Friends of NASA

Monday, September 22, 2025

Galaxy NGC 2775: Spiral, elliptical or neither? | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxy NGC 2775: Spiral, elliptical or neither? | Hubble Space Telescope

This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features a galaxy that is challenging to categorize. The galaxy in question is NGC 2775. It lies 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer (The Crab). NGC 2775 sports a smooth, featureless center that is devoid of gas, resembling an elliptical galaxy. It also has a dusty ring with patchy star clusters, like a spiral galaxy.

Is it spiral or elliptical—or neither?

Since we can only view NGC 2775 from one angle, it is difficult to say for certain. Researchers have classified NGC 2775 as a spiral galaxy because of its feathery ring of stars and dust and as a lenticular galaxy. Lenticular galaxies have features common to spiral and elliptical galaxies.

It is not yet known exactly how lenticular galaxies come to be. They can form in a variety of ways. Lenticular galaxies might be spiral galaxies that have merged with other galaxies, or that have mostly run out of star-forming gas and lost their prominent spiral arms. They also might have started out more similar to elliptical galaxies, then collected gas into a disk around them.

Evidence suggests that NGC 2775 has merged with other galaxies in the past. Invisible in this Hubble image, NGC 2775 has a tail of hydrogen gas that stretches almost 100,000 light-years around the galaxy. This faint tail could be the remnant of one or more galaxies that wandered too close to NGC 2775 before being stretched apart and absorbed. If NGC 2775 merged with other galaxies in the past, it could explain the galaxy’s strange appearance today.

A Hubble image of NGC 2775 was previously released in 2020. The new version adds observations of a specific wavelength of red light that is emitted by clouds of hydrogen gas surrounding massive young stars.

Image Description: A galaxy seen face-on with a slightly elliptical disc that appears to have a hole in the center like a doughnut. In the hole, the core is a brightly glowing point that shines light out beyond the edge of the disc. Around the hole is an inner ring of dust, and at the galaxy’s edge is a thicker outer ring of dust, with a swirling web of dust strands in between. Blue stars and red nebulae are visible behind the dust.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
Release Date: Sept. 22, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #Galaxies #NGC2775 #SpiralGalaxies #EllipticalGalaxies #LenticularGalaxies #Cancer #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Sunday, September 21, 2025

U.S., European, Japanese & UAE Astronaut Training in Norway and Italy | ESA

U.S., European, Japanese & UAE Astronaut Training in Norway and Italy | ESA

Marco Sieber (ESA), Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA), Mohammad AlMulla (MBRSC) and Makoto Suwa (JAXA) are the CAVES 2025 crew, here in their cave familiarization.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli placing the communication cable along the walls of the Abel cave.

NASA astronaut Jessica Wittner and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France are discussing the presence of a possible magmatic dike within anorthositic rocks.

Prof. Matteo Massironi explain to the PANGAEA astronaut crew how to identify geological units from distance.

Friends of NASA member and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France observes the mineral assemblage of anorthositic rocks analogue to the Lunar Highlands.

A space-like environment in the depths of the Earth . . .

The Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising Human Behavior and Performance Skills (CAVES) expedition is a simulation of a space mission and an extreme training session. It is held four kilometers underground in a cave.

This one-week underground adventure was designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to train astronauts to live and work together as a team. CAVES meets two objectives by giving astronauts an opportunity to:

tackle challenges associated with long space missions in a hostile environment

participate in actual scientific studies with research teams, as they would on the International Space Station (ISS)

CAVES expeditions prepare astronauts from around the world to:

-work efficiently and safely in a group

-resolve problems as a multicultural team

-carry out complex scientific and technical tasks

-explore unmapped areas

-use procedures related to space exploration

Follow the European Space Agency's CAVES blog: https://blogs.esa.int/caves/

Planetary ANalogue Geological and Astrobiological Exercise for Astronauts (PANGAEA) is a field training course designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that, since 2016, has imparted to ESA and NASA astronauts, and Roscosmos (Russian) cosmonauts the basic theoretical and practical knowledge of geology and astrobiology and trained them in the field. Hence, developing independent field skills, including working with a remotely located science team, is a key part of the training. The PANGAEA training course prepares participants for future planetary exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

Image Credits: ESA/V. Crobu
Image Dates: July 25-Sept. 19, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #PlanetaryScience #Moon #Analogs #Analogues #ArtemisProgram #Geology #Astrobiology #Astronauts #AstronautTraining #Japan #JAXA #PANGAEACourse #CAVESCourse #Nusfjord #Norway #Norge #Fjords #Italy #Italia #Caves #AbelCave #Europe #MBRSC #UAE #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education

Russian Progress MS-32/93P Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Russian Progress 93P Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Expedition 73 flight engineer and NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim: "Progress 93P on its final approach to dock to the SM segment of the International Space Station."

The unpiloted Russian Progress 93 cargo spacecraft arrived at the aft port of the International Space Station’s Zvezda module at 1:23 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 13, 2025. The Roscosmos spacecraft delivered about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 73 crew aboard the space station. It will remain docked for approximately six months before departing for a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. 

The spacecraft launched at 11:54 a.m. EDT on Sept. 11 (8:54 p.m. Baikonur time) on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

Equipment details: Nikon Z9 | 50-500mm | ISO 1000, f16, 1/640s | Sep 13, 2025.

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Kim
Capture Date: Sept. 13, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Planets #Earth #ProgressCargoSpacecraft #ПрогрессMS32 #Progress93 #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #JonnyKim #UnitedStates #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

3D View of Binary Star System LL Pegasi Spiral Cloud | ESO ALMA

3D View of Binary Star System LL Pegasi Spiral Cloud | ESO ALMA

This video shows the observed structure surrounding the binary star system LL Pegasi, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). ALMA’s observations were able to reveal the exquisitely-ordered 3D geometry of the spiral pattern (seen to the left). The observations match almost perfectly with the predicted theoretical model (to the right).

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / H. Kim et al.

Duration: 32 seconds
Release Date: March 6, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Stars #LLPegasi #BinaryStarsSystems #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #IRAS231661655 #Pegasus #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #ESO #ALMA #RadioAstronomy #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Visualization #3D #HD #Video

LL Pegasi Binary Star System: A Celestial Spiral with a Twist | ALMA & Hubble

LL Pegasi Binary Star System: A Celestial Spiral with a Twist | ALMA & Hubble

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured this remarkable image of a binary star system, where two stars—LL Pegasi and its companion—are locked in a stellar waltz, orbiting around their common center of gravity. The old star LL Pegasi is continuously losing gaseous material as it evolves into a planetary nebula, and the distinct spiral shape is the imprint made by the stars orbiting in this gas.

A composition of the ALMA and Hubble data.

Although it looks like the pattern of a shell on the beach, this intriguing spiral is in fact astronomical in nature. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has captured a remarkable image of a binary star system, where two stars—LL Pegasi and its companion—are locked in a stellar waltz, orbiting around their common center of gravity. The old star LL Pegasi is continuously losing gaseous material as it evolves into a planetary nebula, and the distinct spiral shape is the imprint made by the stars orbiting in this gas.

The spiral spans light-years and winds around with extraordinary regularity. Based on the expansion rate of the spiralling gas, astronomers estimate that a new “layer” appears every 800 years—approximately the same time it takes for the two stars to complete one orbit around each other.

LL Pegasi was first highlighted about ten years ago when the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope obtained a picture of the almost-perfect spiral structure. This was the first time a spiral pattern had been found in material surrounding an old star. Now, ALMA’s observations, showing one “cross-section”, have added an extra dimension to reveal the exquisitely-ordered 3D geometry of the spiral pattern.

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/H. Kim et al.
Release Date: March 6, 2017

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Hubble #Stars #LLPegasi #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #IRAS231661655 #Pegasus #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESO #ALMA #RadioAstronomy #Europe #STEM #Education

LL Pegasi Binary Star System Spiral Cloud in Pegasus | Hubble Space Telescope

LL Pegasi Binary Star System Spiral Cloud in Pegasus | Hubble Space Telescope

Although it looks like the pattern of a shell on the beach, this intriguing spiral is in fact astronomical in nature. This remarkable picture from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows one of the most perfect geometrical forms created in space. It captures the formation of an unusual pre-planetary nebula, known as IRAS 23166+1655, around the star LL Pegasi (also known as AFGL 3068) in the constellation of Pegasus (the Winged Horse).

The striking picture shows what appears to be a thin spiral pattern of astonishingly regularity winding around the star that is itself hidden behind thick dust. The spiral pattern suggests a regular periodic origin for the nebula’s shape. The material forming the spiral is moving outwards a speed of about 50,000 km/hour and, by combining this speed with the distance between layers, astronomers calculate that the shells are each separated by about 800 years.

The spiral is thought to arise because LL Pegasi is a binary system with the star that is losing material and a companion star orbiting each other. The spacing between layers in the spiral is expected to directly reflect the orbital period of the binary, estimated to be also about 800 years.

The creation and shaping of planetary nebulae is an exciting area of stellar evolution. Stars with masses from about half that of the Sun up to about eight times that of the Sun do not explode as supernovae at the ends of their lives. Instead a more regal end awaits them as their outer layers of gas are shed and drift into space, creating striking and intricate structures that to Earth-bound observers often look like dramatic watercolor paintings. IRAS 23166+1655 is just starting this process and the central star has yet to emerge from the cocoon of enveloping dust.

Image Processor Judy Schmidt: "It's a spiral in space created by a pair of stars enshrouded by dust . . . We get a space spiral. It has no self-illumination in visible light, so it is being illuminated by the light from any nearby Mliky Way stars. The bright star does not necessarily have anything to do with the illumination even though it looks like it might. This is one of my favorite things ever."

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA & R. Sahai
Image Processing: Judy Schmidt
Release Date: Jan. 4, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Hubble #Stars #LLPegasi #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #IRAS231661655 #Pegasus #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Our Interstellar Medium | NASA Goddard

Our Interstellar Medium | NASA Goddard

Our Milky Way galaxy is home to more than 100 billion stars that are often separated by trillions of miles. The spaces in between, called the interstellar medium, are not empty—they are sprinkled with gas and dust that are both the seeds of new stars and the leftover crumbs from stars long dead. Studying the interstellar medium with observatories like NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will reveal new insight into the galactic dust recycling system.

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #InterstellarDust #InterstellarMedium #MilkyWayGalaxy #Galaxies #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #NancyGraceRomanSpaceTelescope #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

NASA Mission to Study Giant ‘Halo’ Surrounding Earth | NASA Goddard

NASA Mission to Study Giant ‘Halo’ Surrounding Earth | NASA Goddard

In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts placed an ultraviolet camera on the Moon that captured the first images of Earth’s geocorona, the light emitted by Earth’s outermost atmospheric layer. A new NASA mission bearing the name of the telescope’s creator, Dr. George R. Carruthers, will launch into space to build on that legacy. From a vantage point roughly one million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will capture the most comprehensive views of the geocorona to date. The observations will reveal new insights into the structure of our atmosphere, how solar eruptions impact Earth, and how a planet’s surface water can escape to space, aiding the search for habitable planets elsewhere in the universe.

Learn more about Carruthers Geocorona Observatory science:
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/new-nasa-mission-to-reveal-earths-invisible-halo/

Learn more about the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/carruthers-geocorona-observatory/

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Producers/Editors: Beth Anthony (eMITS), Lacey Young (eMITS)
Animators: Jonathan North (eMITS), Wes Buchanan (eMITS)
Talent: Alex Glocer (NASA), Lara Waldrop (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Duration: 3 minutes, 29 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #SolarSystem #Sun #SpaceWeather #Planets #Earth #Atmosphere #Exosphere #Geocorona #CarruthersGeocoronaObservatory #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

White Dwarf Star Eating Pluto-Like Object | NASA Goddard

White Dwarf Star Eating Pluto-Like Object | NASA Goddard

In a nearby corner of our galactic neighborhood, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just caught a white dwarf star having a cosmic snack.

This burned-out star is about half the mass of our Sun, crammed into a body the size of Earth, and it is tearing apart something a lot like Pluto.

Thanks to Hubble, we are not only witnessing a star’s strange appetite, but glimpsing our own solar system’s possible future.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul Morris: Lead Producer
Video Credits:
Ring of rocky debris around a white dwarf star: Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Red Giant Sun: Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
Artist Concept of White Dwarf Eating Pluto-Like Object: Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and Tim Pyle
Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #WhiteDwarfs #WhiteDwarves #Planets #Exoplanets #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

More Summer 2025 Expedition 73 Crew Photos | International Space Station

More Summer 2025 Expedition 73 Crew Photos | International Space Station

Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Zena Cardman and Jonny Kim, both NASA astronauts, smile for a portrait during a break in their research duties aboard the International Space Station.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui treats bioprinted liver tissues in a portable glovebag inside the International Space Station's Harmony module. The samples will be placed inside an artificial gravity-generating research device to help researchers understand how microgravity affects the formation of blood vessels in engineered tissues. Result may lead to advanced treatments protecting astronauts on long-duration spaceflights and improve bioprinting techniques for patient therapies on Earth.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Mike Fincke shows off production packs containing research samples for the BioNutrients-3 investigation. The biotechnology study explores ways to produce vitamins and nutrients on spacecraft helping supply adequate nutrition for long-term space missions. Fincke treated yeast, yogurt, and fermented milk samples then stowed them in a research incubator for later analysis.

Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 73 Commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Russia holds a headset inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock. Ryzhikov was conducting a hearing examination frequently conducted inside Quest due to the module's quiet environment. Quest is used primarily to service spacesuits and stage spacewalks.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui trims NASA astronaut Mike Fincke's hair aboard the International Space Station. Attached to the electric razor is a vacuum that collects the loose hair safeguarding the station's atmosphere in the microgravity environment.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui smiles for a portrait after trimming NASA astronaut Mike Fincke's hair aboard the International Space Station.

Astronaut Kimiya Yui of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) smiles for a portrait after trimming his own hair aboard the International Space Station. Attached to the electric razor is a vacuum that collects the loose hair safeguarding the station's atmosphere in the microgravity environment.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Zena Cardman treats bioprinted liver tissues in a portable glovebag inside the International Space Station's Harmony module. The samples will be placed inside an artificial gravity-generating research device to help researchers understand how microgravity affects the formation of blood vessels in engineered tissues. Result may lead to advanced treatments protecting astronauts on long-duration spaceflights and improve bioprinting techniques for patient therapies on Earth.

Update: The Expedition 73 crew aboard the International Space Station continues to unpack more than 11,000 pounds of critical spares, food and supplies delivered Sept. 18, 2025, by a Cygnus XL commercial resupply mission. The arrival of the Cygnus XL to the space station was delayed by one day, due to changes in the rendezvous planning resulting from the main spacecraft engine shutting down early on two burns on Sept. 16.

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

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:
https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Capture Dates: Aug. 31-Sept. 10, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Stars #Planets #Earth #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Haven-1: "America’s Next Space Station is Fully Welded" | Vast

Haven-1: "America’s Next Space Station is Fully Welded" | Vast

Haven-1, the world's first commercial space station and America’s next space station, is now fully welded and will soon begin testing ahead of integration.

"Now is the time to meet NASA's call to transition its low-Earth orbit presence from the International Space Station (ISS) to a lower-cost commercial option. Vast is preparing to deliver for America and our international partners. We are working on the world's first, most affordable, commercial space station. Haven-1 will be Vast's first step toward a long-term commercial presence in orbit."

"Purpose-built for scientific research, in-space manufacturing, and extended human habitation, Haven-1 will ensure humanity’s continuous presence in space. Backed by a world-class team and built with speed, safety, and efficiency at its core, this marks the next era in human space exploration—not just reaching orbit, but staying there."

Vast Space's Haven-1 aims to be the "world's first commercial space station". "The era of commercial space stations begins with Haven-1, launching next year. Whether you are a sovereign nation, space agency, scientist, company, or private astronaut—the time is now. Join our mission and help pioneer the next giant leap in space exploration."

Learn more: https://www.vastspace.com/haven-1

Video Credit: Vast
Duration: 33 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 17, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Vast #VastSpace #Haven1 #CommercialSpaceStations #CommercialSpace #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #PrivateAstronauts #UnitedStates #SpaceAgencies #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: Galaxy Messier 82 in Ursa Major | Hubble Space Telescope

Close-up: Galaxy Messier 82 in Ursa Major | Hubble Space Telescope

What lurks behind the dense, dusty clouds of this galactic neighbor? There lies the star-powered heart of the galaxy Messier 82 (M82), also known as the Cigar Galaxy. Located just 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear), the Cigar Galaxy is considered a nearby galaxy. As this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture shows in great detail, it is home to brilliant stars with light shaded by sculptural clouds, clumps and streaks of dust and gas.

It is no surprise that the Cigar Galaxy is so packed with stars, obscured though they might be by the distinctive clouds pictured here. Forming stars ten times faster than the Milky Way, the Cigar Galaxy is what astronomers call a starburst galaxy. The intense starburst period that grips this galaxy has given rise to super star clusters in the galaxy’s heart. Each of these super star clusters contains hundreds of thousands of stars and is more luminous than a typical star cluster. Researchers used Hubble to home in on these massive clusters and reveal how they form and evolve.

This image features something not seen in previously released Hubble images of the galaxy: data from the High Resolution Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The High Resolution Channel is one of three sub-instruments of ACS, which was installed in 2002. In five years of operation, the High Resolution Channel returned fantastically detailed observations of crowded, starry environments like the centers of starburst galaxies. An electronics fault in 2007, unfortunately, left the High Resolution Channel disabled.

Image Description: A close-in view of the center of galaxy M82. Bright, bluish light radiating from the center is due to stars actively forming there. A thick lane of gas, black in the center and red around the edges, crosses the center and blocks much of the light. Thinner strands and clumps of reddish dust cover much of the rest of the view.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. D. Vacca, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI), N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 15, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #Galaxies #Messier82 #M82 #CigarGalaxy #StarburstGalaxy #UrsaMajor #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Free Flying Camera Suborbital View | Blue Origin New Shepard NS-35 Flight

Free Flying Camera Suborbital View | Blue Origin New Shepard NS-35 Flight

Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos: "What a view. From our new free flying camera—deployed on yesterday’s New Shepard mission. (The “bubble” is the seam between two 180 degree lenses.)"

🚀 On September 18, 2025, Blue Origin successfully completed its 35th New Shepard flight and 15th payload mission from Launch Site One in West Texas. The flight carried more than 40 payloads from students, NASA, research institutions, and commercial companies, bringing the total number of science payloads flown on New Shepard to more than 200.

Booster Apogee: 341,489 ft AGL / 345,136 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)

Capsule Apogee: 341,805 ft AGL / 345,452 ft MSL (104 km AGL / 105 km MSL)

Capsule Landing Time: 8:10:14 AM CDT / 13:10:14 UTC

Mission Elapsed Time: 10 minutes, 14 seconds

Fly to space: https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/fly

Image Credit: Blue Origin

Duration: 32 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #BlueOrigin #NewShepard #NewShepardRocket #NewShepardNS35Flight #NS35Mission #PayloadMission #NewShepardNS35Booster #NewShepardNS35Capsule #UncrewedFlight #CommercialSpace #LaunchSiteOne #Texas #UnitedStates #FortheBenefitofEarth #JeffBezos #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Laser Beacon to Space: Deep Space Optical Communications | NASA/JPL

A Laser Beacon to Space: Deep Space Optical Communications | NASA/JPL

In these photographs taken on June 2, 2025, the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Table Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, California, beams its eight-laser beacon to the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) flight laser transceiver aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. At the time, when Psyche was about 143 million miles (230 million kilometers) from Earth.

Managed by JPL, DSOC successfully demonstrated that data encoded in laser photons could be reliably transmitted, received, and then decoded after traveling millions of miles from Earth out to Mars distances. Nearly two years after launching aboard the agency’s Psyche mission in 2023, the demonstration completed its 65th and final “pass” on Sept. 2, 2025, sending a laser signal to Psyche and receiving the return signal from 218 million miles (350 million kilometers) away.

Image Description: A faint beam stretches up and to the left from the open dome of a laboratory into the sky. The building and surrounding trees are mostly in shadow. The sky is a deep blue with multicolored stars visible; the bottom of the sky where it meets the landscape fades from blue to pink.

For more information about the laser communications demo, visit:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/dsoc

NASA's Psyche Mission:

https://psyche.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Text Credit: Ian J. O’Neill
Release Date: Sept. 19, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #PsycheMission #PsycheSpacecraft #AsteroidMission #Moon #ArtemisProgram #Mars #SolarSystem #DeepSpace #SpaceExploration #OpticalCommunications #LaserCommunications #LaserTechnology #BroadbandCommunications #Spacecraft #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #Wrightwood #California #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Friday, September 19, 2025

Cygnus XL CRS-23 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Cygnus XL CRS-23 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, carrying over 11,000 pounds of new science and supplies for the Expedition 73 crew, is pictured in the grips of the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm following its capture. Both spacecraft were orbiting 257 miles above Tanzania.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo craft is pictured moments before its capture with the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm.

The 57.7-foot-long Canadarm2 robotic arm extends from a grapple fixture on the International Space Station as it soared into an orbital sunrise 260 miles above the Philippine Sea.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo craft approaches the International Space Station during orbital nighttime as both spacecraft were orbiting 261 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo craft approaches the International Space Station as both spacecraft were orbiting 261 miles above Mongolia.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, carrying over 11,000 pounds of new science and supplies for the Expedition 73 crew, is pictured before and after its capture by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on September 18, 2025. Both spacecraft were orbiting 257 miles above Namibia. Cygnus XL is Northrop Grumman's expanded version of its previous Cygnus cargo craft increasing its payload capacity and pressurized cargo volume.

This mission is the first flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft. Northrop Grumman has named the spacecraft the S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut that perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident.

More than 15 payloads sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory are aboard. These projects could help improve medicine production, make the orbit around Earth safer, and enhance technology used in television, computer, and smartphone screens. The research aboard Cygnus aims to reduce harmful microbes, improve medication production, manage fuel pressure, and refine semiconductor crystals for next-generation technologies.

Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/4m1jktI

Press Release:
https://issnationallab.org/press-releases/iss-national-lab-advances-research-in-space-with-dozens-of-experiments-on-next-cargo-mission/

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Date: Sept. 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #NorthropGrumman #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #CommercialResupplyServices #CRS23 #Canadarm2 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Russia #Roscosmos #Japan #Expedition73 #STEM #Education