Giant Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4874 in Coma Berenices | Hubble

Giant Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4874 in Coma Berenices | Hubble

In the center of a rich cluster of galaxies located in the direction of the constellation of Coma Berenices, lies a galaxy surrounded by a swarm of star clusters. NGC 4874 is a giant elliptical galaxy, about ten times larger than the Milky Way, at the center of the Coma Galaxy Cluster. With its strong gravitational pull, it is able to hold onto more than 30,000 globular clusters of stars, more than any other galaxy that we know of, and even has a few dwarf galaxies in its grasp.

In this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image, NGC 4874 is the brightest object, located to the right of the frame and seen as a bright star-like core surrounded by a hazy halo. A few of the other galaxies of the cluster are also visible, looking like flying saucers dancing around NGC 4874. However, the really remarkable feature of this image is the point-like objects around NGC 4874, revealed on a closer look—almost all of them are clusters of stars that belong to the galaxy. Each of these globular star clusters contains many hundreds of thousands of stars.

Recently, astronomers discovered that a few of these point-like objects are not star clusters but ultra-compact dwarf galaxies, also under the gravitational influence of NGC 4874. Being only about 200 light-years across and mostly made up of old stars, these galaxies resemble brighter and larger versions of globular clusters. They are thought to be the cores of small elliptical galaxies that, due to the violent interactions with other galaxies in the cluster, lost their gas and surrounding stars.

This Hubble image also shows many more distant galaxies that do not belong to the cluster, seen as small smudges in the background. While the galaxies in the Coma Cluster are located about 350 million light-years away, these other objects are much further out. Their light took several hundred million to billions of years to reach us.

Most unusually, the image also shows a very faint blue satellite trail, extending across the whole image, from the upper left corner of the frame to the lower right. Since Hubble’s cameras can only see a tiny part of the sky at one time, such trails are very rare.

This picture was created from optical and near-infrared exposures taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is 3.3 arcminutes across.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA 
Release Date: Sept. 19, 2011

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC4874 #EllipticalGalaxies #ComaGalaxyCluster #DwarfGalaxies #StarClusters #ComaBerenicesConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis over Alaska

Aurora Borealis over Alaska

Astrophotographer Marybeth Kiczenski: "Wow! This was one of the best substorms I've ever seen! A glancing blow from a CME really made the Aurora come alive this morning in Alaska! What a way to end this trip to Fairbanks! The way the Aurora framed the Moon was just icing on the cake!"

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of the Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south.

Image Credit: MaryBeth Kiczenski 
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
MaryBeth's website: https://Shelbydiamondstar.com
Date: March 25, 2026 

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #Moon #SpaceWeather #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #MarybethKiczenski #Astrophotographers #Fairbanks #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Best Wishes to NASA's Artemis II Mission Crew! | International Space Station

Best Wishes to NASA's Artemis II Mission Crew! | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: "Our work on the International Space Station has provided the foundation to explore further, preparing us to return humans to the Moon this week. Stay tuned as we enter the NASA Artemis era!"

"Expedition 74 will certainly be keeping a close watch."

"Godspeed, Artemis II!"

NASA Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman responded: "Thank you, Jessica . . . and thanks for the wonderful note you left my crew on the dry erase board in crew quarters. Talk soon! ❤️"

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/J. Meir

Release Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #ISS #Planets #Earth #Moon #ArtemisII #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisGeneration #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Close-up: China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch

Close-up: China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch

🚀Announcing the success of a China CAS Space Kinetica-2 rocket on its first flight. A 53-meter-tall Kinetica-2 Y1 rocket launched on March 30, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China. It has delivered three satellites into space—the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and TS 01 Educational Satellite into their designated orbits.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Kinetica-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Kinetica-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Kinetica-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the Chinese space station.

The rocket consists of a multi-stage core booster that has a diameter of 3.35 meters, and two side boosters that also are 3.35 m wide. Its liftoff weight is 625 metric tons with a maximum thrust of 753 tons. The rocket is able to transport spacecraft with a combined weight of 8 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers or 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit 200 km.

The New March 02 satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft, that launched today, adopts a single-module integrated configuration, allowing it to flexibly adapt to a variety of launch vehicles via its wide launch compatibility. It weighs only 4.2 metric tons.

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

Video Credit: CAS Space

Duration: 22 seconds
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica2Rocket #Kinetica2Y1Rocket #LaunchVehicles #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight  #NewMarch01TechnologyDemonstrationSatellite #NewMarch02Satellite #TS01EducationalSatellite #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, left, Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, right, stop for a group photograph as they visit NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, Monday, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Sunday, March 30, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s 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 with launch opportunities beginning in April 2026.

NASA’s 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 with launch opportunities beginning in April 2026.

Read more about NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: nasa.gov/sls

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

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

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch of Three Satellites

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch of Three Satellites

🚀Announcing the success of a China CAS Space Kinetica-2 rocket on its first flight. A 53-meter-tall Kinetica-2 Y1 rocket launched on March 30, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China. It has delivered three satellites into space—the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and TS 01 Educational Satellite into their designated orbits.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Kinetica-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Kinetica-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Kinetica-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the Chinese space station.

The rocket consists of a multi-stage core booster that has a diameter of 3.35 meters, and two side boosters that also are 3.35 m wide. Its liftoff weight is 625 metric tons with a maximum thrust of 753 tons. The rocket is able to transport spacecraft with a combined weight of 8 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers or 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit 200 km.

The New March 02 satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft, that launched today, adopts a single-module integrated configuration, allowing it to flexibly adapt to a variety of launch vehicles via its wide launch compatibility. It weighs only 4.2 metric tons.

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

Image Credit: CAS Space
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica2Rocket #Kinetica2Y1Rocket #LaunchVehicles #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight  #NewMarch01TechnologyDemonstrationSatellite #NewMarch02Satellite #TS01EducationalSatellite #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch (Extended version)

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch (Extended version)

🚀Announcing the success of a China CAS Space Kinetica-2 rocket on its first flight. A 53-meter-tall Kinetica-2 Y1 rocket launched on March 30, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China. It has delivered three satellites into space—the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and TS 01 Educational Satellite into their designated orbits.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Kinetica-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Kinetica-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Kinetica-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the Chinese space station.

The rocket consists of a multi-stage core booster, which has a diameter of 3.35 meters, and two side boosters that also are 3.35 m wide. Its liftoff weight is 625 metric tons, with a maximum thrust of 753 tons. The rocket is able to transport spacecraft with a combined weight of 8 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers or 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit 200 km.

The New March 02 satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft, that launched today, adopts a single-module integrated configuration, allowing it to flexibly adapt to a variety of launch vehicles via its wide launch compatibility. It weighs only 4.2 metric tons.

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

Video Credit: CAS Space
Duration: 1 minute, 46 seconds
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica2Rocket #Kinetica2Y1Rocket #LaunchVehicles #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight  #NewMarch01TechnologyDemonstrationSatellite #NewMarch02Satellite #TS01EducationalSatellite #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launches Three Satellites

China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launches Three Satellites

🚀Announcing the success of a China CAS Space Kinetica-2 rocket on its first flight. A 53-meter-tall Kinetica-2 Y1 rocket launched on March 30, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China. It has delivered three satellites into space—the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and TS 01 Educational Satellite into their designated orbits.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Kinetica-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Kinetica-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Kinetica-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the Chinese space station.

The rocket consists of a multi-stage core booster, which has a diameter of 3.35 meters, and two side boosters that also are 3.35 m wide. Its liftoff weight is 625 metric tons, with a maximum thrust of 753 tons. The rocket is able to transport spacecraft with a combined weight of 8 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers or 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit 200 km.

The New March 02 satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft, that launched today, adopts a single-module integrated configuration, allowing it to flexibly adapt to a variety of launch vehicles via its wide launch compatibility. It weighs only 4.2 metric tons.

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

Video Credit: CAS Space
Duration: 1 minute
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica2Rocket #Kinetica2Y1Rocket #LaunchVehicles #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight  #NewMarch01TechnologyDemonstrationSatellite #NewMarch02Satellite #TS01EducationalSatellite #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission: Protecting Earth from Space Weather

Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission: Protecting Earth from Space Weather

European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences teams working on the SMILE Mission 

On March 20, 2026, specialists filled the European-Chinese Smile mission with fuel ahead of its launch on a Vega-C rocket on April 9, 2026.

SMILE has four fuel tanks, making the bulbous shape underneath the solar panels. Each tank carries 380 liters of hydrazine fuel and oxidiser that will feed an engine that can deliver 490 Newtons of thrust. The total weight of the spacecraft is 2300 kg, including 1580 kg of fuel.

SMILE will use 90% of this fuel during its first month in space. After the Vega-C rocket drops it off in a circular orbit 700 km above Earth’s surface, SMILE will fire its engines 11 times in 25 days.

These engine burns will gradually elongate SMILE’s orbit. Ultimately it will reach 121 000 km above the North Pole to collect information on how Earth’s magnetic field is reacting to the stream of charged particles from the Sun, before coming down to 5000 km above the South Pole to deliver this valuable data to a waiting ground station. Each orbit will take around two days.

SMILE spacecraft unboxed at Europe's spaceport in French Guiana

Following a two-week journey from the Netherlands, the Maritime Nantaise Colibri cargo ship carrying the SMILE spacecraft docked in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday, February 26, 2026.

SMILE was then unloaded, transported to Europe's Spaceport, and then unpacked. During the coming weeks, the spacecraft will go through final preparations for its launch on a Vega-C rocket between April 8 and May 7.

In June 2025, the SMILE spacecraft was put into the Large Space Simulator—Europe’s largest vacuum chamber. This massive machine recreates the extreme vacuum and tough temperatures of outer space. It even includes a Sun simulation to imitate how a spacecraft will experience super-hot temperatures on its Sun-facing side, and super-cold temperatures on its shaded side.

It was the final, and possibly most complicated, part of SMILE’s spacecraft environment testing phase. It put the mission through its paces to make sure that it was ready for the difficult conditions in space. SMILE passed all its tests.

The SMILE spacecraft with its four scientific instruments

From its vantage point, SMILE will observe the solar wind interaction with the magnetosphere, gathering simultaneous images and video of the dayside magnetopause (where Earth's magnetosphere meets the solar wind, indicated in pink), the polar cusps (a region in each hemisphere where particles from the solar wind have direct access to Earth's ionosphere, indicated in green), and the auroral oval (the region around each geomagnetic pole where auroras most often occur).

SMILE will reveal how Earth's magnetic field reacts to the streams of particles and bursts of energy that the Sun constantly throws in our direction. It will give humankind its first complete look at how the solar wind leads to geomagnetic storms and auroras.

The magnetosphere that surrounds Earth is invisible to our eyes, but with its X-ray camera, SMILE will reveal this shield that protects us from the Sun. With its UV camera, it will watch the northern lights for 44 hours at a time to further understand Earth's response to solar storms.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

SMILE will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. In doing so, SMILE will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms, and the science of space weather. This groundbreaking mission will observe Earth’s magnetosphere in X-rays while capturing the northern lights in ultraviolet, offering an entirely new way to see how our planet defends itself from solar storms.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing SMILE’s payload module (carrying three of the four science instruments), one of the spacecraft’s four science instruments (the soft X-ray imager, SXI), the launcher, and the Assembly Integration and Testing facilities and services. ESA contributes to a second science instrument (the ultraviolet imager, UVI) and the mission operations once SMILE is in orbit.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences provides the other three science instruments and the spacecraft platform, and is responsible for operating the spacecraft in orbit.

SMILE is part of ESA's Cosmic Vision program, principally contributing to answering the question ‘How does the Solar System work?’

SMILE will launch aboard a Vega-C rocket on April 9, 2026.

Learn more about Smile: 
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Release Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #Earth #SpaceWeather #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #Europe #China #中国 #CAS #中国科学院 #SMILEMission #Heliophysics #Physics #VegaCRocket #GuianaSpaceCentre #FrenchGuiana #Infographics #STEM #Education

Europe-China Solar Science Mission: What is SMILE about to Discover? | ESA

Europe-China Solar Science Mission: What is SMILE about to Discover? | ESA

What happens when the Sun’s charged particles slam into Earth’s magnetic shield? 

SMILE is about to reveal it for the first time.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

SMILE will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. In doing so, SMILE will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms, and the science of space weather. This groundbreaking mission will observe Earth’s magnetosphere in X-rays while capturing the northern lights in ultraviolet, offering an entirely new way to see how our planet defends itself from solar storms.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing SMILE’s payload module (carrying three of the four science instruments), one of the spacecraft’s four science instruments (the soft X-ray imager, SXI), the launcher, and the Assembly Integration and Testing facilities and services. ESA contributes to a second science instrument (the ultraviolet imager, UVI) and the mission operations once SMILE is in orbit.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences provides the other three science instruments and the spacecraft platform, and is responsible for operating the spacecraft in orbit.

SMILE is part of ESA's Cosmic Vision program, principally contributing to answering the question ‘How does the Solar System work?’

SMILE will launch aboard a Vega-C rocket on April 9, 2026.

Learn more about Smile: 
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Duration: 5 minutes
Release Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #Earth #SpaceWeather #MagneticField #Europe #China #中国 #CAS #中国科学院 #SMILEMission #Heliophysics #Physics #VegaCRocket #GuianaSpaceCentre #FrenchGuiana #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Elliptical Galaxy NGC 7458 in Cetus | Subaru Telescope

Elliptical Galaxy NGC 7458 in Cetus | Subaru Telescope

NGC 7458 is a bright and well-defined elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. Elliptical galaxies are characterized by a strong concentration of light toward their centers that fades rapidly outward, and they lack the distinct structures seen in spiral galaxies. 

The overall reddish color of NGC 7458 indicates that it is composed predominantly of old stars. Elliptical galaxies in the present-day Universe are known to contain many very old stars, often more than 10 billion years old.

Distance from Earth: 240 million light-years

Learn more about Japan's Subaru Telescope: 
https://subarutelescope.org/en/

Image Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)

Release Date: March 25, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC7458 #EllipticalGalaxies #CetusConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #SubaruTelescope #すばる望遠鏡 #NAOJ #国立天文台 #HyperSuprimeCam #HSC #Japan #日本 #MaunaKea #Hawaii #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Over 5.6 million Names Join NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission

Over 5.6 million Names Join NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission

NASA's Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman: "Fist bump, Rise! 5,647,889 names with us on this journey around the Moon. Very emotional moment zipping up Rise, knowing we are bringing 5,647,889 names with us on this journey around the Moon. For all!

People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. 

These names were downloaded onto an SD card that is safely stored inside 'Rise,' the zero gravity indicator designed by 2nd grader Lucas Ye from California. Thanks for coming along, everyone!"

“Rise,” designed by Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California, is the zero gravity indicator that will fly with the crew around the Moon. "Rise” was inspired by the iconic Earthrise moment from the Apollo 8 Mission. The Apollo 8 Mission, launched on December 21, 1968, was a historic event that marked the first crewed spacecraft to leave Earth's gravitational sphere of influence and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon.

Learn more about NASA's Apollo 8 Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-8/

The design was selected from more than 2,600 submissions from over 50 countries, including K-12 students, that were part of a Moon Mascot contest.

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

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

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: March 29, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Flight Trajectory & Crew Agenda

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Flight Trajectory & Crew Agenda

NASA's Artemis II crew will be going around the Moon, but they will always be able to find their way back home. 🌎 During this complex journey, the four astronauts will travel ~685,000 miles on a trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. About eight minutes after Artemis II lifts off, the Orion spacecraft and its crew, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will be in space. The approximately ten-day test flight will be packed with activity as the astronauts venture around the Moon and back, with teams checking out Orion’s systems along the way. While teams in mission control could refine the crew’s schedule each day based on operational activities during the test flight, ground teams and the crew have a general plan for each day of the mission.

Here is their full daily agenda: https://go.nasa.gov/4bw1ddt

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

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

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Duration: 32 seconds
Date: March 25, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NGC 4707 in Canes Venatici: Spiral Galaxy Type Sm | Hubble

NGC 4707 in Canes Venatici: Spiral Galaxy Type Sm | Hubble

On a clear evening in April 1789, the renowned astronomer William Herschel continued his unrelenting survey of the night sky, hunting for new cosmic objects—and found cause to celebrate! Lengthening his impressive list of cosmic discoveries yet again, the astronomer spotted this bright spiral galaxy, named NGC 4707, lurking in the constellation of Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs). NGC 4707 lies roughly 22 million light-years from Earth.

Over two centuries later, the Hubble Space Telescope is able to view the same galaxy in far greater detail than Herschel could, allowing us to appreciate the intricacies and characteristics of NGC 4707 as never before. This striking image comprises observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), one of a handful of high-resolution instruments currently aboard the space telescope.

Herschel himself reportedly described NGC 4707 as a “small, stellar” galaxy; while it is classified as a spiral (type Sm), its overall shape, center, and spiral arms are very loose and undefined, and its central bulge is either very small or non-existent. It instead appears as a rough sprinkling of stars and bright flashes of blue on a dark canvas.

Magellanic spiral galaxies, classified as type Sm, are typically dwarf galaxies with a single spiral arm, named after their prototype, the Large Magellanic Cloud. They are considered intermediate between dwarf spiral galaxies and irregular galaxies. Sm galaxies are often disrupted and asymmetric, and they can be further categorized into types Sm, SAm, SBm, and SABm, depending on their structure and characteristics.

The blue smudges seen across the frame highlight regions of recent or ongoing star formation with newborn stars glowing in bright, intense shades of cyan and turquoise.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Dec. 19, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC4707 #SpiralGalaxies #MagellanicSpiralGalaxies #CanesVenaticiConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #ACS #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis over Sweden | Earth Science

Aurora Borealis over Sweden | Earth Science

Astrophotographer P-M Hedén: "Beautiful! This sight is not so common from my home town, zenith Aurora!"

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

The Colors of the Aurora (U.S. National Park Service)

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

Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east.

Image Credit: P-M Hedén
Location: Vallentuna, Sweden 
P-M Hedén's website: https://www.nattbilder.se
Date: March 20, 2026

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NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Sunday, March 29, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s 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 with launch opportunities beginning in April 2026.

Read more about NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: nasa.gov/sls

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

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

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: March 29, 2026

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