NASA Astronaut Spacewalk Preparations | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Spacewalk Preparations | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Jessica Meir works inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock, installing leg and arm components on a spacesuit and swapping components from one suit to another.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Jessica Meir’s reflection is captured in a spacesuit helmet visor. The visor assembly is coated with a microscopic layer of gold that reflects infrared radiation to protect an astronaut’s eyes while allowing visible light to pass through. Meir was working inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock, installing leg and arm components on the spacesuit and swapping components from one suit to another. 

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 crew member Chris Williams smiles for the camera during a spacesuit fit verification inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Officially called the On-Orbit Fit Verification, this procedure confirms that the spacesuit is airtight and properly configured, assesses comfort and mobility, and helps prevent potential safety risks.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Chris Williams inspects and configures a spacesuit jetpack, known as the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), inside the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module. The jetpacks attach to the rear of spacesuits and serve as a safety mechanism that allows a spacewalker to maneuver back to the station in the unlikely event they become untethered from their worksite.

NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jessica Meir, both Expedition 74 flight engineers, inspect and configure a spacesuit jetpack, known as the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER), inside the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module. The jetpacks attach to the rear of spacesuits and serve as a safety mechanism that allows a spacewalker to maneuver back to the station in the unlikely event they become untethered from their worksite. 

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Chris Williams familiarizes himself with the hardware he will use to install a modification kit and route cables on the port side of the International Space Station during a spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. The duo will use the hardware to prepare the orbital outpost for a future roll‑out solar array that will be installed during a later spacewalk. 

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams, both Expedition 74 flight engineers, familiarize themselves with the hardware they will use to install a modification kit and route cables on the port side of the International Space Station. The duo will conduct a spacewalk using the hardware to prepare the orbital outpost for a future roll‑out solar array that will be installed during a later spacewalk.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 flight engineer Jack Hathaway configures a spacesuit installing its components, checking a helmet, and cleaning suit seals inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock.

A spacewalk by NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams is scheduled on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at the International Space Station. The team has reviewed the spacewalking tools and tasks necessary to install a modification kit and route cables on the port side of the orbital outpost. This external maintenance work will enable the next roll-out solar array to be installed on a future spacewalk after it is delivered on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/J. Hathaway

Dates: Jan. 2, 2026-March 5, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #ISS #Earth #EVA #Spacewalks #SAFER #Spacesuits #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #ChrisWilliams #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Zodiacal Light over Arizona | Earth Science

Zodiacal Light over Arizona | Earth Science

Astrophotographer David Blanchard: "The zodiacal light was easy to see over northern Arizona on Thursday night. This was taken just before the end of astronomical twilight."

What's that strangely diffused white light? 
Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals into the Sun.

Arizona is a landlocked state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

Image Credit: David Blanchard 
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona
Release Date: March 12, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #ZodiacalLight #CosmicDust #Comets #SolarSystem #DarkSkies #LightPollution #Astrophotographers #DavidBlanchard #CitizenScience #Astrophotography #Flagstaff #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Necklace Nebula of Sagitta: "In the Sky with Diamonds" | Hubble

The Necklace Nebula of Sagitta: "In the Sky with Diamonds" | Hubble

The interaction of two doomed stars has created this spectacular ring adorned with bright clumps of gas—a diamond necklace of cosmic proportions. Fittingly known as The Necklace Nebula, this planetary nebula is located 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the small, dim constellation of Sagitta (The Arrow).

The Necklace Nebula also goes by the less glamorous name of PN G054.2-03.4. It was produced by a pair of tightly orbiting Sun-like stars. Roughly 25,000 years ago, one of the aging stars expanded and engulfed its smaller companion, creating something astronomers call a “common envelope”. The smaller star continued to orbit inside its larger companion, increasing the bloated giant’s rotation rate until large parts of it spun outwards into space. This escaping ring of debris formed the Necklace Nebula with particularly dense clumps of gas forming the bright “diamonds” around the ring.

The pair of stars that created the Necklace Nebula remain so close together—separated by only a few million kilometers—that they appear as a single bright dot in the center of this image. Despite their close encounter the stars are still furiously whirling around each other, completing an orbit in just over a day. 

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll
Release Date: April 26, 2021

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #PNG0542034 #SagittaConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Globular Cluster NGC 6496 in Scorpius: A Heavy-metal Home | Hubble

Globular Cluster NGC 6496 in Scorpius: A Heavy-metal Home | Hubble

This 10.5-billion-year-old globular cluster, NGC 6496, is home to heavy-metal stars of a celestial kind! The stars comprising this spectacular spherical cluster are enriched with much higher proportions of metals—elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, are in astronomy curiously known as metals—than stars found in similar clusters.

A handful of these high-metallicity stars are also variable stars, meaning that their brightness fluctuates over time. NGC 6496 hosts a selection of long-period variables—giant pulsating stars whose brightness can take up to, and even over, a thousand days to change—and short-period eclipsing binaries, which dim when eclipsed by a stellar companion.

The nature of the variability of these stars can reveal important information about their mass, radius, luminosity, temperature, composition, and evolution, providing astronomers with measurements that would be difficult or even impossible to obtain through other methods.

NGC 6496 was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The cluster resides at about 35,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Release Date: May 30, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #GlobularClusters #NGC6496 #ScorpiusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #Europe #GSFC #STScI #JudySchmidt #CitizenScience #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Optical Telescope Element Pathfinder | James Webb Space Telescope

The Optical Telescope Element Pathfinder | James Webb Space Telescope

Joining other historic NASA missions like Apollo, Voyager, and the Discovery Space Shuttle, Webb’s Optical Telescope Element Pathfinder (OTE Pathfinder) has made its way to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian museum for permanent display. 

The Pathfinder is the largest intact mirror support structure of its kind, comprised of exotic lightweight materials invented for the purpose of seeing near to the very limits of the observable universe. 

This unique piece of hardware served a critical role in ensuring mission success by enabling engineers to build a comprehensive testing program to validate and ensure the most complicated optical system ever built would work flawlessly after launch.

Credit: James Webb Space Telescope
Producer / Writer: Thaddeus Cesari
Editor: Paul Morris
Images: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSci
Special Thanks to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: March 13, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OTEPathfinder #Stars #Nebulae #Galaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #InfraredAstronomy #SpaceTelescopes #SpaceTechnology #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Crew Moon Mission Menu | Johnson Space Center

NASA Artemis II Crew Moon Mission Menu | Johnson Space Center

Artemis II Launch Update: NASA completed the agency’s Artemis II Flight Readiness Review on Thursday, March 12, 2026, and polled “go” to proceed toward launch. NASA is targeting Thursday, March 19, to roll the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to launch pad 39B in advance of a launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, pending close out of remaining open work.

Artemis II: What’s on the Menu?
The food flying aboard Artemis II is designed to support crew health and performance during the mission around the Moon. With no resupply, refrigeration, or late-load capability, all meals must be carefully selected to remain safe, shelf-stable, and easy to prepare and consume in NASA’s Orion spacecraft. Food selections are developed in coordination with space food experts and the crew to balance calorie needs, hydration, and nutrient intake while accommodating individual crew preferences.

Here are a frequently asked questions about how NASA designs and prepares food systems for Artemis II to support crew health:

What considerations go into selecting and packaging food for safe use during a mission like Artemis II?
Food selection for Artemis II considers shelf life, food safety, nutritional value, crew preference, and compatibility with Orion’s mass, volume, and power requirements. Foods must be easy to prepare and consume in microgravity, minimize crumbs, and remain safe and stable throughout the mission. The crew provided input well before the meals were packed for the test flight.

How are menu items structured to make up an astronaut’s typical daily meals?
On a typical mission day—excluding launch and reentry—astronauts have scheduled time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each astronaut is allotted two flavored beverages per day, which may include coffee. Beverage options are limited due to upmass constraints, which restrict how much food and drink can be carried onboard.

Fresh foods will not be flying on Artemis II as Orion does not have refrigeration nor the late load capability required for fresh foods. Shelf-stable foods help manage food safety and quality throughout the intended shelf life in a compact, self-contained spacecraft, while also reducing the risk of crumbs or particulates in microgravity.

How do Artemis II menus vary from those used during Apollo, space shuttle, and International Space Station missions?
Artemis II menus reflect decades of advancement in space food systems. Apollo missions relied on early food technologies with limited variety, while space shuttle missions expanded menu options and onboard preparation. The International Space Station benefits from regular resupply and occasional fresh foods. In contrast, Artemis II uses a fixed, pre-selected menu designed for a self-contained space vehicle with no resupply.

How much input does the Artemis II crew have in choosing their meals?
The Artemis II crew has direct input into menu selection. Crew members sample, evaluate, and rate all foods on the standard menu during preflight testing, and their preferences are balanced with nutritional requirements and what Orion can accommodate. Final, crew-specific menus are set well before launch. Two to three days’ worth of food for each crewmember is packed together in a single container, providing flexibility for meal selection during the mission.

How are menus tailored for each mission phase, such as launch, transit, and re-entry?
Menus are tailored based on the spacecraft’s food preparation capabilities during each hase of flight. Certain foods, such as freeze-dried meals, require hydration using Orion’s potable water dispenser. This capability is not available during some phases, including launch and landing. As a result, foods selected for those phases must be ready-to-eat and compatible with the spacecraft’s operational constraints, while a broader range of food options are available once full food preparation systems are up and running.

How is space food prepared in the Orion spacecraft?
Food aboard Orion is ready-to-eat, rehydratable, thermostabilized, or irradiated. The crew uses Orion’s potable water dispenser to rehydrate foods and beverages and a compact, briefcase-style food warmer to heat meals as needed.

What challenges come with designing and preparing food for a contained spacecraft like Orion?
Designing food systems for Orion requires balancing nutrition, safety, and crew preference within strict mass, volume, and power limits inside a compact, shared cabin.

Foods must be easy to store, prepare, and consume in microgravity while minimizing crumbs and waste. Preparation is intentionally simple, using ready-to-eat, rehydratable, thermostabilized, or irradiated foods that can be safely prepared without interfering with crew operations or spacecraft systems.

The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), around the Moon and back to Earth 

Artemis II will pave the way for new U.S. crewed missions on the lunar surface in preparation to send the first astronauts to Mars. 

NASA Artemis II Mission page updates:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis Program blog: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Release Date: March 6, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #SLSRocket #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Infographics #STEM #Education

Cygnus NG-23 XL Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Cygnus NG-23 XL Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, with its two prominent cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, is in the grasp of the Canadarm2 robotic arm before being released and departing the International Space Station to complete its resupply mission.

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft, with its two prominent cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, departs the International Space Station moments after being released from the grasp of the Canadarm2 robotic arm completing its resupply mission. 

The Canadarm2 robotic arm's latching end effector, or LEE, is pictured from a window on the International Space Station after it had released Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft into Earth orbit ending its resupply mission. The orbital outpost was soaring 271 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Argentina when this photograph was taken. 

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: "Another day on the International Space Station brings the departure of another vehicle, the last of our three cargo vehicles on the US Operating Segment (USOS). Today, we bid farewell to the Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-23 cargo vehicle, named after our late colleague NASA astronaut Willie McCool. 

As I watched Cygnus disappear over the horizon, I took a moment to reflect and honor Willie, and all of the STS-107 crew, who honorably gave their lives in their effort to advance science and space exploration. 

Godspeed S.S. William 'Willie' C. McCool, thank you for your service!"

At 7:06 a.m. EDT, March 12, 2026, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm that earlier detached the cargo spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 miles over the south Atlantic Ocean.

The Cygnus XL spacecraft successfully departed the space station more than seven months after arriving at the orbiting laboratory to deliver about 11,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

The spacecraft will be commanded to deorbit on Saturday, March 14, to dispose of several thousand pounds of trash during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will "harmlessly" burn up.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/Chris Williams

Date: March 12, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #NorthropGrumman #Canadarm2 #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #AstronautVideography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

CG 4 in Puppis: The Globule and The Galaxy

CG 4 in Puppis: The Globule and The Galaxy

Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting galaxy?

Thankfully, that is not the case. The red “monster” shown in the featured image is cometary globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. CG 4 is a molecular cloud, where hydrogen becomes cold enough to form molecules that can be brought together by gravity to create stars. The shape of CG 4 resembles that of a comet, but its head is 1.5 light-year in diameter and its tail is 8 light-years long; for comparison, the distance from the Earth to the sun is only 8 light-minutes.

Astronomers think that the tail of a cometary globule could have been shaped by a nearby supernova explosion or by irradiation from hot, massive stars. Indeed, CG 4 and other nearby globules point away from the Vela Supernova Remnant, at the center of the Gum Nebula. The edge-on spiral galaxy, ESO 257-19, is more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely safe from the “monster”.

Image Credit & Copyright: William Vrbasso
William's website: https://www.stellaraustralis.com
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
Release Date: March 11, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #SpiralGalaxy #ESO25719 #Nebulae #MolecularCloud #CometaryGlobuleCG4 #CG4 #PuppisConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #Astrophotography #WilliamVrbasso #Astrophotographer #GSFC #STEM #Education #APoD

Inside the World's Largest Telescope: "It's Progressing Fast!" | ESO

Inside the World's Largest Telescope: "It's Progressing Fast!" | ESO

With its 39 m primary mirror, the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be the biggest and most powerful optical telescope in the world. In this episode of Chasing Starlight, we take you on an exclusive tour of the ELT, from the massive telescope structure inside the dome to the facility that will coat the mirrors with reflective silver.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is a massive building. It is almost as tall as London's Big Ben clock tower and larger than Rome's Colosseum. The construction materials used for the ELT include: 10,000 tonnes of steel, 30 million bolts or 500 km of cables.

The ELT stands at Cerro Armazones in Chile's Atacama Desert. 
Altitude: 3,046 meters
Planned year of technical first light: 2027

Learn more about ESO’s ELT at: https://elt.eso.org

Credit: European Southern Observatory
Directed by: L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, N. Schäfer
Hosted by: S. Randall
Written by: S. Randall, K.-M. Mikosch
Editing: M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada
Videography: A. Tsaousis, N. Schäfer
Animations & footage: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, J. C. Muñoz-Mateos, G. Vecchia, A. Tsaousis, Google Earth, CIMOLAI/S. Petković, H.-H. Heyer, SCHOTT AG, G. Hüdepohl Safran, Chepox, M. Wallner, J. Beltrán, E. Garcéss
Filming Locations: Cerro Armazones and ELT
Acknowledgements: D. Deina, R. Parra, B. Koehler, ACe/Cimolai, SCHOTT, Safran Reosc, PI - Physik Instrumente, FAMES (Micro-Epsilon Messtechnik, Fogale Nanotech), VDL ETG Projects B.V.
Duration: 10 minutes
Release Date: March 13, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #AstronomicalObservatories #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Construction #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China CAS Space Commercial Liqing-2 Rocket Engine Completes Long-Range Test

China CAS Space Commercial Liqing-2 Rocket Engine Completes Long-Range Test

China's liquid oxygen kerosene engine, the Liqing-2, developed by CAS Space, completed a long-range test on Thursday, March 12, 2026, marking a significant milestone in the advancement of reusable rocket technology.

During the test, the 110-tonne pin engine underwent multiple ignitions. The longest single operation lasted 200 seconds, contributing to a total operational time of 420 seconds, covering the flight duration of the first stage of the rocket. The engine's cumulative testing time has now surpassed 1,000 seconds.

"This marks that the engine can enter the reliability verification testing phase, preparing for mass production," said Chen Zhan, chief designer of the Liqing-2.

The Liqing-2 features a pin nozzle design, incorporating a pin-like protrusion at the center of the engine nozzle. This design allows for precise thrust control through a simple structure, making it highly reliable and an essential technology for reusable rockets. Compared to conventional designs, the Liqing-2 is more cost-effective and lighter, balancing high performance with economic efficiency.

"The pin nozzle injector comes at a relatively low cost. The successful development of this type of rocket engine means that China's commercial aerospace sector will have greater capabilities, more options, and lower costs, contributing to the industry's high-quality growth," said Chen.

The Liqing-2 will serve as the main engine for the reusable rockets Lijian-2 and Kinetica-2H.

CAS Space is a commercial spaceflight company established by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Kerosene has several advantages as a rocket fuel. It is generally cheaper, and denser, while remaining stable at room temperature. It is easier to handle and is not toxic like hypergolic propellents. Kerosene is readily transportable and has no leakage issues similar to liquid hydrogen (LH2). It also has a higher energy density and presents a lower explosion hazard than LH2. Kerosene rocket engines produce more thrust per unit cost.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 16 seconds
Release Date: March 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #CASSpace #Liqing2 #RocketEngines #LiquidOxygen #LOX #Kerosene #RP1 #Lijian2Rockets #Kinetica2HRockets #LaunchVehicles #ReusableRockets #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #CommercialSpace #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Japan's HTV‑X1 Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Japan's HTV‑X1 Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

The HTV‑X1 cargo spacecraft from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is shown in the grasp of the Canadian Space Agency's Canadarm2 robotic arm after being detached from the Earth‑facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module, along with its release on March 6, 2026.

The HTV-X1 spacecraft successfully departed the station more than four months after arriving to deliver more than 9,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

JAXA's HTV-X:
https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/htv-x/

Canadian space robotics:

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/robotics/default.asp

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/Chris Williams
Image Date: March 6, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Canadarm2 #HTVX1CargoSpacecraft #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #Japan #日本 #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Cygnus NG-23 Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Cygnus NG-23 Cargo Spacecraft Departure | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: "Another day on the International Space Station brings the departure of another vehicle, the last of our three cargo vehicles on the US Operating Segment (USOS). Today, we bid farewell to the Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-23 cargo vehicle, named after our late colleague NASA astronaut Willie McCool. 

As I watched Cygnus disappear over the horizon, I took a moment to reflect and honor Willie, and all of the STS-107 crew, who honorably gave their lives in their effort to advance science and space exploration. 

Godspeed S.S. William 'Willie' C. McCool, thank you for your service!"

At 7:06 a.m. EDT, March 12, 2026, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL was released from the Canadarm2 robotic arm that earlier detached the cargo spacecraft from the Earth-facing port of the International Space Station’s Unity module. At the time of release, the station was flying about 260 miles over the south Atlantic Ocean.

The Cygnus XL spacecraft successfully departed the space station more than seven months after arriving at the orbiting laboratory to deliver about 11,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware and other cargo for NASA and its international partners.

The spacecraft will be commanded to deorbit on Saturday, March 14, to dispose of several thousand pounds of trash during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will "harmlessly" burn up.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

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/Jessica Meir

Duration: 10 seconds
Date: March 12, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #NorthropGrumman #Canadarm2 #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #AstronautVideography #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Alpha Flight 7 Rocket Launch Successful | Firefly Aerospace

Alpha Flight 7 Rocket Launch Successful | Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace has announced the successful launch of its Alpha Flight 7 Stairway to Seven Mission. Alpha lifted off from Firefly’s Space Launch Complex 2 at the Vandenberg, California, at 5:50 pm Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on March 11, 2026, before completing an orbital insertion and delivering a demonstrator payload for Lockheed Martin. Firefly’s Alpha rocket also performed a stage two engine relight and validated key Alpha Block II upgrades, including a new in-house avionics suite and enhanced thermal protection system, ahead of the full Block II configuration upgrade planned for Flight 8.

The Firefly team is now working to complete the final milestones for Alpha Flight 8 that is set to launch the full Block II configuration upgrade designed to enhance reliability and manufacturability across the vehicle. The upgrades include a 7-foot increase to Alpha’s length, consolidated batteries and avionics built in house, improved thermal protection system, and stronger carbon composite structures built with automated machinery.

Learn more: 
https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-successfully-launches-alpha-flight-7/
https://fireflyspace.com/alpha/

Image Credit: Firefly Aerospace/Sean Parker
Image Date: March 11, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Satellites #FireflyAerospace #AlphaRocket #AlphaLaunchVehicle #RocketLaunch #FLTA007 #StairwayToSevenMission #Vandenburg #California #CommercialSpace #LockheedMartin #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Alpha Flight 7 Rocket Launch Successful | Firefly Aerospace

Alpha Flight 7 Rocket Launch Successful | Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace has announced the successful launch of its Alpha Flight 7 Stairway to Seven Mission. Alpha lifted off from Firefly’s Space Launch Complex 2 at the Vandenberg, California, at 5:50 pm Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on March 11, 2026, before completing an orbital insertion and delivering a demonstrator payload for Lockheed Martin. Firefly’s Alpha rocket also performed a stage two engine relight and validated key Alpha Block II upgrades, including a new in-house avionics suite and enhanced thermal protection system, ahead of the full Block II configuration upgrade planned for Flight 8.

The Firefly team is now working to complete the final milestones for Alpha Flight 8 that is set to launch the full Block II configuration upgrade designed to enhance reliability and manufacturability across the vehicle. The upgrades include a 7-foot increase to Alpha’s length, consolidated batteries and avionics built in house, improved thermal protection system, and stronger carbon composite structures built with automated machinery.

Learn more: 
https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-successfully-launches-alpha-flight-7/
https://fireflyspace.com/alpha/

Video Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Duration: 1 minute, 13 seconds
Release Date: March 12, 2026

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Sagittarius Star Field in The Milky Way Galaxy | Hubble Space Telescope

Sagittarius Star Field in The Milky Way Galaxy | Hubble Space Telescope

This stunning image, captured by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), shows part of the sky in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). The region is rendered in exquisite detail—deep red and bright blue stars are scattered across the frame, set against a background of thousands of more distant stars and galaxies. Two features are particularly striking: the colors of the stars, and the dramatic crosses that burst from the centers of the brightest bodies.

While colors in this frame have been enhanced and tweaked during the process of creating the image from the observational data, stars glow in distinct colors. They range in color according to their surface temperature—very hot stars are blue or white, while cooler stars are redder. They may be cooler because they are smaller, or because they are very old and have entered the red giant phase, when an old star expands and cools dramatically as its core collapses.

The crosses are nothing to do with the stars themselves, and, because Hubble orbits above Earth’s atmosphere, nor are they due to any kind of atmospheric disturbance. They are actually known as diffraction spikes, and are caused by the structure of the telescope itself. Like all big modern telescopes, Hubble uses mirrors to capture light and form images. Its secondary mirror is supported by struts, called telescope spiders, arranged in a cross formation. They diffract the incoming light. Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes near the edge of an object. Every cross in this image is due to a single set of struts within Hubble. While the spikes are technically an inaccuracy, many astrophotographers choose to emphasize and celebrate them as a beautiful feature of their images.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint ESA/NASA project and was launched in 1990 by the Space Shuttle mission STS-31 into a low-Earth orbit 600 km above the ground. During its lifetime Hubble has become one of the most important science projects ever.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Jan. 16, 2017

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China's First Female Astronaut Describes Role of Space Industry as Growth Driver

China's First Female Astronaut Describes Role of Space Industry as Growth Driver

China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) has called for coordinated efforts to unleash greater innovation in China's space sector. It is emerging as a key engine for high-quality development.

This year's government work report, delivered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, March 5, 2026, highlighted the numerous achievements made in China's space sector, while the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), a blueprint which maps out China's socioeconomic development priorities through to the end of the decade, stressed the importance of fostering emerging pillar industries, such as aviation and aerospace.

Deputies have been convening in Beijing over the past week for the annual session of the 14th NPC that concludes on Thursday. Liu was among those participating in the gathering. Liu made history back in 2012 when she became China's first woman in space during her first mission aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft.

A decade later, Liu undertook a six-month stint in space as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission. She saw the completion of the basic configuration assembly of China's Tiangong space station.

In an interview on the sidelines of the NPC session, Liu highlighted the important role of the space industry in fostering 'new quality productive forces', a new growth model stressing sci-tech innovation, and driving high-quality development.

While China presses ahead with its ambitious space program, including plans for a crewed Moon mission by 2030, Liu called for greater efforts to promote the sector through advances in industry, technology and talent development. This can bring wider benefits to more fields.

"The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) for national economic and social development identifies the space industry as a strategic emerging industrial cluster and sets out major tasks, such as accelerating China's journey toward a stronger space presence, and advancing crewed lunar exploration and routine deep-space missions. From in-orbit utilization of the Tiangong space station to the development of low-Earth-orbit satellite internet, from the rapid rise of commercial space activities to forward-looking plans for space resource exploration, the space industry is becoming a key engine for fostering new quality productive forces and driving high-quality development," Liu said.

As a crew member, Liu witnessed China's mastery of key technologies for crewed spaceflight and played a vital role in the construction of the country's space station.

She noted how the space industry is a crucial endeavor which brings together the best of the scientific and engineering communities, and said the breakthroughs being made through China's space exploration can also have a positive impact across multiple sectors.

"My experience in orbit has also made me realize that integrating science and technological innovation with industry is key to unlocking development momentum. For the space sector, this means linking the entire chain from laboratories and launch sites to the space station and end applications. Hundreds of scientific experiments conducted aboard the space station, covering fields, such as new materials, life sciences and microgravity physics, have produced results that can not only advance space technologies but also help drive the development of civilian industries. The draft outline supports the participation of private space companies in the industrial chain, forming a structure led by state institutions with private companies contributing additional dynamism. This will further unleash the vitality of innovation in the space sector," she said.

Liu added that talent is the foundation of technological innovation and a cornerstone for long-term development, stressing the importance of strengthening the training of interdisciplinary professionals with expertise in engineering and operational practice.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 47 seconds
Release Date: March 12, 2026

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