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APOD: 2026 August 10 – Three Galaxy Pairs
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APOD: 2026 August 10 – Three Galaxy Pairs
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.
Three Galaxy PairsExplanation: Each of these pairs of galaxies is different. The two galaxies at the top are likely not interacting, at least presently. However, the top galaxy with the blue stripe, NGC 4650A, is a polar ring galaxy and may be the result of a past galaxy collision. The two galaxies in the middle of the featured image appear like they could be interacting gravitationally — but their relative speeds make this unlikely. Of these two, the larger galaxy, NGC 4650, is a spiral galaxy with a bright bar of stars across its center. The two galaxies at the bottom are actively interacting. Possibly in a billion years or so, NGC 4622A and NGC 4622B will merge and become one single galaxy. All of these galaxies are likely members of the larger Centaurus Galaxy Cluster.
Tomorrow’s picture: many moons
Date: August 10, 2026 Credit & Copyright: Rafael Sampaio Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
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APOD: 2026 August 8 – A Messier Moment for Tempel 2
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 Messier Moment for Tempel 2Explanation: Which of these is not a comet? You guessed it – the one on the right is a globular star cluster. The diffuse greenish coma of periodic comet 10P/Tempel 2 is at left in the frame. In fact the globular star cluster is Messier 30, also known as M30, or the 30th entry in astronomer Charles Messier’s catalog of things which are not comets. The well-known 18th century astronomer kept a list of objects he observed, now his famous Messier Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, which did not move from night to night against the background stars and so were not the comets he was hunting for. So the famous comet hunter would get the correct answer too, even though his telescope would show both 10P/Tempel 2 and distant star cluster as similar looking faint and fuzzy objects in his field of view. Recorded on July 29, this modern telescopic image captures periodic comet Tempel 2 as it briefly swept close on the sky to M30. While the periodic comet’s faint, narrow, orbital dust trail seems to pierce the globular star cluster, Tempel 2 was a mere 3.5 light-minutes away. Messier 30 is some 28,000 light-years distant.
Tomorrow’s picture: Contemplating the Sun
Date August 8, 2026 Credit & Copyright Dan Bartlett Authors & editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
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2026 IGARSS Hyperwall Schedule
IGARSS 2026
Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #100) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.
MONDAY, AUGUST 10
3:00 PM Technology Enabling the Future of Earth Science Mike Seablom 3:15 PMDiscovery Earth: New Missions & Technical Innovation Advancing Earth System Insights Karen St. Germain
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11
10:00 AM STELLA: Open-Source Multisenor Platforms For Real-Time Environmental Monitoring Mike Taylor 10:15 AM NOAA Geostationary Satellites: Valuable Data for both Research and Operational Use Dan Lindsey 3:00 PM Discovering Mineral Resources with NASA Imaging Spectroscopy Robert O. Green 3:15 PMThe Importance of Satellite Ocean Observations at NOAA Paul Chang
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
10:00 AM Enabling Earth Science Data to Serve Society Joel Scott 10:15 AM Microwaving the Solar System Shannon Brown 3:00 PM NISAR Updates, One Year After Launch Paul Rosen, Marco Lavalle 3:15 PMOffice of the Chief Science Data Officer: Data Driven Exploration Lauren Leese
NASA’s IXPE Studies Magnetar
Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, shown in this Aug. 5, 2026, artist’s concept, between March and April 2025. In doing so, they may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed.
Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, around a trillion times stronger than the strongest permanent magnets ever built on Earth.
Image credit: NASA/Pablo Garcia
NASA’s Lunar Development and Test Facility Prepares Artemis Hardware for Moon
Before astronauts return to the Moon’s surface through NASA’s Artemis program, the hardware they depend on must first prove it can survive the unforgiving lunar environment. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers at the Lunar Development and Test Facility are tackling one of exploration’s biggest challenges: Moon dust.
Unlike sand on Earth, lunar dust is sharp, abrasive, and clings to nearly everything. Without mitigation, lunar dust could damage equipment and spacesuits while posing health risks to astronauts. Understanding and mitigating the effects of lunar dust is essential as astronauts prepare to live and work on the surface of the Moon.
The Handheld Lunar Electrostatic Dust Mitigation tool is tested inside the Lunar Development and Test Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Josh ValcarcelLocated within the Energy Systems Test Area and managed by NASA engineers, the Lunar Development and Test Facility supports the development and testing of hardware in simulated lunar conditions. Engineers evaluate systems and subsystems inside vacuum chambers using lunar regolith simulant to better understand how spacesuits, spacecraft components, and mechanisms with moving parts and joints will perform during future Artemis missions.
Lunar spacewalking tools undergo a dust mitigation test inside Johnson’s thermal vacuum chamber. NASA/Bill StaffordNASA Johnson’s Propulsion and Power Division developed specialized systems that make the facility’s lunar simulations possible. The facility includes a dust containment and preparation laboratory for ambient testing, a 3-foot cube vacuum chamber, and a 15-foot thermal vacuum chamber.
Inside the chamber, engineers test hardware under realistic lunar conditions using lunar regolith simulant. The chamber uses a closed-loop nitrogen system to recreate the harsh lunar environment.
“The facility helps develop and test technologies needed for long-duration lunar exploration,” said Mike Salinas, Propulsion and Power Division branch deputy chief. “Engineers are advancing techniques to extract resources from lunar regolith, which can be turned into oxygen for astronauts and liquid oxygen for rocket propellant.”
The spirit of exploration extends beyond the facility’s walls. Its exterior features a large-scale mural depicting astronauts exploring the lunar surface beneath a view of the cosmos. Completed in 2024 by artist Sebastian Boileau, the artwork celebrates the innovation, ingenuity, and discovery happening inside the building every day.
Artist Sebastien Boileau, left, and Margaret Braun pose in front of Johnson’s Lunar Development and Test Facility after the mural’s completion on Feb. 7, 2024. NASA/Josh ValcarcelNow, anyone can step inside the facility from anywhere. Explore NASA’s new 3D virtual tour of the Lunar Development and Test Facility to see where engineers are helping prepare the technologies that support this Golden Age of exploration and innovation.
About the AuthorSumer Loggins Share Details Last Updated Aug 07, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 2 min read Ames Science Stars of the Month – August 2026 Article 5 days ago 6 min read NASA Provides Updates on Moon Base Cargo Landers, Tech Demonstrations Article 6 days ago 5 min read Ike Theriot Helps Prepare Astronauts to Work on the Moon Article 7 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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APOD: 2026 August 7 – Rubin’s Cosmos Field
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.
Rubin’s COSMOS FieldExplanation: There are more than half a million galaxies in the central panel of this image from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. This is the COSMOS field, a patch of sky several times larger than the full moon, first observed by Hubble. It has also been observed by Webb and other telescopes because it contains comparatively few bright stars from our own galaxy, offering a relatively unimpeded view of other galaxies outside the Milky Way. The outer panels, numbered 1-10, show zoomed-in views of the corresponding small regions highlighted in the central panel. The variety of galaxy shapes and sizes is astonishing. Some of them are so far away that their light has traveled for billions of years before reaching Earth. Rubin will come back every couple of days to the COSMOS field as part of its ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. It will allow a dynamic view of the COSMOS field and how the sky changes over time.
Tomorrow’s picture: a Messier moment
Date August 7, 2026 Credit & Copyright NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA Authors & editors: Cecilia Chirenti, Jerry Bonnell, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
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Educators & Teens Get Hands-On With TEMPO Data to Help Investigate Local Air Quality
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Educators & Teens Get Hands-On With TEMPO Data to Help Investigate Local Air Quality An educator explores NASA’s TEMPO mission data using the CosmicDS TEMPO-Lab viewer during a hands-on immersion session at the BEST AQI Leadership Institute. Credit: Devika ElakaraThe NASA Science Activation Program’s Cosmic Storytelling with NASA Data (CosmicDS) project, led by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, works to bring authentic NASA data into the hands of educators and learners. From July 27–29, 2026, the CosmicDS team partnered with the Smithsonian Institution’s BEST AQI (Breathing Easier: Supporting Teen Air Quality Investigations) project to host a Leadership Institute at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) in Cambridge, MA. The Institute brought together 13 formal and informal educators who serve as advisors to BEST AQI, an initiative that guides teens through their own air quality research to support actions that improve air quality in their communities.
On Day 1 of the Institute, the CosmicDS Science Principal Investigator Pat Udomprasert led a hands-on immersion session introducing educators to TEMPO-Lab, a free online tool built with NASA Science Activation Program funding. TEMPO-Lab lets learners explore and analyze near-real-time air quality measurements collected by NASA’s TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) mission, which measures pollution across North America hourly during daylight hours. During Days 2 and 3 of the Institute, as educators worked together to co-develop BEST AQI curriculum and resources, they used TEMPO-Lab to build case studies covering a variety of real-world air quality scenarios, including wildfire smoke and emissions from rush-hour traffic, power plants, and agriculture. These case studies will give the teens in their programs a strong foundation for investigating air quality where they live and deciding what actions they might take in their own communities.
One moment made the workshop especially memorable. During a science briefing, TEMPO scientist Heesung Chong shared that a new beta-version ground-level ozone data product had recently become available. TEMPO-Lab’s flexible design made it possible for CosmicDS software developer and educator John Lewis to integrate the new data product into the tool overnight, letting workshop participants explore cutting-edge ozone data themselves the very next morning. It was a striking example of how CosmicDS’s data tools can match the pace of active NASA science, giving educators and their learners access to data almost as soon as scientists themselves do.
“The BEST AQI Leadership Institute reinforced the value of the TEMPO-Lab as a tool for empowering youth to investigate local air quality issues using authentic NASA data. Educators were excited not only by the scientific capabilities of the platform, but by its potential to help young people use evidence to make informed decisions and contribute to positive change in their communities.”
— Erika Wright, Education Specialist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), and BEST AQI Principal Investigator
Equipping educators with both the technical skills and the curriculum to bring NASA air quality data into their classrooms matters because it builds data literacy skills that teens can carry into any career, while also giving them the tools to investigate issues that affect their health and their own communities. Air quality is a subject teens can see, smell, and feel the effects of — and BEST AQI is designed to help them turn that lived experience into evidence-based understanding and, ultimately, action.
The CosmicDS team will continue supporting these efforts in the year ahead. The 13 educators who attended this Leadership Institute plan to share the BEST AQI toolkit and TEMPO-Lab with approximately 100 additional educators across their partner sites in South Dakota, Maryland, and New York, potentially extending this work to thousands of teen air quality researchers.
Experience TEMPO-Lab at https://projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/tempo-lab and learn more about the CosmicDS project at https://cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu.
Cosmic DS is supported by NASA cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0002 and is part of the NASA Science Activation Program portfolio, which connects learners with authentic NASA science experiences through partnerships with educators and community organizations.
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NASA’s SkyFall Helicopters at Work (Artist’s Concept)
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This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s three SkyFall Mars helicopters collecting data while flying over the surface of the Red Planet.
The green frequency waves emanating from the helicopters’ large antennas depict collection of subsurface radar data. The red beams depict collect near-infrared imagery data from regolith (crushed rock and dust) and other surface features.
Equipped with four instruments each, the three helicopters will follow in the footsteps of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a technology demonstrator that flew 72 times over nearly three years, proving that powered, controlled flight is possible in the rarefied Martian atmosphere. It also demonstrated how an aerial perspective can generate valuabledata by helping NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team plan time-saving routes and choose locations for science-gathering.
SkyFall is expected to launch aboard NASA’s Space Reactor-1 Freedom in late 2028.
The SkyFall project, which will carry three Mars helicopters to the Red Planet in December 2028, is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. AeroVironment of Arlington, Virginia — which worked with JPL to design and build the history-making Ingenuity rotorcraft — will co-design and co-manufacture the SkyFall helicopters. Managed by Caltech for NASA, JPL manages the overall Mars Exploration Program on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about NASA’s SkyFall:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/skyfall/
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Antenna Testing for NASA’s SkyFall Mission
NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Downloads Antenna Testing for NASA’s SkyFall Mission
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SkyFall ground-penetrating radar engineer Maya Román connects a coaxial cable to a test antenna in the Environmental Test Lab’s electromagnetic interference testing chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The antenna was pointed up during test to minimize reflections and interferences with the antenna pattern during the measurement.
Equipped with four instruments each, the three SkyFall aircraft will follow in the footsteps of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which flew 72 times over nearly three years, proving that powered, controlled flight is possible in the rarefied Martian atmosphere. It also demonstrated how an aerial perspective can generate valuable data by helping NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover team plan time-saving routes and choose locations for science-gathering.
SkyFall is expected to launch aboard NASA’s Space Reactor-1 Freedom in late 2028.
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I Am Artemis: Tom Percy
As NASA sets its sights on long-term exploration of the Moon and Mars, the agency is increasing the cadence of its Artemis missions. Helping bring these plans to fruition is Tom Percy, manager of systems engineering and integration for NASA’s Human Landing System Program.
Tom Percy, manager of systems engineering and integration for NASA’s Human Landing Systems Program, stands in front of an Apollo Program lander exhibit at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA/Charles BeasonPercy serves as a focal point in working with providers SpaceX and Blue Origin to accelerate and streamline systems designs, manufacturing, testing, and certification. He ensures the crewed landers that SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing for Artemis are designed, built, tested, and will operate with other NASA exploration assets safely and effectively.
“You might say that all human landing system integration work lands on my desk. And with the rest of my talented, hard-working systems engineering and integration team, we’re working to make it all happen,” Percy said.
A native of North Easton, Massachusetts, Percy earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where he first got hands-on experience working on designs that could be applied to NASA’s sustainable lunar architecture.
“As an undergrad, I served as president of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. To get some real-world engineering experience, we decided to participate in the Great Moonbuggy Race,” Percy said. “Now called the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, the competition is held annually at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“At the time, I had never heard of Marshall Space Flight Center,” said Percy. “But our student team designed and built a rover and traveled to Huntsville for the race. That’s when I learned about some of the projects in Marshall’s diverse portfolio that the center works for NASA. And that’s when I began planning to make my way to NASA Marshall for my career.”
Percy chose to move south and earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. His research in the advanced propulsion lab and courses in space systems design culminated in a spacecraft design course and the chance to work directly with engineers at Marshall.
Since landing at Marshall in 2003, Percy has been involved in evaluating transportation architecture options for human deep space exploration, including missions to land astronauts on the Moon and Mars. He also has expertise in space transportation, including advanced propulsion technology development; trajectory analysis; and spacecraft and mission concept development. Percy earned a doctorate in aerospace systems engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
The range of experience comes together in his current role as manager of human landing systems engineering and integration.
“The world watched the amazing success of Artemis II. NASA and our commercial providers are looking forward to flying again soon and executing increasingly complex Artemis missions,” Percy said.
Through the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly complex missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
To learn more about the Artemis program, visit:
About the AuthorBeverly PerryCommunications Strategist Share Details Last Updated Aug 06, 2026 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms Explore More 4 min read I Am Artemis: Jason PetersonJason Peterson’s responsibilities for NASA’s Artemis II mission went beyond his usual role as the…
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Taking Flight to Prepare for Space
NASA astronaut Adam Fuhrmann (right, in yellow) prepares for a training flight aboard NASA’s WB-57 aircraft in this July 16, 2026, photo.
These high-altitude flights train the crew to work in a tight environment and operate aircraft systems while in a pressure suit, preparing them for future missions to the International Space Station, Moon, or beyond.
Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
JOB OPPORTUNITIES: NASA OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) View all current NASA job openings at USAJobs Return to OGC HomepageAPOD: 2026 August 6 – New Sharpest Image of the Sun Uncovers Instability
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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.
New Sharpest Image of the Sun Uncovers InstabilityExplanation: What does the new sharpest image of our Sun show? Instability. To be clear, a certain kind of interactive process called the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). This instability can create waves and swirls when two streams flow past each other — in this case variable streams of solar magnetic plasma. Long hypothesized to occur on the Sun’s surface, KHI streaks and swirls were confirmed in just-released dramatic high-resolution images taken recently by the Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, USA. The featured false-yellow image, actually taken in deep blue, is the highest resolution image yet of the Sun in visible light. It spans about the radius of the Earth, but its finest details are city sized. Visible are several smooth tops of changing solar granules, while the edges of the flower-like structures have been found to harbor multiple KHI swirls. Future research may investigate how the KHI helps move energy and magnetic fields, and may even heat the surrounding solar corona.
Tomorrow’s picture: Rubin’s COSMOS
Date August 6, 2026 Credit NSF, NSO, AURA, MPS, Inouye Tel Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
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How the Tide Turns at the Mouth of the Elbe
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NASA’s IXPE May Have Proven 90-Year-Old Theory
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NASA’s IXPE May Have Proven 90-Year-Old TheoryA first of its kind measurement of a magnetar may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed. The results published Wednesday in Nature.
This artist’s concept depicts magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408, a rapidly rotating neutron star with magnetic fields over a trillion times stronger than Earth’s. Blue curves emanating from the star’s two magnetic poles represent the magnetic field lines. The magnetar is a significant emitter of radio and X-ray radiation, with their peaks offset during its 2.1-second rotation period. This indicates the primary X-ray emitter is a secondary “hot spot” offset from the magnetic axis. These emitters are depicted as conical sections: the lighter blue radio emission peaks at the magnetic field’s symmetry axis, while the darker blue X-ray emission peaks below. The upper and lower emission cones show X-ray polarization degrees of 40% and 80%, respectively. These high values, along with smooth, coherent variations in polarization across the rotation period, provide the most definitive signal to date of vacuum birefringence a long-sought prediction of quantum electrodynamics. NASA/Pablo Garcia Fast facts- Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, around a trillion times stronger than the strongest permanent magnets ever built on Earth. These super magnetic neutron stars offer glimpses into the physics of intense environments that cannot be found anywhere else.
- Neutron stars are the leftover cores of massive stars, formed at the end of their life cycles, that possess more mass than the Sun, condensed down to the size of a city, making them natural laboratories for studying extreme physics.
Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, between March and April 2025, alongside NASA’s NICER (Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer) and Murriyang, CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, owned and operated by Australia’s national science agency. This was the first-ever coordinated radio and X-ray polarization measurement of a magnetar.
1E 1547-5408, spinning in a full rotation every 2 seconds, is a unique magnetar that consistently emits bright radio energy and X-ray light, for reasons scientists are still trying to understand.
Observations showed the polarization, or the orientation and level of alignment of the incoming photons, is nearly three times greater than seen in similar sources. This high level of polarization was surprising, since the geometry of the magnetar’s magnetic fields suggest that the measurements we see should be close to zero at certain points in the star. Standard surface emission models do not explain this large value either, indicating that another effect must be boosting the polarization.
Enter vacuum birefringence, a 90-year-old theory in the realm of quantum electrodynamics. First proposed in 1936, the theory suggests that the vacuum of space can be altered by extreme magnetic fields, far higher than those humans can create on Earth. Under such conditions, the vacuum acts like a lens or a prism, filtering light based on the direction it is traveling, therefore enhancing its total polarization. The IXPE mission’s ability to measure X-ray polarization was essential to test this theory.
Simulations performed by the research team support the possibility of vacuum birefringence causing the distinct signal. Hoa Dinh Thi, a postdoctoral associate at Rice University in Houston and co-lead author of the publication highlighting the results, said, “Our model suggests that reproducing the observed X-ray polarization signatures, while also satisfying the constraints set by radio observations, requires the presence of vacuum birefringence in the neutron star’s environment. This finding exemplifies how neutron stars enable us to test fundamental physics in environments not replicable in labs on Earth.”
The large polarization measurements from the magnetar give strong support to the theoretical prediction, and could be the first time this effect has been directly observed anywhere.
“This result truly highlights the interdisciplinary power of the field of astrophysics,” said Rachael Stewart, a Ph.D. candidate at George Washington University and lead author of the paper published in Nature. “The information we obtained from looking at this distant star core also gives us clues about the nature of the fabric of reality as we know it, and I find that to be incredible.”
Further IXPE observations of this source and other magnetars will confirm this signal and potentially reveal other exotic effects of quantum electrodynamics.
More about IXPE
The 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. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, BAE Systems, Inc., 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:
About the Author Michael AllenShare
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Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Models Joined
Technicians joined the Orion crew and service modules together on July 30, 2026, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The crew module will carry and sustain NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas, and Frank Rubio, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, while the service module will power and propel Orion during the mission to test rendezvous and docking capabilities with test versions, or test articles, of commercial human landing systems from Blue Origin and SpaceX.
Read more about this milestone.
Image credit: NASA
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Phobos and Earth
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This composite of seven images from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shows Earth, visible as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right, passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026, 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
The black background is the result of image processing that removed extraneous light in the background to enhance detail.
Figure AFigure A is an annotated composite of nine images taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard Perseverance on July 2, 2026. The inset on the upper right, comprised of five images, shows Earth — the small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right — passing behind the Martian moon Phobos.
The rectangle outlined at the left in the annotation indicates the patch of sky that was imaged several times to capture Earth passing behind Phobos. In the larger rectangular inset, the images captured from that patch of sky are displayed in time order from left to right, with Phobos moving up and Earth moving down.
The gray of the Martian sky is the approximate true color of the twilight (about 40 minutes after sunset) on that sol. It is blue-gray lower, where it is brighter, and reddish gray above.
Figure BFigure B includes annotations showing the local solar time on Mars during which the five individual images that captured the occultation were taken.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is managed by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Arizona State University leads the operations of the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras.
For more about Perseverance:
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Watches Earth Vanish Behind Martian Moon
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This annotated composite of nine images taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z on July 2, 2026, shows Earth — the small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right — passing behind the Martian moon Phobos. The images in the inset were captured from the same rectangular patch of sky outlined in black.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI The timecode annotations in the inset show the local solar time on Mars during which five individual images of the occultation were captured by NASA’s Perseverance on July 2, 2026. Earth disappears — and then reappears — behind the Martian moon Phobos.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSIEarth and the Martian moon Phobos dance together in a series of images recently acquired by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Earth appears as a point of light in the Martian sky, disappearing behind the crescent of Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons.
This is the first time humanity has captured from the surface of another planet an observation of Earth disappearing behind an object.
The image sequence was taken by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument at about 7 p.m. local solar time (the Martian evening time where the rover is located) on July 2, the 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In the composite image, Earth travels from the upper left of the frame toward the lower right while Phobos, moving from lower left to upper right, sweeps across its path. In the third frame of the sequence, the two meet, and our planet winks out behind the little moon’s shadowed edge.
“The composite image makes for a unique Earth self-portrait, taken from the surface of another planet, with a Phobos photobomb,” said Justin Maki, the Mastcam-Z deputy principal investigator and imaging scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
From where Perseverance sits on the rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater, the two objects could hardly look more different. Phobos, a lumpy, potato-shaped moon about 17 miles (27 kilometers) across at its widest, orbits so close to Mars (4,850 miles, or 7,800 kilometers, away) that when the images were taken, Phobos appears roughly one-third the width of Earth’s Moon as seen from our planet. Some 195 million miles (314 million kilometers) away at the time, Earth is reduced to a single, pixel-size dot.
“Phobos crosses the Martian sky three times a day, and Earth is visible for months at a stretch, but catching one directly behind the other takes planning and a little luck,” said Mark Lemmon, a Mastcam-Z co-investigator at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who planned the observation and assembled the composite.
This composite of seven images of Earth passing behind the Martian moon Phobos was acquired from data taken on July 2, 2026, 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The black background is the result of image processing that removed extraneous light in the background to enhance detail.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI Transits, occultations, eclipsesAstronomers call the event captured in this observation an occultation: when a larger-appearing body completely blocks the one behind it from the viewer’s standpoint. By contrast, an eclipse occurs when one object moves into the shadow of another. When the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow, it’s called a lunar eclipse; when one object that appears to be the same size as another blocks it, like when the Moon passes before the Sun, it’s known as a solar eclipse.
When the roles are reversed, with a smaller-looking object crossing the face of a larger-looking one, astronomers call that a transit. Perseverance has observed those, too: when Phobos or Deimos crosses the disk of the Sun as seen from Mars. These are sometimes described informally as “Martian solar eclipses.”
More about PerseveranceNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is managed by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Arizona State University leads the operations of the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras.
For more about Perseverance:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance
News Media Contacts
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
2026-054
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Advanced Mini-laboratories Automate Space Station Research
The International Space Station hosts hundreds of science experiments at a time. Some experiments can take hours to perform, and researchers need to account for astronauts’ limited time. Fully automated devices, like Redwire’s ADvanced Space Experiment Processors (ADSEPs), have been designed to conduct more space science with less crew time.
Within each ADSEP facility there are three to four “mini-laboratories”, called cassettes, that allow multiple studies with different needs to be performed at the same time. The latest model, ADSEP-4 can accommodate four cassettes and features imagery capabilities. Since 2017, ADSEPs have conducted and supported two dozen investigations aboard space station with new ones on the horizon.
Crystals are grown aboard the International Space Station as part of ADSEP-PIL-02, an investigation that aims to study the effects of microgravity on various types of crystals.RedwireThe latest ADSEP investigations are related to growing seed crystals in space, which can be used to reformulate existing drugs or develop entirely new therapeutics. Previous experiments have shown that the unique microgravity environment allows the growth of larger and higher quality crystals. With Redwire’s Pharmaceutical In-Space Laboratory (PIL-BOX), a cassette-based system that uses the ADSEP facility, researchers can grow improved, space-grown seed crystals.
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot displays a cassette for the ADvanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP).NASANotable PIL-BOX experiments sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory have focused on cancer research. The ADSEP-PIL-10 investigation, currently being conducted in orbit in collaboration with the Aspera Biomedicines, works to crystallize cancer-blocking and cancer-promoting molecules with the goal of creating an oral cancer medication. ADSEP-PIL-15 crystalized cancer-treating medicines to help refine production, quality, and stability of these cancer drugs. A recent technology demonstration, ADSEP- ICC (Industrial Crystallization Cassette), tested a larger cassette to expand ADSEP function and scale crystallization production for commercial use.
Juvenile bobtail squid swimming in seawater just after hatching as part of the ADSEP-UMAMI investigation.University of FloridaADSEPs are not limited to crystal growth and can also be used for culturing cells and tissues, studying organisms, and researching materials-sciences. In 2021, ADSEP-UMAMI studied how bobtail squid interacted with beneficial microbes in the space environment. This research found that symbiotic interactions with microbes can lessen a host animal’s stress responses caused by spaceflight and accelerate developmental pathways such as growing neurons and tissues. These findings give insight into the importance of symbiotic relationships in closed ecosystems like spacecraft and have implications for astronauts and their own beneficial bacteria during space missions.
The automation and versatility of ADSEPs permit a wide array of science experiments to be conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory, leading to findings that inform future space missions and are beneficial to people on Earth.
