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NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured this image of lightning while orbiting aboard the International Space Station more than 250 miles above Milan, Italy on July 1, 2025. Storm observations from space station help scientists study Earth’s upper atmosphere, which can improve weather models and protect communication systems and aircraft. Space station crew take photographs of Earth that record how the planet changes over time due to human activity and natural events. This record allows scientists to monitor disasters and direct response on the ground and study phenomena.
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Supernova Remnant Video From NASA’s Chandra Is Decades in Making
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A new video shows changes in Kepler’s Supernova Remnant using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured over more than two and a half decades with observations taken in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2014, and 2025. In this video, which is the longest-spanning one ever released by Chandra, X-rays (blue) from the telescope have been combined with an optical image (red, green, and blue) from Pan-STARRS. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Pan-STARRSA new video shows the evolution of Kepler’s Supernova Remnant using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured over more than two and a half decades.
Kepler’s Supernova Remnant, named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, was first spotted in the night sky in 1604. Today, astronomers know that a white dwarf star exploded when it exceeded a critical mass, after pulling material from a companion star, or merging with another white dwarf. This kind of supernova is known as a Type Ia, and scientists use it to measure the expansion of the universe.
Supernova remnants, the debris fields left behind after a stellar explosion, often glow strongly in X-ray light because the material has been heated to millions of degrees from the blast. The remnant is located in our galaxy, about 17,000 light-years from Earth, allowing Chandra to make detailed images of the debris and how it changes with time. This latest video includes its X-ray data from 2000, 2004, 2006, 2014, and 2025. This makes it the longest-spanning video that Chandra has ever released, enabled by Chandra’s longevity.
“The plot of Kepler’s story is just now beginning to unfold,” said Jessye Gassel, a graduate student at George Mason University in Virginia, who led the work. “It’s remarkable that we can watch as these remains from this shattered star crash into material already thrown out into space.” Gassel presented the new Chandra video and the associated research at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.
The researchers used the video to show that the fastest parts of the remnant are traveling at about 13.8 million miles per hour (2% of the speed of light), moving toward the bottom of the image. Meanwhile, the slowest parts are traveling toward the top at about 4 million miles per hour (0.5% of the speed of light). This large difference in speed is because the gas that the remnant is plowing into toward the top of the image is denser than the gas toward the bottom. This gives scientists information about the environments into which this star exploded.
“Supernova explosions and the elements they hurl into space are the lifeblood of new stars and planets,” said Brian Williams of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and principal investigator of the new Chandra observations of Kepler. “Understanding exactly how they behave is crucial to knowing our cosmic history.”
The team also examined the widths of the rims forming the blast wave of the explosion. The blast wave is the leading edge of the explosion and the first to encounter material outside of the star. By measuring how wide it is and how fast it is traveling, astronomers glean more information about both the explosion of the star and its surroundings.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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Visual DescriptionThis release features a ten second silent video of Kepler’s expanding Supernova Remnant, located in our own galaxy, about 17,000 light-years from Earth. The video was created using X-ray data gathered in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2014, and 2025. Those distinct datasets were turned into highly-detailed visuals, creating a 25-year timelapse-style video of the growing remnant.
Kepler’s Supernova Remnant was once a white dwarf star that exploded when it exceeded its critical mass. Here, in X-ray light, the remnant resembles a cloudy neon blue ring with a diagonal cross line stretching from our upper right down to our lower left. The ring appears thinner and wispier at the bottom, with a band of white arching across the top.
As the video plays, cycling through the 5 datasets, the ring subtly, but clearly, expands, like a slowly inflating balloon. In the video, this sequence is replayed several times with dates included at our lower right, to give sighted learners time to absorb the visual information. Upon close inspection, researchers have determined that the bottom of the remnant is expanding fastest; about 13.8 million miles per hour, or 2% of the speed of light. The top of the ring appears to be expanding the slowest; about 4 million miles per hour, or 0.5% of the speed of light. The large difference in speed is because the gas that the remnant is plowing into towards the top of the image is denser than the gas towards the bottom.
Collecting and interpreting this data over decades has provided information about the environment into which the white dwarf star exploded, and has helped scientists understand how remnants change with time.
Share Details Last Updated Jan 06, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactJoel WallaceLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms Explore More 6 min read NASA Marshall Prepares for Demolition of Historic Test, Simulation Facilities Article 22 hours ago 5 min read Scientists Identify ‘Astronomy’s Platypus’ with NASA’s Webb TelescopeAfter combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a…
Article 24 hours ago 6 min read NASA Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog’s Unexpected Talent for Making DustUsing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted two rare kinds of dust in…
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NASA Awards Launch Range Contract for Wallops Flight Facility
NASA has selected ARES Technical Services Corporation of McLean, Virginia, to provide launch range operations support at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Wallops Range Contract has a total potential value of $339.8 million with a one-year base period expected to begin Tuesday, Feb. 10, and four one-year option periods that if exercised would extend it to 2031. The contract includes a cost-plus-fixed-fee core with an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity component and the ability to issue cost-plus-fixed-fee or firm-fixed-price task orders.
The scope of the work includes launch range operations support such as radar, telemetry, logistics, tracking, and communications services for flight vehicles including orbital and suborbital rockets, aircraft, satellites, balloons, and unmanned aerial systems. Additional responsibilities include information and computer systems services; testing, modifying, and installing communications and electronic systems at launch facilities, launch control centers, and test facilities; and range technology sustainment engineering services.
Work will primarily occur at NASA Wallops with additional support at sites such as the agency’s Bermuda Tracking Station, Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, and other temporary duty locations.
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NASA Marshall Prepares for Demolition of Historic Test, Simulation Facilities
NASA is preparing for the demolition of three iconic structures at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Crews began demolition in mid-December at the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, a facility built in the late 1960s that once enabled NASA astronauts and researchers to experience near-weightlessness. The facility was also used to conduct underwater testing of space hardware and practice runs for servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. The simulator was closed in 1997.
Two test stands – the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility and Dynamic Test Facility – are also slated for demolition, one after the other, by carefully coordinated implosion no earlier than sunrise on Jan. 10, 2026.
NASA Marshall tests fires the first stage of the Saturn I rocket at its historic Propulsion and Structural Test Facility, better known as the “T-tower.”The demolition of these historic structures is part of a larger project that began in spring 2022, targeting several inactive structures no longer needed for the agency’s missions. All three towering fixtures played crucial roles in getting humans to the Moon, into low-Earth orbit, and beyond.
These structures have reached the end of their safe, operational life, and their removal has been long-planned as part of a broader effort to modernize Marshall’s footprint. This demolition is the first phase of an initiative that will ultimately remove 25 outdated structures, reduce maintenance burdens, and position Marshall to take full advantage of a guaranteed NASA center infrastructure investment authorized under the Working Families Tax Credit Act.
This work reflects smart stewardship of taxpayer resources.jared isaacman
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“This work reflects smart stewardship of taxpayer resources,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Clearing outdated infrastructure allows NASA to safely modernize, streamline operations, and fully leverage the infrastructure investments signed into law by President Trump to keep Marshall positioned at the forefront of aerospace innovation.”
Built in 1964, the Dynamic Test Stand initially was used to test fully assembled Saturn V rockets. In 1978, engineers integrated all space shuttle elements for the first time, including the orbiter, external fuel tank, and solid rocket boosters. It was last used in the early 2000s for microgravity testing.
The space shuttle orbiter Enterprise lifted by crane into the Structural Dynamic Test Facility at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for vibration testing in July 1978.NASAThe Propulsion and Structural Test Facility – better known at Marshall as the “T-tower” due to its unique shape – was built in 1957 by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency and transferred to NASA when Marshall was founded in 1960. There, engineers tested components of the Saturn launch vehicles, the Army’s Redstone Rocket, and shuttle solid rocket boosters. It was last used for space shuttle solid rocket motor tests in the 1990s.
“Each one of these structures helped NASA make history,” said Rae Ann Meyer, acting center director at Marshall. “While it is hard to let them go, they’ve earned their retirement. The people who built and managed these facilities and empowered our mission of space exploration are the most important part of their legacy.”
“These structures are not safe,” continued Meyer. “Strategic demolition is a necessary step in shaping the future of NASA’s mission to explore, innovate, and inspire. By removing these structures that we have not used in decades, we are saving money on upkeep of facilities we can’t use. We also are making these areas safe to use for future NASA exploration endeavors and investments.”
A legacy worth rememberingWhen NASA opened the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator in 1968, it was one of few places on Earth that could recreate the weightlessness of microgravity. The facility provided a simulated zero-gravity environment in which engineers and astronauts could find out how their designs might handle in orbit. The tank has been central to planning and problem-solving for Skylab missions, repairs to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and more. The tank is 75 feet in diameter, 40 feet deep, and designed to hold up to nearly 1.5 million gallons of water. It was replaced in 1997 by a new, larger facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Astronaut Kathryn Thornton practices maneuvers planned for the STS-61 mission in the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Aug. 9, 1993.NASAThe Propulsion and Structural Test Facility is one of the oldest test stands at Marshall. The dual-position test stand, sometimes called the T-tower, was built for static testing large rockets and launch systems – like launching a rocket while keeping it restrained and wired to instruments that collect data. The tests and data played a role in the development of the Saturn family of rockets, including the F-1 engine and S-IC.
The Dynamic Test Stand, a 360-foot tower topped by a 64-foot derrick, was once the tallest human-made structure in North Alabama. Engineers there conducted full-scale tests of Saturn V rockets – the same powerful vehicles that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Later, the stand served as the first location where all space shuttle elements were integrated.
Preserving history for future generationsThe irreplaceable historical value of these landmarks has prompted NASA to undertake extensive efforts to preserve their stories for future generations. The three facilities were made national landmarks in 1985 for their part in human spaceflight. In keeping with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, master planners and engineers at Marshall completed a rigorous consultation and mitigation process for each landmark, working closely with Alabama’s State Historic Preservation Office to preserve their history for future generations.
Detailed architectural documentation, written histories, and large-format photographs are permanently archived in the Library of Congress’ Historic American Engineering Record collection, making this history accessible to researchers and the public for generations.
Additionally, NASA has partnered with Auburn University to create high-resolution digital models of each facility. The project used technologies like LiDAR and 360-photography of the structures in detail before demolition. Their goal is to preserve not just the appearance, but the sense of scale and engineering achievement they represent. The models are still in work, but they’ll eventually be publicly available.
Select artifacts from the facilities have also been identified and transferred to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center through NASA’s Artifact Program, ensuring tangible pieces of this history remain available for educational purposes.
Honoring the past, building the futureFor the employees, retirees, and community members who remember these facilities over the decades, their removal marks the end of an era. But their contributions live on in every NASA mission, from the International Space Station to the upcoming Artemis II lunar missions and more.
“NASA’s vision of space exploration remains vibrant, and as we look to an exciting future, we honor the past, especially the dedication of the men and women who built these structures and tested hardware that has launched into space, made unprecedented scientific discoveries, and inspired generations of Americans to reach for the stars,” said Meyer.
The demolitions represent more than removing obsolete infrastructure. They’re part of NASA’s commitment to building a dynamic, interconnected campus ready for the next era of space exploration while honoring the bold spirit that has always driven the agency forward.
Virtual tours and preserved documentation will be made available on Marshall’s digital channels. Marshall will also share video of the test stand demolitions after the event.
For communities near Redstone Arsenal, there could be a loud noise associated with the demolition on the morning of Jan. 10.
Share Details Last Updated Jan 06, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactLance D. Davislance.d.davis@nasa.govMolly Portermolly.a.porter@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMarshall Space Flight Center
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Scientists Identify ‘Astronomy’s Platypus’ with NASA’s Webb Telescope
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features. Principal investigator Haojing Yan compares the discovery to an infamous oddball in another branch of science: biology’s taxonomy-defying platypus.
“It seems that we’ve identified a population of galaxies that we can’t categorize, they are so odd. On the one hand they are extremely tiny and compact, like a point source, yet we do not see the characteristics of a quasar, an active supermassive black hole, which is what most distant point sources are,” said Yan.
The research was presented in a press conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.
Image A: Galaxies in CEERS Field (NIRCam image) Four of the nine galaxies in the newly identified “platypus” sample were discovered in NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). One key feature that makes them distinct is their point-like appearance, even to a telescope that can capture as much detail as Webb. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)“I looked at these characteristics and thought, this is like looking at a platypus. You think that these things should not exist together, but there it is right in front of you, and it’s undeniable,” Yan said.
The team whittled down a sample of 2,000 sources across several Webb surveys to identify nine point-like sources that existed 12 to 12.6 billion years ago (compared to the universe’s age of 13.8 billion years). Spectral data gives astronomers more information than they can get from an image alone, and for these nine sources it doesn’t fit existing definitions. They are too far away to be stars in our own galaxy, and too faint to be quasars, which are so brilliant that they outshine their host galaxies. Though the spectra resemble the less distant “green pea” galaxies discovered in 2009, the galaxies in this sample are much more compact.
“Like spectra, the detailed genetic code of a platypus provides additional information that shows just how unusual the animal is, sharing genetic features with birds, reptiles, and mammals,” said Yan. “Together, Webb’s imaging and spectra are telling us that these galaxies have an unexpected combination of features.”
Yan explained that for typical quasars, the peaks in their characteristic spectral emission lines look like hills, with a broad base, indicating the high velocity of gas swirling around their supermassive black hole. Instead, the peaks for the “platypus population” are narrow and sharp, indicating slower gas movement.
While there are narrow-line galaxies that host active supermassive black holes, they do not have the point-like feature of the sample Yan’s team has identified.
Image B: Galaxy CEERS 4233-42232: Comparison With Quasar Spectrum This graphic illustrates the pronounced narrow peak of the spectra that caught researchers’ attention in a small sample of galaxies, represented here by galaxy CEERS 4233-42232. Typically, distant point-like light sources are quasars, but quasar spectra have a much broader shape. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)Has Yan’s team discovered a missing link in the cosmos? Once the team determined that the objects didn’t fit the definition of a quasar, graduate student researcher Bangzheng Sun analyzed the data to see if there were signatures of star-forming galaxies.
“From the low-resolution spectra we have, we can’t rule out the possibility that these nine objects are star-forming galaxies. That data fits,” said Sun. “The strange thing in that case is that the galaxies are so tiny and compact, even though Webb has the resolving power to show us a lot of detail at this distance.”
One proposal the team suggests is that Webb, as promised, is revealing earlier stages of galaxy formation and evolution than we have ever been able to see before. It is generally accepted across the astronomy community that large, massive galaxies like our own Milky Way grew by many smaller galaxies merging together. But, Yan asks, what comes before small galaxies?
“I think this new research is presenting us with the question, how does the process of galaxy formation first begin? Can such small, building-block galaxies be formed in a quiet way, before chaotic mergers begin, as their point-like appearance suggests?” Yan said.
To begin answering that question, as well as to determine more about the nature of their odd platypuses, the team says they need a much larger sample than nine to analyze, and with higher-resolution spectra.
“We cast a wide net, and we found a few examples of something incredible. These nine objects weren’t the focus; they were just in the background of broad Webb surveys,” said Yan. “Now it’s time to think about the implications of that, and how we can use Webb’s capabilities to learn more.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
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Downloads & Related InformationThe following sections contain links to download this article’s images and videos in all available resolutions followed by related information links, media contacts, and if available, research paper and spanish translation links.
Related Images & Videos Galaxies in CEERS Field (NIRCam image)Four of the nine galaxies in the newly identified “platypus” sample were discovered in NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey” (CEERS). One key feature that makes them distinct is their point-like appearance.
Galaxy CEERS 4233-42232: Comparison With Quasar Spectrum
This graphic illustrates the pronounced narrow peak of the spectra that caught researchers’ attention in a small sample of galaxies, represented here by galaxy CEERS 4233-42232. Typically, distant point-like light sources are quasars, but quasar spectra have a much broader shape.
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Read more: Webb Science: Galaxies Through Time
Explore more: ViewSpace Seeing Farther: Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Explore more: JWST’s Tiny Red Sources and the Big Questions They Raise
Read more: Webb Shows Many Early Galaxies Looked Like Pool Noodles, Surfboards
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NASA Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog’s Unexpected Talent for Making Dust
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Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Elizabeth Tarantino (STScI), Martha Boyer (STScI), Julia Roman-Duval (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted two rare kinds of dust in the dwarf galaxy Sextans A, one of the most chemically primitive galaxies near the Milky Way. The finding of metallic iron dust and silicon carbide (SiC) produced by aging stars, along with tiny clumps of carbon-based molecules, shows that even when the universe had only a fraction of today’s heavy elements, stars and the interstellar medium could still forge solid dust grains. This research with Webb is reshaping ideas about how early galaxies evolved and developed the building blocks for planets, as NASA explores the secrets of the universe and our place in it.
Sextans A lies about 4 million light-years away and contains only 3 to 7 percent of the Sun’s metal content, or metallicity, the astrophysical term for elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Because the galaxy is so small, unlike other nearby galaxies, its gravitational pull is too weak to retain the heavy elements like iron and oxygen created by supernovae and aging stars.
Galaxies like it resemble those that filled the early universe just after the big bang, when the universe was made of mostly hydrogen and helium, before stars had time to enrich space with ‘metals.’ Because it is relatively close, Sextans A gives astronomers a rare chance to study individual stars and interstellar clouds under conditions similar to those shortly after the big bang.
“Sextans A is giving us a blueprint for the first dusty galaxies,” said Elizabeth Tarantino, postdoctoral researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute and lead author of the results in one of the two studies presented at a press conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix. “These results help us interpret the most distant galaxies imaged by Webb and understand what the universe was building with its earliest ingredients.”
Image A: Sextans A PAHs Pull-out (NIRCam and MIRI Image) Images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of the dwarf galaxy Sextans A reveal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), large carbon-based molecules that can be a signifier of star formation. The inset at the top right zooms in on those PAHs, which are represented in green. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Elizabeth Tarantino (STScI), Martha Boyer (STScI), Julia Roman-Duval (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Forging dust without usual ingredientsOne of those studies, published in the Astrophysical Journal, honed in on a half a dozen stars with the low-resolution spectrometer aboard Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). The data collected shows the chemical fingerprints of the bloated stars very late in their evolution, called asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Stars with masses between one and eight times that of the Sun pass through this phase.
“One of these stars is on the high-mass end of the AGB range, and stars like this usually produce silicate dust. However, at such low metallicity, we expect these stars to be nearly dust-free,” said Martha Boyer, associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and lead author in that second companion study. “Instead, Webb revealed a star forging dust grains made almost entirely of iron. This is something we’ve never seen in stars that are analogs of stars in the early universe.”
Silicates, the usual dust formed by oxygen-rich stars, require elements like silicon and magnesium that are almost nonexistent in Sextans A. It would be like trying to bake cookies in a kitchen without flour, sugar, and butter.
A normal cosmic kitchen, like the Milky Way, has those crucial ingredients in the form of silicon, carbon, and iron. In a primitive kitchen, like Sextans A, where almost all of those ingredients are missing, you barely have any proverbial flour or sugar. Therefore, astronomers expected that without those key ingredients, stars in Sextans A couldn’t “bake” much dust at all.
However, not only did they find dust, but Webb showed that one of these stars used an entirely different recipe than usual to make that dust.
The iron-only dust, as well as silicon carbide produced by the less massive AGB stars despite the galaxy’s low silicon abundance, proves that evolved stars can still build solid material even when the typical ingredients are missing.
“Dust in the early universe may have looked very different from the silicate grains we see today,” Boyer said. “These iron grains absorb light efficiently but leave no sharp spectral fingerprints and can contribute to the large dust reservoirs seen in far-away galaxies detected by Webb.”
Image B: Sextans A Context Image (Webb and KPNO) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of a portion of the nearby Sextans A galaxy is put into context using a ground-based image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Image: STScI, NASA, ESA, CSA, KPNO, NSF’s NOIRLab, AURA, Elizabeth Tarantino (STScI), Phil Massey (Lowell Obs.), George Jacoby (NSF, AURA), Chris Smith (NSF, AURA); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Travis Rector (UAA), Mahdi Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), Davide De Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) Tiny clumps of organic moleculesIn the companion study, currently under peer review, Webb imaged Sextans A’s interstellar medium and discovered polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are complex, carbon-based molecules and the smallest dust grains that glow in infrared light. The discovery means Sextans A is now the lowest-metallicity galaxy ever found to contain PAHs.
But, unlike the broad, sweeping PAH emission seen in metal-rich galaxies, Webb revealed PAHs in tiny, dense pockets only a few light-years across.
“Webb shows that PAHs can form and survive even in the most metal-starved galaxies, but only in small, protected islands of dense gas,” said Tarantino.
The clumps likely represent regions where dust shielding and gas density reach just high enough to allow PAHs to form and grow, solving a decades-long mystery about why PAHs seem to vanish in metal-poor galaxies.
The team has an approved Webb Cycle 4 program to use high-resolution spectroscopy to study the detailed chemistry of Sextans A’s PAH clumps further.
Image C: Giant Star in Dwarf Galaxy Sextans A (Spectrum) This graph shows a spectrum of an Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) star in the Sextans A galaxy. It compares data collected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with models of mostly silicate-free dust and dust containing at least 5% silicates. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) Connecting two discoveriesTogether, the results show that the early universe had more diverse dust production pathways than the more established and proven methods, like supernova explosions. Additionally, researchers now know there’s more dust than predicted at extremely low metallicities.
“Every discovery in Sextans A reminds us that the early universe was more inventive than we imagined,” said Boyer. “Clearly stars found a way to make the building blocks of planets long before galaxies like our own existed.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
Downloads & Related InformationThe following sections contain links to download this article’s images and videos in all available resolutions followed by related information links, media contacts, and if available, research paper and spanish translation links.
Related Images & Videos Sextans A PAHs Pull-out (NIRCam and MIRI Image)Images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of the dwarf galaxy Sextans A reveal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), large carbon-based molecules that can be a signifier of star formation. The inset at the top right zooms in on those PAHs, which are represented in green.
Sextans A Context Image (Webb and KPNO)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of a portion of the nearby Sextans A galaxy is put into context using a ground-based image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Sextans A PAHs Pull-out (Compass Image)
This image of dwarf galaxy Sextans A, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.
Giant Star in Dwarf Galaxy Sextans A (Spectrum)
This graph shows a spectrum of an Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) star in the Sextans A galaxy. It compares data collected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with models of mostly silicate-free dust and dust containing at least 5% silicates.
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Read more: Webb Science: Galaxies Through Time
Explore more: Massive stars: Engines of Creation
Explore more: Wolf-Rayet Apep Visualization
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Space Station Research Informs New FDA-Approved Cancer Therapy
NASA opens the International Space Station for scientists and researchers, inviting them to use the benefits of microgravity for commercial and public research, technology demonstrations, and more. Today, a portion of the crew’s time aboard station is devoted to private industry, including medical research that addresses complex health challenges on Earth and prepares astronauts for future deep space missions.
In collaboration with scientists at Merck, protein crystal growth research on the space station yielded early insights regarding the structure and size of particles best suited for the development of a new formulation of the company’s cancer medicine pembrolizumab for subcutaneous injection. This new route of delivery was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September and offers a time-saving alternative to intravenous infusion for certain patients. These research efforts aboard the space station were supported by the ISS National Laboratory.
Originally, the treatment was delivered during an in-office visit via infusion therapy into the patient’s veins, a process that could take up to two hours. Initial delivery improvements reduced infusion times to less than 30 minutes every three weeks. The newly approved subcutaneous injectable form takes about one minute every three weeks, promising to improve quality of life for patients by reducing cost and significantly reducing treatment time for patients and healthcare providers.
UV imaging of a ground control sample (left) and spaceflight sample (right) from Merck’s research shows the much more uniform size and distribution of crystals grown in microgravity. These results helped researchers to refine ground-based production of uniform crystalline suspensions required for an injectable version of the company’s cancer medicine, pembrolizumab.MerckSince 2014, Merck has flown crystal growth experiments to the space station to better understand how crystals form, including the monoclonal antibody used in this cancer treatment. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made proteins that help the body fight diseases. This research focused on producing crystalline suspensions that dissolve easily in liquid, making it possible to deliver the medication by injection. In microgravity, the absence of gravity’s physical forces allows scientists to grow larger, more uniform, and higher-quality crystals than those grown in ground-based labs, advancing medication development and structural modeling.
Research aboard the space station has provided valuable insights into how gravity influences crystallization, helping to improve drug formulations. The work of NASA and its partners aboard the space station improves lives on Earth, grows a commercial economy in low Earth orbit, and prepares for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
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First Sky Map from NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory
NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, as seen here in this image released on Dec. 18, 2025. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red).
While not visible to the human eye, these 102 infrared wavelengths of light are prevalent in the cosmos, and observing the entire sky this way enables scientists to answer big questions, including how a dramatic event that occurred in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the big bang influenced the 3D distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies in our universe. In addition, scientists will use the data to study how galaxies have changed over the universe’s nearly 14-billion-year history and learn about the distribution of key ingredients for life in our own galaxy.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Diving Into Human Spaceflight Safety with NASA Johnson’s Craig Shannon
Growing up in Houston, Craig Shannon was always inspired by NASA and the spirit of exploration the agency represents. Yet it was a passion for scuba diving that unexpectedly led to his more than 23-year career at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Shannon became a certified diver and scuba instructor while earning his bachelor’s degree in communications from Stephen F. Austin State University. He happened to meet divers from NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at a local environmental cleanup event during his senior year. “The encounter planted a seed,” he said.
Craig Shannon during a dive in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Image courtesy of Craig ShannonShannon was hired as an NBL diver shortly after graduation, launching what would become a 19-year career in dive operations. He progressed through a variety of roles – from utility diver, instructor, and training officer, to dive operations lead, training group lead, and ultimately, dive operations manager. “Each role deepened my understanding of operational excellence, safety, and leadership in high-performance environments,” he said. Shannon added that becoming the dive operations manager was one of the defining points of his career. “I had the privilege of leading an exceptional team and contributing directly to astronaut training and operational excellence.”
Seeking new challenges and opportunities for professional growth, Shannon transitioned to a test safety officer position at Johnson for about four years, expanding his knowledge of technical risk management in different environments. He returned to the NBL in 2025, this time as a safety officer. In that role, Shannon works to protect employees’ well-being and the facility’s operational integrity. His responsibilities are a mix of proactive safety initiatives – such as facility inspections, safety training, and communication – and incident response, which involves investigating mishaps and close calls and developing corrective action plans to prevent recurrence. He also serves as an internal technical consultant, fielding safety-related questions from employees and visitors and providing guidance that complies with Occupational Safety and Health Administration and NASA safety standards.
“I work across functions with operations, engineering, medical, and training teams to integrate safety into all daily processes and long-term planning,” he said. “It brings full circle my commitment to the safety and success of human spaceflight training.”
Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino helps Craig Shannon suit up for a suited test dive in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool.Image courtesy of Craig ShannonShannon acknowledged that not having an engineering degree has made work more challenging at times, but it has not hindered his advancement. “I’ve earned key positions by committing myself to continuous learning, gaining in-depth knowledge of the technical areas I work in, and consistently demonstrating dedication to both my employers and my career,” he said. “My path has required hard work, adaptability, and a proactive approach to professional growth, which I view as strengths that have allowed me to contribute meaningfully in a highly technical setting.”
Shannon has also learned the importance of embracing change. “Change isn’t always easy, but it’s often where the most learning and development happen,” he said. “Whether it was stepping into leadership for the first time, shifting into a new field, or returning to a familiar place with a new purpose, each transition brought growth I never could have anticipated.” He added that patience, accountability, and empathy are important leadership qualities that help build stronger, more resilient teams.
While Shannon takes pride in his work, he said his family is his greatest achievement. “I’m most proud of raising three amazing children with my wife, Kimberley. They have been my grounding force and greatest inspiration,” he said.
Craig Shannon, his wife Kimberley, and their three children enjoy family time at the beach in Florida. Image courtesy of Craig ShannonHe is also the proud co-owner of a local scuba diving company, which allows him to combine his love for diving, travel, and community. “I’ve had the privilege of leading dive trips around the world with groups of amazing people—sharing unforgettable underwater experiences and fostering a strong, adventurous dive community,” he said. “It’s a way for me to stay connected to the roots of my diving career and continue exploring the world through the lens of curiosity and connection.”
He encourages the next generation to find something they are passionate about. “It’s important to be genuinely excited about what you do and to face the challenges ahead with determination and curiosity,” he said. “That energy, paired with a willingness to adapt and grow, has carried me through each phase of my career. Challenges will come, but how you meet them defines your path.”
Explore More 4 min read I Am Artemis: Jacki Mahaffey Article 2 days ago 2 min read Holidays in Space: 25 Years of Space Station Celebrations Article 2 weeks ago 11 min read NASA Johnson’s 2025 Milestones Article 3 weeks agoReaching the Precipice in Angola
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NASA’s IXPE Measures White Dwarf Star for First Time
By Michael Allen
For the first time, scientists have used NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer) to study a white dwarf star. Using IXPE’s unique X-ray polarization capability, astronomers examined a star called the intermediate polar EX Hydrae, unlocking the geometry of energetic binary systems.
In 2024, IXPE spent nearly one week focused on EX Hydrae, a white dwarf star system located in the constellation Hydra, approximately 200 light-years from Earth. A paper about the results published in the Astrophysical Journal. Astrophysics research scientists based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge led the study, along with co-authors at the University of Iowa, East Tennessee State University, University of Liége, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
A white dwarf star occurs after a star runs out of hydrogen fuel to fuse in its core but is not massive enough to explode as core-collapse supernovae. What remains is very dense, roughly the same diameter as Earth with as much mass as our Sun.
EX Hydrae is in a binary system with a main sequence companion star, from which gas is continuously falling onto the white dwarf. How exactly the white dwarf is accumulating, or accreting, this matter and where it arrives on the white dwarf depends on the strength of the white dwarf star’s magnetic field.
In the case of EX Hydrae, its magnetic field is not strong enough to focus matter completely at the star’s poles. But, it is still rapidly adding mass to the accretion disk, earning the classification “intermediate polars.
In an intermediate polar system, material forms an accretion disk while also being pulled towards its magnetic poles. During this phenomenon, matter reaches tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit, bouncing off other material bound to the white dwarf star, creating large columns of gas that emit high-energy X-rays – a cosmic situation perfect for IXPE to study.
“NASA IXPE’s one-of-a-kind polarimetry capability allowed us to measure the height of the accreting column from the white dwarf star to be almost 2,000 miles high – without as many assumptions required as past calculations,” said Sean Gunderson, MIT scientist and lead author on the paper. “The X-rays we observed likely scattered off the white dwarf’s surface itself. These features are far smaller than we could hope to image directly and clearly show the power of polarimetry to ‘see’ these sources in detail never before possible.”
Information from IXPE’s polarization data of EX Hydrae will help scientists understand other highly energetic binary systems.
More about IXPEThe IXPE mission, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. It is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:
Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsNASA Selects Tech Proposals to Advance Search-for-Life Mission
NASA announced Monday the selection of industry proposals to advance technologies for the agency’s Habitable Worlds Observatory concept – the first mission that would directly image Earth-like planets around stars like our Sun and study the chemical composition of their atmospheres for signs of life. This flagship space telescope also would enable wide-ranging studies of our universe and support future human exploration of Mars, our solar system, and beyond.
“The Habitable Worlds Observatory is exactly the kind of bold, forward-leaning science that only NASA can undertake,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Humanity is waiting for the breakthroughs this mission is capable of achieving and the questions it could help us answer about life in the universe. We intend to move with urgency, and expedite timelines to the greatest extent possible to bring these discoveries to the world.”
To achieve its science goals, the Habitable Worlds Observatory would need a stable optical system that moves no more than the width of an atom while it conducts observations. The mission also would require a coronagraph – an instrument that blocks the light of a star to better see its orbiting planets – thousands of times more capable than any space coronagraph ever built. The Habitable Worlds Observatory would be designed to allow servicing in space, to extend its lifetime and bolster its science over time.
To further the readiness of these technologies, NASA has selected proposals for three-year, fixed-price contracts from the following companies:
- Astroscale U.S. Inc., Denver
- BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems, Inc., Boulder, Colorado
- Busek Co. Inc, Natick, Massachusetts
- L3Harris Technologies Inc., Rochester, New York
- Lockheed Martin Inc., Palo Alto, California
- Northrop Grumman Inc., Redondo Beach, California
- Zecoat Co. Inc., Granite City, Illinois
“Are we alone in the universe? is an audacious question to answer, but one that our nation is poised to pursue, leveraging the groundwork we’ve laid from previous NASA flagship missions. With the Habitable Worlds Observatory, NASA will chart new frontiers for humanity’s exploration of the cosmos,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Awards like these are a critical component of our incubator program for future missions, which combines government leadership with commercial innovation to make what is impossible today rapidly implementable in the future.”
The newly selected proposals build on previous industry involvement, which began in 2017 under NASA’s “System-Level Segmented Telescope Design” solicitations and continued with awards for large space telescope technologies in 2024. The newly selected proposals will help inform NASA’s approach to planning for the Habitable Worlds Observatory concept, as the agency builds on technologies and lessons learned from its Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
To learn more about NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, visit:
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Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
What’s Up: January 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Jupiter is at its biggest and brightest all year, the Moon and Saturn pair up, and the Beehive Cluster buzzes into view.
Skywatching Highlights- Jan. 10: Jupiter at opposition
- Jan. 23: Saturn and Moon conjunction
- Jan. (throughout): Beehive Cluster
Jupiter is at its biggest and brightest
The Moon and Saturn share the sky
And the beehive cluster makes an appearance
That’s what’s up, this January
January 10, Jupiter will be at its most brilliant of the entire year!
This night, Jupiter will be at what’s called “opposition,” meaning that Earth will be directly between Jupiter and the Sun.
NASA/JPL-CaltechIn this alignment, Jupiter will appear bigger and brighter in the night sky than it will all year – talk about starting off the new year bright!
To see Jupiter at its best this year, look to the east and all evening long, you’ll be able to see the planet in the constellation Gemini. It will be one of the brightest objects in the night sky (only the moon and Venus will be brighter)
Saturn and the Moon will share the sky on January 23rd as part of a conjunction!
NASA/JPL-CaltechA conjunction is when objects in the sky look close together even though they’re actually far apart.
To spot the pair, look to the west and you’ll see Saturn just below the moon, sparkling in the night sky.
The beehive cluster will be visible in the night sky throughout January!
The beehive cluster, more formally known as Messier 44, or M44, is made of at least 1,000 stars
It’s an open star cluster, meaning it’s a loosely-bound group of stars. There are thousands of open star clusters like the beehive in the Milky Way Galaxy!
NASA/JPL-CaltechTo see the beehive cluster, look to the eastern night sky after sunset and before midnight throughout the month – especially great nights to spot the cluster are around the middle of January when the cluster isn’t too high or low in the sky to see.
With dark skies you might be able to spot the beehive with just your eyes, but binoculars or a small telescope will help.
Here are the phases of the Moon for January.
NASA/JPL-CaltechYou can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
I’m Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
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NASA Hubble Helps Detect ‘Wake’ of Betelgeuse’s Elusive Companion Star
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Artwork: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)
Using new observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, astronomers tracked the influence of a recently discovered companion star, Siwarha, on the gas around Betelgeuse. The research, from scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), reveals a trail of dense gas swirling through Betelgeuse’s vast, extended atmosphere, shedding light on why the giant star’s brightness and atmosphere have changed in strange and unusual ways.
The results of the new study were presented Monday at a news conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix and are accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.
The team detected Siwarha’s wake by carefully tracking changes in the star’s light over nearly eight years. These changes show the effects of the previously unconfirmed companion as it plows through the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse. This discovery resolves one of the biggest mysteries about the giant star, helping scientists to explain how it behaves and evolves while opening new doors to understanding other massive stars nearing the end of their lives.
Located roughly 650 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star so large that more than 400 million Suns could fit inside. Because of its enormous size and proximity, Betelgeuse is one of the few stars whose surface and surrounding atmosphere can be directly observed by astronomers, making it an important and accessible laboratory for studying how giant stars age, lose mass, and eventually explode as supernovae.
This artist’s concept shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse and an orbiting companion star. The companion, which is orbiting clockwise from this point of view, generates a dense wake of gas that expands outward. It is so close to Betelgeuse that it is passing through the extended outer atmosphere of the supergiant. The companion star is not to scale; it would be a pinprick compared to Betelgeuse, which is hundreds of times larger. The companion’s distance from Betelgeuse is to scale relative to the diameter of Betelgeuse. Artwork: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)Using NASA’s Hubble and ground-based telescopes at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, the team was able to see a pattern of changes in Betelgeuse, which provided clear evidence of a long-suspected companion star and its impact on the red supergiant’s outer atmosphere. Those include changes in the star’s spectrum, or the specific colors of light given off by different elements, and the speed and direction of gases in the outer atmosphere due to a trail of denser material, or wake. This trail appears just after the companion crosses in front of Betelgeuse every six years, or about 2,100 days, confirming theoretical models.
“It’s a bit like a boat moving through water. The companion star creates a ripple effect in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere that we can actually see in the data,” said Andrea Dupree, an astronomer at the CfA, and the lead study author. “For the first time, we’re seeing direct signs of this wake, or trail of gas, confirming that Betelgeuse really does have a hidden companion shaping its appearance and behavior.”
For decades, astronomers have tracked changes in Betelgeuse’s brightness and surface features in hopes of figuring out why the star behaves the way it does. Curiosity intensified after the giant star appeared to “sneeze” and became unexpectedly faint in 2020. Two distinct periods of variation in the star were especially puzzling for scientists: a short 400-day cycle, recently attributed to pulsations within the star itself, and the long, 2,100-day secondary period.
Scientists used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to look for evidence of a wake being generated by a companion star orbiting Betelgeuse. The team found a noticeable difference in light shown in the lefthand peak when the companion star was at different points in its orbit. Illustration: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA)Until now, scientists have considered everything from large convection cells and clouds of dust to magnetic activity, and the possibility of a hidden companion star. Recent studies concluded that the long secondary period was best explained by the presence of a low-mass companion orbiting deep within Betelgeuse’s atmosphere, and another team of scientists reported a possible detection, but until now, astronomers lacked the evidence to prove what they believed was happening. Now, for the first time, they have firm evidence that a companion is disrupting the atmosphere of this supergiant star.
“The idea that Betelgeuse had an undetected companion has been gaining in popularity for the past several years, but without direct evidence, it was an unproven theory,” said Dupree. “With this new direct evidence, Betelgeuse gives us a front-row seat to watch how a giant star changes over time. Finding the wake from its companion means we can now understand how stars like this evolve, shed material, and eventually explode as supernovae.”
With Betelgeuse now eclipsing its companion from our point of view, astronomers are planning new observations for its next emergence in 2027. This breakthrough may also help explain similar mysteries in other giant and supergiant stars.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos Betelgeuse and Wake of its Companion Star (Artist’s Concept)This artist’s concept shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse and an orbiting companion star. The companion, which is orbiting clockwise from this point of view, generates a dusty wake that expands outward.
Betelgeuse: Effect of Companion Star Wake
Scientists used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to look for evidence of a wake being generated by a companion star orbiting Betelgeuse. The team found a noticeable difference in light shown in the lefthand peak when the companion star was at different points in its orbit.
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Claire Andreoli
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Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
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I Am Artemis: Jacki Mahaffey
Listen to this audio excerpt from Jacki Mahaffey, Artemis II chief training officer:
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Your browser does not support the audio element.When the Artemis II crew travels around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, they will have spent countless hours training for their lunar mission, and Jacki Mahaffey will have played a role in preparing them for their journey.
As the Artemis II chief training officer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mahaffey manages the planning, development, and implementation of the astronauts’ training and integrated simulations. Her job is to ensure that when the Artemis II crew travels around the Moon inside Orion, the astronauts and flight controllers are ready for every moment — expected and unexpected.
Training is all risk mitigation for the mission. By preparing the astronauts and flight controllers for what they might encounter, we enable mission success.Jacki Mahaffey
Artemis II Chief Training Officer
The Artemis II crew began their rigorous training in 2023, but the work of Mahaffey and her team started long before that. Years before the training began, her team gathered the experts on how to operate the different aspects of Orion, and what the crew will need to know to execute their mission.
“One of my favorite moments from that process was when we all got together in one room, and everyone brought a piece of paper for every single lesson or training event that they expected to do with the crew,” Mahaffey said. “And we laid the entire thing out to figure out what’s the most logical order to put all of this training in, to help build that big picture for the crew.”
Training for Artemis II began shortly after the crew was announced, with Mahaffey and her team introducing the astronauts to Orion’s systems and operational basics. Once the necessary simulators and mockups were ready, the crew transitioned into hands-on training to build familiarity with their spacecraft.
At Johnson, Mahaffey’s team utilizes a range of specialized facilities, including the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, where astronauts rehearse living and working inside the Orion mockup; the Orion Mission Simulator, which replicates flight software and displays; and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where the crew practices water survival techniques for post-splashdown scenarios.
Jacki Mahaffey, Artemis II Chief Training Officer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, stands in front of the Orion mockup in Johnson’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.NASA/Rad Sinyak“We try to simulate as much as we can here on Earth,” said Mahaffey. “But we still have gravity, so we rely on the crew’s experience to imagine how they’ll use the space in microgravity”
Three of the four Artemis II astronauts have flown in space before, and Mahaffey sees their experience as a powerful asset. They bring insights that shape procedures and training plans, and they learn from each other’s unique problem-solving styles.
“They are teaching us back about how to have that crew perspective of working in space and the things that are going to matter most,” she said.
Mahaffey’s journey began with a love for engineering and a role as a flight controller in Johnson’s Mission Control Center. She found joy in training others and eventually transitioned into a full-time training role. Now, she leads a team of about 100 contributors, all working to prepare the crew for their historic mission.
“I didn’t start out wanting to be a trainer — I studied engineering because I loved physics and math,” she said. “But as the job shifted toward applying that engineering knowledge, communicating, and planning how to operate a spacecraft, the natural next step was teaching others.”
In our organization, once you’ve learned to fish, you teach someone else to fish.Jacki Mahaffey
Artemis II Chief Training Officer
For Mahaffey, Artemis is a bridge connecting her family’s legacy with the future of space exploration. Her grandfather worked on control systems for Apollo, and she sees her work as a continuation of that story, now with more advanced technology and new frontiers.
“We’re doing some of the same things Apollo did, but expanding on them,” she said. “We’re learning more about the Moon, our Earth’s history, and how we’ll get to Mars.”
Her role during Artemis II also includes serving as an Artemis capcom, short for capsule communicator, the position in mission control that directly communicates with the crew members. Mahaffey plans to work the entry shift for Artemis II — helping to guide the crew to splashdown and ensuring their safe recovery. The moment will be a culmination of her entire team’s hard work.
“I’ll feel good when the recovery forces report that the hatch is open,” Mahaffey said. “That moment will be incredible.”
The Artemis II crew’s Chief Training Officer Jacki Mahaffey smiles during post insertion and deorbit preparation training at Johnson’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Houston, Texas. The crew practiced getting the Orion spacecraft configured once in orbit, how to make it habitable, and suited up in their entry pressure suits to prepare for their return from the Moon. Credit: NASA/Mark Sowa About the AuthorErika Peters Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read I Am Artemis: Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman Article 1 week ago 3 min read Get In, We’re Going Moonbound: Meet NASA’s Artemis Closeout Crew Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read Artemis II Flight Crew, Teams Conduct Demonstration Ahead of Launch Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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NASA to Cover US Spacewalks 94, 95 at International Space Station
NASA astronauts will conduct two spacewalks Thursday, Jan. 8, and Thursday, Jan. 15, outside the International Space Station, and the agency will provide comprehensive coverage.
The first spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. EST on Jan. 8 and last about six hours and 30 minutes. NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
During U.S. spacewalk 94, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman will exit the station’s Quest airlock to prepare the 2A power channel for future installation of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. Once installed, the array will provide additional power for the orbital laboratory, including critical support of its safe and controlled deorbit.
Fincke will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes, while Cardman will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This spacewalk will be Cardman’s first and Fincke’s 10th, tying him for the most spacewalks by a NASA astronaut.
The second spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. on Jan. 15 and last about 6 hours and 30 minutes. NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 5:40 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.
During U.S. spacewalk 95, two NASA astronauts will replace a high-definition camera on camera port 3, install a new navigational aid for visiting spacecraft, called a planar reflector, on the Harmony module’s forward port, and relocate an early ammonia servicer jumper — a flexible hose assembly that connects parts of a fluid system — along with other jumpers on the station’s S6 and S4 truss.
NASA will announce which astronauts are scheduled for the second spacewalk after the Jan. 8 spacewalk.
The spacewalks will be the 278th and 279th in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades. Also, they are the first two International Space Station spacewalks of 2026, and the first by Expedition 74.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
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Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
NASA’s Hubble Examines Cloud-9, First of New Type of Object
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NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay (University of Milano-Bicocca); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
A team using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a new type of astronomical object — a starless, gas-rich, dark-matter cloud considered a “relic” or remnant of early galaxy formation. Nicknamed “Cloud-9,” this is the first confirmed detection of such an object in the universe — a finding that furthers the understanding of galaxy formation, the early universe, and the nature of dark matter itself.
“This is a tale of a failed galaxy,” said the program’s principal investigator, Alejandro Benitez-Llambay of the Milano-Bicocca University in Milan, Italy. “In science, we usually learn more from the failures than from the successes. In this case, seeing no stars is what proves the theory right. It tells us that we have found in the local universe a primordial building block of a galaxy that hasn’t formed.”
The results, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, were presented at a press conference Monday at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix.
“This cloud is a window into the dark universe,” said team member Andrew Fox of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/Space Telescope Science Institute (AURA/STScI) for the European Space Agency. “We know from theory that most of the mass in the universe is expected to be dark matter, but it’s difficult to detect this dark material because it doesn’t emit light. Cloud-9 gives us a rare look at a dark-matter-dominated cloud.”
This image shows the location of Cloud-9, which is 14 million light-years from Earth. The diffuse magenta is radio data from the ground-based Very Large Array (VLA) showing the presence of the cloud. The dashed circle marks the peak of radio emission, which is where researchers focused their search for stars. Follow-up observations by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys found no stars within the cloud. The few objects that appear within its boundaries are background galaxies. Before the Hubble observations, scientists could argue that Cloud-9 is a faint dwarf galaxy whose stars could not be seen with ground-based telescopes due to the lack of sensitivity. Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys shows that, in reality, the failed galaxy contains no stars. Science: NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez-Llambay (University of Milano-Bicocca); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)The object is called a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud, or “RELHIC.” The term “H I” refers to neutral hydrogen, and “RELHIC” describes a natal hydrogen cloud from the universe’s early days, a fossil leftover that has not formed stars. For years, scientists have looked for evidence of such a theoretical phantom object. It wasn’t until they turned Hubble toward the cloud, confirming that it is indeed starless, that they found support for the theory.
“Before we used Hubble, you could argue that this is a faint dwarf galaxy that we could not see with ground-based telescopes. They just didn’t go deep enough in sensitivity to uncover stars,” said lead author Gagandeep Anand of STScI. “But with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, we’re able to nail down that there’s nothing there.”
The discovery of this relic cloud was a surprise. “Among our galactic neighbors, there might be a few abandoned houses out there,” said STScI’s Rachael Beaton, who is also on the research team.
Astronomers think RELHICs are dark matter clouds that couldn’t accumulate enough gas to form stars. They represent a window into the early stages of galaxy formation. Cloud-9 suggests the existence of many other small, dark matter-dominated structures in the universe — other failed galaxies. This discovery provides new insights into the dark components of the universe that are difficult to study through traditional observations, which focus on bright objects like stars and galaxies.
Scientists have studied hydrogen clouds near the Milky Way for many years, but these clouds tend to be much bigger and more irregular than Cloud-9. Compared with other observed hydrogen clouds, Cloud-9 is smaller, more compact, and highly spherical, making it look very different from the others.
The core of this object is composed of neutral hydrogen and is about 4,900 light-years in diameter. Researchers measured the hydrogen gas in Cloud-9 by the radio waves it emits, measuring it to be approximately one million times the mass of the Sun. Assuming that the gas pressure is balancing the dark matter cloud’s gravity, which appears to be the case, researchers calculated Cloud-9’s dark matter must be about five billion solar masses.
Cloud-9 is an example of structures and mysteries that don’t involve stars. Just looking at stars doesn’t give the full picture. Studying the gas and dark matter helps provide a more complete understanding of what’s going on in these systems that would otherwise be unknown.
Observationally, identifying these failed galaxies is challenging because nearby objects outshine them. Such systems are also vulnerable to environmental effects like ram-pressure stripping, which can remove gas as the cloud moves through intergalactic space. These factors further reduce their expected numbers.
The starless relic was discovered three years ago as part of a radio survey by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou, China, a finding later confirmed by the Green Bank Telescope and the Very Large Array facilities in the United States. But only with Hubble could researchers definitively determine that the failed galaxy contains no stars.
Cloud-9 was simply named sequentially, having been the ninth gas cloud identified on the outskirts of a nearby spiral galaxy, Messier 94 (M94). The cloud is close to M94 and appears to have a physical association with the galaxy. High-resolution radio data shows slight gas distortions, possibly indicating interaction between the cloud and galaxy.
The cloud may eventually form a galaxy in the future, provided it grows more massive — although how that would occur is under speculation. If it were much bigger, say, more than 5 billion times the mass of our Sun, it would have collapsed, formed stars, and become a galaxy that would be no different than any other galaxy we see. If it were much smaller than that, the gas could have been dispersed and ionized and there wouldn’t be much left. But it’s in a sweet spot where it could remain as a RELHIC.
The lack of stars in this object provides a unique window into the intrinsic properties of dark matter clouds. The rarity of such objects and the potential for future surveys is expected to enhance the discovery of more of these “failed galaxies” or “relics,” resulting in insights into the early universe and the physics of dark matter.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos Cloud 9, Starless Gas CloudMagenta is radio data from the ground-based Very Large Array (VLA) showing the presence of Cloud-9. The dashed circle marks the area where researchers focused their search for stars. Hubble found no stars within Cloud-9. The few objects within its boundaries are background galaxies.
Cloud 9, Starless Gas Cloud Compass Image
This is an annotated composite image of Cloud-9, a Reionization-Limited H I Cloud (RELHIC), as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope’s ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys) and the ground-based Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope.
Cloud 9, Starless Gas Cloud Video
This annotated video shows the location of Cloud-9 on the sky. As the video zooms into this gas-rich, dark-matter cloud, it becomes evident that there are no stars within it. Only background galaxies appear behind Cloud-9, which has survived since the universe’s early days….
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Ann Jenkins, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
- Science Paper: “The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud” by G. Anand et al., PDF (15.34 MB)
- Release on ESA/Hubble website
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5 Tips to Craft a Standout NASA Internship Application
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Four NASA interns pose in front of the NASA Pavilion at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, an annual airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.NASAA NASA internship provides a stellar opportunity to launch your future as part of America’s aerospace workforce. NASA interns take on meaningful work and contribute to exciting agency projects with the guidance of a supportive mentor. The agency’s internship program regularly ranks as the nation’s most prestigious and competition is steep: in fiscal year 2025, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement received about 250,000 internship applications for its roughly 1,800 internship opportunities.
To give you the best shot at a NASA internship, we’ve compiled a list of tips mentors say can make an application stand out from the crowd. It is NASA’s mentors who create internship project descriptions, review applications, and take the lead in choosing candidates to work on their specific internship projects. Here’s what they had to say:
1. Your personal statement is your chance to make a lasting impression.Mentors pay close attention to personal statements to identify the best candidate for their project and team. A powerful personal statement shares personal background, experience, and goals, and how they relate to the needs of the project.
NASA mentors are looking for interns who will enjoy the work and fit in with the team culture. Beyond your academic background, grades, and interests, this is your chance to share your curiosity, enthusiasm, passion, or resilience. Show us who you are and what you can do!
2. Show off your academic achievements.Mentors love to see what academic expertise and hands-on experience you can bring to the internship project. Your transcripts, grade point average, coursework, research, academic projects, awards, and accomplishments are valuable highlights in your application.
3. Tell us about your extracurriculars, too!Who are you outside the classroom?
Mentors like to see well-rounded candidates whose interests take them beyond their chosen academic and career path. Include any extracurricular activities you participate in, such as a club or team at school or an organization in your community. Whether you’re involved in a local rocketry club, a school athletic team, or a musical ensemble, these pursuits may demonstrate academic skills or soft skills such as collaboration. Shared hobbies can also be a great point of personal connection with a future mentor.
4. Include as many of your skills as possible.Share the valuable skills that you can bring to an internship project. These could be technical skills, such as experience with specific tools or computer programming languages, and non-technical skills, which may include communications skills or leadership experience. Mentors search for skills that meet their project requirements and, match with the role, but also for unique skills that might be an added asset.
5. Give yourself a chance.Don’t count yourself out before you get started! If you have a passion for spaceflight or aviation, it’s worth applying for a NASA internship – even if you’re not a math, science, engineering, or technology major. That’s because NASA achieves its exploration goals with the support of a nationwide team with a wide variety of skills: communicators, creatives, business specialists, legal experts, and so many more. Take a look at NASA’s internship opportunities and you’ll find projects in a wide range of fields.
Yes, competition is fierce. But someone is going to land that internship – and that person could be you!
Learn MoreCheck eligibility requirements, see current deadlines, and launch your internship journey at https://intern.nasa.gov.
Hubble Glimpses Galactic Gas Making a Getaway
A sideways spiral galaxy shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden), NGC 4388 is a resident of the Virgo galaxy cluster. This enormous cluster of galaxies contains more than a thousand members and is the nearest large galaxy cluster to the Milky Way.
NGC 4388 appears to tilt at an extreme angle relative to our point of view, giving us a nearly edge-on prospect of the galaxy. This perspective reveals a curious feature that wasn’t visible in a previous Hubble image of this galaxy released in 2016: a plume of gas from the galaxy’s nucleus, here seen billowing out from the galaxy’s disk toward the lower-right corner of the image. But where did this outflow come from, and why does it glow?
The answer likely lies in the vast stretches of space that separate the galaxies of the Virgo cluster. Though the space between galaxies appears empty, this space is occupied by hot wisps of gas called the intracluster medium. As NGC 4388 moves within the Virgo cluster, it plunges through the intracluster medium. Pressure from hot intracluster gas whisks away gas from within NGC 4388’s disk, causing it to trail behind as NGC 4388 moves.
The source of the ionizing energy that causes this gas cloud to glow is more uncertain. Researchers suspect that some of the energy comes from the center of the galaxy, where a supermassive black hole spins gas around it into a superheated disk. The blazing radiation from this disk might ionize the gas closest to the galaxy, while shock waves might be responsible for ionizing filaments of gas farther out.
This image incorporates new data, including several additional wavelengths of light, that bring the ionized gas cloud into view. The image holds data from several observing programs that aim to illuminate galaxies with active black holes at their centers.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Veilleux, J. Wang, J. Greene
