decades, recent advancements in observational precision have exposed inconsistencies among different datasets under this framework, challenging its completeness and opening avenues for alternative theories.
Leading this quest is the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a global collaboration involving over 70 institutions. Utilizing a four-meter optical telescope, DESI maps the universe's 3D large-scale structure by measuring redshifts of tens of millions of celestial objects.
The Galaxy Survey and Cosmology Group at NAOC, led by Zhao Gongbo, and the Wide-field Survey and Galaxy Physics Group at NAOC, led by Zou Hu, have been involved in the DESI project for over a decade.
In the latest study, Zhao's team, leading the DESI collaboration, has achieved significant breakthroughs in the dynamical properties of dark energy.
By employing a novel methodology independently developed by the researchers, the team conducted an in-depth analysis of the latest cosmological distance measurements from DESI observations, combined with data from supernovae and cosmic microwave background radiation. Their findings revealed that the equation of state for dark energy changes as the universe evolves.
This result confirms the previous conclusion of the DESI collaboration derived through distinct analytical approaches, that dark energy is likely to have dynamic properties. The conclusion implies that dark energy may not be a constant vacuum energy, but rather exhibits more complex evolutionary behavior.
The study not only pioneers new research pathways for unraveling the physical essence of dark energy, but also provides pivotal clues for constructing a more comprehensive theoretical framework in cosmology.
"The standard cosmological model suggests that dark energy is the vacuum energy proposed by Einstein over a century ago. Like vaccum energy, dark energy was assumed to be constant over time. However, we have found evidence that dark energy evolves over time, disproving the idea that vacuum energy could be a form of dark energy. Such a discovery would represent a revolutionary breakthrough in fundamental physics," said Zhao.
DESI, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, involves more than 900 researchers from 70 institutions worldwide.
Video Credit: CCTV Duration: 1 minute Release Date: April 11, 2025
Side Boosters for NASA's Artemis II SLS Moon Rocket Complete
With stacking of the right-hand forward assembly, the Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for NASA's Artemis II mission are complete. The 17-story-tall twin boosters provide more than 75% of thrust at liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. Next to stack on mobile launcher 1 is the core stage, currently inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Artemis II test flight will be sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a ten-day journey around the Moon and back.
Artemis II will launch no earlier than April 2026.
Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:
NASA's Space to Ground: Changing Space | Week of April 11, 2025
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.
Updates: NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit joined station Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos (Russia), and checked their Sokol launch and entry suits for leaks. The trio wore the suits when they launched together aboard the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship and docked to the Rassvet module on Sept. 11, 2024. They will wear the suits again when they return to Earth on April 19, 2025, inside the Soyuz MS-26 completing a seven-month space research mission.
The next cargo mission from SpaceX is due to launch later this month replenishing Expedition 72 with new science experiments and crew supplies. Pettit and Kim worked together preparing for the Dragon spacecraft’s arrival gathering items for stowage aboard Dragon when it returns to Earth about four weeks later. Pettit also assisted Kim, who is in his third day aboard the orbital lab, as he worked out on the advanced resistive exercise device for the first time.
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia) Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi
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.
Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
Perseverance Rover Mars Sample#25: Sapphire Canyon | NASA/JPL
Meet the 25th Martian sample collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover—“Sapphire Canyon”—a sample taken from a vein-filled rock named “Cheyava Falls.” The arrowhead-shaped rock contains compelling features that may help answer whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past.
As of early April 2024, the Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 28 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes as part of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The next stage is to get them to Earth for study.
Considered one of the planetary science community’s highest priorities, MSR would be the first effort to bring back pieces of another planet and provides the best opportunity to answer fundamental questions about Mars' early evolution, its potential for ancient life, and its climate, while also unlocking mysteries that we have yet to even conceive. NASA is teaming with the European Space Agency (ESA) on this important endeavor.
A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
NASA Espacio A Tierra | Preembarque para vuelos espaciales: 4 de abril de 2025
Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.
US & Russian Soyuz MS-27 Launch: See the Rocket? | International Space Station
Soyuz MS-27 launch photographed by Expedition 72 flight engineer and cosmonaut Ivan Vagner of Russia from the International Space Station.
The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and its crew—NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Russia—successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:47 a.m. EDT (10:47 a.m. Baikonur time) on April 8, 2025, to the International Space Station. At 4:57 a.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Prichal module.
The trio joined Expedition 72, including NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain, and Don Pettit, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Kirill Peskov, and Ivan Vagner of Russia. The newly arrived crew members will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbital laboratory, returning to Earth in December 2025.
Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner. Ovchinin and Vagner are Roscosmos cosmonauts. The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia) Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi
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: Roscosmos/Cosmonaut Ivan Vagner Capture Date: April 8, 2025
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