Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 3 | International Space Station

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 3 | International Space Station

Expedition 74 backup crew members: Anil Menon of NASA, left, Petr Dubrov (Russia), and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos (Russia), right, pose for a photograph as the Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Expedition 74 backup crew members: Anna Kikina of Roscosmos (Russia), left, and Anil Menon of NASA, are seen as the Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

A flag attached to the train rolling out the Soyuz rocket to the launch pad is seen, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for launch aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 27, 2025, for an eight-month mission as part of Expeditions 73/74. Primary crew members are Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), Sergey Mikayev (Russia) and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams (United States) on his first flight. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than November 27, 2025, 09:27 UTC. On the same day at 12:38 it will dock to the ISS.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon Biography
https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-anil-menon/

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

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

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

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

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image Date: Nov. 24, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #SoyuzMS28Crew #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronauts #AnilMenon #Cosmonauts #AnnaKikina #PetrDubrov #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #JSC #UnitedStates #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 2 | International Space Station

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 2 | International Space Station

The Russian Soyuz rocket 2.1a is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A train is ready to help roll the Soyuz rocket out to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz rocket is prepared to be raised vertical, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at site 31 launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for launch aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 27, 2025, for an eight-month mission as part of Expeditions 73/74. Crew members are Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), Sergey Mikayev (Russia) and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams (United States) on his first flight. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than November 27, 2025, 09:27 UTC. On the same day at 12:38 it will dock to the ISS.

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

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

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

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

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

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image Date: Nov. 24, 2025

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

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 1 | International Space Station

Russian Soyuz MS-28 Crew Spacecraft Preflight: Part 1 | International Space Station

The Russian Soyuz MS-28 crew vehicle shown being integrated with its (very colorful) Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A mosaic sign welcomes visitors outside the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

The Russian Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for launch aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 27, 2025, for an eight-month mission as part of Expeditions 73/74. Crew members are Sergey Kud-Sverchkov (Russia), Sergey Mikayev (Russia) and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams (United States) on his first flight. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than November 27, 2025, 09:27 UTC. On the same day at 12:38 it will dock to the ISS.

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

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

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

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

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

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits Roscosmos/NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image Dates: Nov. 23-24, 2025

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

Baby Stars 'Blowing Gas Bubbles' in Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble

Baby Stars 'Blowing Gas Bubbles' in Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy | Hubble

This Hubble picture brings a distant stellar birthplace into focus. This gigantic cloud of cold hydrogen gas is called N159, and it is located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado. N159 is one of the most massive star-forming clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit the Milky Way.

This image shows just a portion of the N159 star-forming complex. The entire complex stretches over 150 light-years across. To put that into perspective, 150 light-years is nearly ten million times the distance between Earth and the Sun!

In the subzero interior of this gas cloud, subjected to the crushing pressure of gravity, young stars begin to gleam in the darkness. Particularly hot and high-mass stars illuminate their birthplaces with red light. This red glow is characteristic of excited hydrogen atoms, to which Hubble is exquisitely sensitive.

Though bright stars in the cloud appear to be blanketed with reddish gas, others seem to lie at the center of a reddish bubble, through which the dark backdrop of space is visible. These bubbles are evidence of stellar feedback, where young stars fill their habitats with high-energy radiation and blow bubbles with their intense stellar winds.

Image Description: A field filled with stars and covered by clouds of gas and dust. The center and left side are totally blanketed with billowing, bright red clouds. They are opaque some places—showing clusters of stars forming within—and transparent others. Small patches are dark black in color, while a large cloud below the center is mostly pale blue. The right side of the view, mostly gas-free, glitters with stars near and far.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, R. Indebetouw
Release Date: Nov. 24, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Stars #LMCN159 #StellarNursery #LargeMagellanicCloud #LMC #DwarfGalaxy #Dorado #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis: View from Snowy Northern Norway

Aurora Borealis: View from Snowy Northern Norway

Photographer Eva Kristiansen: "In the biting cold, with 13 degrees below zero and a sky clear as crystal, a gentle aurora began to glow quietly. Suddenly it burst into a celestial firework, its colors shooting across the winter landscape like living flames. The cold hung heavy and sharp over everything, yet aurora painted the night with a light so powerful it transformed the silence into pure magic."

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

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

Solid Colored Aurora

Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.

Element Emission Colors

Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.

Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.

Aurora Colors According to Altitude

Above 150 miles: red, oxygen

Up to 150 miles: green, oxygen

Above 60 miles: purple or violet, nitrogen

Up to 60 miles: blue, nitrogen

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast.

Image Credit: Eva Kristiansen
Capture Location: Tromsø, Norway
Eva's website: https://www.instagram.com/xevitak/

Image Date: Nov. 23, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #Photography #Photographer #EvaKristiansen #Tromsø #Norway #Norge #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Earth Lightning Storms: 'Silent' Orbital View | International Space Station

Earth Lightning Storms: 'Silent' Orbital View | International Space Station

Expedition 73 Flight Engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Astronaut Kimiya Yui: "After work, I tried filming lightning videos, but since I couldn't accurately predict when and where it would occur, it was quite difficult lol."

"Next time, I'll practice a bit more and introduce it once I've gotten better."

"Even when lightning flashes, we can't hear its sound, which is a big difference from the ground."

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

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

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Kimiya Yui

Duration: 15 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Atmosphere #Weather #LightningStorms #AstronautVideography #UnitedStates #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3455 in Leo | Hubble

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3455 in Leo | Hubble

Shown here is a spiral galaxy known as NGC 3455. It lies around 65 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo (The Lion).

Galaxies are classified into types according to their structure and appearance. This classification system is known as the Hubble Sequence, named after its creator Edwin Hubble.

In this sequence, NGC 3455 is known as a type SB galaxy—a barred spiral. Barred spiral galaxies account for approximately two thirds of all spirals. Galaxies of this type appear to have a bar of stars slicing through the bulge of stars at their center. The SB classification is further sub-divided by the appearance of a galaxy's pinwheeling spiral arms; SBa types have more tightly wound arms, whereas SBc types have looser ones. SBb types, such as NGC 3455, lie in between.

NGC 3455 is part of a pair of galaxies —its partner, NGC 3454, lies out of frame. This cosmic duo belong to a group known as the NGC 3370 group that is in turn one of the Leo II groups, a large collection of galaxies scattered some 30 million light-years to the right of the Virgo cluster.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Nick Rose
Release Date: April 14, 2014

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #NGC3455 #SpiralGalaxies #SBGalaxies #NGC3370Group #Leo #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) over Lomnický Peak in Slovakia

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) over Lomnický Peak in Slovakia

Comet Lemmon has been putting on a show for cameras around the globe. This photogenic comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) sprouted two long and picturesque tails: a blue ion tail and a white dust tail. The ion tail is pushed away from the coma by the ever-present but ever-changing solar wind, at one point extending over 20 times the diameter of the full Moon—as captured in this long-duration exposure. The shorter and wider dust tail is pushed away from the coma and shines by reflecting sunlight.

This mid-October picture framed the comet behind Lomnický Peak of the High Tatra Mountains, home to the Slovakian Lomnický Stit Observatory. Comet Lemmon is now fading as it heads away from planet Earth. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year. This huge shedding snowball rounded the Sun on November 8, 2025. Comet Lemmon passed nearest to the Earth—about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21.

Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest.

Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Barsa
Robert's website: https://www.instagram.com/rob.barsa/
Release Date: Nov. 4, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #RobertBarsa #Astrophotographers #LomnickýPeak #HighTatraMountains #Slovakia #Slovenskárepublika #STEM #Education #APoD

Celestial 'Snow Angel': Star-forming Region Sharpless 2-106 in Cygnus | STScI

Celestial 'Snow Angel': Star-forming Region Sharpless 2-106 in Cygnus | STScI

The star-forming region Sharpless 2-106 (S106) has a bi-polar shape that has been described as a "celestial snow angel". The "wings" of the nebula are actually bubbles of hot gas created by stellar winds and high energy radiation coming from a massive, hot, newborn star in the center. A ring of dense gas and dust encircles that star and forces the outflows into two oppositely directed lobes. The blue light in the S106 image represents hotter gas along the interior of the lobes, while the red light comes from cooler gas along the exterior.

This video presents a scientific visualization of S106 in which the Hubble image has been augmented with additional field-of-view from the Subaru Infrared Telescope. A couple research articles in science journals described the basic hourglass-like shape of the nebula. Based on those papers, and augmented by intuition and artistic license as needed, the stars and the lobes of glowing gas from the Hubble/Subaru two-dimensional image have been separated and sculpted to create the depth in the movie. This three-dimensional view illustrates and emphasizes that many of the objects contained within astronomical images are not at the same distance, but, in fact, spread across many light-years of space. Note, however, that the relative distances between stars and the nebula have been compressed.

Sh 2-106 is an emission nebula and a star formation region in the constellation Cygnus. It is a H II region estimated to be around 2,000 light years (600 parsecs) from Earth, in an isolated area of the Milky Way.

In the center of the nebula is a young and massive star that emits jets of hot gas from its poles, forming the bipolar structure. Dust that surrounds the star is also ionized by it. The nebula spans about 2 light-years across.

Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Nov. 12, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Nebulae #Sharpless2106 #Cygnus #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescopes #SubaruTelescope #NAOJ #Japan #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #ComputerSimulations #Visualizations #Art #HD #Video

Planet Mars Images: Nov. 13-21, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: Nov. 13-21, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 4718

Mars 2020 - sol 1688

Mars 2020 - sol 1687

Mars 2020 - sol 1687

Mars 2020 - sol 1687

Mars 2020 - sol 1688

Mars 2020 - sol 1686

MSL - sol 4718

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2025)

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/Martian-Observer

Image Release Dates: Nov. 13-21, 2025

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

NASA’s X-59 Completes Historic First Flight | Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA’s X-59 Completes Historic First Flight | Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took to the skies for the first time Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, departing from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, and arriving at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The milestone marks a major step for NASA’s Quesst mission and its goal of enabling quiet supersonic flight over land.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.” Follow the X-59 team as they take on the exciting journey of building the X-59 and working toward quiet supersonic flight.

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

For more information about the X-59 and NASA's Quesst mission, visit www.nasa.gov/quesst

Image Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Image Date: Oct. 28, 2025

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Sonicboom #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #SkunkWorks #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Palmdale #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Wandering Tail of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Spain

The Wandering Tail of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Spain

What has happened to Comet Lemmon's tail? 

The answer is blowing in the wind—the wind from the Sun in this case. This continuous outflow of charged particles from the Sun has been quite variable of late. As the Sun emits bursts of energy via what are called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), this pushes out and deflects charged particles emitted by the comet itself. The result is a blue hued ion tail for Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) that is impressively intricate.

This long-duration composite image was taken from Alfacar, Spain last month. Comet Lemmon is now fading as it heads out away from the Earth and Sun and back into the outer Solar System. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year. It rounded the Sun on November 8, 2025. Comet Lemmon passed nearest to the Earth—about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21.

Image Description: A starfield is shown above a mountain peak. Just above the mountain and extending up toward the upper right is a blue-tinted tail of a comet. The comet's head is just to the left of the peak.  

Image Credit: Ignacio Fernández

Ignacio's website: https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/
Release Date: Nov. 17, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #IgnacioFernández #Astrophotographers #Alfacar #Spain #España #STEM #Education #APoD

Chinese Scientists Make First Achievement in Detecting Neutrinos with JUNO

Chinese Scientists Make First Achievement in Detecting Neutrinos with JUNO

The world's largest transparent spherical neutrino detector in south China's Guangdong province reported its first achievement on November 19, 2025, marking a major step of its decade-long construction.

In a press conference held in Guangdong's Jiangmen by the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), IHEP deputy director Wen Liangjian presented the first physics result by the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO).

Using 59 days of effective data after the start of operation on Aug. 26 this year, JUNO has already measured two of the solar neutrino oscillation parameters with a factor of 1.5 to 1.8 better precision than previous experiments, said Wen, also the physics analysis coordinator of the JUNO Collaboration.

The two parameters, originally determined by solar neutrinos, can also be precisely measured by reactor antineutrinos. Earlier results from the two approaches showed a mild 1.5-sigma discrepancy, known as the solar neutrino tension, hinting at a possible new physics theory.

Achieving such precision within only two months of operation shows that JUNO is performing exactly as designed, said Wang Yifang, JUNO project manager and spokesperson.

With this level of accuracy, JUNO will soon determine the neutrino mass ordering, test the three-flavour oscillation framework, and search for new physics beyond it, Wang added.

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

At the heart of JUNO is a liquid-scintillator detector with an unprecedented mass of 20,000 tonnes, housed at the center of a 44-meter-deep water pool. A 41.1-meter-diameter stainless steel truss supports the 35.4-meter-diameter acrylic sphere, the liquid scintillator, over 45,000 photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs) and many other key components such as cables, magnetic shielding coils and light baffles.

When passing through the detector, neutrinos have a small chance of bumping into the hydrogen nuclei in the liquid, triggering extremely faint flashes, which can be detected by the surrounded PMTs and then converted into electrical signals.

JUNO is a major international collaboration led by the IHEP. The project involves more than 700 scientists from 75 institutions across 17 countries and regions. Proposed in 2008 and approved by the CAS and Guangdong Province in 2013, JUNO began underground construction in 2015 and started taking data in August 2025.

The CAS vice president Ding Chibiao said at the press conference that JUNO is a major international collaborative project in fundamental scientific research that brings together global expertise. The project demonstrates China's commitment to the principles of openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit for international partnerships.

JUNO is designed to determine the neutrino mass ordering and measure oscillation parameters with sub-percent precision. It will also study solar, atmospheric, supernova and geoneutrinos, and search for physics beyond the standard model of particle physics.

JUNO will continue to produce important results and train new generations of physicists for decades to come, said Cao Jun, director of IHEP and JUNO deputy spokesperson.

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

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 56 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 19, 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 #CGTN #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Mexico

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Mexico

Astrophotographer Braulio Guerra Urbiola: "Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) . . . The green coma arises from sunlight exciting diatomic carbon (C₂) and cyanogen (CN). Its dust tail is shaped by radiation pressure and the solar wind as the comet travels at high velocity along its orbit toward perihelion."

Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year. It rounded the Sun on November 8, 2025. Comet Lemmon passed nearest to the Earth—about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21.

Image Credit: Braulio Guerra Urbiola

Image Details: Image produced from short, stacked exposures to preserve detail in the coma and developing tail. Telescopio Takahashi FQS-106ED Cámara ZWO ASI 2600 Duo Montura ecuatorial AM5 ZWO Exposiciones: 15 x 20 segundos (5 minutos totales) PixInsight + Lightroom
Braulio's website: https://app.astrobin.com/u/BraulioGuerra
Capture Location: Hidalgo, México

Image Date: Oct. 25, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #BraulioGuerraUrbiola #Astrophotographers #Hidalgo #Mexico #STEM #Education

Russian Cosmonaut Spacewalk: Ryzhikov & Zubritsky | International Space Station

Russian Cosmonaut Spacewalk: Ryzhikov & Zubritsky | International Space Station

Russian cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky (blue stripes) and Sergey Ryzhikov (red stripes) of Roscosmos are pictured during a six-hour and nine-minute spacewalk, while using the European Robotic Arm (ERA).

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky on spacewalk

Russian cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky (blue stripes) and Sergey Ryzhikov (red stripes) of Roscosmos are pictured during a six-hour and nine-minute spacewalk, while using the European Robotic Arm (ERA).

Russian cosmonauts (from left) Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Roscosmos are pictured inside the International Space Station's Zvezda service module dressing up and preparing for a spacewalk.

On Oct. 16, 2025, members of Expedition 73 and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov (station commander) and Aleksei Zubritsky of Roscosmos ventured onto the exterior of the Russian International Space Station (ISS) segment for more than six hours for the VKD-64 spacewalk. They installed the Ekran-M experiment for the production of semiconductors in the vacuum of space. The duo also removed a high-resolution camera monoblock, cleaned a window on the Zvezda service module, and removed a materials exposure experiment container.

Russian Spacewalker#1 Sergei Ryzhikov, Orlan-MKS No. 7 spacesuit with red stripes

Russian Spacewalker#2 Aleksei Zubritsky, Orlan-MKS No. 6 spacesuit with blue stripes

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/JSC/Zena Cardman
Release Date: Nov. 18-19, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ISS #Spacewalk #EVA #VKD64 #Cosmonauts #SergeiRyzhikov #AlekseiZubritsky #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #Japan #JAXA #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

World's Most Sensitive Cosmic-ray Observatory: LHAASO

World's Most Sensitive Cosmic-ray Observatory: LHAASO

At over 4,400 meters above sea level on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in Daocheng, southwest China's Sichuan Province, stands the world's most advanced cosmic-ray observatory—the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Since its completion in 2021, it remains the world's highest, largest and most sensitive observatory for detecting high-energy cosmic rays and gamma rays. CGTN's Liu Jiaxin takes us inside this mega-facility, where scientists are tracing particles from the universe's high-energy frontiers.

Learn more: 
https://lssf.cas.cn/en/facilities/pnp/lhaaso/

Video Credit: CGTN
Duration: 6 minutes, 46 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 16, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Astrophysics #Physics #CosmicRays #GammaRays  #China #中国  #LHAASO #AstronomicalObservatory #QinghaiXizangPlateau #Daocheng #Sichuan #SolarSystem #Stars #Galaxies #BlackHoles #Universe #SpaceResearch #InternationalScience #Technology #Engineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video