Friends of NASA

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

SpaceX Starship Atmospheric Reentry: 10th Test Flight

SpaceX Starship Atmospheric Reentry: 10th Test Flight

A SpaceX Starship successfully lifted off from Starbase Texas around 6:32pm Central Time (CT) on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 and later splashdowned in the Indian Ocean in a controlled manner at the intended landing site, where a Starlink-equipped camera buoy captured the Starship's arrival in real-time. SpaceX purposefully stressed the Starship during reentry to better understand how the spacecraft responds to extreme conditions.

→ Re-watch the 10th test flight: https://t.co/UIwbeGoo2B

About ten minutes after launch, Starship’s Super Heavy Booster softly landed in the Gulf of Mexico as intended, and the Starship spacecraft continued on a suborbital flight traveling toward a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Completion of the above objectives represents a significant improvement in comparison with the last few Starship test flights.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

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

Learn more about Starship:

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

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

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

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 47 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship10 #StarshipTestFlight10 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Splashdown in Indian Ocean: 10th Test Flight

SpaceX Starship Splashdown in Indian Ocean: 10th Test Flight

→ Re-watch it here: https://t.co/UIwbeGoo2B

About 10 minutes after launch, Starship’s Super Heavy Booster softly landed in the Gulf of Mexico as intended, and the Starship spacecraft continued on a suborbital flight traveling toward a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Completion of the above objectives represents a significant improvement in comparison with the last few Starship test flights.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

Learn more about Starship:

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

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

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

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 47 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

SpaceX Starship Liftoff: 10th Test Flight | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff: 10th Test Flight | Starbase Texas

A SpaceX Starship successfully lifted off from Starbase Texas around 6:32pm Central Time (CT) on Tuesday, August 26, 2025.

→ Watch here: https://t.co/UIwbeGoo2B

After about 10 minutes, Starship’s Super Heavy Booster stage softly landed in the Gulf of Mexico as had been planned, and the Starship spacecraft continued on a suborbital flight traveling toward a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. These represent significant improvements in comparison with the last few test flights.

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

Learn more about Starship:

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

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

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

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 44 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

New Expedition 73 Crew & Guest Photos | International Space Station

New Expedition 73 Crew & Guest Photos | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 members pose inside the vestibule between their SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft and the International Space Station's forward port on the Harmony module. Clockwise from bottom are, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia. The walls of the vestibule are lined with mission stickers and crew signatures left by previous visitors who docked at Harmony’s forward port.

Axiom Mission 4 Commander Peggy Whitson is flanked by Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Nichole Ayers (left) and Anne McClain, both from NASA, in this portrait taken inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.

Axiom Mission 4 Commander Peggy Whitson and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Jonny Kim from NASA pose together for portrait taken inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.

Four astronauts representing Expedition 73 and the four-member Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew gather for a fun portrait clasping hands and surrounding the Kibo laboratory module's airlock. Clockwise from bottom left are, Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Jonny Kim of NASA, Ax-4 Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of the European Space Agency (ESA), Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers of NASA, Ax-4 Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu from Hungary, Expedition 73 Commander Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Ax-4 Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Anne McClain of NASA, and Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson of Axiom Space.

The seven-member Expedtion 73 crew gathers together for a dinnertime portrait inside the galley of the International Space Station's Unity module. In the front from left are, Flight Engineers Zena Cardman of NASA, Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Jonny Kim of NASA. In the back are, Flight Engineers Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos and Mike Fincke of NASA, and station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, both from Roscosmos.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 Pilot Mike Fincke is welcomed aboard the International Space Station by Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers of NASA after the Dragon crew spaceraft docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos (Russia) is welcomed aboard the International Space Station by Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers of NASA after the Dragon crew spaceraft docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port.

NASA astronauts Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman, both Expedition 73 Flight Engineers, pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Unity module during a break in weekend housecleaning and maintenance activities. Kim and Cardman are both part of NASA Astronaut Group 22 selected in June 2017 with 12 other astronauts, including two Canadian Space Agency astronauts, and affectionately nicknamed "The Turtles."

Updates: Expedition 73 opened the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shortly after its arrival on Monday, August 25, 2025. The crew has begun unloading advanced science experiments that can benefit humans living on and off the Earth. The International Space Station residents also prepared for next month’s Dragon reboost and continued lab maintenance and Earth observations.

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: Aug. 26, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #AxiomSpace #Ax4Crew #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Japan #ESA #Europe #ISRO #India #BhāratGaṇarājya #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Rocket Lab Hot Fire Tests of Archimedes Engine for Neutron Rocket | NASA Stennis

Rocket Lab Hot Fire Tests of Archimedes Engine for Neutron Rocket | NASA Stennis

🔥Enjoy! Rocket Lab is continuing to perform hot-fire tests of its Archimedes engine through its rocket test stand at NASA’s historic Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Rocket Lab’s new Neutron medium-lift reusable launch vehicle will use Archimedes engines to provide government and commercial customers with an alternative launch service capable of deploying 13,000 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO). Significant progress continues to be made at the rocket’s launch pad on Wallops Island, Virginia. Production, infrastructure scaling, and Archimedes engine and full-scale components testing is continuing across Rocket Lab’s production and test facilities in the United States. Neutron’s debut remains on track for first launch in the second half of 2025.

The advanced design of the Neutron rocket includes carbon composite for all of the rocket’s major structures and an upper stage that enables high-performance for complex satellite deployments, including the deployment of satellite mega-constellations.

The Archimedes engine is an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle engine that will power the reusable first stage of Neutron and the new rocket’s second stage that is designed to carry up to 13,000 kilograms of payload to space. Capable of producing up to 165,000 (733 kilonewtons) pounds of thrust per engine, Archimedes operates at lower stress levels than other rocket engines to enable rapid and reliable reusability. The combined thrust of nine Archimedes engines for Neutron’s first stage is designed to reach 1,450,000 lbf total. Archimedes uses a cryogenic propellant mix of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to enable higher reusability and performance. Furthermore, many of its critical components are 3D printed including Archimedes’ turbo pump housings, pre-burner and main chamber components, valve housings, and engine structural components. Production of the Archimedes engines takes place at Rocket Lab’s Engine Development Complex at its headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Rocket Lab's new Neutron rocket will feature the new Archimedes Engine.

First Stage

9 Archimedes Engines

Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle

Total Lift-off Thrust: 1,485,000 lbf

Second Stage

Single Vacuum Archimedes Engine

Lox/Methane Oxidizer Rich Closed Cycle

Vacuum Thrust: 890 kN (200,000 lbf)

Learn more:

https://rocketlabcorp.com/launch/neutron/

Video Credit: Rocket Lab
Duration: 1 minute, 32 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

#NASA #Space #Aerospace #Earth #LEO #Satellites #SatelliteConstellations #Spacecraft #RocketLab #NeutronRocket #MediumLiftRockets #ArchimedesEngines #EngineTesting #CommercialSpace #PeterBeck #NASAStennis #StennisSpaceCenter #Mississippi #UnitedStates #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The North America Nebula in Cygnus

The North America Nebula in Cygnus

NGC 7000, also known as the North America Nebula, is a giant emission nebula in the constellation of Cygnus at a distance of about 1,800 light years. The reddish color is characteristic of hydrogen and it dominates. NGC 7000 is named for its resemblance to the North American continent here on Earth. In 1890, the pioneering German astrophotographer, Max Wolf, noticed this nebula's characteristic shape on a long-exposure photograph, and dubbed it the North America Nebula.

Image Credit: Gianni Lacroce

Release Date: June 25, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #Nebula #NGC7000 #Caldwell20 #NorthAmericaNebula #EmissionNebula #Cygnus #Constellation #Star #Deneb #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #GianniLacroce #Astrophotographer #STEM #Education

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Solar Panel Deployment Test | NASA Goddard

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Solar Panel Deployment Test | NASA Goddard

Technicians recently tested two major deployments for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: the Deployable Aperture Cover (DAC) and the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS).

The DAC will protect Roman’s instruments before launch, then swing open once the telescope is in space. To simulate weightlessness, engineers used a gravity offload system precisely counterbalanced to reduce drag during deployment.

The SASS unfurled in true flight-like fashion, with its solar panels swinging into place under powerful spring tension. Each release was marked by the sharp pop of a non-explosive actuator.

Both deployments were successful, bringing Roman one step closer to its mission to study dark energy, exoplanets, and the distant universe. To learn more, check out the link in our Roman highlight.

To learn more about all these systems and where they fit into Roman, visit:
https://roman.gsfc.nasa.gov/interactive/

As NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy, the late Dr. Nancy Grace Roman paved the way for space telescopes and for women in the sciences. She is credited with making NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope a reality.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sophia Roberts: Videographer / Producer
Scott Weissinger: Videographer / Producer
Videographers: Sophia Roberts (eMITS) and Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Paul Morris: Editor
Public Affairs Officer: Claire Andreoli (NASA/GSFC)

Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #NASARoman #RomanSpaceTelescope #NancyGraceRoman #Exoplanets #Planets #SolarSystem #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #STScI #GSFC #Greenbelt #Marland #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

World's Largest Transparent Spherical Neutrino Detector Starts Operation in China

World's Largest Transparent Spherical Neutrino Detector Starts Operation in China

The world's largest transparent spherical detector on Tuesday completed the filling of 20,000 tonnes of liquid scintillator, officially starting operation and data collection.

After over a decade of preparation and construction, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) has become the world's first operational ultra-large-scale and ultra-high-precision neutrino-specific scientific facility.

The initial data obtained during its trial operation showed that the key performance indicators of JUNO have fully met or exceeded design expectations.

The core of JUNO is a liquid scintillator detector immersed in a 44-meter-deep cylindrical pool in the underground hall buried deep in a granite layer of a hill in Jiangmen City, south China's Guangdong Province. The detector is supported by a stainless steel mesh shell with a diameter of 41.1 meters. It holds an acrylic sphere with a diameter of 35.4 meters that can be filled with 20,000 tons of liquid scintillator.

The detector is equipped with 20,000 photomultiplier tubes of 20 inches and 25,000 photomultiplier tubes of three inches, as well as cables, magnetic shielding coils, light baffles and other components.

Neutrinos, the smallest and lightest among the 12 elementary particles that make up the material world, are electrically neutral and travel at a speed close to light. Since the Big Bang, they have permeated the entire universe and generated a range of phenomena, such as nuclear reactions inside stars, supernova explosions, the operation of nuclear reactors, and the radioactive decay of substances in rocks.

Since neutrinos rarely interact with ordinary matter, they can easily zip through our bodies, buildings or the entire Earth without being felt, hence earning the nickname "ghost particles." Due to their elusive nature, neutrinos are the least understood fundamental particles, requiring massive detectors to capture their faintest traces.

JUNO aims to measure the neutrino mass hierarchy as its primary scientific goal and will conduct several other cutting-edge research projects. The JUNO team comprises more than 700 members from 17 countries and regions.

Learn more about the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory: http://juno.ihep.cas.cn

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 17 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 26, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Neutrinos #Earth #China #中国 #GuangdongProvince #江门 #Jiangmen #JUNO #UndergroundNeutrinoObservatory #SolarSystem #Stars #Galaxies #BlackHoles #Blazars #Universe #SpaceResearch #InternationalScience #Technology #Engineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Meteor and The Pleiades Star Cluster: View from Saudi Arabia

The Meteor and The Pleiades Star Cluster: View from Saudi Arabia

Sometimes even the sky surprises you. To see more stars and faint nebulosity in the Pleiades star cluster (M45), long exposures are made. Many times, other interesting items appear on the exposures that were not intended—but later edited out. These include stuck pixels, cosmic ray hits, frames with bright clouds or Earth's Moon, airplane trails, lens flares, faint satellite trails, and even insect trails. Sometimes, though, something really interesting is caught by chance. This was the case a few weeks ago in al-Ula, Saudi Arabia when a bright meteor streaked across during an hour-long exposure of the Pleiades. Along with the famous bright blue stars, less famous and less bright blue stars, and blue-reflecting dust surrounding the star cluster, the fast rock fragment created a distinctive green glow, likely due to vaporized metals.

This very bright open star cluster has a large angular extent, making it a great binocular object. If you viewed this object through a large telescope, you would only see a few stars, not the entire cluster. Perhaps the most famous open cluster, this is easily visible with the naked eye.

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the center of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the fifth-largest country in Asia, the largest in the Middle East, and the twelfth-largest in the world. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south.

Image Credit & Copyright: Yousif Alqasimi & Essa Al Jasmi

Yousif Alqasimi's website:

https://www.instagram.com/eaqj

Essa Al Jasmi's website:

https://www.instagram.com/alqasmyi/

Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Meteors #Stars #StarClusters #ThePleiades #SevenSisters #Messier45 #M45 #OpenStarCluster #BrownDwarfStars #Taurus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #YousifAlqasimi #EssaAlJasmi #Astrophotographers #alUla #SaudiArabia #WestAsia #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

Monday, August 25, 2025

Shenzhou-20 Crew to Return Life Science Experiments to Earth | China Space Station

Shenzhou-20 Crew to Return Life Science Experiments to Earth | China Space Station

Three life science experiments have been successfully conducted aboard China's orbiting Tiangong Space Station. Biological samples are being stored in a low-temperature freezer and are scheduled to be returned to Earth aboard a crewed spacecraft in the second half of this year for further analysis.

On July 15, 2025, the experimental materials were delivered to the China Space Station by the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft.

The Shenzhou-20 crew, comprising astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, then installed the cell experiment units into the Biotechnology Experiment Cabinet's cell and tissue module.

Under remote control from the ground, the system automatically carried out a series of complex procedures, including cell culturing, microscopic imaging, and sample fixation. Then, the astronauts conducted in-orbit sampling and stored the specimens for return.

"These experimental projects involved five types of samples, including organ-on-a-chip and skeletal muscle progenitor cells, among others. All three life science experiments have been successfully completed. The samples are currently stored in a low-temperature freezer and will be returned to Earth aboard a crewed spacecraft for further research," said Jin Xuena, a researcher at the Beijing-based Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a recent interview with the China Central Television.

Chinese researchers have conducted a series of biological studies on the space station, including experiments on plants, cells, fruit flies, and zebrafish.

These studies will provide valuable scientific data that could advance fundamental biological research and support future efforts in disease treatment and drug development.

The Shenzhou-20 crew was launched into space in April this year and is scheduled to return to Earth in late October.

Shenzhou-20 Crew

Chen Dong (陈冬) - Commander - Third spaceflight

Chen Zhong Rui (陈中瑞) - Operator - First spaceflight

Wang Jie (王杰) - Flight Engineer - First spaceflight

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #Shenzhou20Mission #神舟二十号 #Shenzhou20Crew #Taikonauts #ChenDong #ChenZhongrui #WangJie #Astronauts #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #LifeSciences #MicrogravityExperiments #CMSA #中国载人航天 #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Readied for 10th Test Flight Launch | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Readied for 10th Test Flight Launch | Starbase Texas

Counting down to Starship's tenth flight test. Weather is currently 55% favorable for today's launch attempt based on the last report received.

→ Watch here: https://t.co/UIwbeGoo2B

Read SpaceX's Ninth Test Flight Report:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-9

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

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)

Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

Planet Mars Images: Aug. 23-25, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: Aug. 23-25, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 4636

MSL - sol 4637

MSL - sol 4639

Mars 2020 - sol 1604

Mars 2020 - sol 1603

MSL - sol 4639

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 4+ Years on Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: Aug. 23-25, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

SpaceX CRS-33 Resupply Mission Docking | International Space Station

SpaceX CRS-33 Resupply Mission Docking | International Space Station

At 7:05 a.m. EDT, Monday, August 25, 2025, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module.

The spacecraft carried over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The mission launched at 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 24 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Research conducted aboard the International Space Station advances future space exploration—including Artemis missions to the Moon and astronaut missions Mars—that are intended to "provide benefits to humanity."

Learn about NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) Program:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

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

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)/NASA's Johnson Space Center

Duration: 1 minute, 42 seconds
Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #SpaceX #DragonCargoSpacecraft #CRS33 #Docking #CommercialResupplyServices #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Japan #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

At the Edge of Speed: NASA Armstrong’s Hypersonic Journey

At the Edge of Speed: NASA Armstrong’s Hypersonic Journey

At NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, pushing the edge of flight goes back to the center’s origins. From the roar of piloted rocket planes to cutting-edge hypersonic breakthroughs, NASA Armstrong has been at the heart of high-speed flight. Today, the center is ready to help write the next chapter in hypersonic research, advancing vehicles that travel at more than five times the speed of sound.

Learn more about NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC):

https://www.nasa.gov/location/armstrong-flight-research-center/

https://www.nasa.gov/armstrong-hypersonics-research/

Learn more about NASA's Quesst Mission here:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/quesst/

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Duration: 5 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X1 #SR71 #X43A #X59 #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #Boeing #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Palmdale #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Mapping Stellar 'Polka Dots': The Search for Orbiting Planets | NASA Goddard

Mapping Stellar 'Polka Dots': The Search for Orbiting Planets | NASA Goddard

Scientists have devised a new method for mapping the spottiness of distant stars by using observations from NASA missions of orbiting planets crossing their stars’ faces. The model builds on a technique researchers have used for decades to study star spots.

By improving astronomers’ understanding of spotty stars, the new model—called StarryStarryProcess—can help discover more about planetary atmospheres and potential habitability using data from telescopes like NASA’s upcoming Pandora mission.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and now-retired Kepler Space Telescope were designed to identify planets using transits, dips in stellar brightness caused when a planet passes in front of its star.

These measurements reveal how the star’s light varies with time during each transit, and astronomers can arrange them in a plot astronomers call a light curve. Typically, a transit light curve traces a smooth sweep down as the planet starts passing in front of the star’s face. It reaches a minimum brightness when the world is fully in front of the star and then rises smoothly as the planet exits and the transit ends.

By measuring the time between transits, scientists can determine how far the planet lies from its star and estimate its surface temperature. The amount of missing light from the star during a transit can reveal the planet’s size. This can hint at its composition.

Every now and then, though, a planet’s light curve appears more complicated, with smaller dips and peaks added to the main arc. Scientists think these represent dark surface features akin to sunspots seen on our own Sun—star spots.

The Sun’s total number of sunspots varies as it goes through its 11-year solar cycle. Scientists use them to determine and predict the progress of that cycle as well as outbreaks of solar activity that could affect us here on Earth.

Similarly, star spots are cool, dark, temporary patches on a stellar surface. Their sizes and numbers change over time. This variability impacts what astronomers can learn about transiting planets.

Scientists have previously analyzed transit light curves from exoplanets and their host stars to look at the smaller dips and peaks. This helps determine the host star’s properties, such as its overall level of spottiness, inclination angle of the planet’s orbit, the tilt of the star’s spin rotation axis compared to our line of sight, and other factors. The new model uses light curves that include not only transit information, but also the rotation of the star itself to provide even more detailed information about these stellar properties.

Learn more about NASA's TESS Mission:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tess/

Learn more about NASA's Pandora Mission:

https://science.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-pandora-mission-one-step-closer-to-probing-alien-atmospheres/

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Producer: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Science Writer: Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park)
Animators: Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
Walt Feimer (eMITS)
Jonathan North (eMITS)
Duration: 1 minute, 27 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #TESSMission #Satellites #Spacecraft #PandoraMission #SmallSats #Stars #Exoplanets #Starspots #Sunspots #StarryStarryProcess #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualization #Animation #HD #Video

Galaxy Messier 96 in Leo: A New Look | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxy Messier 96 in Leo: A New Look | Hubble Space Telescope

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features a galaxy whose asymmetric appearance may be the result of a galactic tug of war. Located 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, the spiral galaxy Messier 96 is the brightest of the galaxies in its group. The gravitational pull of its galactic neighbors may be responsible for Messier 96’s uneven distribution of gas and dust, asymmetric spiral arms, and off-center galactic core.

This galaxy's asymmetric appearance is on full display. This new Hubble image incorporates observations made in ultraviolet and optical light. Hubble images of Messier 96 have been released previously in 2015 and 2018. Each successive image has added new data, building up a beautiful and scientifically valuable view of the galaxy.

This third version gives an entirely new perspective on Messier 96’s star formation. The bubbles of pink gas in this image surround hot, young, massive stars, illuminating a ring of star formation in the outskirts of the galaxy. These young stars are still embedded within the clouds of gas where they were born. The new data included for the first time in this image will be used to study how stars are born within giant dusty gas clouds, how dust filters starlight, and how stars affect their environments.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy, tilted nearly face-on to us, with a slightly unusual shape. Its spiral arms form an oval-shaped ring around the galaxy’s disc, filled with blue light from stars, as well as pink glowing gas bubbles where new stars are forming. Threads of dark red dust swirl around the brightly glowing core, partly blocking its light. The dust lanes extend into and follow the spiral arms.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, D. Calzetti
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #InteractingGalaxies #Galaxy #Messier96 #Asymmetry #Stars #StarFormation #Leo #Constellations #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

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