Mrugen Patel: Moon Mission Control's Orion Evaluation Room | NASA Artemis II

Mrugen Patel: Moon Mission Control's Orion Evaluation Room | NASA Artemis II

"To be here and experience this mission unfold in real time and be part of this team—I'm just living my dream right now.”

In Mission Control’s Orion Mission Evaluation Room inside NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mrugen Patel supported Orion’s passive thermal control system, watching real‑time spacecraft data to ensure the crew and hardware remained within safe temperatures throughout the Artemis II mission.

Credit: NASA 
Producers: Rad Sinyak, Erika Peters 
Editor: Nicole Rose 
Duration: 1 minute, 23 seconds
Release Date: April 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #MissionControl #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Commander Reid Wiseman Gives Thanks | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

Commander Reid Wiseman Gives Thanks | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

"We launched as friends, and we came back as best friends." 

 —Artemis II commander and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman

Listen to Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman thanking the world during a news conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. The Moon crew discussed their flyby mission around the Moon.

Watch the full 1-hour news conference here: 
https://www.youtube.com/live/_43Ei9eQVww?si=XZT9E1E8qM7b2Pjj&t=228

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, 2026, concluding the Artemis II mission. Our Artemis II crew accomplished many milestones on their 10-day mission, surpassing the Apollo 13 record for farthest crewed spaceflight and capturing unprecedented views of the far side of the Moon.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis II Mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and capturing images of the lunar far side. During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA/JSC
Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds
Date: April 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #ChristinaKoch #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Astronaut Christina Koch Describes Positive Impacts | NASA Artemis II Mission

Astronaut Christina Koch Describes Positive Impacts | NASA Artemis II Mission

“The difference now is, when we come before you now, we’ve done this together. We took your hearts with us, and your hearts lifted our hearts.”

—NASA astronaut and Artemis II Mission specialist Christina Koch

Listen to NASA astronaut Christina Koch from the Artemis II Moon crew during a news conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, April 16, 2026, where the astronauts discuss their flyby mission around the Moon.

Watch the full 1-hour news conference here: 
https://www.youtube.com/live/_43Ei9eQVww?si=XZT9E1E8qM7b2Pjj&t=228

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, 2026, concluding the Artemis II mission. Our Artemis II crew accomplished many milestones on their 10-day mission, surpassing the Apollo 13 record for farthest crewed spaceflight and capturing unprecedented views of the far side of the Moon.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis II Mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and capturing images of the lunar far side. During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA/JSC
Duration: 1 minute, 37 seconds
Date: April 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Crew Shares Spaceflight Highlights | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission News Conference

Crew Shares Spaceflight Highlights | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission News Conference

Listen to sample comments from the Artemis II crew during a news conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, April 16, 2026, where the astronauts discuss their flyby mission around the Moon.

Watch the full 1-hour news conference here: 
https://www.youtube.com/live/_43Ei9eQVww?si=XZT9E1E8qM7b2Pjj&t=228

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, 2026, concluding the Artemis II mission. Our Artemis II crew accomplished many milestones on their 10-day mission, surpassing the Apollo 13 record for farthest crewed spaceflight and capturing unprecedented views of the far side of the Moon.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis II Mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and capturing images of the lunar far side. During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA/JSC
Duration: 3 minutes
Date: April 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Small Magellanic Cloud Galaxy—A Milky Way Neighbor: View from Chile

The Small Magellanic Cloud Galaxy—A Milky Way Neighbor: View from Chile

This image of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was not taken with a telescope. It was captured using a camera and a wide-aperture telephoto lens. It was taken by Petr Horálek, a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador. Petr captured this special image for almost four hours during a night spent under clear skies on Cerro Pachón in Chile. 

Distance from Earth: ~200,000 light-years

The Small Magellanic Cloud and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are the largest of the over sixty satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Satellite galaxies orbit around a host galaxy and are usually smaller than their host galaxy. The SMC was once even a satellite galaxy of the LMC. Unlike most of the other satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, the SMC is actively forming stars at a rapid pace, a process revealed by the blue light in this image. 

Cerro Pachón is a mountain in the foothills of Chile’s Andes range. Northern Chile offers examples of the clearest, driest, and darkest skies in the world. These conditions create ample opportunities for astrophotography and for addressing important questions about the Universe. 

The summit of Cerro Pachón is home to several telescopes operated by National Science Foundation NOIRLab including the SOAR Telescope, a part of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab; Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the NSF; and NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the NSF and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE/SC).

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, extending along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The country shared borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south.

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)
Release Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #SmallMagellanicCloud #SMC #DwarfGalaxies #IrregularGalaxies #TucanaConstellation #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #Astrophotographer #PetrHorálek #Astrophotography #CerroPachón #Chile #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS: View from Colorado

Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS: View from Colorado

Discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey in September 2025, the comet is diving toward its closest approach to the sun (0.50 AU) on April 19, 2026, bringing it well inside the orbit of Venus. If current trends continue, the comet could brighten to magnitude +2, easily seen and photographed in the pre-dawn sky.

The comet's brightness will receive a further boost between April 24-25 when it passes almost directly between Earth and the Sun. The process is called "forward scattering." Sunlight passing through the comet's dusty atmosphere could be amplified 100-fold or more.

We will not be able to see the April 24 surge from Earth. The comet will be too close to the Sun. However, coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) will have a great view of what could briefly become a truly magnificent object.

Colorado is a state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, and Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, and Oklahoma to the Southeast.

Image Credit: Ismael Rodriguez 
Location:  Colorado City, Colorado, United States

Image Details: TeleVue 127is refractor at F5.2 and ZWO 2600MC camera. 13 minutes exposure (10 sec subs)
Ismail's website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/198992694@N04/

Text Credit: Spaceweather[dot]com
Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025R3Panstarrs #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #ColoradoCity #Colorado #UnitedStates #IsmaelRodriguez #Astrophotographers #STEM #Education

Qingzhou Commercial Cargo Spacecraft Test Vehicle | China Space Station

Qingzhou Commercial Cargo Spacecraft Test Vehicle | China Space Station

The team for China's newly launched Qingzhou cargo spacecraft test vehicle released the first batch of scientific and engineering results on April 15, 2026. The test flight focused on key technology verification, low-cost design and exploration, and expanded missions, successfully achieving all its objectives and laying a solid foundation for the development of the formal Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, according to the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS).

The test vehicle was launched into orbit on March 30, 2026, aboard a Lijian-2 Y1 carrier rocket. Developed by the IAMCAS, the vehicle, with a total mass of 4.2 tons, carries one ton of scientific payloads, and has a three-year in-orbit operational life.

Since its launch, this vehicle has completed flight control tests and actively raised its orbit to 600 km, officially entering its long-term operational phase, where it is conducting key platform technology verification, stability tests and extended mission trials.

"The Qingzhou cargo spacecraft involved many key technologies in its development. Many of these technologies have been directly verified in space, which better ensures the reliability of the R and D of our formal spacecraft," said Chang Liang, chief designer of Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.

This test flight has not only provided critical data for the development of the formal Qingzhou cargo spacecraft and explored new models for efficient and reliable development, but has also opened viable paths for low-cost, commercial space operations and cooperation.

The Qingzhou cargo spacecraft will continue to undergo iterative optimization, striving to build a reliable bridge for cargo transport between Earth and space, promoting high-quality development of China's commercial space sector, the IAMCAS said.

"Our whole team is now intensively carrying out the work to put the formal spacecraft into production. It is mainly to form a matching tandem with the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, one larger, one smaller, to provide cargo service support for China's space station," said Shu Rong, chief commander of Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: April 16, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #China #中国 #QingzhouCargoSpacecraft #TestFlight #CommercialSpace #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #Taikonauts #MicrogravityExperiments #SpaceLaboratory #CAS #CNSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Capturing Details of The Moon and The Beauty of Earth | NASA Artemis II Mission

Capturing Details of The Moon and The Beauty of Earth | NASA Artemis II Mission

As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth. Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc—except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. Earth is in a crescent phase, with sunlight coming from the right. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over muted blue in the Australia and Oceania region. 

The Artemis II Mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and capturing images of the lunar far side. During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century.

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Image Credit: NASA
Date: April 6, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #CrescentEarth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Completes First Wheels-Up Flight | NASA Armstrong

NASA’s Quiet Supersonic X-59 Completes First Wheels-Up Flight | NASA Armstrong

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft is on display in its sleek configuration following its first wheels-up flight on April 3, 2026, from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The transition marks a key milestone for the Quesst mission and an important step in the aircraft’s test campaign, which aims to enable quiet commercial supersonic flight over land.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.”

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

For more information about the X-59 and NASA's Quesst mission, visit www.nasa.gov/quesst

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Duration: 43 seconds
Release Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Aerospace #SupersonicFlight #SupersonicAircraft #X59 #Sonicbooms #QuietAviation #Aviation #QuesstMission #CommercialAviation #Science #Physics #Engineering #AerospaceResearch #AeronauticalResearch #FlightTests #LockheedMartin #NASAArmstrong #AFRC #Edwards #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Artemis Moon Program: How to Recover a Spacecraft | Johnson Space Center

NASA's Artemis Moon Program: How to Recover a Spacecraft | Johnson Space Center

At the end of the Artemis II mission around the Moon, the Orion spacecraft and its crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, where a joint NASA and U.S. Navy team was ready to recover both the astronauts and the capsule. Lili Villarreal is the Artemis II Landing and Recovery Director at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and she explains the process.

After splashdown, the recovery team secured Orion, opened the side hatch, and assisted the crew out of the spacecraft. The astronauts were then airlifted by helicopter to the Navy recovery ship, and Orion was brought into the ship’s well deck for transport back to shore. It was a complex operation that ensured the safe return of both the crew and the capsule after their historic mission.

This is how to recover a spacecraft.

Artemis II splashed down at 8:07 p.m. April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Get ready for NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Writer: Erika Peters
Editor: Phil Sexton
Producers: Rad Sinyak, Erika Peters
Duration: 4 minutes, 27 seconds
Release Date: April 15, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #ParachuteLanding #USNavy #SLS #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #JeremyHansen #CSA #Canada #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAJohnson #JSC #PacificOcean #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2026 Recap | NASA Marshall

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2026 Recap | NASA Marshall

From the Artemis II mission finish line to ours! 🏁 

April 10-11, 2026, 42 student teams from across the world competed in NASA's 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) in Huntsville, Alabama. These teams navigated challenging obstacles and performed complex tasks with their human-powered or remote-controlled rovers.

NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge is a hands-on, research-based, engineering activity that is preparing the next generation of STEM students to reach for the stars!

Learn more about NASA's HERC at nasa.gov/herc

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center: 
https://www.nasa.gov/marshall/

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Duration: 2 minutes, 21 seconds
Release Date: April 13, 2026  

#NASA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #LunarRovers #SpaceTechnology #Earth #RoverChallenge #NASAHERC #Students #StudentCompetitions #Engineering #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #International #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia: Deepest Lake on Earth | International Space Station

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia: Deepest Lake on Earth | International Space Station

Expedition 74 commander and Russian cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov: "Every cosmonaut, before launching into orbit, has a list of places on Earth they'd like to see from an altitude of 400 km. These can be very different places: first and foremost, places connected with personal experiences, places of origin, or places they've visited before. And, of course, they also want to see the most extraordinary creations of nature from space, and, of course, the most outstanding human-made creations."

"I think Lake Baikal is on every cosmonaut's or astronaut's list, because there are reasons to consider it special."

"This is the deepest lake in the world (1,642 m deep), and it contains more than 23,000 cubic kilometers of purest fresh water. This is more than all the Great Lakes of North America combined. It represents 20% of all the surface fresh water on our planet."

"This is the oldest lake on Earth, 25-30 million years old. Around the same time, the Caucasus began to form, and the Sahara Desert did not yet exist."

· "Lake Baikal's water transparency can reach 40 meters. Due to this, as well as its depth and enormous volume, sunlight does not warm the surface layers, but penetrates deeper and is dispersed by the enormous volume of water. Therefore, Baikal remains cool even in hot summers, and a dense haze does not form over its surface, making its shores a convenient location for astronomical observations. Baikal is also used for underwater space exploration: a unique project, the Baikal-GVD (Gigaton Volume Detector), operates at the bottom of the lake. This is one of the world's largest neutrino telescopes, along with Antarctica's IceCube."

· "About 330 rivers and streams flow into Lake Baikal, but only one river, the Angara, flows out."

· "Baikal is home to 2,600 animal species, most of which are endemic. For example, the Baikal seal is the world's only freshwater seal."

"In short, Lake Baikal is a whole story, the story of our planet."

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov
Date: April 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Baikal #LakeBaikal #ОзероБайкал #DeepestLake #Siberia #Сибирь #Astronauts #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #Cosmonauts #SergeiKudSverchkov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

SpaceX Starship V3 & Super Heavy Testing: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship V3 & Super Heavy Testing: Pre-Flight 12 | Starbase Texas

Full-duration static fire for the first time on Starship V3

SpaceX Super Heavy reusable rocket booster: Starship first-stage

SpaceX Update: Starship and Super Heavy continue preflight testing. Starship V3 static fire successful.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: "I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability."

As of October 13, 2025, the SpaceX Starship has been "launched 11 times with 6 successes and 5 failures." SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale. It aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:

https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Release Dates: April 12 & 14, 2026

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #StarshipV3 #StarshipV3SN1 #StarshipFlight12 #ReusableSpacecraft #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Cosmonaut Photos: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Cosmonaut Photos: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station

Northrop Grumman CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft prior to being grappled by Canadarm2

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Chris Williams after CRS-24 Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft arrival and prior to being grappled by Canadarm2

International Space Station configuration as of April 13, 2026

Five spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Crew-12 Dragon, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL, the Soyuz MS-28 crew ship, and the Progress 93 and 94 resupply ships

Northrop Grumman NG-24 emblem

Expedition 74 emblem

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Congratulations to NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway on their first cargo vehicle capture using the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station! Mission accomplished today. Hatch opening and cargo ops, including many scientific experiments (and even some fresh food), commence early tomorrow. We’re very excited for the science, hardware, and supplies that she brings! Well done, Northrop Grumman, NASA & SpaceX!" 

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft was installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port of the International Space Station on Monday, April 13, 2026. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 (CRS-24), or as the Northrop Grumman NG-24 Mission.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of research and supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft, carried on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched at 7:41 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This mission is the second flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft.

Cygnus will remain at the International Space Station until October when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will harmlessly burn up.

Learn more about NASA's Commercial Resupply Missions:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: Russian Cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov, NASA/JSC, Northrop Grumman

Date: April 13, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #CygnusXLCargoSpacecraft #CRS24 #NorthropGrumman #CSA #Canadarm2 #Canada #Cosmonauts #SergeyKudSverchkov #CosmonautPhotography #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education

Cosmonaut Video: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Cosmonaut Video: CRS-24 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Expedition 74 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir: "Congratulations to NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway on their first cargo vehicle capture using the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station! Mission accomplished today. Hatch opening and cargo ops, including many scientific experiments (and even some fresh food), commence early tomorrow. We’re very excited for the science, hardware, and supplies that she brings! Well done, Northrop Grumman, NASA & SpaceX!"

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft was installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port of the International Space Station on Monday, April 13, 2026. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 (CRS-24), or as the Northrop Grumman NG-24 Mission.

Filled with more than 11,000 pounds of research and supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft, carried on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched at 7:41 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This mission is the second flight of the Cygnus XL, the larger, more cargo-capable version of the company’s solar-powered spacecraft.

Cygnus will remain at the International Space Station until October when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will harmlessly burn up.

Learn more about Cygnus and NASA's Commercial Resupply Missions:
https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/space/spacecraft/cygnus
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/commercial-resupply/

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Video Credit: Russian Cosmonaut Sergey-Kud Sverchkov

Duration: 26 seconds

Date: April 13, 2026

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Russian Progress 94 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

Russian Progress 94 Cargo Spacecraft Arrival | International Space Station

The Russian Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, approaches the International Space Station while soaring into an orbital sunset 267 miles above the Russia–Mongolia border.

The Russian Progress 94 cargo spacecraft, loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, nears the International Space Station ahead of its docking on March 24, 2026.

The Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, approaches the International Space Station for a docking to the Poisk module. 

The Progress 94 cargo spacecraft from Roscosmos, packed with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew, is pictured shortly after docking to the International Space Station's Poisk module. The orbital outpost was soaring 265 miles above the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time of this photograph.

A new spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on March 16, 2026, carrying 2,509 kilograms of cargo. The cargo included everything necessary for living and working in space. The uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 94 spacecraft docked at the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at 9:40 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov manually piloted the spacecraft during docking using the Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System (TORU) control panel inside the space station’s Zvezda Service Module after one of the spacecraft’s two KURS automated rendezvous antennas failed to deploy after launch. 

The spacecraft delivered about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 74 crew. It will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about six months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew. 

It launched at 7:59 a.m. (4:59 p.m. Baikonur time) March 22, 2026, on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: NASA, Cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov
Dates: March 16-17, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Planets #Earth #Progress94 #Progress94CargoSpacecraft #Astronauts #ChrisWilliams #JackHathaway #UnitedStates #ESA #France #Europe #Cosmonauts #SergeiKudSverchkov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #STEM #Education