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Bright Southern Lights: "Wait for it . . . :)" | International Space Station
Earth auroras are assigned names based on the pole where they occur. 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.
On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.
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.
Mindbending Moonset: Atmospheric Refraction | International Space Station
Expedition 73 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman: "Wild mirage of moonset as viewed from the International Space Station. The distortion and colors are caused by atmospheric refraction and Rayleigh scattering (and I think the ripples are likely from some temperature inversions? I’ll let the Internet correct me . . . )."
"Getting this shot as I envisioned became my white whale for more than a week. The challenge was mostly timing—finding, focusing, and tracking with a long, handheld lens during the brief few minutes we can see the Moon each orbit, then leading and stabilizing the framing on a soft horizon too dark to see."
"We get sixteen moonsets every day, so I spent a lot of time with this obsession. What a relief to finally catch it. 400mm plus 1.4x and 2x converter, 1/50s, f/22, ISO 2000, luck, and stubbornness."
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.
The Pillars of Creation in The Eagle Nebula: Making a 3D Visualization
A behind the scenes look at producing a scientific visualization of the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula.
The AstroViz Project of NASA's Universe of Learning is creating an exploration into the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. This production reel provides a peek into the underlying science, the 2D image processing, and the development of 3D volumetric models of these star-forming wonders using visible and infrared data from the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes.
Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute
Visualization Team: Greg Bacon, Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Leah Hustak, Danielle Kirshenblat, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, Frank Summers (STScI), Robert Hurt (Caltech/IPAC) Science Advisor: Anna McLeod (Durham) Duration: 2 minutes, 22 seconds Release Date: Sept. 8, 2025
NASA’sInterstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) Mission
NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, is a new mission that will map the boundaries of our heliosphere—a giant protective bubble created by the Sun that encapsulates our solar system. The spacecraft will study the Sun’s activity and how the heliosphere boundary interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond.
The heliosphere protects the solar system from dangerous high-energy particles called galactic cosmic rays. Mapping the heliosphere’s boundaries helps scientists understand our home in space and how it came to be habitable.
IMAP is launching no earlier than Sept. 23, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
China's Long March-10 Crewed Moon Rocket Succeeds in Second Static Fire Test
China's new-generation crewed carrier rocket Long March-10 successfully completed a second static fire test on September 12, 2025, at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan.
The move marks a breakthrough in developing the initial prototype of the Long March-10 series of carrier rockets, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
At 15:00 Beijing Time, seven engines used on the test product of the rocket's first stage were ignited simultaneously. Following this procedure, multiple test processes were completed with a total test duration of 320 seconds.
This test focused on evaluating the capabilities of the seven clustered engines of the rocket's first stage for low-thrust operating condition and secondary restart condition, obtaining complete test data. The test was a complete success, according to the agency.
Up to now, two planned static fire tests have both been completed. They have comprehensively verified the design validity and reliability of the rocket's first-stage propulsion system and the working procedure for recovery, according to the CMSA.
The first such test took place on Aug 15, 2025, with the thrust scale reaching nearly 1,000 tons, marking the largest such test ever conducted in China.
The Long March-10 carrier rocket series is developed to serve China's manned lunar exploration missions, including two configurations—the Long March-10 rocket and Long March-10A rocket.
The Long March-10 rocket is a type of three-stage rocket with two boosters. It has a diameter of 5 meters and a maximum height of 92.5 meters. It will undertake the launch missions of the crewed spacecraft and the lunar lander.
The Long March-10A is a type of two-stage reusable rocket, with a diameter of 5 meters and a maximum height of 67 meters. Its first stage can be recycled and reused. It will serve the launch missions of the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo craft in the application and development phase of the country's space station.
To spot a meteor, you have to act fast. Sometimes a meteor is only visible in the sky for a few seconds. Many astronomical objects change quickly with time. The study of these fleeting changes is called time-domain astronomy. Luckily, Gemini South in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, a Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF), knows all about acting fast.
Often, Gemini is one of the observatories following up on quickly changing astronomical events, including supernovae, asteroids, variable stars, active galactic nuclei, and, of course, meteors. These observations help astronomers track how these objects change over time. Just this year, follow-up observations using Gemini South helped astronomers characterize the closest supernova linked to a fast X-ray transient and near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4.
However, pointing to these targets is sometimes a matter of speed. Behind Gemini South in this image, perched atop Cerro Pachón, you can see the newly operational NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Rubin is a survey telescope that will scan the southern sky and detect up to 10 million changes every night. Each change in the night sky will trigger an alert to astronomers within minutes, initiating potential follow-up observations.
Close-up: Cloudy N11 Star Cluster in The Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble
This new NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. This image depicts a portion of the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region called N11. We see bright, young stars lighting up the gas clouds and sculpting clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation.
This image integrates observations made roughly 20 years apart, a testament to Hubble’s longevity. The first set of observations, carried out in 2002–2003, capitalized on the exquisite sensitivity and resolution of the then-newly-installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Astronomers turned Hubble toward the N11 star cluster to accomplishing a new task—cataloging all the stars in a young cluster with masses between 10% of the Sun’s mass and 100 times the Sun’s mass.
The second set of observations came from Hubble’s newest camera, the Wide Field Camera 3. These images focused on the dusty clouds that suffuse the cluster, bringing a new perspective on cosmic dust.
Image Description: Stars in a star cluster shine brightly blue with four-pointed spikes radiating from them. The center shows a small, crowded group of stars while a larger group lies out of view on the left. The nebula is mostly thick, smoky clouds of gas, lit up in blue tones by the stars. Clumps of dust hover before and around the stars; they are mostly dark, but lit around their edges where the starlight erodes them.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, J. Maíz Apellániz
Lunar Eclipse in Process: Earth Orbital Views | International Space Station
Expedition 73 flight engineers and NASA astronauts describe the lunar eclipse on Sept. 7-8, 2025.
Zena Cardman: " . . . It’s a challenge to catch the Moon up here—we don’t have any up-facing windows, so we can only see the Moon for a few minutes between moonrise and moonset before it disappears above the ISS or below the horizon."
Jonny Kim: "Yesterday was an extra challenge, dealing with low angle light bouncing through the multi-paned cupola glass, but Zena Cardman and Kimiya Yui, and I had a lot of fun chasing those fleeting opportunities, and got some cool views of Earth’s shadow on our natural satellite, before and after totality."
The lunar eclipse was visible on the Earth's surface from areas of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, & Antarctica.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way of the Sun’s light hitting the Moon. This means that during the night, a full Moon fades away as Earth’s shadow covers it up.
The Moon can also look reddish because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the other colors while it bends sunlight toward the Moon. Sunlight bending through the atmosphere and absorbing other colors is also why sunsets are orange and red.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is shining from all the sunrises and sunsets occurring on Earth.
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's Johnson Space Center, Z. Cardman, J. Kim, K. Yui
Russian Progress MS-32 Cargo Spacecraft Liftoff | International Space Station
An unpiloted Roscosmos Progress MS-32 cargo spacecraft (Russian) was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz 2.1a rocket at 11:54 a.m. EDT (8:54 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, September 11, 2025. The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 93 spacecraft is safely in orbit, headed for the International Space Station.
After a two-day, in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will dock autonomously to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda module at approximately 1:27 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m.
The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station, including a brand new Orlan MKS EVA spacesuit.
NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
Russian Progress MS-32 Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station
An unpiloted Roscosmos Progress MS-32 cargo spacecraft (Russian) was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz 2.1a rocket at 11:54 a.m. EDT (8:54 p.m. Baikonur time) on Thursday, September 11, 2025. The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 93 spacecraft is safely in orbit, headed for the International Space Station.
After a two-day, in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will dock autonomously to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda module at approximately 1:27 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m.
The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station, including a brand new Orlan MKS EVA spacesuit.
NASA Flight Engineers: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Jonny Kim
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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
NASA Astronauts Practice Landing Procedures for The Moon | Artemis Missions
NASA has certified a new lander flight training course using helicopters in the mountains of northern Colorado. The agency has partnered with the Colorado Army National Guard at the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site near Gypsum, Colorado, to develop the foundational flight training course to help astronauts practice flight and landing procedures for the Moon. The certification marks an important milestone in crew training for Artemis missions to the Moon, when astronauts will use a commercial human landing system to land on the lunar surface.
During the two-week certification run in late August 2025, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Matthew Dominick participated in flight and landing training to help certify the course. Paired with trained instructors from the Army National Guard, astronauts fly to mountaintops and valleys in a range of aircraft, including LUH-72 Lakotas, CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-60 Black Hawks.
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.
The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra. Shaped like a cone extending into space, it has a circular cross section most easily seen during a lunar eclipse. On the night of September 7/8 the Full Moon passed near the center of Earth's umbral cone, entertaining eclipse watchers around much of our fair planet, including parts of Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Recorded from Zhangjiakou City, China, this timelapse composite image uses successive pictures from the total lunar eclipse, progressing left to right, to reveal the curved cross-section of the umbral shadow sliding across the Moon.
Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere into Earth's umbra causes the lunar surface to appear reddened during totality. However, close to the umbra's edge, the limb of the eclipsed Moon shows a distinct blue hue. The blue eclipsed moonlight originates as rays of sunlight pass through layers high in the upper stratosphere, colored by ozone that scatters red light and transmits blue. In the total phase of this leisurely lunar eclipse, the Moon was completely within the Earth's umbra for about 83 minutes.
Zhangjiakou is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southwest.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way of the Sun’s light hitting the Moon. This means that during the night, a full Moon fades away as Earth’s shadow covers it up.
The Moon can also look reddish because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the other colors while it bends sunlight toward the Moon. Sunlight bending through the atmosphere and absorbing other colors is also why sunsets are orange and red.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is shining from all the sunrises and sunsets occurring on Earth.
M82 Galaxy in Ursa Major | NASA Hubble & Chandra [Budget Alert]
M82 is a so-called starburst galaxy where stars are forming at rates tens to hundreds of times higher than normal galaxies. Additionally, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory sees supernovas that produce expanding bubbles of multimillion-degree gas that extend for millions of light-years away from the galaxy's disk. Despite being smaller than the Milky Way, M82 is five times as luminous as our home galaxy and forms stars ten times faster. M82 is classified as a starburst galaxy because it is forming new stars at a rate much faster than expected for a galaxy of its mass, especially at its center. It is located just 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is being canceled in NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request, along with 18 other active science missions. NASA's science budget is being reduced by nearly 50%. NASA's total budget will become the lowest since 1961, after accounting for inflation.
Contact your representatives in the United States Congress, House and Senate, to express your concerns about severe budget cuts at NASA:
What would it take to say? "We found life beyond Earth." | We Asked a NASA Expert
Before NASA scientists make that claim, they have to be absolutely sure, from ruling out contamination to spotting chemical signals. Watch as a NASA expert explains how scientists would actually confirm evidence of life and why the bar is astronomically high.
With a background in chemistry and oceanography, Tori Hoehler studies microbial ecosystems on Earth to inform how we will seek evidence of life beyond Earth. His research combines geochemical and biochemical perspectives to understand how energy availability shapes habitability and impacts the nature, abundance, and quality of evidence for life.
Lunar Eclipse Begins: Earth Orbital Views | International Space Station
The initial stages of the lunar eclipse on September 7, 2025, also known as the Blood Moon, are pictured just above Earth's horizon from the International Space Station as it orbited 266 miles over the South Pacific Ocean. The lunar eclipse was visible on the Earth's surface from areas of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way of the Sun’s light hitting the Moon. This means that during the night, a full Moon fades away as Earth’s shadow covers it up.
The Moon can also look reddish because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the other colors while it bends sunlight toward the Moon. Sunlight bending through the atmosphere and absorbing other colors is also why sunsets are orange and red.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is shining from all the sunrises and sunsets occurring on Earth.
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 Date: Sept. 7, 2025
History of Mars: Water Flows in Ancient Neretva Vallis (Animation) | NASA/JPL
An animation depicting what Neretva Vallis on Mars might have looked like billions of years ago: a flowing river flanked by sandy, rocky hills under the Sun.
This animation transitions through time, depicting the water disappearing in the Martian river valley Neretva Vallis until it reaches the present day, when the valley is entirely dry. The view pans to reveal NASA's Perseverance Mars rover with its robotic arm extended and about to sample the “Sapphire Canyon” sample cored from the rock “Cheyava Falls,” which was found in the “Bright Angel” formation, a set of rocky outcrops on the northern and southern edges of Neretva Vallis.
A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
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.
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