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APODScienceAPODAPOD: 2026 August 18 –…Today’s APODArchiveSubmissionsIndexSearchCalendarRSSEducationAboutDiscuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Perseids from Perseus Explanation: This was a good year for the Perseids meteor shower. A key reason was the Moon was absent from lighting up Earth’s night sky so that more meteors were visible than usual. Where was the Moon? It was busy visiting the Sun. Near the Perseids peak, the Moon moved directly in front of the Sun and created a total solar eclipse visible from Greenland and Spain. The Perseids occur when the Earth collides with a stream of Sun-orbiting debris cast off by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Perseid meteors, although typically only the size of a sand grain, tend to be fast and bright because Swift-Tuttle’s debris orbits the Sun in a direction partly opposite Earth’s orbital motion. In the featured image compilation, accumulated over several nights from Jizerka in the Czech Republic, the Perseids meteor streaks can be traced back to a single location on the sky — its radiant in Perseus. Gallery: Perseids Meteor Shower of 2026 Tomorrow’s picture: open space Date August 18, 2026 Credit Jakub Kuřák Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 17 – A Golden Corona Eclipse Tomorrow’s Image View the full article

Earth ObservatoryScienceEarth ObservatoryLala Batters HawaiiEarthEarth ObservatoryImage of the DayEO ExplorerTopicsAll TopicsAtmosphereLandHeat & RadiationLife on EarthHuman DimensionsNatural EventsOceansRemote Sensing TechnologySnow & IceWaterMore ContentCollectionsGlobal MapsWorld of ChangeArticlesEarth Matters BlogBlue Marble: Next GenerationEO KidsMission: BiomesAboutAbout UsSubscribe🛜 RSSContact UsSearch August 16, 2026 August 15, 2026 The spiraling clouds of a tropical storm are centered near the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin The spiraling clouds of a hurricane appear near the Hawaiian Islands. Its eye is just south of the Island of Hawaiʻi.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin August 16, 2026August 15, 2026 The spiraling clouds of a tropical storm are centered near the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin The spiraling clouds of a hurricane appear near the Hawaiian Islands. Its eye is just south of the Island of Hawaiʻi.NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin August 16, 2026 August 15, 2026 CurtainToggle2-Up Image Details Lala skirts south of the Island of Hawaiʻi as a category 1 hurricane in the right image, acquired by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the Suomi NPP satellite on August 15, 2026, at about 1:45 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (23:45 Universal Time). The storm decreased in intensity while tracking northwest and was a tropical storm when the VIIRS on the NOAA-20 satellite captured the left image about 24 hours later. NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin. The Island of Hawaiʻi narrowly avoided a direct landfall by Hurricane Lala in mid-August 2026. The storm nonetheless delivered serious damage as it passed just south of the island on August 15 (above, right) as a category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Lala brought rainfall totals exceeding 20 inches (50 centimeters) to parts of the island, causing flash flooding and ongoing mudflow risks. The highest rainfall total for the storm—43.55 inches (110.6 centimeters) as of the morning of August 17—was recorded at Laupāhoehoe, on the coast northwest of Hilo. Lala downed trees, damaged bridges, and knocked homes off their foundations. Coastal areas were pummeled by large waves, while the summit of Mauna Kea, over 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, experienced blizzard conditions. By early afternoon on August 16, when the other image (left) was acquired, the storm had tracked northwest, roughly parallel to the island chain, and was southwest of Kauaʻi. Lala had decreased in intensity to a tropical storm, with sustained winds of 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. While the Island of Hawaiʻi took the brunt of the storm, other islands also saw destructive effects. Strong winds caused widespread power outages, with more than 220,000 customers statewide without power as of the afternoon of August 16, according to news reports. Across the islands, wind and rain damaged infrastructure, and floodwaters and debris rendered roads impassable. It has been an active tropical cyclone season in the Eastern Pacific so far in 2026, meteorologists note, consistent with what scientists expect during an El Niño, which has been underway as of mid-June. Warm water in the equatorial Pacific—the hallmark of El Niño—and the moisture and energy it transfers to the atmosphere help fuel nascent tropical storms. Lack of wind shear, another typical El Niño pattern in this region, also encourages tropical storms to develop and strengthen. The Atlantic hurricane season, in contrast, has been relatively calm, as greater wind shear over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea during an El Niño inhibits hurricane formation by dissipating the upward motion of heat. NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Lindsey Doermann. Downloads August 15, 2026 JPEG (2.54 MB) August 16, 2026 JPEG (2.39 MB) References & Resources AccuWeather (2026, August 17) Lala’s recent close encounter with Hawaii continues to cause trouble Monday. Accessed August 17, 2026. Colorado State University (2026, August 17) Northern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclone Activity for 2026. Accessed August 17, 2026. Honolulu Civil Beat (2026, August 16) Lala’s Wrath: Homes Swept Away, Some Power Outages May Last Months. Accessed August 17, 2026. National Hurricane Center (2026, August 17) Hurricane LALA Advisory Archive. Accessed August 17, 2026. Yale Climate Connections (2026, August 12) Tropical Storm Lala heads toward Hawaii; life-threatening floods possible. Accessed August 17, 2026. You may also be interested in: Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet. Tropical Storm Arthur 2 min read The first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season brought intense rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to… Article Typhoon Jangmi 2 min read The sprawling storm promised to deliver torrential rain across a wide swath of southern Japan. Article Super Typhoon Sinlaku 3 min read The violent storm aimed at the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in mid-April 2026. Article 1 2 3 4 Next Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox. Earth Observatory Image of the Day NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery. Explore Earth Science Earth Science Data Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 6 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4975-4981: Happy 14th Landing Anniversary NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, of its onboard APXS instrument measuring target “Tunas Khasa,” using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam). Curiosity captured the image on Sol 4976 — Martian day 4,976 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 03:01:56 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech By Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, *** Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 This week was very special for the Curiosity team here on Earth as we celebrated the 14th landing anniversary. I still remember watching the buildup to the entry phase on “Eyes on the Solar System” and then I don’t remember much until I heard the words, “We are safe on Mars.” I was just too tense and nervous, but I love to re-live the moments each year when we celebrate another (Earth) year on Mars. If you want to remember it all, you can go to NASA’s interactive tool “Eyes on the Solar System” use the menu and find the Mars Science Laboratory Rover in the list of spacecraft. Curiosity launched Nov. 26, 2011, 15:02 UTC; you can wind back the clock to that day as the spacecraft leaves Earth and follow as it gradually makes its way to Martian orbit, where it meets Mars at just the right moment. Curiosity landed Aug. 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The big moment to me, though, is to see the joy and celebrations in the control room after landing. I have watched this video more times than I can count; it’s just too good to not remember: Curiosity Has Landed – NASA Science. But what did we do in that very special week that marked the transition from year 14 to year 15? Of course it was business as usual for the rover while many of us exchanged memories and also marveled at what we have found to date. If you are interested what exactly Curiosity did at the moment in time that marked the landing anniversary, we’ve got you covered — with the help of the science and engineering team at JPL in Pasadena, I can tell you that this was on Sol 4976 at 19:47 LMST on Mars, and at that very moment the rover’s arm was deployed at the target “Tunas Khasa” doing an APXS measurement. The rover continued its way up Mount Sharp investigating the different layers of rock along the way. This climb can be quite steep and coming into Monday’s plan was no different. At one point last Friday the rover’s tilt was 24 degrees. But the engineers know exactly what Curiosity can do, so we arrived safely at our planned location coming into Monday. At this first stop of the week, the APXS measured “Tunas Khasa” and “Villarrica,” which were also imaged with our Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). More chemistry came from ChemCam investigating the targets “Lago Rupanco” and “Chulipa Punta.” ChemCam also used its Remote Micro Imager to acquire high-resolution images of targets of interest. We are specifically looking for the cross-bedding, a term geologists use to describe rock layers that tilt and intersect each other, and how the different layers of rock relate to each other. Mastcam had five different mosaics in the plan, investigating targets in the nearfield and looking into the distance, too. The targets range from layers of rocks in the walls that make up the buttes around the rover to bedrock targets in the nearfield. “La Linea” is a surface that displays signs of erosion, and “Tiraque” gives insights into the layering of the bedrock, just to name two of the Mastcam targets. Of course, the future drive direction and the future workspace​ were also imaged after the drive. In addition to the science, there were some “housekeeping” activities in the plan, too. Those were a SAM column-cleaning activity and MAHLI images of the REM UV sensor. It’s important to keep on top of these things, too! The 46-foot (14-meter) drive put us into the perfect position in front of one of those very special places, where not only two different rock layers meet, but also where cross-bedded rocks are truncated by other layers. It is those special places that allow us – one by one – to put the pieces of the puzzle together, showing what happened here billions of years ago. One thing is clear: it involved wind, lots of wind, but also some water. As this location is an exceptionally interesting place, we will stay here through Monday and spend two planning cycles at this location. On Friday we planned two APXS on a bedrock block in front of us – keeping in mind two others for our colleagues to plan on Monday. The two targets are “Salar de Gorbea” and “Uriondo.” MAHLI documents those two, but also has a mosaic in the plan that is one of the largest I have ever seen. It’s on the target “Tres Morros,” which is an excellent example on how exactly those different rock layers meet. The team can’t wait to see the high-resolution MAHLI images and inspect every single detail visible in them. Mastcam also was very busy, investigating representative outcrops in the nearfield and further away. Targets to especially look out for are “Laguna Del Eulogio” and “Laguna de Pozuelo,” as they image outcrops related to the changes in the rock layers and further ahead on a butte called Mishe Mokwa. You might remember the latter from many mentions previously as we were driving along and around it, and using repeated images to get stereo views, but also understand different aspects of the stratigraphy (the way rocks are layered). ChemCam looks at target “Rio Tranquilo,” which is a nodular target, possibly giving insights into the water-related part of the environments that formed those rocks. The other ChemCam target is “Rio Juncalito,” which is a cross-bedded target. ChemCam also has two RMIs in the plan, one targeting forward toward Valle Grande and the other looking at Mishe Mokwa. Both plans contain a rich set of environmental monitoring. There are many dust-****** surveys alongside measurements of the atmospheric opacity and wind monitoring. We are also looking for clouds, and of course the RAD instrument is actively measuring the radiation environment. It rarely gets a mention here, because it sits quietly in its place within the rover, looking out to the sky and monitoring the radiation — for all those 14 years, and in fact a little longer, because it was the first instrument to be switched on after launch and already started its monitoring during the cruise phase to Mars. Happy 14th Landing Anniversary, Curiosity! Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team? Visit Mission Updates Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments? Visit the Science Instruments page NASA’s Curiosity rover at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4968-4974: Rock Climbing Towards the Discontinuity Article 7 days ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4961-4967: Approaching a Break in the Rock Record? Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4954–4960: Celebrating Our Rover Engineers Past and Present Article 4 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

Credit: NASA NASA has selected four companies to provide payload processing facilities under the Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract on‑ramp provision. The provision enables qualified providers to offer commercial payload processing services for agency missions launching from multiple locations where capabilities were not available at the time of the initial contract award. Contract awardees are: All Points Logistics LLC Blue Origin LLC Firefly Aerospace L3Harris Technologies Inc. Through the contract, NASA procures facilities and services required to perform prelaunch processing of spacecraft and associated rocket hardware for delivery to the launch pad. The Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract is a multiple-award, commercial, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle that has an aggregate ceiling price of $100 million with an ordering ******* through Feb. 1, 2033. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage the contract. The program works with private industry, mission, and international partners to launch science payloads ranging from small satellites with colleges and universities to NASA’s highest-priority missions. For more information about NASA’s launch services, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 *****@*****.tld Leejay Lockhart Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-747-8310 *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsKennedy Space Center View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A busy street in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, which is the subject of NASA-led air quality research.Ninaras (CC BY-SA 4.0) A NASA-funded air pollution monitoring network has provided one of the most detailed long-term views yet of the role of ****** carbon, or soot produced by fires, diesel vehicles, and other combustion sources, in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The detailed measurements show how pollution changes by time of day and season, including increases associated with rush-hour traffic and holiday celebrations. The findings are relevant to cities around the world, including in the United States. In a new paper published in ES&T: Air, scientists analyzed data collected throughout Addis Ababa between 2022 and 2025 from 10 air-quality monitoring sites deployed by NASA’s Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) project. The research comes as Ethiopia is taking steps aimed at improving air quality. In 2024, the country became the first in the world to ban the import of internal combustion engine vehicles, while cities have been adding bike lanes and electric vehicle infrastructure. The MAIA project’s measurements provide researchers with a baseline for understanding how air quality changes over time as Addis Ababa continues to grow and evolve. The study focuses on particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, also known as PM2.5. The 2025 State of Global Air Report, cited in the paper, estimates that exposure to PM2.5 is associated with approximately 4.9 million deaths globally each year. Among the many kinds of PM2.5, ****** carbon has been has been studied for its potential effects on human health. The paper found that Addis Ababa’s three-year average PM2.5 concentration was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than three times the level of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health-based annual PM2.5 standard. The new paper cites data from MAIA’s ground sensors indicating that average ****** carbon levels in Addis Ababa were approximately four to nine times higher than those measured in the three U.S. metropolitan areas the mission is monitoring. This roof-mounted air sensor in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is one of 10 used by NASA’s MAIA mission to study the city’s air quality. MAIA’s air sensors provide a detailed look at PM2.5, one of the world’s deadliest forms of air pollution. NASA/JPL-Caltech “To our knowledge, this is the first long-term, multisite study of continuous PM2.5 and ****** carbon measurements in Ethiopia,” said Sina Hasheminassab, a coauthor of the paper and MAIA’s deputy principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Many rapidly growing cities have limited long-term monitoring, so these measurements provide an important baseline for understanding how pollution changes across space and time.” The composition and sources of PM2.5 can differ substantially between cities, depending on their local geography, traffic, industries, and more. Desert cities, for example, may have more dust, while those near coal-fired power plants may have higher concentrations of sulfate. Long-term surface measurements remain limited in many parts of the world. NASA is supporting MAIA’s air pollution research in a dozen metropolitan areas around the globe, including three in the U.S.: Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston. The mission consists of a ground-based network of sensors already in operation as well as a space observatory, which uses a JPL-built camera that will be launched by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) on an ASI satellite no earlier than late 2027. The camera is designed to identify different types of PM2.5 aerosols based on how they reflect light, making it possible to map particle concentrations over each city that the mission studies. Mounted on a gimbal, the camera captures data from multiple angles using JPL-pioneered technologies that make particles stand out more prominently against the surface background to provide valuable information about their shape and size. The MAIA mission is the first NASA project to include public health researchers among a space mission’s team. These researchers will use MAIA’s PM2.5 concentration maps alongside health data to study potential relationships between different particle types and health outcomes. By developing a better understanding of particulate matter pollution, researchers can potentially advance how air quality is studied and managed. “This paper shows how valuable the air sensor data is on its own, but combining the sensor network and satellite observations will be a game-changer,” said, Kyan Shlipak, the paper’s lead author, who worked on the research while interning at JPL. Tracking ****** carbon The greater Addis Ababa urban area is home to nearly 6 million people, and according to United Nations projections, that figure is expected to surpass 10 million by 2050. This map of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, shows the locations of 10 air sensors that NASA’s MAIA mission is using to provide one of the most detailed looks ever at the city’s air pollution. NASA/JPL-Caltech “It’s a cosmopolitan city with many international communities,” said Araya Asfaw of Addis Ababa University, a coauthor of the paper and the MAIA project’s lead Ethiopian collaborator. “Think of it as Africa’s version of Brussels, where the European Union is based.” “Even at night, when traffic dies down, you see high emissions from the burning of charcoal and other fuels,” Asfaw said. The MAIA sensor network detected increases in ****** carbon during two major holidays in Addis Ababa that involve bonfires and was able to distinguish between particles originating from the fires and those from fossil fuel combustion. The findings demonstrate how detailed measurements can help researchers identify different sources of particulate matter and better understand how air quality varies across a city and over time. To learn more about MAIA, visit: [Hidden Content] 2026-056 Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 Related TermsMAIA (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols)EarthEarth ScienceEarth's AtmosphereJet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More 3 min read Next Generation of Planetary Scientists Learn Public Engagement Skills FORCE is a world-class laboratory that uses high-pressure experimental equipment to recreate the extreme conditions… Article 2 hours ago 6 min read Chasing Fire Clouds in Utah NASA aircraft are sampling smoke lofted high into the atmosphere by one of the most… Article 16 hours ago 2 min read Volunteer Develops Machine-Learning Tool to Identify Rare Clouds Certain kinds of clouds are misbehaving – appearing more often and lower in the sky… Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Explore Earth Science From its origins, NASA has studied our planet in novel ways, using a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based… MAIA MAIA (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols) will study the size, makeup, and quantity of airborne particles, to show how this pollution… Earth Science Data Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data Earth Science Missions In order to study the Earth as a whole system and understand how it is changing, NASA develops and supports… Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA NASA Opens Registration for 2015 Exploration Rover Challenge OIIR Nav View the full article

Explore This Section Science Science Activation Next Generation of Planetary… Overview Resources Opportunities Citizen Science Highlights About Science Activation 3 min read Next Generation of Planetary Scientists Learn Public Engagement Skills Group photo of undergraduate research interns and FORCE leaders standing together beside the high-pressure laboratory equipment. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Community of Practice for Education (SCoPE) – part of the NASA Science Activation (SciAct) Program portfolio – enables Earth and Space Science and Engineering Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) – especially NASA-funded SMEs – to efficiently and effectively share their science with support from SciAct education experts. In Summer 2026, NASA SCoPE partnered with Arizona State University’s Facility for Open Research in a Compressed Environment (FORCE) Summer School to help seven undergraduate student interns build the science communication skills needed to share their research with a variety of audiences. FORCE is a world-class laboratory that uses high-pressure experimental equipment to recreate the extreme conditions found deep within Earth and other planetary bodies, enabling researchers to better understand how planets form, evolve, and behave under immense pressures. As part of the Summer School, SCoPE facilitated two hands-on workshops on June 25 and 26, followed by office hours the following week, to help interns translate their technical research into compelling stories for non-expert audiences. The training focused on identifying the central themes of their work, developing clear and engaging messages, planning effective visitor interactions, and thinking through the logistics of public engagement. Interns also received guidance on preparing both their research posters and individual outreach stations. The training culminated in two complementary outreach experiences. The first was the FORCE Open House, which welcomed approximately 50 members of the general public for an inside look at the laboratory. Visitors toured the facility, met the research team, explored the specialized equipment used to simulate the interiors of Earth and other planets, and interacted with interns at themed outreach stations designed to explain the science behind the experiments in accessible, engaging ways. At the second event, a poster session for **** faculty, staff, and students, the interns presented their research, providing an opportunity to discuss their scientific findings with members of the university community and receive feedback on their presentations. By integrating science communication training into the Summer School experience, NASA SCoPE helped equip emerging planetary scientists with practical skills for engaging both scientific peers and public audiences. The poster session and Open House demonstrated how thoughtful communication training can strengthen researchers’ confidence while building stronger connections between cutting-edge planetary science and the communities it serves. NASA SCoPE is supported by NASA cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0006 and helps enrich and enhance the impact of the NASA Science Activation Program portfolio, which connects learners with authentic NASA science experiences through partnerships with educators and community organizations. Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 Related Terms Science Activation Earth Science For Colleges & Universities Opportunities For Educators to Get Involved Planetary Science Explore More 2 min read Volunteer Develops Machine-Learning Tool to Identify Rare Clouds Certain kinds of clouds are misbehaving – appearing more often and lower in the sky… Article 3 days ago 3 min read Quality Assessment Report Evaluates Polar Geospatial Center EarthDEM Elevation Products CSDA’s assessment reports help inform the user community about the quality of commercial Digital Elevation… Article 5 days ago 5 min read NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Perseverance Rover This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial… Parker Solar Probe On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona… Juno NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to… View the full article

X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope combine to reveal a vibrant view of 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula, in this Aug. 11, 2026, image. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth, the Tarantula has thousands of young stars embedded in a vibrant honeycomb-like structure of gas and dust. By studying the data from Chandra, Hubble, and Webb, combined with data from the agency’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers determined that the Tarantula may be losing energy from several sources, including hot gas escaping from the nebula. Learn more about this image. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds View the full article

5 Min Read NASA Challenge Tests Wheel Designs for Moon Base Mobility NASA engineers, NASA Robotics Academy students, and teams from the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge pose with the wheel prototypes at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Rock Yard in Houston on July 31, 2026. Credits: NASA/Luna Posadas Nava NASA engineers, NASA Robotics Academy students, and teams from the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge pose with the wheel prototypes at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Rock Yard in Houston on July 31, 2026.NASA/Luna Posadas Nava As NASA prepares to establish the Moon Base, advancing surface mobility will be key to helping crews and robotic systems travel farther across the lunar surface. To help advance that capability, the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge invited public innovators to design and build next-generation lunar rover wheels. Five teams from 128 submissions and 49 countries advanced to the final phase of the competition, where they tested their prototypes on July 31 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Huff Helo lunar wheel prototype is tested at Johnson Space Center’s Rock Yard.NASA/Luna Posadas Nava The challenge sought lightweight, durable, and scalable wheels that could support longer-duration lunar surface operations. The designs also needed to be compliant enough to absorb impacts, maintain traction at higher speeds, and withstand the harsh lunar environment. “Every additional kilometer a rover can reliably travel will expand how far we can explore, what science we can achieve, and what infrastructure we can build,” said Ed Herrera, robotics engineer at Johnson and co-leader of the challenge project. NASA Johnson uses ground prototypes to test mobility technologies, while lunar terrain vehicles will be delivered to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. For the challenge, the wheels were fitted to MicroChariot, a 45-kilogram test rover, and put through a series of courses at Johnson’s Rock Yard to evaluate their performance across different types of terrain. NASA Robotics Academy students navigate the lunar wheel prototype Scotch Pad Tyres fitted on the MicroChariot rover at Johnson’s Rock Yard.NASA/Luna Posadas Nava “Crowdsourcing gives us an opportunity to look beyond traditional approaches for lunar wheel design,” Herrera said. “The more wheel technologies we can develop and understand, the more options we have to meet the needs of different vehicles, terrains, and missions on the Moon and Mars.” Those ideas were reflected in five distinctly different designs. The HTR Variable Flex Lunar Wheel created by Hellenic Technology of Robotics SA uses an internal system designed to vary the wheel’s stiffness depending on terrain and vehicle needs. The team adapted technology it had been developing for terrestrial wheels for about a decade. The Hiper Wheel created by Hyperbola uses tensioned cables and a corigated structure that provides spring-like behavior, allowing the wheel to flex without relying on traditional radial spokes. The Huff Helo Flexible Titanium Wheel created by Huff Helo Inc. uses formed titanium sheet metal as both structure and spring. During testing, the team found that the strength of the design also made the wheel more rigid, causing it to bounce over some obstacles rather than conform to the terrain. The Payne Aviation Wheel created by Deborah and Craige Payne took inspiration from aviation and history. Its designer, an aircraft mechanic, combined a pneumatic approach with ideas from early automobile tire designs. The winning Scotch Pad Tyres team poses with their prototype and MicroChariot at Johnson’s Rock Yard. NASA/Luna Posadas Nava The winning Scotch Pad Tyres concept came from an *********** mechanical engineer Daniel Bloomfield and his son Isaac Bloomfield. Their prototype uses a Nomex-based tire structure supported around an aluminum hub. The soft material allows the tire to deform around terrain, while internal support helps it maintain its shape. A treated outer surface of epoxy and corundum grit was integrated to improve traction. The Rock Yard testing also demonstrated why different terrains may require different approaches. Loose material can affect traction, while rocks and slopes place different demands on wheels such as vehicle stability. The HTR Variable Flex Lunar Wheel prototype sits alongside NASA’s Space Exploration Vehicle at Johnson’s Rock Yard. NASA/Luna Posadas Nava As lunar exploration expands, different vehicles will require different combinations of speed, load capacity, durability, and terrain performance. Seeking that variety was part of the challenge design. The design options gave engineers different technologies to consider and potentially advance. “This challenge brought in new ideas from outside traditional industries and helped us identify wheel technologies that may be suitable for longer-duration surface operations,” said Lucien Junkin, robotics engineer at Johnson and co-leader of the challenge project. The next phase could evaluate how the wheels respond to lunar-like dust, vacuum, and extreme temperatures in Johnson’s thermal vacuum chambers. Engineers could also assess the designs over longer distances and at different sizes and loads. “Mobility is key to everything we want to do on the Moon,” Junkin said. “The farther we want to explore, the more we need to advance the wheel technologies that can get us there.” The Common Robotics Project of the Robotic Systems Technology Branch within Johnson’s Engineering Directorate conducted the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge. NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate, managed the challenge contract. Students in NASA’s Robotics Academy helped prepare hardware and support the competition, while engineers from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland supported reviews of concepts and proposals. HeroX administered the challenge on behalf of NASA. About the AuthorSumer Loggins Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 Related TermsJohnson Space CenterCenter of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing ProgramSpace Technology Mission Directorate Explore More 3 min read NASA Competition Invites Students to Help Imagine a Future Enabled by Lunar Technologies Article 3 days ago 3 min read NASA Data Helps Commercial Space Plan Living Off Our Moon Article 5 days ago 5 min read NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface NASA has declared “wrenches down” on the first completed payload designed for Artemis astronauts to… Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Share Details Last Updated Aug 17, 2026 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact Media Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland *****@*****.tld Bethany Downer ESA/Hubble Baltimore, US Christine Pulliam Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Maryland Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Globular Clusters Goddard Space Flight Center Star Clusters The Milky Way Related Links and Documents This story on ESA/Hubble’s website.

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 17 – A… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. A Golden Corona Eclipse Explanation: This total solar eclipse appeared not only poetically beautiful but scientifically interesting. Usually the solar corona appears white, and to some observers the corona of last week’s total solar eclipse did appear this pearly color. But this time, totality observers in Spain saw a corona that appeared unusually golden. For one reason, from Spain, the totality occurred when the setting Sun was near the horizon. That low, sunlight travels through a large amount of air which scatters out blue light. An unusual amount of smoke in the air from nearby forest fires acted as a second filter, further scattering the remaining blue tones and deepening the already gold-dominated light. The HDR-processed, multiple-exposure featured image was captured from Benavente, Spain last week. One thing that did not appear golden was a hydrogen-glowing prominence that hovered over the Sun‘s left edge — its original bright pink color survived. Gallery: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12 Tomorrow’s picture: fast meteors Date: August 17, 2026 Credit & Copyright: Rui Santos (Living Impressions) Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 16 – Milky Way over Yellowstone Tomorrow’s Image View the full article

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Chasing Fire Clouds in Utah Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search Natural Color Brightness Temperature NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison Natural ColorBrightness Temperature NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison Natural Color Brightness Temperature CurtainToggle2-Up Image Details A smoke-infused pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) rises from the Widemouth 2 fire in Utah in these images captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The left image is natural color; the right image is false color, revealing cloud-top brightness temperatures below -40°C, a commonly used threshold for identifying pyroCbs. NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison. Scientists have long known that volcanoes can launch large quantities of particles into the stratosphere. In the past few decades, it has become clear that wildfires do this, too, by generating towering, smoke-infused pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds. The largest pyroCbs are stunning weather-making features that generate massive thunderheads capable of unleashing lightning, hail, and heavy rain. A growing body of research shows that pyroCbs can also leave an outsized imprint on the upper atmosphere by channeling pulses of particles and gases into the stratosphere’s mostly dry, cloudless confines. Once there, smoke can spread widely and linger for months or years, sometimes circling the globe and likely influencing the ozone layer and Earth’s energy budget. Understanding these enigmatic and dangerous clouds is why a team of atmospheric scientists—part of a NASA mission called INSPYRE (INjected Smoke and PYRocumulonimbus Experiment)—is spending the summer chasing them with NASA’s ER-2 aircraft, NSF/NCAR’s GV, and a suite of truck-based sensors. The team completed one of its first sampling runs of the summer on August 3, 2026, when the GV flew through a high-altitude pulse of smoke from the Widemouth 2 fire, one of Utah’s largest so far this year. Lightning ignited the fire on July 27, 2026, but it remained relatively small until August 2, when it more than doubled in size amid intense winds and hot, dry conditions. That afternoon, soon after it had produced two pyroCb bursts, the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image (above), showing a chimney of high-altitude cloud and smoke casting a shadow on low-altitude smoke below. These bursts propelled clouds high enough that Aqua measured cloud-top brightness temperatures well below −40°C, a common threshold for identifying pyroCbs and a sign that the cloud tops were bubbling to the top of the troposphere and sometimes into the stratosphere. The brightness temperature measurements “reveal two discrete pulses of pyroCb action,” said Michael Fromm, a scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. “The westernmost is the youngest pulse and stands out in the visible imagery by virtue of its shadow.” Though relatively routine and minor, this pyroCb event followed a pre-dawn pyroCb from the same fire, imaged by the NOAA weather satellite GOES-West. “Morning pyroCbs are much more unusual,” Fromm said, because they don’t benefit from daytime heating that helps fuel convection. In this case, however, there appeared to be enough atmospheric instability and water vapor in the air to allow for pyroCb development. Multiple pyroCbs in a single day could have added unwanted complexity for forecasters and fire officials battling the blaze and organizing evacuations, said David Peterson, INSPYRE’s principal investigator. “Minimizing that sort of uncertainty for fire forecasters is a big part of the reason we’re out here studying this,” he added. Remote sensing experts like Peterson and Fromm routinely study pyroCbs from afar with satellites, but it’s less common for pilots to chase and sample smoke plumes just hours after they form. In this case, the GV aircraft, on the ground in Colorado when the Widemouth 2 fire blew up, made a beeline for a high-altitude smoke plume as it drifted over New Mexico on August 3. The instruments on the plane sampled smoke at roughly 12 kilometers (8 miles) above the surface, collecting data at a height that isn’t typically incorporated into forecast models. A photo of the Widemouth 2 fire taken from an INSPYRE aircraft during a sampling flight on August 3, 2026, shows a smoke-infused cloud rising high above the fire. Bernadett Weinzierl/University of Vienna During that mission, a scientist on board captured this image (above) of a pyrocumulus (pyroCu) billowing up over the Widemouth 2 fire. While not as tall or energetic as pyroCbs, pyroCus are precursor clouds that share many of the same characteristics. Here, heat from the fire is fueling strong convective updrafts, forming a towering cloud with puffy overshooting tops that poke into the upper troposphere as lower-altitude smoke drifts below. Satellites excel at identifying pyroCbs by measuring the temperature of the cloud tops that form above smoke plumes. Using this technique, researchers have established that wildfires produce about 70 pyroCbs per year, many in dense forests of Canada and Russia, though plenty also occur in grasslands and savannas in the United States and Australia. So far in 2026, Fromm and colleagues have identified at least 13 in the continental United States. Since one of the first pyroCbs appeared in the scientific literature in the early 2000s, scientists have cataloged well over 700 events, and they now believe that wildfires may contribute up to 25 percent of the ****** carbon and organic aerosols in the lower stratosphere. The sheer frequency of pyroCbs means that the total mass of particles they inject over the course of a wildfire season may rival that of large volcanic eruptions. Still, many questions about the enigmatic clouds remain unanswered. It isn’t clear what vegetation is most likely to fuel pyroCbs, why some form more lightning than others, why they form in only a small fraction of fires, and how to accurately forecast them. “Whether it be their dangerous manifestations on the ground or their long-lasting imprint on the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere,” Fromm said, “pyroCbs continue to surprise us.” NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Photo by Bernadett Weinzierl/University of Vienna. Story by Adam Voiland. Downloads August 2, 2026: Natural Color JPEG (1.63 MB) August 2, 2026: Brightness Temperature JPEG (1.07 MB) August 3, 2026 JPEG (319.28 KB) References & Resources CIRA CSU, via Instagram (2026, August 3) Yesterday, the Widemouth 2 Fire in central Utah exploded. Accessed August 13, 2026. Denver 7, via Instagram (2026, July 28) Have you ever seen a smoke-filled cloud above a wildfire? Accessed August 13, 2026. The Economist (2026, August 9) NASA takes aim at fire storms. Accessed August 13, 2026. Fromm, M., et al. (2022) Understanding the critical elements of the pyrocumulonimbus storm sparked by high-intensity wildland fire. Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 243. InciWeb (2026) Widemouth 2 Fire. Accessed August 13, 2026. Katich, J.M. (2023) Pyrocumulonimbus affect average stratospheric aerosol composition. Science, 379(6634), 815-820. NASA (2026) INSPYRE. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2026, July 20) New NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science Flights. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Airborne Science Program (2026) Earth Science Observation Platforms. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory (2021, July 30) A Summer of Fire-Breathing Smoke Storms. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory (2020, January 10) Explosive Fire Activity in Australia. Accessed August 13, 2026. Peterson, D., et al. (2025) Worldwide inventory reveals the frequency and variability of pyrocumulonimbus and stratospheric smoke plumes during 2013–2023. Climate and Atmospheric Science, 8(325). The University of Utah (2026, August 6) Utah’s historic fire season of 2026. Accessed August 13, 2026. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2026, June 2) NRL Leads NASA Wildfire Research Mission to Better Predict Pyrocumulonimbus Storm Hazards. Accessed August 13, 2026. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2025, June 25) Fiery Storms: How Wildfires Create “Dirty Thunderstorms” and Impact Weather. Accessed August 13, 2026. The Weather Channel (2026, August 10) Meet the scientists who are flying into fire-breathing thunderstorms, and learn why they are doing it. Accessed August 13, 2026. Western Fire Chiefs (2026) Widemouth 2. Accessed August 13, 2026. World Meteorological Organization, Flammagenitus. Accessed August 13, 2026. You may also be interested in: Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet. Cottonwood Fire Chars Utah 5 min read The blaze burned more than 150 square miles and swept through parts of a ski resort. Article Ontario Wildfire Smoke Moves East 3 min read ********* wildfires sent plumes of smoke streaming over Ontario, Quebec, and parts of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. Article Cascade Volcanoes Shrouded in Smoke 3 min read From the International Space Station, astronauts photographed Mount Hood and Mount Rainier as wildfire smoke spread across the Pacific Northwest… Article 1 2 3 4 Next Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox. Earth Observatory Image of the Day NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery. Explore Earth Science Earth Science Data Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 16 – Milky… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Milky Way over Yellowstone Explanation: The Milky Way was not created by an evaporating lake. The colorful pool of water, about 10 meters across, is known as Silex Spring and is located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA. Illuminated artificially, the colors are caused by layers of bacteria that grow in the hot spring. Steam rises off the spring, heated by underground magma associated with the Yellowstone Hotspot. Unrelated and far in the distance, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches high overhead, a band lit by billions of stars. The picture features a 16-image panorama taken in 2014. If the Yellowstone Hotspot causes another supervolcanic eruption as it did about 640,000 years ago, a large part of North America would be affected. Growing Gallery: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12 Tomorrow’s picture: eclipse shower Date August 16, 2026 Credit & Copyright: Dave Lane Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 15 – Bright Perseids from Sweden Tomorrow’s Image View the full article

3 min read Summer Triangle Corner: Deneb This image shows an illustration of the constellation Cygnus, Latin for “swan,” in the night sky. The Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, also known as the Veil Nebula, is located near one of the swan’s wings, outlined here in a rectangular box. NASA Bird constellations abound in the night sky, including Cygnus, the majestic swan. Easy to find with its dazzling stars, it is one of the few constellations that look like its namesake, and it is full of treasures. Visible in the Northern Hemisphere all summer long, there’s so much to see and even some things that can’t be seen. To locate Cygnus, start with the brightest star, Deneb, also the northeasternmost and dimmest star of the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle is made up of three bright stars from three different constellations – read more about it in the September 2022 issue of Night Sky Notes. “Deneb” is an Arabic word meaning the tail. Then travel into the triangle until you see the star Albireo, sometimes called the “beak star” in the center of the summer triangle. Stretching out perpendicular from this line are two stars that mark the crossbar, or the wings, and there are also faint stars that extend the swan’s wings. From light-polluted skies, you may only see the brightest stars, sometimes called the Northern Cross. In a darker sky, the line of stars marking the neck of the swan travels along the band of the Milky Way. A pair of binoculars will resolve many stars along that path, including a sparkling open cluster of stars designated Messier 29, found just south of the swan’s torso star. This grouping of young stars may appear reddish due to nearby excited gas. Let’s go deeper. While the bright beak star Albireo is easy to pick out, a telescope will let its true beauty shine! Like a jewel box in the sky, magnification shows a beautiful visual double star, with a vivid gold star and a brilliant blue star in the same field of view. There’s another marvel to be seen with a telescope or strong binoculars – the Cygnus Loop. Sometimes known as the Veil Nebula, you can find this supernova remnant (the gassy leftovers blown off of a large dying star) directly above the final two stars of the swan’s eastern wing. It will look like a faint ring of illuminated gas about three degrees across (six times the diameter of the Moon). The ****** hole named Cygnus X-1 formed when a large star caved in. This ****** hole pulls matter from the blue star beside it. Image: NASA, CXC, Melissa Weiss (CXC) Speaking of long-dead stars, astronomers have detected a high-energy X-ray source in Cygnus that we can’t see with our eyes or backyard telescopes, but that is detectable by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Discovered in 1971 during a rocket flight, Cygnus X-1 is the first X-ray source to be widely accepted as a ****** hole. This ****** hole is the final stage of a giant star’s life, with a mass of about 20 Suns. Cygnus X-1 is spinning at a phenomenal rate – more than 800 times a second – while devouring a nearby star. Astronomically speaking, this ****** hole is in our neighborhood, 6,070 light years away. But it poses no threat to us, just offers a new way to study the universe. Check out the beautiful bird in your sky this evening, and you will be delighted to add Cygnus to your go-to summer viewing list and visit NASA’s ****** Hole Basics page to learn more! Originally posted by Dave Prosper: May 2023 Last Updated by Kat Troche: July 2026 View the full article

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 15 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Bright Perseids from Sweden Explanation: Known for its bright and fast meteors, the annual Perseid Meteor Shower comes to planet Earth’s skies from a radiant in the heroic constellation Perseus. The popular northern summer celestial spectacle is created as grains of dust cast off along the orbit of periodic comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle vaporize in Earth’s dense atmosphere, tracing brief, but beautiful streaks through the night. Taken near the shower’s peak of activity on August 12, this composite image recorded two bright perseid meteors and one meteor’s watery reflection from a location near the coastal village of Grisslehamn, Sweden. Almost as bright as Altair, brightest star on the scene, the meteors appear along with the faint, diffuse background of the Milky Way. This year, the shower’s peak activity coincided with a New Moon, so perseid meteor flashes were undiminished by bright moonlight. And for many skywatchers, this night of bright perseid meteors followed their viewing of the silhouette of the New Moon in a much anticipated solar eclipse. Growing Gallery: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12 Tomorrow’s picture: Milky Way over Yellowstone Date August 15, 2026 Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN) Authors & editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 14 – Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland Tomorrow’s Image View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s rendering depicting lunar surface operations at a future base in the lunar South Pole. NASA NASA is asking U.S.-based collegiate teams to submit bold, original concepts to the 2027 edition of a student challenge focused on aerospace innovation that could help the agency envision a future on the Moon shaped by new technology. The latest NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition invites student teams to explore new operations paradigms and advance the technologies needed to support sustained operations in the lunar South Pole region. “This competition showcases the technical excellence and creativity of the next generation of explorers and innovators,” said Chris Jones, chief technologist, Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The concepts students develop through RASC-AL demonstrate exceptional talent and contribute to the body of work that advances NASA’s missions.” Since 2002, the annual RASC-AL competition has helped foster aerospace concepts, technology, and prototyping by making connections among universities, NASA, and industry. This year’s competition includes themes ranging from the development of concepts to support prospecting in the permanently shadowed regions of lunar craters to the advancement of critical and expandable infrastructure for future astronauts. “NASA’s RASC-AL competition connects top university researchers with the agency’s technology and engineering challenges,” said Gabe Merrill, acting cross-program integration lead for the Advanced Research and Technology Division in NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate. “By asking student innovators to design concepts for what our future on the Moon might look like, this competition accelerates the technology we need to explore the Moon and provides a development opportunity for future aerospace innovators and leaders.” Teams interested in participating are required to submit a non-binding notice of intent by Tuesday, Oct. 13, and will be invited to a Q&A session with NASA experts on Oct. 27. Challenge proposals and accompanying video submissions are due Feb. 24, 2027. Proposals should demonstrate innovative solutions supported by original engineering and analysis in response to one of the four 2027 RASC-AL themes: Enabling extreme exploration Transit pathway construction Lunar resource exploration Smart and resilient lunar habitat The competition will select as many as 14 teams to advance to its final phase, which involves further developing their concepts, writing a technical paper, and creating a technical poster. Each finalist team will receive a $7,500 award to facilitate its full participation. Finalists will present their concepts to a panel of NASA and industry experts at the 2027 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 7 to 10, 2027. The top two overall teams will receive an additional monetary award and an invitation to attend and present their concept at an aerospace conference later in 2027. Interested student teams are encouraged to visit the official RASC-AL competition website for detailed guidelines and eligibility requirements. The 2027 NASA RASC-AL Competition is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace on behalf of NASA’s Advanced Research and Technology Division within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate. NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate, manages the challenge contract. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA NASA Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Langley Research Center NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative CoECI View the full article

Credit: NASA In honor of America’s historic 250th anniversary, NASA announced on Friday MAX POWER, a public exposition of American air and space innovation, Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, on and near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The multi-day, family-friendly event will showcase the next-generation aircraft, spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, and technologies that will help define the future of transportation in air and space, bringing together the public, innovators, investors, pilots, astronauts, engineers, and companies helping open this new frontier. “This November, we are opening Kennedy Space Center’s historic Shuttle Landing Facility to the public for America’s newest and most exciting aerospace technology expo and airshow, and we are calling it MAX POWER,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “For 250 years, America has advanced by building what did not exist, flying higher, moving faster, and reaching toward the near-impossible. There is no better place to celebrate that spirit than at NASA Kennedy, America’s gateway to the stars and the place where so many of our nation’s greatest achievements began.” By bringing together the legacy of NASA with the companies and technologies shaping what comes next, MAX POWER aims to ignite the spirit of exploration and inspire the next generation of explorers, builders, and dreamers. In addition to the agency, Air Dot Show, Delaware North, Space Florida, Purpose Entertainment, and UP.Summit are external collaborators. Some activities will take place at NASA Kennedy, including the Apollo Saturn V facility, and the Launch and Landing Facility currently leased by Space Florida. Others will take place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex adjacent to the center leading up to, and during, the festival. Events include: An air show featuring NASA aircraft, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and aerial demonstrations by multiple branches of the Department of War Guest speaker series featuring NASA experts and Apollo and Artemis astronauts Special exhibits and displays showcasing technology demonstrations, historic and current NASA hardware aircraft, commercial aviation displays, next-generation air mobility, and more Behind-the-gates bus tours of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, including the Gantry, Apollo Saturn V Center, and Vehicle Assembly Building MAX POWER will give the public a front-row seat to the future of American aerospace, including advanced aircraft, autonomous systems, commercial space, NASA’s work to return Americans to the lunar surface, plans for a Moon Base, and the technologies strengthening America’s aerospace industrial base. Teams will highlight work in aviation, exploration, and innovation for the benefit of humanity. “For a decade, UP.Summit has convened the companies, investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers building the future of how the world moves,” said Cyrus Sigari, UP.Summit founder and mission commander. “This November we bring that community to Kennedy Space Center as part of MAX POWER. The public will stand next to the aircraft, spacecraft, and autonomous systems that will define the next 250 years and meet the people building them. MAX POWER is about lighting that spark in thousands of Americans and showing the world what this country builds when it aims high.” “It is an honor to collaborate with NASA and bring an aviation spectacle to the skies over Kennedy Space Center as part of MAX POWER,” said Bryan Lilley, CEO of Air Dot Show. “There could not be a more iconic place to celebrate the past, showcase the present, and preview the future of American aviation and space exploration as our nation marks its 250th anniversary.” “Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is where America’s history of aerospace innovation comes to life, from the aircraft that helped launch the space program to the spacecraft that carried us to the Moon and the technologies shaping what comes next,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. “MAX POWER brings that entire story together in one place, giving the public an up-close look at the past, present and future of American aerospace.” “Florida has been part of some of the most historic moments in American space exploration, and we’re proud to welcome the nation to this storied site for MAX POWER this fall,” said Col. Rob Long (Ret.), president and CEO, Space Florida. “Together with NASA, we have spent generations building the infrastructure, talent, and spirit of innovation that make moments like this possible, and this event offers a front-row seat to that ongoing story.” This event is open to U.S. and international media. To attend, media must RSVP by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to the Kennedy newsroom at: [Hidden Content]. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. There are multiple “parks” and experiences planned, each of which require separate tickets to attend. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit: [Hidden Content] -end- Bethany Stevens / Cheryl Warner Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 *****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld Amanda Griffin Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-593-6244 *****@*****.tld Share Details Last Updated Aug 14, 2026 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsKennedy Space Center View the full article

Explore This Section Science Citizen Science Volunteer Develops… Overview Resources Opportunities Citizen Science Highlights About Science Activation Certain kinds of clouds are misbehaving – appearing more often and lower in the sky than they used to. To help identify the factors influencing these changes (e.g. shifts in Earth’s long-term weather patterns), scientists have asked people around the world with cameras to submit fresh images of these clouds as a part of the NASA-supported Space Cloud Watch project. Now, one volunteer has developed a new tool to help other Space Cloud Watch volunteers work more efficiently. The misbehaving clouds are “noctilucent” or “night-shining” clouds (NLCs). These clouds scatter light from the Sun long after sunset and long before sunrise, giving them a silvery glow. But despite this glow, it can be hard to differentiate NLCs from lower-altitude look-alikes. That confusion has meant extra work for project leaders. Volunteer Namai Chandra shared, “I noticed that NLC images were being manually verified by the project leaders. It felt like a task well-suited for a human-in-the-loop machine learning pipeline, one that could handle the repetitive screening automatically, while keeping human judgment central for the images that matter most.” In other words, Namai found a way to help observers verify when they are indeed seeing NLCs and when they’re not. Namai reached out to the Space Cloud Watch scientists Drs. Chihoko Cullens and Brentha Thurairajah, who were delighted with his idea. Namai soon developed a machine learning pipeline, training it on a variety of cloud images, including both the NLCs and the lower altitude look-alikes that are often submitted to Space Cloud Watch. The pipeline combines image pre-screening, cloud classification, and confidence-based review routing. After several rounds of development, testing, and refinement, he released his NLC identification tool to the project. This tool is now being used by cloud contributors who are unsure whether they have observed NLCs, as well as project scientists that want to flag images for review. Grab a camera and join the Space Cloud Watch project today! If you’ve hesitated to contribute to Space Cloud Watch because you were not certain if what you were seeing was a noctilucent cloud, you now have a way to check before you share – thanks to Namai. Namai Chandra, Space Cloud Watch volunteer and creator of the Noctilucent Cloud Detector tool. Photo by Surabhi Chandra. Learn More and Get Involved Space Cloud Watch Photograph clouds just after sunset or before dawn to investigate our changing atmosphere. Facebook logo @nasascience_ @nasascience_ Instagram logo @nasascience_ Linkedin logo @nasascience_ View the full article

5 min read NASA’s COFFIES Uses AI to Predict Storm-Causing Active Regions on Sun As humanity looks to the Moon and stars for future exploration, predicting space weather — conditions in space primarily driven by the Sun — is more important than ever. Now, a team of astrophysicists and data scientists with NASA’s COFFIES (Consequence Of Fields and Flows in the Interior and Exterior of the Sun) has developed a novel machine-learning model capable of predicting the emergence of active regions on the Sun up to 12 hours before they appear. The Sun is constantly churning. Intense concentrations of localized magnetic fields can suddenly break through the solar surface, forming sunspots. Space weather forecasters then collectively number and track sunspots since they are visible manifestations of active regions, which serve as the main engines behind severe space weather events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These eruptions send waves of high-energy radiation and charged particles across space, creating storms that can threaten astronauts, disable satellites, and disrupt radio communications on Earth. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare — seen as the bright flash in the upper right — on June 30, 2026. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in teal. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO By bridging expertise across different scientific institutions, COFFIES, a NASA DRIVE (Diversify, Realize, Integrate, Venture, Educate) Science Center, brought together a team of researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Princeton University, and NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The team turned to advanced artificial intelligence architectures — which dictate how data is processed and used to produce reliable predictions or actions — to capture subtle, time-based pattern changes on the solar surface before an active region took shape. By analyzing data captured by the agency’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and using NASA Ames’ supercomputing resources, this new approach, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation, looks at fluctuations in acoustic waves caused by sunspot regions when the regions form beneath the solar surface and begin the journey upward to emerge on the surface. “We cannot directly see the magnetic structure while it is still rising through the solar interior. Instead, we must look for indirect effects — very small changes in the magnetic field and in the pattern of acoustic waves continually traveling through the Sun,” said Alexander Kosovichev, a COFFIES co-investigator at NJIT. “The developed technique identifies precursors associated with an emerging active region in slight changes of the Sun’s acoustic power — more like a slight change in rhythm within a very noisy orchestra.” To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This video is an example of what scientists use when analyzing the solar surface. This particular time frame tracks the magnetic field on the Sun’s surface during the emergence of active region AR11158 in February 2011. The blue square grid highlights a target area on the Sun. The squares on the right side translates the data from the target grid area to show opposing magnetic polarities, indicated by the warm and cool-colored tones. The first column of blocks shows targeted areas at original resolution, the middle column displays data as 2D maps, and the right column plots changes in magnetic polarity over time as 1D curves. By watching these blocks, scientists can see signs of active region emergence, such as drops in acoustic waves and rises in magnetic fields. NASA’s COFFIES DRIVE Science Center/Irina Kitiashvili and Spiridon Kasapis To develop current operational forecasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center and the United States Air Force monitor active regions that are already visible on the Sun to analyze the regions’ characteristics and estimate the probability of solar flares. The COFFIES team aims to revolutionize this process. The AI model the team developed a specialized early detection system to handle very long sequences of data — called sliding-window transformer architecture — to use observations to find tiny reductions in the Sun’s acoustic activity and magnetic field, signals that scientists struggled to capture until now. These reductions form patterns that the AI model uses to predict active regions several hours before they become visible on the solar surface. Instead of looking at all activity on the solar surface at once, like earlier deep learning approaches have done, this new model moves a fixed-size “viewing window” across a long timeline of the Sun’s activity to focus on recent data while remembering overall patterns. This method allows forecasters the ability to predict approximate locations of emerging sunspots, rather than relying on counting already visible sunspots. This promising AI architecture shows how deep machine learning can contribute to heliophysics — the field studying the nature of the Sun and how it influences the very nature of space and the planets that exist there. While the model is not ready for operational real-time forecasting, the team plans to validate the approach across many more known solar events to fine-tune the model. NASA’s real-time space weather monitoring As NASA focuses on sending humans to explore the Moon with the Artemis missions and sending the first crewed missions to Mars, monitoring and forecasting space weather is important for ensuring the safety of our astronauts and the equipment they rely on. This predictive leap from the COFFIES team could prove vital for safeguarding technology and deep-space explorers from the volatile environment of our solar system. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video NASA’s Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office monitors space weather 7 days a week. This important work helps decision makers not only protect people and equipment but maintain the services our modern society relies on every day. NASA’s space weather monitoring is also critical for safeguarding astronauts as they journey to the Moon and onward to Mars. NASA/Lacey Young Teams across NASA and NOAA collaborate to transition research capabilities into actual 360-degree space weather monitoring operational tools — including NASA’s Space Radiation Analysis Group, Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office (M2M SWAO), and Community Coordinated Modeling Center as well as NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Sunspot region emergence prediction capabilities, especially of the Sun’s far side, could provide new information that supplements current models used by these teams. “The COFFIES AI model is exciting to our team because it could provide us with new capabilities towards predicting potential flaring locations ahead of time,” said Michelangelo Romano, M2M SWAO deputy director. “With this heads up, we can provide additional support to NASA missions.” NASA’s COFFIES is one of three DRIVE Science Centers created to encourage collaborative science by establishing centers that are made of multidisciplinary teams from several institutions across the U.S. These pioneering facilities employ modelers, theoreticians, computer scientists, and observers to study important mysteries of our star and its influence, a branch of science known as heliophysics. The COFFIES team focuses on the interconnected processes behind the Sun’s activity. Understanding the Sun’s interior and magnetic variability is key to advancing our understanding of the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle and fine-tuning space weather forecasting tools. About the Author Desiree Apodaca NASA’s Heliophysics Missions Communications Lead Share Details Last Updated Aug 14, 2026 Related Terms Heliophysics Ames Research Center Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Division Heliophysics Research Program Science Mission Directorate Space Weather The Sun The Sun & Solar Physics Explore More 5 min read NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface Article 3 days ago 4 min read Lion Nebula Roars to Life With NASA’s Webb Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA’s PUNCH Sharpens Solar Storm Forecasting in First Test Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA The Sun Humans in Space -Space Weather Solar System View the full article

NASA/Bill Ingalls This composite image shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain on, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. A total solar eclipse swept across parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal. A partial eclipse was visible in parts of the U.S., most of Canada, much of Europe, and northwest Africa. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls View the full article

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 14 – Total… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland Explanation: On August 12, the Moon’s shadow reached out to touch our fair planet. Beginning in the Arctic Ocean, it swept along a narrow track that led the dark lunar umbra across parts of Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Portugal, and northern Spain. And for a moment, denizens of Earth who found themselves with clear skies under the shadow of the Moon could witness a total solar eclipse. After dodging the weather by sea and making a landing along Rype Fjord on the Greenland east coast (at 71.07055N, 27.71252W), this hard-won snapshot was captured at 17:33:26 UTC. That’s near the initial reach of clearing skies along the path of totality, so the image is likely one of the first unobstructed views of the totally eclipsed Sun. Through a break in the clouds, the stunning photo also records one of this eclipse’s transient diamond rings and the magnificent solar corona emerging near the moment totality began. More spectacular eclipse images: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12 Tomorrow’s picture: perhaps a Perseid Date August 14, 2026 Credit & Copyright: Aditya Madhavan Authors & editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 13 – Total Solar Eclipse Over Spain Tomorrow’s Image View the full article

Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory A Sunflower’s View of Totality Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search A composite image shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, on August 12, 2026. NASA/Bill Ingalls Skywatchers across a swath of northern Spain witnessed a total solar eclipse when the Moon lined up directly between the Sun and Earth on August 12, 2026. Those within the path of totality had the rare chance to glimpse the Sun’s active outer atmosphere, or corona, during the short time the Moon blocked the Sun. This composite photo was taken before, during, and after the total eclipse from a field of appropriately themed flowers in San Millán de los Caballeros, a town about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of León in northwestern Spain. Along with parts of Greenland and Iceland, Northern Spain was one of the few places on land that fell within this eclipse’s path of totality. Sunset was approaching when the Moon’s shadow, or umbra, swept across Spain. In León, the partial eclipse began at 7:32 p.m. and ended at 9:22 p.m. local time, just minutes before the Sun dipped below the horizon. Totality lasted about two minutes, starting at 8:28 p.m. Farther east in Spain, the Sun set before the eclipse ended. A total solar eclipse is seen from San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, on August 12, 2026. NASA/Bill Ingalls In the photo above, taken during totality, a glowing loop of plasma called a solar prominence is visible extending into the corona on the left. Plasma, a super-hot gas composed mostly of ionized hydrogen and helium, flows along the tangled and twisted structure of the Sun’s magnetic fields. Solar prominences, which can measure many times higher than Earth is wide, are sometimes visible to the naked eye during eclipses. Solar eclipses offer NASA the opportunity to get a different look at the Sun and our own atmosphere. On August 12, science teams staged in Iceland to chase the Moon’s shadow in one of NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude jets and image the corona in visible and infrared light. And the NASA-supported Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project launched scientific balloons before, during, and after the eclipse to measure how Earth’s atmosphere changed when the Sun was temporarily blocked. While viewing opportunities in the path of totality were limited, the rest of Europe and parts of Africa, Canada, and the U.S. experienced a partial eclipse. Photos and video from the total and partial eclipse are available in NASA’s image library. The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027, with the path of totality crossing southern Spain, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. NASA photos by Bill Ingalls. Story by Lindsey Doermann. References & Resources NASA (2026) August 12, 2026, Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA (2026, August 13) Eclipses. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA (2026, July 27) NASA Science Soars During August Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory (2026, August 12) Stops Along the Path of Totality. Accessed August 13, 2026. NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (2025, July 13) Animations of the August 12, 2026, Total Solar Eclipse. Accessed August 13, 2026. You may also be interested in: Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet. Stops Along the Path of Totality 3 min read Western Iceland and northern Spain are among the few Northern Hemisphere locations experiencing a total solar eclipse on August 12,… Article A Moonlit Earth as Seen From Artemis II 4 min read An astronaut’s photo, taken en route to the Moon, reveals our planet and its place in space in a novel… Article Earthset From the Lunar Far Side 2 min read The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission captured extraordinary images of our home planet during their journey around the far… Article 1 2 3 4 Next Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox. Earth Observatory Image of the Day NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery. Explore Earth Science Earth Science Data Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A newly painted NASA 737 aircraft sits on a ramp in Oklahoma on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. NASA/Carla Escamilla NASA’s 737 aircraft was painted this week in Oklahoma as it progresses with modifications for use as a reduced gravity test aircraft for the agency. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, took ownership of the aircraft from the United States Air Force in June. The aircraft will perform lunar-gravity parabolic flights to validate astronaut lunar suits and associated crew systems required to support Artemis mission objectives. These flights will happen at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for reduced-gravity operations, with NASA Armstrong oversight. In addition, the aircraft will serve as a key asset for systems‑integration research for flight testing autonomy, sensors, and other digital systems. Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2026 EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whiting*****@*****.tld Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterArtemisJohnson Space CenterNASA Aircraft Explore More 5 min read Pursuing a Dream of Working for NASA Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface NASA has declared “wrenches down” on the first completed payload designed for Artemis astronauts to… Article 2 days ago 4 min read Building the Moon Base: NASA Stories at the Ion Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Aircraft Flown at Armstrong Aeronautics Artemis View the full article

NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility (IV&V) held a swearing-in ceremony for civil servants on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, at the facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. In total, 51 new employees were hired at IV&V as part of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s directive to strengthen NASA’s technical core competencies. Growing up in Grafton, West Virginia, engrossed in Star Wars and all things science fiction, Fletcher Newell had an early interest in space exploration. That interest only grew when, in 2013, his fourth-grade class took a field trip to a nearby NASA facility he had not yet heard of – NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility, located in nearby. Thirteen years later, Newell and 48 of his colleagues at the facility were sworn in as NASA civil servants during a ceremony on Aug. 10. “I had always admired NASA from afar,” said Newell, who started working at IV&V as a systems engineer contractor in early 2025. “To my surprise, the agency was doing impactful work in my backyard.” During high school, he began cultivating programming skills that would lay the foundation for his future. A self-professed computer aficionado, Newell taught himself how to code. In algebra class, he discovered that his graphing calculator was programmable, leading him to create basic scripts. He quickly moved to popular software applications, learning how they were built in order to develop his own programs. Artificial intelligence was still on the brink of becoming mainstream, but he was already asking himself, “What are the more interesting things we can teach computers to do?” As a junior in 2019, the precocious programmer merged his talents with his passion for space after being accepted into IV&V’s high school internship program. Newell created a database for engineering methods, processing hundreds of documents to facilitate the work of his colleagues from a procedural aspect. “Working as a high school intern really elevated my fascination for NASA,” he said. Following graduation in 2020, Newell headed west to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, majoring in, naturally, computer science, with a focus on AI and machine learning when both were scaling rapidly across industries and in everyday usage. Instead of pursuing internships in the neighboring Silicon Valley – widely considered the global center for technological innovation – he returned to West Virginia for three consecutive summers, cutting his teeth at the Fairmont facility. Fletcher Newell stands in front of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, as a high school intern in 2019.Photo courtesy: Fletcher Newell He began researching AI safety as engineers learned how to give spacecraft more onboard autonomy and have them learn on their own. Later, he was on a team responsible for assessing the safety of Terrain Relative Navigation, a vision-based guidance technology that could enable spacecraft to land on planetary surfaces without GPS. During his final internship, generative AI – which creates content based on user prompts – was becoming widespread, and he worked on teams exploring how to responsibly integrate it into mission assurance. Newell also performed research about autonomous space docking at Stanford’s Center for AI Safety, resulting in two publications. Following his undergraduate education, he remained at Stanford to earn a master’s in computer science. When it came time to enter the workforce, one organization was atop his list. A contractor opportunity opened up at IV&V, and he leapt at the chance. “I enjoyed the work at IV&V back in high school and college,” he said. “There’s nothing better than pursuing what aligns with your interests.” As a systems engineer, he has worked primarily on mission safety and security, identifying and resolving system defects and vulnerabilities for such spacecraft as Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom, Orion, Gateway, and the Human Landing System, all while helping guide NASA’s responsible adoption and development of AI systems. His colleagues took notice of their junior member’s contributions, resulting in Newell being named IV&V Engineer of the Year in 2025 less than a year into the job after identifying more than 70 issues in Gateway – and later SR-1 Freedom – with clear mission impact and, as noted in his award citation, developing a reputation for clearly articulating their implications. “During his internships and now as a full-time engineer, Fletcher has consistently demonstrated exceptional talent, curiosity, and a passion for our mission,” said Wes Deadrick, IV&V director. “He could have gone almost anywhere after Stanford. The fact that he chose to come home to build his career supporting NASA through the IV&V Program makes me incredibly proud.” The Aug. 10 ceremony for Newell and his colleagues was part of NASA’s workforce directive to bring core, mission-critical positions into the civil service, from early-career professionals to seasoned technical experts. “It’s an investment in NASA’s future, giving us the opportunity to bring exceptionally talented people into the civil service while strengthening long-term technical capabilities that support our nation’s most challenging missions,” said Deadrick. “At IV&V, initiatives like this help ensure we continue providing independent expertise and mission assurance that our customers depend on.” For Newell, as he takes this next step in his professional progression as a civil servant computer engineer, he looks forward to expanding on his responsibilities, especially to help NASA return to the Moon. He is currently helping identify safety and security issues, including ones that could impact crew safety and lead to the loss of spacecraft control, related to the agency’s lunar endeavors. “At IV&V, teams are ensuring every major lunar vehicle and system will be ready to safely embark on their missions, not just for flying around the Moon, but also for putting American boots on the surface and eventually establishing and working on a Moon Base,” he said. More than a decade after taking that field trip and now working on some of NASA’s high-priority missions, Newell readily admits he didn’t always envision staying in West Virginia. “It was a little strange coming back, but I was continually getting to do amazing things at an amazing organization in a place I already know,” Newell said. “And that’s really cool.” Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2026 Related TermsGoddard Space Flight CenterInternshipsKatherine Johnson IV and V FacilityPeople of GoddardPeople of NASA View the full article

NASA/Bill Dunford The constellation Orion is framed by two Perseid meteors in this photo from Aug. 12, 2018, in Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah. The Perseids – one of the year’s brightest and most popular meteor showers – has been ramping up since early July and will sparkle in the skies through the end of August. The shower reached its peak on the night of Aug. 12 into the early morning of Aug. 13. Rewatch the Aug. 13 meteor shower. Image credit: NASA/Bill Dunford View the full article

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 13 – Total… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Total Solar Eclipse Over Spain Explanation: On August 12th, 2026, the Moon totally eclipsed the Sun and cast its shadow across Siberia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal. Today’s image features two total solar eclipses viewed from Zaragoza, Spain, one over the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar and the other reflecting in the Ebro River. For a few moments, Spain saw its first major total solar eclipse since 1905. Those witnessing totality may experience a chill in the air, the quieting of birds, the confused chirps of insects, and the shared awe of many. It’s the corona’s time to shine as the Sun’s bright disk is blocked by the Moon. Among other reasons to study eclipses, they help scientists understand why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface. Enthusiastic citizens can contribute to these studies by recording how wildlife responds, imaging the corona, and monitoring air temperature and clouds. More spectacular eclipse images: Solar Eclipse of 2026 August 12 Tomorrow’s picture: a mystery Date: August 13, 2026 Credit & Copyright: Ruiyu Zhang Authors & editors: Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 August 12 – Perseids over a Little Planet Tomorrow’s Image View the full article