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NASA Invites Media to Ireland Artemis Accords Signing
Ireland will sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at 3 p.m. EDT Monday, May 4, at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will host Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America Geraldine Byrne Nason; Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, T.D., of Ireland; and U.S. Department of State officials for the ceremony.
This event is in person only. Media interested in attending must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. on May 4 to: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
In 2020, during the first Trump Administration, the United States, led by NASA and the State Department, joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies.
The accords introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety, transparency, and coordination of civil space exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
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Odyssey Team Celebrates on a Global Map of Mars
NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Downloads Odyssey Team Celebrates on a Global Map of Mars
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Team members past and present from NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter mission gathered on April 15, 2026, to celebrate 25 years since the spacecraft’s launch, which took place April 7, 2001. For the occasion, the team rolled out a giant global map of Mars created using imagery from Odyssey’s THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) infrared camera. The celebration took place at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the mission.
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What’s Up: May 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower brings shooting stars before dawn, the Moon meets brilliant Venus after sunset, and May wraps up with a rare Blue Moon.
Skywatching Highlights- May 5 + 6 : Best time to see the Eta Aquarids
- May 18: Moon and Venus conjunction
- May 31: Blue moon
Shooting stars before dawn, a brilliant meetup between the Moon and Venus, and a rare “Blue Moon” to end the month.
That’s What’s Up this May.
First up: the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which peaks in early May.
These shooting stars come from Halley’s Comet. Every year, Earth passes through the comet’s dusty trail, and those tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere. That’s what creates those bright streaks across the sky.
Halley’s Comet last passed through the inner solar system in 1986, and won’t return until 2061.
The Eta Aquarids appear to come from the constellation Aquarius. That’s where the shower gets its name.
NASA/JPL-CaltechThese meteors are fast, racing into Earth’s atmosphere at about 40 miles per second. And because they’re moving so quickly, they can leave behind glowing trails that linger for a moment after the flash.
At peak, the shower can produce up to about 50 meteors an hour under ideal skies. The best time to watch? In the hours before dawn, looking generally toward the eastern sky.
For the best chance of seeing meteor showers, go somewhere dark, let your eyes adjust for about 20 to 30 minutes, and avoid bright lights, including your phone screen.
The peak is expected around May 5th to 6th, but bright moonlight this year may wash out some of the fainter meteors.
On May 18th, look west just after sunset.
NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Moon gets a bright little sidekick as Venus shines nearby. The crescent Moon helps point the way, making this an easy one to spot.
Venus is one of the brightest objects we can see from Earth, often called the Evening Star.
The Moon and Venus look close together because they line up from our point of view on Earth. But in reality, they’re separated by millions of miles in space.
Last month, Artemis II launched right around the time of the April 1st Full Moon, sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years and giving us some spectacular new views of our closest neighbor.
And now, May ends with another lunar moment: a Full Moon on May 31st. This one is a Blue Moon.
But it actually won’t look blue.
Blue Moon is the name given to the second Full Moon in a single calendar month. It’s a relatively rare event, hence the phrase “once in a blue moon.”
So whether you’re up before sunrise or out after sunset, May is a great time to look up.
Here are the phases of the Moon for May.
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 Raquel Villanueva from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
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Artemis III Moon Rocket Core Stage on the Move
Teams move the core stage, or largest section, of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis III mission into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this photo from April 27, 2026.
The SLS core stage traveled 900 miles on the Pegasus barge from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where the stage is manufactured, to complete assembly of the massive rocket at NASA Kennedy.
This mission will launch crew aboard the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon.
Image credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
NASA Welcomes Morocco as 64th Artemis Accords Signatory
The Kingdom of Morocco signed the Artemis Accords on April 29th during a ceremony in the country’s capital, Rabat, becoming the latest nation to commit to the responsible exploration of space.
“It is my privilege to welcome the Kingdom of Morocco as the newest signatory to the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in recorded remarks. “The accords began as the framework for like-minded nations to come together for the peaceful exploration of space. But now, under President Trump’s vision for an enduring presence on the lunar surface, Artemis Accords partners will be able to make meaningful contributions to that collective effort. Citizens from every Artemis nation will play a pivotal role in humanity’s greatest adventure.”
Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita of Morocco signed the accords on behalf of the country. Bourita underscored Morocco’s commitment to shared values across a range of critical sectors.
The signing ceremony took place during the Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau’s official visit to Morocco with the U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Duke Buchan III also participating in the event.
In 2020, during the first Trump Administration, the United States, led by NASA and the State Department, joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies. The accords introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety and coordination between like-minded nations as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Signing the Artemis Accords means committing to explore peaceably and transparently, to render aid to those in need, to enable access to scientific data that all of humanity can learn from, to ensure activities do not interfere with those of others, and to preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices for space exploration for the benefit of all.
More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space.
Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
Share Details Last Updated Apr 30, 2026 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA Goddard’s Greenbelt Visitor Center Marks 50th Anniversary
Trimmed in bicentennial pageantry, NASA opened a visitor center at its Goddard campus in Greenbelt, Maryland, in May 1976. Fifty years on, the Goddard Visitor Center continues to inspire through exhibits and programs on the past, present, and future of space exploration.
Dr. John Clark, then NASA Goddard’s center director, provides opening remarks at the visitor center ribbon cutting in May 1976.NASA“NASA’s 1958 charter tasks us with sharing our work as broadly as we can,” said NASA Goddard Center Director Cynthia Simmons. “The visitor centers we have maintained at our Greenbelt, Maryland, location and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia are core to us meeting that charge and fostering the next generation of space explorers.”
When the visitor center first opened its doors (just a few weeks before the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington), much of it was open-air. Instead of gilded scissors, a reenactment of Dr. Robert Goddard’s first rocket launch snapped the ribbon.
Initial exhibits featured a full-scale mockup of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (a Hubble telescope precursor), a phone station to transmit guests’ voices 45,000 miles round trip through Applications Technology Satellite-3, and an active meteorology station displaying satellite views of Western Hemisphere weather.
The Visitor Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. (shown here in a 2010 aerial photo), opened its doors to the public for the first time in May 1976.NASA/Bill Hrybyk This aerial photograph from 1966 shows what was then the Bureau of Standards’ WWV radio station. After the station relocated to Colorado, NASA Goddard used the structure for facilities storage before converting it into a visitor center.NASA The Delta-B rocket at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center was originally displayed at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. NASA Goddard managed the highly successful Thor-Delta program throughout the 1960s and ’70s. In this photo from 1978, a keen eye will see a small model rocket just taking flight to the right of the Delta. Model rocket launches have been a mainstay at the visitor center. They now typically occur the first Saturday of the month.NASA The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-3, also known as Copernicus, was a space telescope that operated for nearly a decade after its 1972 launch. It was a spiritual predecessor to the Hubble Space Telescope. This model was on display at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center in 1976.NASA A visitor center guest in 1977 learns about the Sun. NASA This late-1970s exhibit centered on Dr. Robert Goddard. In 1926, Goddard became the first person ever to successfully launch a liquid-fueled rocket. NASA named its first spaceflight complex in his honor in 1959.NASA A space shuttle model with payload doors open hangs from the ceiling in this mid-1990s visitor center exhibit. The right side of the image describes NASA’s Get Away Special (GAS) Program, which was an opportunity for researchers, students, and other groups to put small payloads in extra space aboard shuttles. Each was contained in a cylinder like those displayed here. The GAS Program can be thought of as a precursor to the CubeSat and other small satellite programs of today.NASA This photograph shows a crowd of guests at a NASA Goddard community day in 1993.NASA Longtime Goddard Visitor Center staffer “D.J.” Emmanuel stands by a Gemini capsule on display here in 2005.NASA During a May 2007 trip to the United States, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, visited NASA Goddard. Here, the queen and prince look on as then-Goddard Center Director Dr. Ed Weiler demonstrates “Science on a Sphere.” This system, developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), uses computers and four video projectors to display animated images on the outside of a six-foot diameter sphere.NASA/Pat Izzo The “Moon Tree” in front of the visitor center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. This sycamore (shown in a 2009 file photo) grew from a seed carried to the Moon aboard Apollo 14 and was planted here on June 9, 1977.NASA/Pat Izzo This arched entryway of Hubble Space Telescope imagery greeted guests at the NASA Goddard visitor center in the 2010s.NASA/Debbie McCallum These three guests were among some 400 who attended a “Yuri’s Night” celebration at the visitor center on April 10, 2010. Yuri’s Night, a celebration of achievements in space exploration, was named in honor of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.NASA/Bill Hrybyk“The visitor center serves the community by providing engaging exhibits and programming focused on the work of NASA overall and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in particular,” said Amanda Harvey, the visitor center’s engagement coordinator. “We are an important place for people to discover, explore, and experience what it is that NASA does.”
Longtime staffer “D.J.” Emmanuel is himself proof-positive of the sentiment: “The first time I actually got introduced to Goddard was at a talk to see the tools astronauts used during the first Hubble servicing mission in 1993.” He started volunteering his time at the visitor center and then transitioned to fulltime staff.
Harvey and Emmanuel are employees of the NASA Communication Services contract, and the two operate the visitor center with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers.
The original structure and grounds of the visitor center housed WWV, a radio station for what was then the Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST). The station relocated to Colorado in the mid-1960s — campus legend maintains that WWV’s broadcasts interfered with Apollo Program tests and necessitated the move. NASA Goddard used the transmitter building for facility maintenance storage until renovations for a visitor center began in earnest in 1975.
As space exploration has advanced and NASA Goddard’s contributions have evolved, so too has the visitor center, which today hosts a 4K science film movie theater, Hubble telescope artifacts, a custom-programmed Roman telescope video game arcade console — no quarters required — and several more displays and activities.
“I keep going back and looking at the exhibits and reading something new that I haven’t read before,” Emmanuel said. “It’s a great way to introduce kids to the world of science and to space.”
And as much as the visitor center enriches its guests, the reverse is also true: “My favorite memories usually involve young visitors dressed like astronauts,” Harvey said. “Their excitement is palpable and so inspiring. It makes me want to have more programs and serve my community the best that I can!”
Over its first decade of operations, the visitor center hosted just shy of 600,000 guests. Thousands upon thousands more have come in the years since, with virtual field trips now also helping bring NASA Goddard beyond the local community.
Some things, though, have not changed since that rocket-powered ribbon-cutting 50 years ago: Now as then, a towering, 100-foot-tall Delta-B rocket still watches over the grounds. A seed taken to the Moon aboard Apollo 14 grew into the sycamore that has stood by the main entrance for decades.
And just as it was in 1976, the cost of admission is free.
The NASA Goddard Visitor Center will celebrate its 50th on Saturday, May 2, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. No RSVP is required.
For more information on events and programs:
https://www.nasa.gov/visitgoddard
Research and multimedia assistance for this story was provided by the NASA Goddard Archives. Researchers may direct reference requests to history@mail.nasa.gov.
By Rob Garner
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Share Details Last Updated Apr 30, 2026 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsNASA Explores Prioritizing First Response Drones in Crowded Skies
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Partners from NASA, Texas public safety organizations, industry partners, and the Federal Aviation Administration gathered in the region of North Texas Feb. 18 to understand how public safety drones can operate alongside commercial drones safely and effectively.Credit: Texas Department of Public SafetyOur streets are crowded with commuters and delivery vehicles, but when a police car or fire engine approaches with its lights and sirens on, drivers clear the way. In the coming years, drones for deliveries and other commercial tasks will become common in the skies over our communities, and NASA is working to ensure first responder vehicles in the air get the same kind of clearance that they do on the ground.
A recent flight exercise in the North Texas region showed how airspace prioritization tools could help first responder drones move quickly and safely through crowded skies. Researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley teamed up with local and state public safety agencies, industry partners, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to test how emergency crews could get priority airspace access in real time. The exercise is the latest collaboration between NASA and FAA in the area. North Texas is an FAA-designated region that allows for commercial drone deliveries to fly daily.
When a police, fire, or rescue drone launched during the exercise, other drones would move aside. When multiple public safety organizations responded to simulated emergencies, their officials communicated to prioritize access for the right drones.
“Just as ambulances use lights and sirens to signal vehicles to move out of the way, public safety operators require the ability to share airspace safely,” said Abhay Borade, a research lead for the Air Traffic Management and Safety project at NASA Ames. “The key is to prioritize safety of flight operations, while balancing the efficient use of the airspace for all operators.”
The Texas testing helped NASA better understand how commercial flights differ from public safety drone missions – emergency crews rarely fly predictable routes. During a search, a pursuit, or when scanning a dangerous environment, they may need to change direction suddenly.
Researchers collected data on how unpredictable vehicle movements – demonstrated by having a drone follow an officer driving an SUV erratically, simulating a fleeing suspect in a vehicle chase – might affect nearby commercial drone activity. The result demonstrated NASA’s development of air traffic systems and tools to prioritize public safety operators as commercial drone usage increases.
“By working closely with industry and federal partners, we’re helping build the data, tools, and traffic management frameworks needed to ensure the future of drone operations is safe, responsible, and scalable for everyone,” said Shivanjli Sharma, Air Traffic Management and Safety project manager at NASA Ames. Participants involved in the demonstration included the drone airspace management companies Drone Sense, Avision, ANRA Technologies, as well as the FAA, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the police departments from the Texas cities of Fort Worth, Arlington, and Irving.
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I Am Artemis: Ryan Schulte
Listen to this audio excerpt from Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager:
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Your browser does not support the audio element.As the four Artemis II astronauts traveled on a 694,481-mile journey around the Moon and back, the Orion spacecraft provided them with all the essentials for deep space life, including daily exercise. The crew used an exercise device called the flywheel throughout their mission to maintain their physical and mental health, and Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager, led the team responsible for developing the flywheel for the historic flight.
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Schulte oversees the team that designed, built, tested, and flew the flywheel used on Artemis II, and currently develops a fleet of more reusable exercise devices for future Artemis missions.
What we’re doing with this exercise device has a direct impact on the crew’s safety, health, and their mission success. I feel lucky to work on hardware that the crew is physically using, interacting with, and benefiting from on a daily basis.Ryan Schulte
Orion Flywheel Project Manager
The flywheel is a compact, multi-functional device about the size of a large shoebox that provides the crew with a range of aerobic and resistive workouts without requiring any electrical power from the spacecraft.
“It works kind of like an inertial yo-yo,” said Schulte.
The user can select different gear ratios for different resistance modes, and the flywheel can provide ultimately up to 500 pounds of resistance.
“It’s really all dependent upon how much effort you put in. The crew can do squats, deadlifts, bent rows, high-pulls, curls, heel raises, and aerobic rowing all in one device.”
Developing the flywheel for Orion posed unique challenges for Schulte’s team, ranging from limited space and crew mobility to reducing noise generation for easy crew communication during workouts.
“One of the biggest challenges was trying to fit everything into this compact box, and also to be able to have enough space inside the rest of the capsule for someone to fully stand up and fully extend at high rates of speed and repetitions,” said Schulte.
The team’s successful response to these challenges was displayed during the approximately 10-day Artemis II mission, where the crew members exercised for roughly 30 minutes per day with the flywheel. The sessions helped to counteract both the physical and mental effects induced by a microgravity environment, which on future, longer-duration Artemis missions, will become an increasingly important component for astronauts.
Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager, demonstrates a rowing exercise on the Orion flywheel in the Exercise Countermeasures Lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/Rad Sinyak“Without Earth’s gravity, the crew’s muscles, bones, and stamina all begin to atrophy, or weaken,” Schulte said. “Exercise will help prevent injury as crews need to perform long lunar spacewalks on the surface or for emergency egress out of the capsule.”
Exercise with the flywheel also supports the crew’s mental health, providing psychological benefits while living in a compact space inside Orion.
“It’s a great form of stress relief,” Schulte said. “It improves their mental clarity by getting their fluids and their blood flowing, which can stagnate in your head in zero gravity. We’ve talked to some of the crew about how much clearer their minds feel after exercise in flight.”
Schulte began his career as a co-op at Johnson in 2007, then joined NASA full-time as a test engineer for pyrotechnics, propulsion, and power systems. He later transitioned to NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate and began working in the Human Research Program, where his interest in human interfaces with engineering grew, eventually leading him to his current role as the flywheel project manager.
With the success of Artemis II and the promise of future missions ahead, Schulte’s work on the flywheel and next generation exercise devices will play a vital role in keeping astronauts safe, healthy, and mission ready on the lunar surface and beyond.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I get to do. There’s not a lot of people out there that get to do this type of work. It is really just an honor and a privilege to be able to serve my country in this way.Ryan Schulte
Orion Flywheel Project Manager
About the AuthorPenelope Lauren Garcia-Galan Share Details Last Updated Apr 29, 2026 Related Terms Explore More 2 min read NASA Welcomes Morocco as 64th Artemis Accords Signatory Article 6 hours ago 4 min read NASA Laser Terminal Enhances Views During Artemis II Mission Article 2 days ago 3 min read I Am Artemis: Peter Rossoni Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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US-Indian Spacecraft Captures Mexico City Subsidence
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DescriptionA scientist produced this map of land subsidence (sinking) in Mexico City using data from the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission captured between Oct. 25, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2026. The region has been a well-known hot spot of subsidence for decades, and images like this help confirm that NISAR is performing as expected in its first year of operation.
The dark blue color indicates areas found to be subsiding by more than half an inch (more than 2 centimeters) per month, due in large part to groundwater pumping, which has led to compaction of the dry, ancient lakebed on which the city was built. The yellow and red areas are likely residual noise signals that are expected to decrease as NISAR collects more data and refines its measurements.
Two marshy ecosystems with ties to the country’s past can be seen in the image. The dark green oblong to the northeast of the airport is Nabor Carrillo, an artificial lake constructed over the now-extinct Lake Texcoco. Chalco Lake, a wetland located in a historically fertile region to the south, shares its name with a major body of water that was drained over a period of centuries to reduce flooding in the city. The ancient lake was a primary natural habitat of the Mexican Axolotl, an endangered species of salamander with the ability to regrow limbs.
Another landmark pinpointed in the image — the Angel of Independence along the Paseo de la Reforma — was built in 1910 to commemorate 100 years of Mexico’s independence. Standing over 100 feet (30 meters) tall, the monument has had 14 steps added to its base over the years as the land around it has gradually sunk.
Figure AFigure A is a version of the image extending further south and with no labels, scale, or compass.
The images were created with data from NISAR’s L-band radar instrument, which uses a 9-inch (24-centimeter) wavelength that enables its signal to penetrate dense vegetation such as forest canopies.
The satellite’s S-band radar, provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Applications Centre, uses a 4-inch (10-centimeter) microwave signal that’s more sensitive to small vegetation, which makes it effective at monitoring certain types of agriculture and grassland ecosystems. Launched in 2025, NISAR is the first satellite to carry two SAR instruments at different wavelengths.
Data from NISAR will benefit humanity by helping researchers around the world better understand changes across our planet’s surface, from cities to forests and glaciers. The global and rapid coverage from NISAR will also provide unprecedented support for disaster response, producing data to assist in mitigating and assessing damage, with observations before and after catastrophic events available in short time frames.
Find more information about NISAR here: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/nisar/
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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4873-4878: Welcome to the Atacama Drill Target
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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4873-4878: Welcome to the Atacama Drill Target NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) on April 23, 2026 — Sol 4874, or Martian day 4,874 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 01:12:31 UTC. NASA/JPL-CaltechWritten by Sharon Wilson Purdy, Planetary Geologist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Earth planning date: Friday, April 24, 2026
There was excitement in the air as the Curiosity Science Team kicked off a drill campaign at the Atacama site to characterize the first Mount Sharp layered-sulfate bedrock since leaving the boxwork terrain.
Monday was a three-sol plan (4873-4875) where we focused on “drill sol 1” activities that included a pre-load test on our drill target as well as triage contact science. APXS assembled a set of repeated observations on the Atacama drill target, and the coordinated MAHLI images taken with different lighting will provide an opportunity to detect possible changes between the datasets. Mastcam assembled stereo mosaics to document the Atacama drill site, investigate variations in the bedrock at “Kimsa Chata,” and characterize the layering within Paniri butte.
Planning resumed Friday with another three-sol plan (4876-4878) that included the full drill and portion characterization related to “drill sols 2 and 3” activities. Mastcam planned stereo mosaics of rocks in the workspace including a laminated rock with an exposed edge named “Queen of the Andes,” a rock with polygonal fractures that was broken when the rover drove over it named “Curaco,” and more coverage of the “El Almendrillo” target.
Rounding out the plans this week, the Environmental theme group continues to monitor dust in the atmosphere, study cloud movements, and document the presence of dust devils. The rover will also autonomously select two targets to be analyzed by the ChemCam instrument.
Next week we look forward to continuing our drill campaign, where the next step will be delivering a portion of the Atacama target to the ChemMin instrument for analysis. The science team is looking forward to seeing how the mineralogy of the layered sulfate unit here compares to our last drill of the same unit at the Mineral King site, which is nearly 160 meters (525 feet) below our current location!
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US-Indian Space Mission Maps Extreme Subsidence in Mexico City
One of the most powerful radar systems ever launched into space has mapped the ground moving beneath one of fastest subsiding capitals in the world: Mexico City. The findings show how quickly and reliably the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite can track real-time changes across Earth’s surface from orbit, unhindered by clouds or vegetation that impede optical sensors and higher-frequency radars.
Home to some 20 million people, the Mexico City area is built atop an aquifer. Extensive groundwater pumping, combined with the weight of urban development, has resulted in the compaction of the ancient lakebed beneath the city for more than a century. An engineer first documented the issue in 1925, and by the 1990s and 2000s, parts of the metropolitan area were sinking by around 14 inches (35 centimeters) per year, damaging infrastructure including the Metro, one of the largest rapid transit systems in the Americas.
Several generations of space-based radar have tracked Mexico City on the move. The NISAR mission, launched in July 2025, is now advancing these efforts, analyzing fast-changing areas that are challenging to survey from space. Capable of working day and night, rain or shine, NISAR’s L-band synthetic aperture radar is designed to track subtle motions such as land sinking and rising, glaciers sliding, and croplands growing, as it passes overhead multiple times a month.
“Images like this confirm that NISAR’s measurements align with expectations,” said Craig Ferguson, deputy project manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NISAR’s long wavelength L-band radar will make it possible to detect and track land subsidence in more challenging and densely vegetated regions such as coastal communities where they may have the compounding effects of both land subsidence and sea level rise.”
The new analysis is based on preliminary measurements taken by NISAR between October 2025 and January 2026, during Mexico City’s dry season. Parts of the region found to be subsiding by more than half an inch (more than 2 centimeters) per month are shown in dark blue. The yellow and red areas are likely residual noise signals that are expected to decrease as NISAR collects more data. The structure near the center of the image is Benito Juarez International Airport, with Lake Nabor Carrillo visible as a dark green oblong to the northeast.
One area landmark — the Angel of Independence along the Paseo de la Reforma — is a visible indicator of subsidence. Built in 1910 to commemorate 100 years of Mexico’s independence, the towering monument stands 114 feet (36 meters) high and has had 14 steps added to its base as the land around it gradually sinks.
“Mexico City is a well-known hot spot when it comes to subsidence, and images like this are just the beginning for NISAR,” said David Bekaert, a project manager at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research and a member of the NISAR science team. “We’re going to see an influx of new discoveries from all over the world, given the unique sensing capabilities of NISAR and its consistent global coverage.”
A joint mission developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast. Managed by Caltech, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California leads the United States component of the project and provided the satellite’s L-band SAR and antenna reflector. The spacecraft bus and its S-band SAR were provided by ISRO.
The NISAR satellite is the first to carry two SAR instruments at different wavelengths and is monitoring Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, collecting data using the spacecraft’s giant drum-shaped reflector, which measures 39 feet (12 meters) wide — the largest radar antenna reflector NASA has ever sent into space.
To learn more about NISAR, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/nisar/
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A Gently Glowing Galaxy
A luminous swirl set against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image from April 13, 2026.
IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini (the Twins), around 380 million light-years from Earth. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy, it features a bright central bar-shaped structure from which its spiral arms unfurl, wrapping around the core in a smooth, almost ring-like pattern.
Read more about IC 486 and how scientists are studying galaxies using observations like this.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. J. Koss, A. J. Barth
NASA, Boeing Advance Truss-Braced Wing Research in Test
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A scale model of Boeing’s Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research concept undergoes testing in a 5-meter wind tunnel operated by the company QinetiQ in December 2025.QinetiQNASA and Boeing have completed wind tunnel testing to study an innovative advanced aircraft design intended to improve aerodynamic efficiency.
A truss-braced wing configuration, involving a long, thin wing with aerodynamically shaped structural supports, has the potential to reduce fuel and operational costs for future airliners, which is why NASA has collaborated with Boeing to advance the design.
But this kind of wing would be much more than a simple tweak to existing designs – for an aircraft the size of a passenger jet, it would be a revolutionary redesign, requiring extensive study from NASA and Boeing.
The most recent round of testing used a complex wind tunnel model to collect data on how air flows around a truss-braced wing model and the forces that would be exerted on such a wing in flight.
The test used a semispan model – essentially half an aircraft mounted on a wind tunnel floor. The model has features built in to simulate the mechanisms that increase the amount of lift a wing produces. By adjusting the model’s slats, flaps, and other moving control surfaces, the team can configure it to the low speed, high-lift settings of takeoff and landing conditions.
The model is part of a collaboration to test what’s known as Boeing’s Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) concept.
In December, teams completed testing of the model wind tunnel operated by the company QinetiQ in Farnborough, England. This large wind tunnel uses pressurized conditions to predict airplane behavior in takeoff and landing conditions.
The large size of the tunnel gives the model fidelity to better predict the behavior of a plane in flight. This capability allowed the team to confidently assess aerodynamic performance.
NASA and Boeing research teams analyzed data in real time to ensure the model performed as expected. Researchers are still reviewing the full results, but the test has already added valuable information to a growing body of research aimed at reducing fuel use in future aircraft designs.
The testing was just the latest stop for this research. NASA and Boeing have tested the concept at multiple NASA facilities to collect data as they work to build a comprehensive understanding of this advanced airframe concept.
This collaboration serves as an example of how NASA serves as an incubator for breakthrough technology with profound commercial applications. The transonic truss-braced wing concept originated from NASA aeronautics-supported research and NASA and Boeing engineers have worked together, test-by-test, to move this wing design from an idea to a practical reality.
The work began in NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program and continues as part of the Subsonic Flight Demonstrator project under the Integrated Aviation Systems Program in the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 29, 2026 EditorDede DiniusContactSarah Mannsarah.mann@nasa.gov Related Terms Explore More 4 min read There’s No Place Like NASA’s New X-59 Hangar Home Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA Fires Up Powerful Lithium-Fed Thruster for Trips to Mars Article 1 day ago 4 min read NASA Laser Terminal Enhances Views During Artemis II Mission Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASANASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
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NASA Demonstrates New Prescribed Burn Capability for Spaceport
Anyone who has seen a launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida knows the agency’s pursuit of the stars involves some smoke and fire. Sometimes, however, the smoke doesn’t come from the rockets that propel astronauts beyond Earth’s bounds.
That was the case during the second weekend of January 2026, when NASA teamed up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and commercial space partners to intentionally ignite around 2,600 acres of scrub habitat at NASA Kennedy during an active launch countdown, a first for the busiest spaceport in the world.
Staff from NASA Kennedy’s Spaceport Integration Directorate oversaw two prescribed burns conducted by the Service. The larger burn affected around 1,400 acres on the northeast corner of the center, known as Happy Creek — a key habitat for the federally protected Florida scrub-jay and other wildlife that rely on periodic wildfires to thrive.
The other prescribed burn affected a 1,200-acre section east of Kennedy Parkway and south of the center’s industrial zone, near the spaceport’s seven-story headquarters building, as well as iconic facilities critical to NASA’s past and future space efforts like the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building and the Space Systems Processing Facility.
Historically, the center paused launch operations when using fire as a land management tool within NASA Kennedy’s secure area or the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds it. However, with Kennedy’s spaceport surpassing 100 successful liftoffs for the first time in 2025, and with the launch cadence expected to continue climbing in the years to come, officials at both agencies recognized the need to adapt.
NASA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel gather at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service off A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Titusville, Florida to finalize the plan prior to the prescribed burn.NASA/Tim Kozusko“As more launches occur at Kennedy, the need for proper land management at the refuge has never been greater,” said Greg Gaddis, the center’s senior operations manager for the spaceport. “We must find new ways to lessen the amount of fire fuel on the ground while also keeping pace with the launch needs of our government and commercial partners. Otherwise, an unexpected lightning bolt or some other fire-starter could be catastrophic for America’s space ambitions, as well as the private space industry.”
The increasing launch cadence is one of many factors the prescribed burn manager — also known as the burn boss — must consider when deciding when and where to conduct a prescribed burn at the spaceport. Another critical factor is weather conditions, especially during Florida’s dry season, where constant breeze from the nearby Atlantic Ocean can quickly turn a small fire into a large one. This could potentially pose a significant risk to plant and animal species at the refuge, as well as to the center’s launch infrastructure.
Safety remains the paramount concern. The center’s Space Operations Office worked directly with the Service and the launch mission partners during the burn.
Prior to the Service setting prescribed burns with air and land resources, Kennedy officials reviewed forecasted wind patterns and developed plans to protect workers in buildings affected by the smoke. The center issued smoke warnings, temporarily relocated some personnel, and allowed others to work remotely during the burns. The smoke also caused intermittent closures of some of the center’s main roads and entrances throughout the weekend for safety reasons.
Torches mounted onto vehicles are used to intentionally set over 2,600 acres of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on fire on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. Those areas are located inside Kennedy Space Center’s restricted area and occurred during an active launch countdown, the first time that’s ever happened at NASA Kennedy. NASA/Tim Kozusko“To do is to learn, and we all learn each day,” said Shawn Sullivan, assistant fire management officer for the Service’s Region 4 and the designated burn boss. “I stood in awe of the people working around me. To listen to the coordination between specialized groups and witness great individual effort was quite an experience.”
Conducting prescribed burns every two or three years is optimal for maintaining the health and resilience of the refuge, especially for wildlife like the Florida scrub-jay, which has adapted to periodic fires. Determining when and where to conduct these burns is one of the most challenging parts for the burn boss and the officials responsible for operating the spaceport. The amount of vegetation in those areas is often a deciding factor when choosing what to burn.
“We want to make sure those areas don’t get clogged up, making it more difficult for firefighters to gain access if they have to protect launch pads or any other infrastructure from a wildfire,” Gaddis added. “It also leaves less fuel a wildfire can use to grow, and that’s always a big help for first responders working to put a fire out.”
Council on Environmental Quality Permitting Innovators Program
NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) assists in the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government. CoECI’s NASA Tournament Lab offers the contract capability to run external crowdsourced challenges on behalf of NASA and other agencies.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), within the Executive Office of the President established by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970, consults and coordinates with federal agencies, providing guidance on the implementation of NEPA to ensure timely environmental review and permitting processes across the Federal government
Technology solutions could accelerate and modernize environmental review and permitting by connecting data, systems, and processes — enhancing collaboration between agencies and the American public. As part of CEQ’s mandate to ensure timely environmental review across the federal government, CEQ and partner agencies have identified technology gaps outlined in the Permitting Technology Action Plan. However, meeting the bold goals and timeline set by the presidential memorandum will require deeper collaboration among industry and government.
CEQ’s Permitting Innovation Center invites participants to the Permitting Innovators program to share tech solutions that will accelerate and modernize federal environmental review and permitting. CEQ will evaluate eligible submissions and invite a select group of applicants to participate in the inaugural Permitting Innovators Expo in July, where they will demo solutions to federal agency staff and the broader environmental review and permitting community. Top solutions will also be featured in the Permitting Innovators Solutions Catalog.
Open date: April 28, 2026
Submission deadline: June 2, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. ET
For more information, visit: https://www.permittinginnovators.com/
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NASA Connects Little Red Dots with Chandra, Webb
A newly discovered object may be a key to unlocking the true nature of a mysterious class of sources that astronomers have found in the early universe in recent years.
A “X-ray dot” found by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory could explain what the hundreds or potentially thousands of these objects are. A paper describing the results published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Shortly after NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope started its science observations, reports of a new class of mysterious objects emerged. Astronomers found small, red objects about 12 billion light-years from Earth or farther, which became known as “little red dots” (LRDs).
Many scientists think LRDs are supermassive black holes embedded in clouds of dense gas, which mask some of the typical signatures in different kinds of light – including X-rays – that astronomers usually use to identify them. This would make them different from typical growing supermassive black holes, which are not embedded in dense gas, allowing bright ultraviolet light and X-rays from material orbiting the black holes to escape.
Because of this and their potential similarities to stellar atmospheres, astronomers have called this the “black hole star” scenario for LRDs.
This new “X-ray dot” (officially known as 3DHST-AEGIS-12014), which is located about 11.8 billion light-years from Earth, may provide a crucial bridge between black hole stars and typical growing supermassive black holes. It exhibits most of the features of an LRD, including being small, red, and located at a vast distance, but it glows in X-ray light, unlike other LRDs.
“Astronomers have been trying to figure out what little red dots are for several years,” said lead author Raphael Hviding of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany. “This single X-ray object may be – to use a phrase – what lets us connect all of the dots.”
Artist’s Illustration of a Close-Up View of X-ray Dot, 3DHST-AEGIS-12014. NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss; adapted by K. Arcand & J. MajorThe team found this one special object after comparing new data from Webb with a deep survey previously performed by Chandra.
“If little red dots are rapidly growing supermassive black holes, why do they not give off X-rays like other such black holes?” said co-author Anna de Graaff of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Finding a little red dot that looks different from the others gives us important new insight into what could power them.”
The researchers suggest that the X-ray dot represents a transition phase from an LRD to a typical growing supermassive black hole. As the black hole star consumes its surrounding gas, patchy holes in the clouds of gas appear. This allows X-rays from material falling onto the black hole to poke through, which are observed by Chandra. Eventually all the gas is consumed, and the black hole star ceases to exist.
There are also hints in the Chandra data of the X-ray dot that there are variations in X-ray brightness, which supports the idea that the black hole is partly obscured. As the cloud of gas rotates, patches of denser and less dense gas can move across the black hole, causing changes in X-ray brightness.
“If we confirm the X-ray dot as a little red dot in transition, not only would it be the first of its kind, but we may be seeing into the heart of a little red dot for the first time,” said co-author Hanpu Liu of Princeton University in New Jersey. “We would also have the strongest piece of evidence yet that the growth of supermassive black holes is at the center of some, if not all, of the little red dot population.”
An alternate idea for the X-ray dot is that it is a more common type of growing supermassive black hole but is veiled in an exotic type of dust that astronomers have not seen before. Future observations are planned that should be able to shed light on the truth.
“The X-ray dot had been sitting in our Chandra survey data for over ten years, but we had no idea how remarkable it was before Webb came along to observe the field,” said co-author Andy Goulding of Princeton. “This is a powerful example of collaboration between two great observatories.”
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center 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.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
https://science.nasa.gov/chandra
News Media ContactMegan Watzke
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Joel Wallace
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
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There’s No Place Like NASA’s New X-59 Hangar Home
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic airplane sits parked in front of its new hangar home at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The facility originally was constructed in 1968 and for nearly 60 years has hosted a number of research aircraft and programs.NASA/Christopher LC ClarkThere’s no sign reading “home sweet home” in the hangar where the X‑59 now sits, but the sentiment is unmistakable among those tending to the quiet supersonic aircraft.
Located at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, the X-59 hangar was built in 1968 but looks like new thanks to a full renovation and modernization. While the X-59 was being assembled in Palmdale, California, workers at NASA Armstrong gutted the hangar, adding new electrical wiring, a fire suppression system, office space, air conditioning, and other safety features.
“The whole team is incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished in preparing this new home for the X-59,” said Bryan Watters, the NASA project manager at Armstrong who led the renovation effort. “The fact we could take a 1960s hangar and modernize it for use by a 2020’s X-plane is very special.”
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission to enable a new era of commercial supersonic air travel over land by reducing the sound of typically loud sonic booms to a much quieter sonic thump.
Home huntingWhen NASA test pilot Nils Larson successfully took the X-59 into the air for the first time on Oct. 28, 2025, he flew from the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works assembly site in Palmdale to nearby NASA Armstrong, from where test flights have continued to make progress.
From the beginning of the program, knowing the X-59 would eventually need a new residence at NASA Armstrong, Quesst managers were on the hunt for somewhere to house the quiet supersonic demonstrator.
Like anyone looking for the ideal place to call home, the team made sure there would be enough space for the airplane and all its support equipment. But with the experimental jet measuring at just under 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, there were few options.
“We had to find a hangar that was long enough so that part of the X-59 wouldn’t hang outside, exposed to the elements,” Watters said.
Building 4826, as the hangar is officially designated, turned out to be the choice spot. “It was basically stripped down and gutted so that essentially it was just structural steel with siding. From that state it was rebuilt,” Watters said.
The feature they are perhaps most proud of is the hangar’s new floor. Covering more than 32,000 square feet, it is coated with epoxy that prevents any spills from seeping into the concrete.
From the hangar’s office windows, the view of the hangar floor can include the F-15 research jets that will be used as chase planes to support X-59 flights in the coming months. The renovation faced challenges along the way, chief among them being supply chain issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. But there were some incredible, unforgettable moments too.
Circa 1990 Nov. 2025 On loan to NASA from the Air Force, an F-15 Eagle fighter jet was the focus of the Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator research program, which concluded in 1991. The aircraft is seen here inside Building 4826, a hangar at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center that was renovated and began use in 2025 as home for the X-59 quiet supersonic technology demonstrator.NASA NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic technology demonstrator aircraft is seen parked inside its new hangar home at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.NASA/Christopher LC Clark Circa 1990Nov. 2025 On loan to NASA from the Air Force, an F-15 Eagle fighter jet was the focus of the Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator research program, which concluded in 1991. The aircraft is seen here inside Building 4826, a hangar at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center that was renovated and began use in 2025 as home for the X-59 quiet supersonic technology demonstrator.NASA NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic technology demonstrator aircraft is seen parked inside its new hangar home at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.NASA/Christopher LC Clark Circa 1990 Nov. 2025past and present
Hangar Updated to Continue Hosting Historic Research CurtainToggle2-Up Image Details This NASA hangar at Armstrong Flight Research Center originally was constructed in 1968 and since then has hosted a number of history-making programs. Compare the two images above to see how the hangar looked during the late 1980s when it hosted an F-15 research aircraft (left), and beginning in 2025 after it had been renovated and modernized to host the X-59 quite supersonic technology demonstrator aircraft. Moved inWith X-59 now flying regularly and comfortably settled into its new digs, the Quesst team is gauging its performance on the way to quiet supersonic flight.
“This is truly a great time for Quesst and the X-59,” said Cathy Bahm, NASA’s project manager for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator. “It’s also still a little surreal to be able to just walk down from your office and see the airplane in our hangar.”
For more than a year, the hangar refurbishment team worked through every detail of the X-59’s new home to make sure it would be safe and sound. But actually seeing the aircraft occupy that space is an adjustment for them, too.
“We’ve looked at X-59 models on our desk for years and then, you know, there’s the real thing right in front of us, in a hangar that we renovated,” Watters said.
A real thing in the hangar – and streaking across the California desert sky. The X-59’s transition from an idea into a working aircraft is a testament to the teams that help build out every aspect of its infrastructure.
NASA’s X-59 is supported under the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
About the AuthorJim BankeManaging Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 40 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on nasa.gov. In 2007 he was recognized with a Distinguished Public Service Medal, NASA's highest honor for a non-government employee.
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Share Details Last Updated Apr 28, 2026 EditorDede DiniusContactKristen Hatfieldkristen.m.hatfield@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsNighttime Imaging Grows Landsat’s Science Value
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By Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
For more than 50 years, Landsat has imaged Earth’s land and near-shore surfaces as the satellites descend in midmorning orbit, when daily sunlight is optimal. That’s just what they’ve always done.
Currently, Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 circle the globe while also making better use of their ascending paths, peering into the darkness for special requests.
The visible spectral bands of Landsat—the same blue, green and red wavelength colors our eyes can see—are typically not that useful when collected on the ascending orbit node (also known as “nighttime imagery”). The exception is twilight or darkness at Earth’s poles, which can provide a surprisingly clear observation in the thermal infrared spectral bands where snow, ice and water temperatures can be retrieved when the sun is at or below the horizon.
Through the dark, shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands within Landsat’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument can detect intense heat sources such as volcanoes or active fires, while the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) measures surface temperatures that range from geothermal geysers to solid ice.
There is a growing interest in seeing what Landsat can capture as it ascends over the dark side of Earth, according to Dr. Christopher Crawford, the Landsat Project Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Crawford leads and oversees Landsat’s long-term Earth data acquisition strategy for the USGS.
“I’ve seen a noticeable uptick in the number of nighttime imaging special requests. That’s a very active and innovative measurement science area for Landsat right now,” Crawford said.
“We have active volcanoes, we’ve got an ice environment that’s changing, and wildfire occurrences are increasingly growing into hazards that threaten human safety, infrastructure and wildlife, among other issues. Nighttime imaging is an all-purpose solution, kind of like Jiffy Baking Mix.”
R. Greg Vaughan of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center does field work at Yellowstone National Park. USGS photo Sources/Usage: Public Domain Keeping an Eye on Volcanoes and YellowstoneA particular request for nighttime imagery that turned into a “systematic observation,” Crawford said, is Yellowstone National Park. The volcanic area’s 10,000 thermal features, such as geysers or hot springs or steam vents, can get hotter or colder, and they can appear or disappear.
Crawford is fascinated by volcanoes in general and recognizes the value of imaging them day and night. After Landsat 9 launched in 2021, when two satellites with the same high-quality sensors would together yield an image of each area of land every eight days, it seemed like a good time to start a consistent annual campaign to capture active volcanoes at night, he said.
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R. Greg Vaughan of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center, who researches active volcanoes, gave him a list. Vaughan has used Landsat data and other remote sensing methods to monitor changing thermal features in his role as the remote sensing lead for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Vaughan also taught Crawford something about imaging Yellowstone’s thermal features at night—that the best season for locating them is during winter. That’s when the contrast between the heated features and the colder surrounding area is greatest.
“The thing that I’ve probably taken away the most is that you have to acquire data to then understand what data to continue to acquire,” Crawford said.
Vaughan spotted an exciting surprise when reviewing Landsat 8 nighttime TIRS data of Yellowstone acquired in April 2017. Comparing warm areas in the imagery to previously mapped thermal features, he found a “big blob of bright, warm pixels” that didn’t match anything on the map.
After ruling out the possibility that it could be a thawing lake next to frozen land, he looked at the secluded area with daytime aerial imagery. The telltale signs of a new and growing thermal feature were there: bright hydrothermal-altered soil and dead and dying trees.
A Landsat 8 nighttime thermal infrared image from April 2017 shows the Tern Lake area in Yellowstone National Park. In Yellowstone, temperatures are extremely cold at night in the winter, and most lakes are frozen (dark pixels). West Tern Lake seems to be thawing here; it might receive some thermal water inflow from nearby hot springs. The patch of bright (warm) pixels between West Tern Lake and the Tern Lake Thermal Area emerged over a period of roughly 20 years. Lakes are outlined in blue; known thermal areas are outlined in red; and the red triangles are individual thermal features that have been mapped. Image credit: R. Greg Vaughn, USGSVaughan discussed his find and his use of Landsat data in a recent Eyes on Earth podcast episode produced by USGS EROS.
“This is why I love Landsat 8 and 9 so much. These instruments acquire data regularly, not just during the day, but they can also be tasked to acquire data at night on a regular basis. And this is really critical for my work,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan has been named a member of the current Landsat Science Team, a group of scientific and technical subject matter experts who provide analysis and advice to the Landsat Program. His research in that capacity will focus on active volcanoes.
An aerial view of the area in the Landsat 8 nighttime image shows the new thermal area (center left) that R. Greg Vaughan spotted in the Landsat image. The existing Tern Lake Thermal Area is the bright white patch of ground in the upper middle part of the image. West Tern Lake is the dark area in the lower right, and Tern Lake is above that. Photo credit: Michael Poland, USGS Fires, Flares and Urban Areas Among RequestsThe fire community in the western United States also finds value in Landsat nighttime imagery, Crawford said—including the energy industry and its infrastructure.
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory submits annual special requests for proactive nighttime imaging of seasonal wildfires to support on-the-ground decision making.
“We’ve done it three seasons in a row, and the results are pretty remarkable in terms of what we’re able to see,” especially with the SWIR bands, Crawford said. Those results compare well to airborne infrared sensing taken from low-altitude flights over the same wildfires.
Landsat can also detect gas flares that are useful to oil and gas industry functions. “There are regular special requests submitted to monitor global sites that produce Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG,” Crawford said.
In addition, he sees requests for nighttime images over particular cities to map urban temperature, which may be higher than cooler surrounding areas.
One recent request went beyond the already routine monitoring of active volcanoes in Iceland to encompass the entire country and coastline in a large seasonal campaign to survey overall volcanic activity.
Crawford weighs this type of request carefully, posing these questions: “Does this advance the science mission? Is it serving the user community?”
For Iceland, that was a yes.
“I look for areas where Landsat imaging data may be underutilized, as well as areas for strategic science mission advancement and societal benefits, and in many ways, these growth areas can be enabled through the data acquisition process,” Crawford said.
Landsat 8’s thermal infrared, shortwave infrared and near infrared spectral bands expose the Caldor Fire’s advancing edge south of Lake Tahoe in California in a nighttime image from August 29, 2021. A LEAP ForwardA significant advancement in learning about Landsat’s nighttime capabilities came with the effort to monitor polar regions year-round, with leadership from former Landsat Science Team member Dr. Ted Scambos from the University of Colorado Boulder.
The Landsat Extended Acquisition of the Poles (LEAP) campaign now routinely collects imagery over the polar regions, where few wintertime images had existed in Landsat’s data record before. The visible-to-shortwave infrared and thermal infrared spectral bands allow scientists to track changes in polar ice sheets, measure polar surface temperatures and examine the interaction of ocean water and ice shelves.
The sun’s low angle is not much of a hindrance to imaging data quality, Crawford said in an Eyes on Earth episode about the LEAP campaign. “Snow and ice are still really bright mediums on the surface, and so even if the illumination is low, you can still see a lot of detail because of the high reflectivity.”
Fortunately, nighttime imaging does not burden Landsat 8 and Landsat 9. “The instruments are always on, so it’s just a matter of whether we’re recording the data,” Crawford said.
This twilight thermal infrared image of Petermann Glacier, Greenland, was captured by Landsat 9 on January 5, 2024. This winter image displays data acquired when the sun was below the horizon. Darker areas are relatively colder than bright areas.The imagery’s darkness helps keep data volumes much lower than the daytime and allows sufficient time for the satellites to pass off the data to ground stations around the globe whose function is to downlink the recorded data.
“We’re starting to leverage Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 observatory capabilities to maximum scientific and societal benefit returns,” Crawford said.
“We’re populating the Landsat archive with long-term image data records that are helpful for not only quantifying changes on the Earth’s surface right now, but in the past and in the future.”
Requesting and Accessing ImageryTo learn more about Landsat data acquisitions and to submit a special request for future nighttime imagery, visit the Landsat Acquisitions webpage.
All imagery collected by special requests is made available to the public through the USGS EarthExplorer website. Select the “Landsat Collection 2 Level-1” dataset, and then select “Night” under Additional Criteria.
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