Tuesday, September 29, 2026

NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 Prepares for Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 Prepares for Launch | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins waves as she and fellow crewmates NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Space Launch Complex 40 during a dress rehearsal prior to the Crew-13 mission launch, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, right, Luke Delaney, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
NASA astronaut Luke Delaney is seen as he and fellow crewmates NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia is seen as he and fellow crewmates NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk is seen as he and fellow crewmates NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, right, Luke Delaney, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
Ahead of launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, is vertical at the launch pad of Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.

With the rocket on the launch pad, the four-person crew for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station participated in a dry dress rehearsal Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia, spent the morning in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, donning spacesuits and completing air leak checks. Once suited, they boarded vehicles and traveled to Space Launch Complex 40, where they entered the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will take them to the space station.

Crew-13 is scheduled to launch to the station no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 1, for a long-duration science mission.

After Crew-13 arrives aboard the orbiting laboratory, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 crew members will help familiarize the new crew with ongoing science and station maintenance activities for a smooth transition of operations. Following this brief handover, and pending weather conditions, Crew-12, including NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Russia, will board its SpaceX spacecraft and head for a splashdown off the coast of California.

For more than 25 years, people have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon as we prepare for Mars.


Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers:
Andrey Fedyaev,
Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov
European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot
NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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/Joel Kowsky, SpaceX
Dates: Sept. 27 & 29, 2026


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #SpaceXFalcon9Rockets #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew13 #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #LukeDelaney #JoshuaKutryk #CSA #Canada #SergeyTeteryatnikov #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition75 #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Pilot Nils Larson Receives 2026 Iven C. Kincheloe Award

NASA Pilot Nils Larson Receives 2026 Iven C. Kincheloe Award

Research test pilot David “Nils” Larson was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ Iven C. Kincheloe Award for outstanding professional accomplishment in flight testing. Larson earned the honor for leading NASA’s X‑59 quiet supersonic technology aircraft through first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, and for safely reaching the aircraft’s first flight to Mach 1.4 and an altitude of 55,000 feet during envelope expansion testing. His leadership, technical rigor, and airmanship advanced NASA’s low‑boom research goals and moved the X‑59 program closer to community overflight testing.

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.”

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.

Keep up with the latest about X-59: 
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/

Learn more about NASA's Quesst mission: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/


Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 29, 2026

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Pilots #DavidNilsLarson #Sonicbooms #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: A galactic house of mirrors—MACS J0454.1-0300 in Orion | Webb Telescope

Close-up: A galactic house of mirrors—MACS J0454.1-0300 in Orion | Webb Telescope

This NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope picture features galaxies in incredible detail that have been warped and multiplied like they have stepped into a house of mirrors. The brilliant golden galaxies splashed across this image belong to a galaxy cluster called MACS J0454.1-0300. The orange galaxies concentrated on one side of the cluster are not actually part of the cluster; these galaxies are much farther away from us than the galaxies that make up MACS J0454.1-0300.

MACS J0454.1-0300 is itself incredibly distant: the light from these galaxies has been travelling to us for so long that we are seeing the cluster as it was when the Universe was about 8 billion years old. While this galaxy cluster is a valuable scientific target in its own right, the real stars of this image are the galaxies that appear warped and stretched, like a painting that has been smeared by a giant hand.

These strange-looking galaxies are of immense interest to astronomers. The way these galaxies look is the result of gravitational lensing where the enormous mass of a foreground object, such as a galaxy cluster, bends and magnifies the light from a more distant object in the background. Gravitational lensing allows astronomers to observe galaxies, star clusters and even individual stars that are too far away for our telescopes to see under normal conditions. While the large, orange galaxies appear obviously distorted, look carefully at some of the small reddish background galaxies throughout this picture—even at the very edges of the frame, there are galaxies whose images have been bent into tiny arcs by MACS J0454.1-0300’s gravity.

In addition to making galaxies look stretched out or bent, gravitational lensing can also make us see double—or quadruple. Under certain conditions, multiple images of the same galaxy can appear. It is rare to see four or more images of the same galaxy, as this requires the position of the background object and the shape of the massive foreground object to be just so. Because the requirements are so particular, this phenomenon is only seen in 10–20% of galaxy clusters. 

Researchers spotted this rare configuration twice in the Webb observations of MACS J0454.1-0300, marking the first time this phenomenon has been seen more than once in the same galaxy cluster. The gravitationally lensed areas show multiple images of galaxies from when the Universe was young: a group of galaxies 2 billion years after the Big Bang, and a single galaxy just 800 million years old after the Big Bang. The galaxy group appears to be going through a merger, resulting in an enormous burst of star formation.

Astronomers have also identified individual bright ‘knots’ within these gravitationally lensed areas, corresponding to regions as small as 5 light-years across. These tiny clumps appear magnified by a factor of more than 300, in some cases.

The data behind this image come from two observing programs (#5058, PI: Furtak; #6882, PI: Fujimoto) that leverage the ability of massive galaxy clusters to bring distant objects into view. One program searches for individual gravitationally lensed stars in the first billion years of the Universe. This program will monitor a particular gravitationally lensed galaxy in the MACS J0454.1-0300 field of view for signs of hugely magnified single stars. The second program aims to observe a large sample of galaxy clusters at many wavelengths, helping researchers study the onset star formation and the evolution of early galaxies.

Image Description: A massive galaxy cluster, made of many golden elliptical galaxies with the largest, brightest one in the center. Heavily distorted orange galaxies appear all around the cluster, the largest concentrated in a large arc around the cluster's center; these are images of very distant galaxies, created by gravitational lensing. A few galaxies are large and bluish-white in color; bright, nearby stars are the same color.


Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Furtak, S. Fujimoto, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 29, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #MACSJ045410300 #GravitationalLensing #OrionConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #NIRCam #InfraredAstronomy #SpaceTelescopes #Europe #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxies in a cosmic house of mirrors: MACS J0454.1-0300 in Orion | Webb Telescope

Galaxies in a cosmic house of mirrors: MACS J0454.1-0300 in Orion | Webb Telescope

This NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope picture features galaxies in incredible detail that have been warped and multiplied like they have stepped into a house of mirrors. The brilliant golden galaxies splashed across this image belong to a galaxy cluster called MACS J0454.1-0300. The orange galaxies concentrated on one side of the cluster are not actually part of the cluster; these galaxies are much farther away from us than the galaxies that make up MACS J0454.1-0300.

MACS J0454.1-0300 is itself incredibly distant: the light from these galaxies has been travelling to us for so long that we are seeing the cluster as it was when the Universe was about 8 billion years old. While this galaxy cluster is a valuable scientific target in its own right, the real stars of this image are the galaxies that appear warped and stretched, like a painting that has been smeared by a giant hand.

These strange-looking galaxies are of immense interest to astronomers. The way these galaxies look is the result of gravitational lensing where the enormous mass of a foreground object, such as a galaxy cluster, bends and magnifies the light from a more distant object in the background. Gravitational lensing allows astronomers to observe galaxies, star clusters and even individual stars that are too far away for our telescopes to see under normal conditions. While the large, orange galaxies appear obviously distorted, look carefully at some of the small reddish background galaxies throughout this picture—even at the very edges of the frame, there are galaxies whose images have been bent into tiny arcs by MACS J0454.1-0300’s gravity.

In addition to making galaxies look stretched out or bent, gravitational lensing can also make us see double—or quadruple. Under certain conditions, multiple images of the same galaxy can appear. It is rare to see four or more images of the same galaxy, as this requires the position of the background object and the shape of the massive foreground object to be just so. Because the requirements are so particular, this phenomenon is only seen in 10–20% of galaxy clusters. 

Researchers spotted this rare configuration twice in the Webb observations of MACS J0454.1-0300, marking the first time this phenomenon has been seen more than once in the same galaxy cluster. The gravitationally lensed areas show multiple images of galaxies from when the Universe was young: a group of galaxies 2 billion years after the Big Bang, and a single galaxy just 800 million years old after the Big Bang. The galaxy group appears to be going through a merger, resulting in an enormous burst of star formation.

Astronomers have also identified individual bright ‘knots’ within these gravitationally lensed areas, corresponding to regions as small as 5 light-years across. These tiny clumps appear magnified by a factor of more than 300, in some cases.

The data behind this image come from two observing programs (#5058, PI: Furtak; #6882, PI: Fujimoto) that leverage the ability of massive galaxy clusters to bring distant objects into view. One program searches for individual gravitationally lensed stars in the first billion years of the Universe. This program will monitor a particular gravitationally lensed galaxy in the MACS J0454.1-0300 field of view for signs of hugely magnified single stars. The second program aims to observe a large sample of galaxy clusters at many wavelengths, helping researchers study the onset star formation and the evolution of early galaxies.

Image Description: A massive galaxy cluster, made of many golden elliptical galaxies with the largest, brightest one in the center. Heavily distorted orange galaxies appear all around the cluster, the largest concentrated in a large arc around the cluster's center; these are images of very distant galaxies, created by gravitational lensing. A few galaxies are large and bluish-white in color; bright, nearby stars are the same color.


Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Furtak, S. Fujimoto
Release Date: Sept. 29, 2026

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #MACSJ045410300 #GravitationalLensing #OrionConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #NIRCam #InfraredAstronomy #SpaceTelescopes #Europe #NASAGoddard #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #STEM #Education

Monday, September 28, 2026

Planet Mars Images: Sept. 16-28, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: Sept. 16-28, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 5013
MSL - sol 5016
MSL - sol 5016
MSL - sol 5016
Mars 2020 - sol 1982
MSL - sol 5016
MSL - sol 5023
Mars 2020 - sol 1991

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Celebrating 14+ Years on Mars (2012-2026)
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 5+ 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
Release Dates: Sept. 16-28, 2026

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

Artemis II Moon Crew Visits NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

Artemis II Moon Crew Visits NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility

The team at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility is still filled with joy after a recent visit from the Artemis II crew! The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). While at America's Rocket Factory, the four shared stories and reflections from their historic trip around the Moon, connected with the workforce, and took time to answer questions.

Are you team "Moon Joy," "Earth Joy," or "Rocket Joy"?

In early April 2026, the Artemis II crew became the first to travel beyond the Moon in more than 50 years and traveled farther in space than humans have ever before.

Planned to launch in 2027, the Artemis III Mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit. 

On future missions, including Artemis IV in 2028, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities NASA needs to return—this time to stay.

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program:

NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/

Video Credit: NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility
Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #CSA #Canada #NASAMichoud #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station



Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon spacecraft are now at pad 40 in Florida for NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station as of September 27, 2026. Plus, crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia arrived Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1.


Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers:
Andrey Fedyaev,
Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov
European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot
NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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: SpaceX
Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #SpaceXFalcon9Rockets #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew13 #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #LukeDelaney #JoshuaKutryk #CSA #Canada #SergeyTeteryatnikov #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition75 #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship Launch on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Launch on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas





Watch Starship liftoff on its 14th test flight on Monday morning, September 28, 2026 from Starbase Texas. Starship later deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.
Follow updates and watch the full event here: 

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.


Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: SpaceX
Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest14 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12: Scientific Research Work | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12: Scientific Research Work | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission with agency astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will soon return to Earth after a successful long-duration science expedition to the International Space Station. During their mission, Meir, Hathaway, and Adenot performed hundreds of hours of research aboard the orbiting lab, advancing scientific knowledge and expanding commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit.


Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers:
Andrey Fedyaev,
Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov
European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot
NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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.


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #SpaceXCrewDragonSpacecraft #Crew12 #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #JackHathaway #SophieAdenot #Europe #ESA #Cosmonauts #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Europe #ESA #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition75 #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship: Pacific Ocean Landing on First Orbital Mission | Test Flight#14

SpaceX Starship: Pacific Ocean Landing on First Orbital Mission | Test Flight#14


Watch SpaceX Starship land in the Pacific Ocean after its first orbital mission on Flight Test#14, Monday, September 28, 2026. Starship also deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch a full flight replay here: 

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.


Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: SpaceX
Duration: 1 minute, 29 seconds
Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest14 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship: Earth Orbital Views on Test Flight#14

SpaceX Starship: Earth Orbital Views on Test Flight#14


Watch Starship's views of Earth during its first orbital mission on its 14th test flight, Monday, September 28, 2026, after launch from Starbase Texas. Starship also deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch the full event here: 

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.


Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: SpaceX
Duration: 54 seconds
Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest14 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff on Test Flight#14: First Orbital Mission | Starbase Texas


Watch Starship liftoff on its 14th test flight on Monday morning, September 28, 2026 from Starbase Texas. Starship later deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the first time.

Follow updates and watch the full event here: 

NASA plans to use a lunar lander version of Starship to deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon during the Artemis IV mission and beyond through the Human Landing System (HLS) Program.


Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):
https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Video Credit: SpaceX
Duration: 46 seconds
Date: Sept. 28, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #ArtemisIV #Starship #StarshipV3 #FlightTest14 #ReusableSpacecraft #SuperHeavy #SuperHeavyV3 #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station


Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon spacecraft are now at pad 40 in Florida for NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station as of September 27, 2026. Plus, crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia arrived Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1.


Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers:
Andrey Fedyaev,
Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov
European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot
NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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: SpaceX
Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #SpaceXFalcon9Rockets #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew13 #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #LukeDelaney #JoshuaKutryk #CSA #Canada #SergeyTeteryatnikov #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition75 #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Sunday, September 27, 2026

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon for Crew-13 Launch | International Space Station


Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon spacecraft are now at pad 40 in Florida for NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station as of September 27, 2026. Plus, crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov of Russia arrived Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1.


Expedition 75 Crew
Station Commander: Jessica Meir
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers:
Andrey Fedyaev,
Anna Kikina, Pyotr Dubrov
European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot
NASA Flight Engineers: Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon

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.


Video Credit: SpaceX
Duration: 25 seconds
Release Date: Sept. 27, 2026


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #ISS #SpaceXFalcon9Rockets #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceXCrew13 #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #LukeDelaney #JoshuaKutryk #CSA #Canada #SergeyTeteryatnikov #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition75 #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Little Ghost Nebula: NGC 6369 in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

The Little Ghost Nebula: NGC 6369 in Ophiuchus | European Southern Observatory

Known as the Little Ghost Nebula, NGC 6369 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. The nebula is relatively faint with an apparent magnitude of 12.9 and the clear detail of this image shows the power of the Adaptive Optics Facility-equipped MUSE instrument of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The white dwarf star is clearly visible in the middle of the nebular gas that is expanding out in rings.

The Little Ghost Nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. Round and planet-shaped, the nebula is also relatively faint. The high energy radiation from the central white dwarf star causes the surrounding nebula to emit light. A white dwarf is a dense, Earth-sized stellar remnant formed when a star like the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel and sheds its outer layers. The nebula's main ring structure is about a light-year across and the glow from ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen atoms are colored blue, green, and red respectively.

The Little Ghost Nebula should not be confused with the Ghost Nebula (Sh2-136) or the Ghost Head Nebula (NGC 2080).

Learn more about the VLT and its MUSE instrument:
Credit: ESO/P. Weilbacher (AIP)
Release Date: Aug. 2, 2017

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Cosmic fireflies: Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Cosmic fireflies: Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163 in Ophiuchus | Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxies glow like fireflies in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image. This flickering swarm of cosmic fireflies is a rich cluster of galaxies called Abell 2163. Abell 2163 is a member of the Abell catalog, an all-sky catalog of over 4,000 galaxy clusters. It is particularly well-studied because the material sitting at its core (its intracluster medium) exhibits exceptional properties, including a large and bright radio halo and extraordinarily high temperatures and x-ray luminosities. It is the hottest cluster in the catalog. Observing massive clusters like Abell 2163 can contribute to the study of dark matter, and provide a new perspective on the distant Universe via phenomena, such as gravitational lensing.

Distance from Earth: 3 billion light years

This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide-Field Camera 3, partially for an extensive observing program called RELICS. The program was imaging 41 massive galaxy clusters to find the brightest distant galaxies.


Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Dec. 11, 2017

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