Friends of NASA

Monday, July 20, 2026

50th Anniversary of NASA's Viking 1 Mars Lander Touchdown (1976-2026)

50th Anniversary of NASA's Viking 1 Mars Lander Touchdown (1976-2026)

NASA’s Viking 1 lander touched down on Mars 50 years ago today. 30 years later, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) photographed the site from space.

First Color Image from Viking Lander 1

Sunset at the Viking Lander 1 Site

Vivid Colors of the Viking Lander 1 Scene

Viking Lander 1 U.S. Flag on Mars Surface

Northeast View from Viking Landing Site

High Resolution Image from Viking Lander 1

Titan III-Centaur carrying the Viking 1 Lander lifted off on August 20, 1975

NASA’s Viking 1 lander touched down on Mars fifty years ago today. The lander touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976 at the western slope of Chryse Planitia (the Plains of Gold), the first successful Mars lander in history. Chryse Planitia is a smooth circular plain in the northern equatorial region of Mars close to the Tharsis region to the west, centered at 28.4°N 319.7°E. Viking 1 operated on Mars for 2,307 days, over 6 years, or 2245 Martian solar days, the longest extraterrestrial surface mission until the record was broken by NASA's Mars Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010. Thirty years later, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) photographed the landing area from space. Today, NASA’s orbiters and rovers continue to uncover the story of the Red Planet and prepare the way for future exploration. Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft, along with Viking 2, each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program.

Learn more about the Viking Project:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viking-1/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viking/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-1/

Image Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Release Date: July 20, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #ChrysePlanitia #Astrobiology #Geology #Viking1 #Viking150thAnniversary #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MRO #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #History #STEM #Education

Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud

Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud

Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, Messier 24 (M24) is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It is a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or a small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth.

Sometimes called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars stretch across this gorgeous interstellar scene. Spanning over four full moons on the sky toward the constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic field of view includes dark markings B92 and B93 near the center of M24, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae toward the center of the Milky Way.

Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

Chuck's website:

https://www.youtube.com/chucksastrophotography
Release Date: July 11, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #StarClouds #Nebulae #InterstellarDustClouds #Messier24 #M24 #Barnard92 #Barnard93 #SagittariusConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #ChuckAyoub #Astrophotographer #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

Extremely Large Telescope Construction Update | European Southern Observatory

Extremely Large Telescope Construction Update | European Southern Observatory

The Extremely Large Telescope’s dome, still partially uncovered and showing its steel skeleton in the beginning of this video, has mostly finished receiving its layer of protective insulated cladding, designed to protect the telescope and its instruments from the harsh desert environment, including very rare but heavy rains. When the massive doors were installed the dome reached its highest point of 80 meters in April 2025 with a topping-out ceremony that featured the raising of the European Southern Observatory and Chile flags on top of the dome. Later in the year, the dome’s doors were moved for the first time.

Meanwhile, inside the dome, the main structure of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), that will hold its mirrors and instruments, is progressing fast. This structure, currently weighing around 3500 tonnes, was recently rotated around its vertical axis for the first time.

This video does not capture the advances carried out off-site, such as testing the ELT’s deformable mirror, key to correct atmospheric turbulence and obtain sharp images. The construction of MICADO and METIS, the first instruments to be installed at the ELT, is also progressing well. An agreement for MOSAIC, another ELT instrument, was signed in the end of 2025. With the telescope components and instruments coming together, the ELT is well on its way to start observing the cosmos later this decade.

The ELT and its groundbreaking 39-meter main mirror will tackle major challenges in astronomy and, ultimately, help us understand our place in the Universe.

Learn more about the ELT: https://elt.eso.org

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.

Credit: ESO
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: July 20, 2026

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #AstronomicalObservatories #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Construction #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sunday, July 19, 2026

India's Record-setting Vikram-1 Commercial Rocket Pre-launch

India's Record-setting Vikram-1 Commercial Rocket Pre-launch

🚀On its first attempt, Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched their Vikram-1 rocket for its Mission Aagaman at 12:05pm India Standard Time (IST) (06:35 UTC) on July 18, 2026, to an Earth orbit of 455 km to deploy four payloads. "The era of commercial spaceflight has begun in India." India is now "the third country in the world with private orbital launch capability."

Vikram-1's first stage was named for Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015). He was an Indian aerospace scientist, visionary educator, and the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.

The four payloads were:
1) a self-developed experimental payload, the SCOPE satellite
2) robotic arm technology demonstrator Embrace
3) an ultra-compact satellite SOLARAS S3
4) a German in-orbit technology demonstration payload

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) (formerly Sriharikota Range – SHAR) is the primary spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), located in Sriharikota, an island in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The spaceport is located on an island off the east coast of India, surrounded by Pulicat Lake and the Bay of Bengal.

Image Credit: Skyroot Aerospace
Dates: June 29-July 18, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Engineering #Satellites #CommercialSatellites #India #BhāratGaṇarājya #Skyroot #SkyrootAerospace #Vikram1 #Vikram1Rocket #RocketLaunch #MissionAagaman #CommercialSpace #SDSC #Spaceport #Sriharikota #AndhraPradesh #STEM #Education

Japan's Experimental RV-X Rocket: First Launch and Landing Test

Japan's Experimental RV-X Rocket: First Launch and Landing Test

JAXA’s small Reusable Vehicle eXperiment (RV-X) was launched and landed for the first time on July 11, 2026, in Japan's Akita Prefecture. During the 40-second flight, RV-X reached an altitude of about 11 meters and traveled about 16 meters. RV-X is a continuation of the Reusable Vehicle Testing (RVT) project. A early prototype was tested by JAXA in May 1999. According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), RV-X is used for “conducting research towards the reuse of Japan's flagship launch vehicles in future”. It is part of the Cooperative Action Leading to Launcher Innovation for Stage Toss-back Operation (CALLISTO) research project, supported by JAXA, CNES and DLR.

The experimental RV-X was developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Akita is located in Japan's Tōhoku region of Honshu—the largest of Japan's four main islands.

Video Credit: JAXA
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: July 11, 2026

#NASA #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #RVXRocket #ReusableRockets #VTOL #RocketTests #AerospaceEngineering #SpaceTechnology #MHI #AkitaPrefecture #秋田県 #Honshu #本州 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 in Sculptor: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars & Gas Clouds

Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 in Sculptor: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars & Gas Clouds

This sparkling, colorful gemstone is the spiral galaxy NGC 300 in the constellation Sculptor. It is one of the closest spiral galaxies to Earth, only about 6 million light-years away. Does it really look like this?

Here is a more standard portrait of it. This unusual image combines the light from the stars and dust within the galaxy with the light from ionized clouds of interstellar gas shown in red (sulphur), green (hydrogen) and blue (oxygen). Combining red and green light in a range of proportions makes yellow or orange light, most visible in the image. Light from other ionized gases is also at work in neon signs, fluorescent tubes and street lights. These massive clouds of ionized gas are typically created by young, massive stars that produce high-energy ultraviolet radiation capable of ionizing the gas. Massive stars are short-lived, compared with lighter stars like our sun, and explode as supernovas at the end of their lives. Colorful clouds in this image could be hiding supernova remnants.

Sculptor is a faint constellation in the southern sky. It represents a sculptor. It was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century. He originally named it Apparatus Sculptoris (the sculptor's studio), but the name was later shortened.

Image Credit & Copyright: Team Ciel Austral

Tame Ciel Austral's website: https://www.cielaustral.com/contact2.htm
Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Release Date: July 16, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #NGC300 #IRAS005253757 #SpiralGalaxies #SculptorConstellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #TeamCielAustral #Astrophotography #Astrophotographers #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #APoD

A California Sunset: The Shadow and The Rainbow | Earth Science

A California Sunset: The Shadow and The Rainbow | Earth Science

At sunset, an alignment of rainbow and mountain shadow was captured in this remarkable snapshot. The stunning view was recorded from a fire lookout on Smith Peak in the Plumas National Forest near Portola, California on July 13, 2026. Still, near sunset it is no accident that the majestic mountain shadow seems to point to the center of the graceful rainbow arc. Due to perspective and the long line of sight the mountain shadow naturally forms a tapering triangular shape, its apex positioned at the point opposite the Sun on the horizon.

Following thunderstorms in the region, the rainbow arched across the early evening sky with its colorful and characteristic 42 degree arc formed as sunlight is refracted and reflected by the atmospheric water droplets. The geometric center of a rainbow arc lies at the antisolar point. And in this scene from the golden hour on planet Earth, this is also opposite the setting Sun along the distant horizon.

Plumas National Forest
https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/plumas

California is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south.

Image Credit & License: Dave Loschiavo

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Image Date: July 16, 2026
Release Date: July 18, 2026

#NASA #Science #Stars #Sun #SolarSystem #Planets #Earth #EarthScience #PlanetaryAtmospheres #Sunlight #WaterDroplets #Rainbows #Sunsets #Shadows #SmithPeak #PlumasNationalForest #Portol #California #UnitedStates #Photography #DaveLoschiavo #Astrophotography #NASAGoddard #GSFC #STEM #Education #APoD

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Noctilucent Clouds over Finland | Earth Science

Astrophotographer Matti Helin: "This was one of the best displays I've seen in the 30 years I've observed NLC's. They filled the whole sky! And they really made the night significantly less dark. These caliber displays can be seen maybe once in a decade."

At high latitudes in the summer months, iridescent clouds form in a part of the atmosphere roughly 50 to 86 kilometers (30 to 54 miles) above the surface of our planet. Their high altitude allows them to reflect sunlight after the Sun has set. These are called noctilucent or polar mesospheric clouds.

Noctilucent clouds (NLCs), or night shining clouds are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere. They consist of ice crystals and from the ground are only visible during astronomical twilight. Noctilucent roughly means "night shining" in Latin. They are most often observed during the summer months from latitudes between ±50° and ±70°. Too faint to be seen in daylight, they are visible only when the observer and the lower layers of the atmosphere are in Earth's shadow while these very high clouds are still in sunlight. Recent studies suggest that increased atmospheric methane emissions produce additional water vapor through chemical reactions once the methane molecules reach the mesosphere—creating, or reinforcing existing, noctilucent clouds.

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia.

Image Credit: Matti Helin
Location: Southwest Finland
Matti's website: https://mattihelin.kuvat.fi/Kuvat
Release Date: July 17, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Sun #Planets #Earth #Weather #Meteorology #Atmosphere #WaterVapor #Clouds #IceCrystals #NoctilucentClouds #PolarMesosphericClouds #Astrophotography #Astrophotographers #MattiHelin #CitizenScience #Finland #Suomi #STEM #Education

Galaxy IC 2051 in Mensa: Close-up Disc and Central Bulge View | Hubble

Galaxy IC 2051 in Mensa: Close-up Disc and Central Bulge View | Hubble

This image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope shows IC 2051, a galaxy in the southern constellation of Mensa (The Table Mountain), lying about 85 million light-years away. It is a spiral galaxy, as evidenced by its characteristic whirling, pinwheeling arms, and it has a bar of stars slicing through its center.

This galaxy was observed for a Hubble study on galactic bulges, the bright round central region of spiral galaxies. Spiral galaxies like IC 2051 are shaped a bit like flying saucers when seen from the side; they comprise a thin, flat disc, with a bulky bulge of stars in the centre that extends above and below the disc. These bulges are thought to play a key role in how galaxies evolve, and to influence the growth of the supermassive black holes lurking at the centers of most spirals. While more observations are needed in this area, studies suggest that some, or even most, galactic bulges may be complex composite structures rather than simple ones, with a mix of spherical, disc-like, or boxy components, potentially leading to a wide array of bulge morphologies in the Universe.

This image comprises data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 at visible and infrared wavelengths.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Erwin et al.
Release Date: Dec. 16, 2019

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #IC2051 #SpiralGalaxies #MensaConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Launch Day: Menon, Dubrov & Kikina Leave Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan

Launch Day: Menon, Dubrov & Kikina Leave Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan

Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, right, wave as they depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch in Baikonur

A Russian Orthodox Priest blesses onlookers as the Expedition 75 crew prepares to depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Baikonur

Expedition 75 crew members: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, right, depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Baikonur

Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Russia waves as he and fellow crew mates, NASA astronaut Anil Menon, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Russia depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Baikonur

Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Russia holds up a sign as she and fellow crew mates, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Russia, and NASA astronaut Anil Menon depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Baikonur

Expedition 75 NASA astronaut Anil Menon waves as he and fellow crew mates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia depart the Cosmonaut Hotel to suit-up for their Russian Soyuz launch, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Baikonur

A Russian Soyuz rocket was successfully launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina onboard, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 10:47 a.m. EST (7:47 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio will spend about eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth in spring 2027.

The same day, their Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Prichal module.

The trio joined NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia.

During his expedition, Menon will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations intended to help humans prepare for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and to provide benefits on Earth. Among the hundreds of experiments planned during his mission, he will participate in studies to better understand astronaut vein structure, blood flow, and blood composition in microgravity. He also will test producing intravenous fluids using the space station’s potable water.

This Soyuz MS-29 mission is his first spaceflight after he was selected as part of NASA’s 2021 astronaut class. A native of Minneapolis, Menon is an emergency medicine physician, mechanical engineer, and colonel in the United States Space Force. He also has served as an expedition flight surgeon supporting the agency’s crew members aboard the space station.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-anil-menon/

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/menon-anil.pdf

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and build on the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.

To learn more about International Space Station research, operations, and its crews, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

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/Bill Ingalls/Victor Zelentsov

Date: July 14, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #SoyuzRocket #SoyuzMS29 #Astronauts #AnilMenon #Cosmonauts #AnnaKikina #PyotrDubrov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #UnitedStates #MicrogravityLaboratory #Expedition74 #Expedition75 #Baikonur #Kazakhstan #Қазақстан #STEM #Education

Planet Mars Images: July 15-17, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: July 15-17, 2026 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - sol 1921

Mars 2020 - sol 1920

MSL - sol 4956

MSL - sol 4951

Mars 2020 - sol 1919

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Celebrating 13+ Years on Mars (2012-2025)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 5+ Years on Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Release Dates: July 15-17, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Mars #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Launch Day: Menon, Dubrov & Kikina Board Russian Soyuz Rocket in Kazakhstan

Launch Day: Menon, Dubrov & Kikina Board Russian Soyuz Rocket in Kazakhstan

Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, right, depart building 254 for their Russian Soyuz launch

Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, right, report to Roscosmos leadership as they depart building 254 for their Russian Soyuz launch

Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, right, arrive at the launch pad to board their Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch

Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Russia walks to board the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch with NASA astronaut Anil Menon, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Russia, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

Expedition 75 Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Russia walks with Roscosmos Director of Human Spaceflight Programs Sergei Krikalev, left, and Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Bakanov to board the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch

Expedition 75 NASA astronaut Anil Menon walks with NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson, left, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, right, to board the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch

Expedition 75 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmoanuts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina of Russia, get in an elevator to board their Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for launch