Category: NASA

Source: NASA

On July 3, one of NASA’s two Mars-destined ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft captured photos of Earth and the Moon in visible and thermal infrared light. At the time, the spacecraft was 363,250 miles (584,600 kilometers) from Earth and 115,600 miles (186,100 kilometers) from the Moon, making the Moon appear relatively large. Taken with the Sun only partly illuminating Earth and the Moon, the visible light image shows the two bodies as crescents, with only around 8% of each face sunlit. Yet in the thermal infrared image, the shadowed hemisphere of Earth is illuminated by its own heat from both the atmosphere and surface, glowing at minus 10 to minus 44 degrees Fahrenheit (250 to 280 kelvins). Without the insulating blankets of oceans and atmospheres, the Moon’s far side remains at a much cooler minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (100 kelvins). The ESCAPADE mission used its Visible and Infrared Observation System cameras, provided by Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, to capture the images, which are more than just road trip photo album snaps. “We are thrilled that ESCAPADE was able to accommodate these excellent space-qualified cameras which will search for visible Martian aurora and investigate thermal properties of the Martian surface and atmosphere,” said Rob Lillis, the mission’s principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley. “Since Earth and the Moon are well-known targets, imaging them provides an important calibration check for ESCAPADE’s cameras.” The ESCAPADE spacecraft, which were built by Rocket Lab, are currently in a “loiter” orbit around Lagrange point 2, a location in space about a million miles from Earth. In November 2026, the spacecraft will fly by Earth to use the planet’s gravity to slingshot their way to Mars. When the spacecraft arrive in September 2027, they will study how a million-mile-per-hour stream of material flowing from the Sun, known as solar wind, interacts with the Martian environment and how that drives atmospheric loss at the Red Planet. The ESCAPADE mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. The UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads the mission with key partners Rocket Lab; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Advanced Space; and Blue Origin.
By Mara Johnson-GrohNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Source: NASA

Continuing agency efforts to bring space closer to home, NASA+ is heading to more streaming platforms. On Thursday, NASA announced its programming is on Fire TV Channels. Fire TV customers can easily access this content by asking Alexa+ on compatible devices.
Future programming on Fire TV may include science mission launches, a test flight for rendezvous and docking with human landing systems, robotic lunar deliveries, the first crewed mission to the Moon under Artemis, and more. As always, NASA+ also remains available for free, with no ads, through the NASA app and on the agency’s website.
“The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 calls on us to share our story of space exploration with the broadest possible audience, and our streaming partners help us accomplish that,” said Rebecca Sirmons, general manager of NASA+ at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “Artemis II captured the hearts and minds of viewers globally, inspiring the Artemis generation. As we work toward building humanity’s first Moon Base, we will continue to provide transparent, engaging content coverage every step of the way.”
Earlier this year during its Ignition event, NASA shared plans for a bold path forward for the agency, including increasing its cadence of Artemis missions to the lunar surface, and building the first Moon Base, among other agency priorities. This distribution partnership is another step in executing NASA’s promise to the public for a greater look into the agency, making mission and educational content available on multiple devices for viewers on their preferred channels.
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Cheryl WarnerHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

Source: NASA

Written by Lucy Thompson, Senior Research Scientist, University of New Brunswick, Canada
Earth planning date: Friday, July 27, 2026
As an APXS uplink lead and strategic planner, I have the privilege of working with the rover engineers most days that I am on operations. The APXS instrument measures the chemistry of rocks, unconsolidated materials and the atmosphere, and is situated on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. This means that any target of interest that we wish to analyze has to be safe to deploy the arm, APXS, and MAHLI (the closeup imager) to. We therefore rely on the rover engineers for their assessment and to sequence the arm moves to place us safely on the targets. Recently, our workspaces have been dusty with varied relief, but the rover engineers have successfully found areas that they have been able to brush and deploy APXS and MAHLI. This week was no exception, despite some of our workspaces appearing less than ideal upon initial observation. The team managed to find rock targets of interest (x5), which the rover engineers were able to safely place the arm on and brush so that we could analyze them with APXS and MAHLI. This ensures that we acquire high-quality compositional data and images as we continue our ascent of Mount Sharp, through rock layers of varying tone and texture, tracking potential changes in chemistry, and the depositional and alteration environment. 
The rover engineers are also responsible for safely driving Curiosity to the areas of interest identified by the science team. They must assess the terrain for potential hazards such as large resistant blocks that could damage the rover wheels, sand/soil patches where we could get stuck, and high slopes that the rover could slip on. Despite unexpected damage to the wheels early in the mission and getting a little bogged down in some soil/sand just as we started to climb Mount Sharp, the engineers have successfully navigated us safely along more than 23 miles (37 kilometers) of drive distance and more than 4,400 feet (about 1.35 kilometers) of elevation gain. We recently requested to drive to specific locations in order to image what the team thinks could be an erosional surface within the Mg-sulfate/carbonate-bearing unit (see the image accompanying this post). Of course, the engineers were able to accommodate our desires, with the first stop crossed off in Monday’s plan, and the drive that is being planned this weekend taking us toward the next stop.
The rover engineers also ensure that our drilling activities execute safely and successfully, and are responsible for sequencing the arm motion required to deliver the drilled samples to our internal CheMin and SAM instruments. This required completely reconfiguring how we drill after a motor failed back in 2016, with extensive behind-the-scenes work at JPL for nearly a year and a half before we resumed. Curiosity has since drilled more than 20 rock targets.
So, thanks to the rover engineers and all the engineers and scientists on Curiosity’s team, we have had another full week of activities at Gale crater. We continue to track the chemistry, textures, tone and sedimentary structures of the sulfate/carbonate unit as we climb Mount Sharp and get ever closer to the Yardang unit with APXS, ChemCam, MAHLI and Mastcam. Curiosity continues to also monitor the local environment within Gale and the atmosphere in general. 

Source: NASA

Historically, central Utah’s Castle Valley has been a coal hub, with mining operations on the slopes of the Wasatch Plateau to the west active since the late 1800s. A different energy development arrived in the region in June 2026, when a large solar power and battery storage plant came online in the sunny valley about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City.
The recently constructed Green River Energy Center, seen in the Landsat 8 image above (right), features nearly one million solar panels and roughly 500 batteries on several square miles of previously undeveloped land. The facility has 400 megawatts of solar-generating capacity with another 400 megawatts of battery storage. That places it among the many utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects that the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects to be plugged into the country’s grid in 2026.
The Utah facility is slated to supply power to Salt Lake City and other areas across the state, according to news reports, and project staff estimate it could produce enough electricity for more than 100,000 homes. With its integrated battery storage, the plant has the potential to generate power at all hours, even when the Sun isn’t shining. And the Green River Energy Center can build on Castle Valley’s energy legacy by utilizing existing transmission lines originally built for coal-fired power plants in the area.
Though Utah adopted coal as its state rock and has long relied on it for energy, other sources, such as solar and geothermal, are becoming larger parts of the state’s energy mix. In 2025, coal fueled about half of the state’s electricity generation, down from about 75 percent in 2015. Meanwhile, solar grew to account for about 14 percent of generation in 2025, up from nearly zero a decade before. Satellite data can be useful to planners and policymakers involved in energy transitions for assessing the potential of renewable energy systems and tracking their adoption and performance.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

June 16, 2024

June 6, 2026

Deseret News (2026, June 23) Utah’s biggest solar farm comes online. Accessed July 23, 2026.
Edwards MR, et al. (2022) Satellite Data Applications for Sustainable Energy Transitions. Frontiers in Sustainability, 3, 910924.
KUER (2026, June 23) Utah just plugged in a huge solar and battery farm in Emery County. Accessed July 23, 2026.
NASA (2021) ARSET – NASA Earth Observations for Energy Management. Accessed July 23, 2026.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026, February 20) New U.S. electric generating capacity expected to reach a record high in 2026. Accessed July 23, 2026.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Utah. Accessed July 23, 2026.

Source: NASA

After eight months aboard the International Space Station for his first mission, NASA astronaut Chris Williams is preparing to return to Earth. During his assignment, Williams contributed to research for new cancer treatments, advanced the production of materials to improve computers and electronics, ventured into the vacuum of space to complete two spacewalks, and much more. Williams’ work aboard the space station helped to improve life on Earth and prepare for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
Here are some of the research highlights from his mission:

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot work to process DNA-inspired materials that could advance new cancer treatments for people on Earth. In space, these rod-shaped materials form more evenly and consistently, which may improve their performance and readiness for treatments on Earth. While there have been major advancements in cancer therapies, many treatments can affect the whole body and cause side effects without fully treating solid tumors. This research aims to enable targeted cancer therapies that reach deep into tumors, stay in the body longer, and release medicine in a more controlled way.
Learn more about DNA Nano Therapeutics-3.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams conducts research to grow semiconductor crystals in space. In microgravity, researchers can grow more crystals of the desired size than can be produced on Earth. Previous research shows that space-grown crystals can offer increased performance to help advance technologies like high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and medical devices. This research lays the groundwork for commercial semiconductor manufacturing in space and advances the semiconductor industry.
Learn more about In-Space Production of Semimetal-Semiconductor Composite Bulk Crystals in Microgravity (SUBSA-InSPA-SSCug).

NASA astronaut Chris Williams looks out of a cupola window at a red aurora glowing above the Earth. Since the 1960s, astronauts have photographed Earth from space to help scientists monitor the planet’s changing landscapes, natural disasters, and other features over time. Along the way, astronauts also have captured images of celestial objects such as comets, auroras, and the Milky Way.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams works with a special freezer aboard the International Space Station that keeps research samples at ultra-cold temperatures until they can return to Earth. Throughout each mission, astronauts collect biological samples like blood and urine to help scientists understand how long-duration spaceflight affects the human body. Observing crew members during their space missions and studying these frozen samples back on Earth helps NASA protect astronaut health during future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Learn more about the Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for the International Space Station (MELFI) and Human Research.

NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams watch from the cupola windows as Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station. The two played key roles in the capture of the spacecraft, which delivered approximately 11,000 pounds of supplies, including fresh food, life support equipment, and scientific research as part of NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 mission. Cargo missions help keep the space station operating and provide astronauts with the supplies they need to live, work, and conduct research in orbit.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams works on an investigation that tests the use of ultraviolet light to help prevent the formation of microbial colonies, called biofilms. Biofilms can clog and contaminate water systems, damage equipment, and pose health risks to astronauts. This research aims to keep surfaces cleaner and safeguard systems during long-duration space missions. Using UV light for sanitation also could reduce the need for chemical disinfectants in space, decreasing the risk of chemical exposure and eliminating difficulties in transporting or storing supplies.
Learn more about Germicidal Ultraviolet Light Biofilm Inhibition (GULBI).

NASA astronaut Chris Williams ventured outside the International Space Station for two spacewalks during his mission. In June, he helped make repairs to Canadarm2, a robotic arm that captures cargo spacecraft and deploys external research. In March, Williams prepared the orbiting laboratory for new solar arrays to be added to the station in a future spacewalk. Once installed, the final set of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (IROSA) will complete the full suite of additional solar power, increasing the station’s power generation by about 30% and enhancing support for scientific research and daily operations. The same solar array technology also powered NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test and could support future missions to the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about the space station’s IROSAs.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams works with hardware to support the development of new cancer and disease treatments by studying the growth of protein crystals for pharmaceuticals. In space, protein crystals form higher-quality structures than they do on Earth, allowing researchers to better understand how to target and treat disease. Here, Williams works with a project that aims to develop a new formula for a cancer treatment that could be taken orally. Growing protein crystals in space paves the way for more commercial companies to create new therapies that could improve patient outcomes on Earth.
Learn more about the Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory (ADSEP-PIL-10).

NASA astronaut Chris Williams works with equipment that tests the performance of small robotic arms in space. Some experiments and operations require very precise movements, where tiny errors can significantly impact results. Understanding how microgravity affects delicate robotic operations helps researchers improve designs for future automated systems that can perform operations while astronauts focus on the most critical tasks.
Learn more about the Test facility for lab-aUtomation System in Kibo (TUSK).

Source: NASA

Crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans transport the 130-foot-tall Artemis IV liquid hydrogen tank out of a production cell inside the main factory building into a detached test building on a separate portion of the 829-acre site on May 15, 2026. The liquid hydrogen tank will form part of the core stage for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, providing thousands of gallons of super-cold propellant to one of four RS-25 engines.
Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Source: NASA

Alpine glaciers, wild coastlines, temperate rainforests, and deep river valleys coexist on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwest corner of Washington state. Surrounded by blue waters, peaceful islands, and bustling population centers, its rugged interior remains a relatively remote bastion of wilderness.
The Olympic Mountains’ imposing terrain comes into focus in this oblique view of the region, captured by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The image is a composite, made of several sequential, overlapping photos fused together into a panorama. Olympic National Park encompasses the peninsula’s mountainous core, along with some stretches of the Pacific coastline. Much of the remaining area is either national forest, state-owned land, or tribal territory.
The rock making up the mountains mostly originated beneath the surface of the ocean. From about 55 to 15 million years ago, layers of basalt from undersea eruptions and sand and mud transported seaward by rivers accumulated on the ocean bottom. This material was scraped off the Juan de Fuca plate as it subducted beneath the North American plate, with rock layers crumpling and rising up to 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) above sea level.
Tectonic forces continue to push the mountains skyward, but the countervailing force of erosion in this rainy, snowy corner of the country effectively cancels out the uplift. Snow at higher elevations feeds glaciers that carve out underlying rock. Glaciers in the Olympics are retreating and thinning, however, and their numbers are declining. One study tallied 255 glaciers and perennial snowfields in the range in 2015 and found that 35 glaciers and 16 perennial snowfields had disappeared in the preceding 35 years.
Other erosion is evidenced by the deep valleys radiating out from the snowy peaks. The Hoh, Queets, and Quinault rivers, draining west into the Pacific Ocean (bottom of the frame), are prominent in this view. These verdant valleys are known for their temperate rainforests, and the ancient forest in the Hoh River valley was once considered among the most naturally quiet places in the U.S., uninterrupted by human-caused noise.
Flowing to the north, the Elwha River has a rich natural and human history, including some of the earliest Euro-American exploration of the Olympics. Sponsored by a Seattle newspaper, an expedition from December 1889 to May 1890 crossed the mountain range from north to south, traveling up the Elwha valley and down the Quinault. The party spent several months in the Elwha Valley, their progress hindered by an unusually harsh and snowy winter. 
In the early 1900s, entrepreneurs saw economic opportunity in the valley. Two dams constructed on the river produced power for local industry. But the structures came with costs, such as blocking the migration of once-abundant trout and salmon to their spawning grounds. In 2011 and 2014, the dams were removed in what was then the largest such project in the U.S., and the process of restoring fish populations, seeding native plant communities, and replenishing sediment along the riverbanks commenced.
The mouth of the Elwha forms a delta in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the waterway bordering the peninsula to the north. The U.S.-Canada border runs through the middle of this 11- to 17-mile-wide (18- to 27-kilometer-wide) channel, with Vancouver Island in British Columbia lying to the north. The strait connects the Pacific Ocean with the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. Ship traffic uses the strait to access important West Coast ports, including Seattle and Tacoma, visible along the top-right edge of the image.

Astronaut photographs ISS047-E-104138 through ISS047-E-104144 were acquired on May 6, 2016, with a Nikon D4 digital camera using a focal length of 400 millimeters. They are provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The images were taken by a member of the Expedition 47 crew. The images have been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

May 6, 2016

Fountain, A. G., et al. (2022) Glaciers of the Olympic Mountains, Washington—The past and future 100 years. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 127(4), e2022JF006670. 
NASA Earth Observatory (2016, February 14) Olympic National Park. Accessed July 22, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory (2012, August 25) Restoration of the Elwha River. Accessed July 22, 2026.
National Park Service (2026, July 7) Olympic National Park. Accessed July 22, 2026.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Olympic Mountains. Accessed July 22, 2026.

Source: NASA

NASA is supporting the Genesis Mission, a national effort to drive the use of artificial intelligence in tackling complex scientific and engineering challenges to advance a new era of discovery.
President Donald J. Trump issued the Executive Order “Launching the Genesis Mission” on Nov. 24, 2025, creating a national mission to leverage artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery. The mission is led by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and has now expanded to more than 15 federal agencies in a whole-of-government initiative. NASA is exploring how its missions, data, and expertise can support National Science and Technology challenges and help develop the powerful AI tools envisioned under the Genesis Mission, opening the door to faster breakthroughs, new knowledge, and discoveries that benefit the American people and help unlock some of the world’s greatest mysteries.
“America has invested for generations in the data, missions, and technical expertise that make NASA one of the world’s greatest engines of discovery,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “The Genesis Mission is an opportunity to turn that foundation into faster science, stronger engineering, and better mission outcomes. Leveraging our relationships with interagency counterparts, NASA can advance AI tools that accelerate exploration, strengthen American leadership in space, and open new paths to understanding our planet and the universe. Likewise, NASA is committed to applying our research and development to other initiatives within government for the benefit of American taxpayers.”
NASA introduced new Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges that center on two major priorities: strengthening America’s superiority in space and igniting a new era of innovation driven by more than 70 years of science and engineering by the agency.
To operate safely in a space environment that is growing more crowded and dynamic each year, and to maintain America’s leadership in space, NASA must develop advanced systems faster than traditional engineering methods allow. These systems must work together reliably across spacecraft, communications, logistics, surface operations, and other mission capabilities. By combining NASA’s mission expertise with the Department of Energy’s computing and AI capabilities, the Genesis Mission can shorten the path from concept to operational readiness and strengthen America’s ability to operate and lead in space.
NASA also will explore how AI can unlock new discoveries from more than 150 petabytes of data collected across decades of missions and research. NASA’s telescopes, satellites, orbiters, landers, and aeronautics programs have produced an extraordinary record of Earth, the solar system, and the universe, but the scale and complexity of these archives make it difficult to examine every observation using traditional methods. Advanced AI tools could help scientists connect data from different missions, instruments, simulations, and fields of study, identify patterns that might otherwise remain hidden, improve predictions, and reveal new discoveries in data that may have already been studied. By turning NASA’s mission archives into engines of discovery, the Genesis Mission can expand the return on generations of American investment in space and strengthen research across a wide range of scientific fields.
As the Genesis Mission advances, NASA remains dedicated to harnessing its decades of scientific and mission data and engineering capabilities to accelerate new innovations and discovery.
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George Alderman / Elizabeth ShawHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600george.a.alderman@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

Source: NASA

NASA’s Juno Peers Beneath Io’s Surface

This map represents data captured by the Microwave Radiometer (MWR) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, indicating heat rising from just beneath the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io. While infrared instruments measure the temperature of the moon’s surface, the lowest frequency microwave channels (0.6 and 1.25 gigahertz) on the MWR can penetrate between about 6 and 20 feet (2 and 6 meters) into the crust. The colors on this map illustrate a distinct temperature gradient across the moon, with the most extreme, localized heat output in red. 
The most prominent red anomaly in the upper left (between 60 and 120 degrees west longitude) reveals subsurface temperatures 18 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 20 degrees Celsius, or 10 to 20 Kelvin)  warmer than the surrounding area. This massive regional heat source coincides with the Zal Montes Patera complex, an area where Juno’s Stellar Reference Unit observed an active lava flow. A second major subsurface heat source is also visible near the equator, stretching from 0 to 50 degrees west longitude. Together, these distinct microwave anomalies indicate significant internal heating occurring within the upper tens of meters of Io’s crust. 
Contrasting with these intense hot spots are the yellow and green regions, which reflect temperatures more common across the moon. The yellow areas represent intermediate temperatures that naturally warm up to near -190°F (-123°C, or 150 Kelvin) as they approach the equator. Meanwhile, the green areas, primarily visible toward the higher northern latitudes, indicate the coolest subsurface temperatures, dropping to around -298°F (-183°C, or 90 Kelvin) near the pole.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The MWR was built by JPL. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.
More information about Juno is at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno

Source: NASA

Mapping Io’s Hidden Heat With NASA’s Juno

This graphic illustrates the areas of Jupiter’s moon Io sampled by the Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during two close flybys. The black overlapping lines show the instrument’s footprints during Perijove 57 on Dec. 30, 2023, when the spacecraft primarily mapped the northern hemisphere. The blue lines represent Perijove 58 on Feb. 3, 2024, which focused heavily on the moon’s mid-latitudes and equatorial regions. 
Both passes mapped the side of Io that constantly faces Jupiter. The sweeping, overlapping patterns are a result of the spacecraft spinning at two revolutions per minute as it flew past the moon at a distance of roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers). 
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The MWR was built by JPL. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.
More information about Juno is at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu