Patches of open water in the region contributed to low sea ice extent across the Arctic in March 2026, which tied with the lowest maximum observed in the satellite record.

For the first time in more than 50 years, astronauts on a NASA mission are bound to fly around the Moon after successfully completing a key burn of Orion’s main engine. With the approximately six-minute firing of the spacecraft’s service…

NASA’s Artemis II crew is on the way to the Moon. After the mission management team polled “Go” Thursday, NASA’s Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for five minutes and 50 seconds beginning at 7:49 p.m. EDT, to successfully complete…

The Expedition 74 crew studied how the brain receives signals in space and demonstrated advanced technology to remove humidity from spacecraft on Thursday. Other activities aboard the International Space Station included servicing a metal 3D printer and continuing to unpack…

NASA’s Artemis II mission management team polled “Go” for the translunar injection burn to send the crew in the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon and send humans around Earth’s closest celestial neighbor for the first time since Apollo 17 in…

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft lift off in this April 1, 2026, image. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy on an…

A view of the Earth from NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight. NASA astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut…

Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026, carrying four Moonbound astronauts. After an approximately 10-day mission, Artemis II ends with a splash. Lili Villarreal, the recovery and landing director for Artemis II, leads the team that will…

The Artemis II crew, working closely with mission control in Houston, were able to restore the Orion spacecraft’s toilet to normal operations following the proximity operations demonstration. Ahead of the apogee raise burn on April 1, the Artemis II crew…

The February 2026 eruption at Piton de la Fournaise has lasted longer and produced a larger volume of lava than recent eruptions from this frequently active volcano.

The Artemis II crew successfully completed the proximity operations demonstration, concluding one of the mission’s early objectives and providing valuable data on how the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, performs during manual close‑range maneuvering around another spacecraft. Over the course of…

The apogee raise burn was successfully completed, continuing to fine tune the Orion spacecraft’s orbit around Earth. The ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) ignited its RL10 engine for a precisely timed burn that increased the highest point of the spacecraft’s…

The perigee raise maneuver was successfully completed, refining the Orion spacecraft’s orbit around Earth. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage ignited its RL10 engine for a precisely timed burn that increased the lowest point of the spacecraft’s orbit. Shortly after the…

Spurred by American ingenuity, astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission are in flight, preparing for the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s…

Emmanuel Boss, Ph.D., University of Maine For 50 days during the 2026 Austral summer (January to March), the PlanktoSpace team of 18 scientists, crew members, and passengers set sail on a unique mission. Our expedition traveled 7,200 miles across the Southern Ocean aboard the Perseverance, a sailing vessel owned by a…

Robotics training and human research were the primary duties for the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. The orbital residents rounded out their shift with spacesuit work, cargo operations, and Earth observations.

Live launch day updates for NASA’s Artemis II test flight will be published on this page. All times are Eastern. 6:59 p.m. The Orion spacecraft’s SAWs (solar arrays wings) have fully deployed, completing a key configuration step for the Artemis II…

Strong winds in March 2026 carried Saharan dust across northwestern Africa and toward the Canary Islands, reducing visibility and prompting alerts.

Medical tests and microbiology topped the research schedule for the Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The seven crewmates also worked on spacesuits, cargo operations, and life support maintenance.

As the Artemis II countdown moves steadily toward liftoff no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, April 1, launch teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue completing a sequence of highly choreographed steps to ready the SLS (Space…

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir took this photo of an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station’s cupola. She posted it on X on March 30, 2026, with the following caption: “Our work on the @Space_Station has provided the…

In two recent studies, researchers used Landsat data to fill key gaps in our knowledge of reservoir structure and dynamics.

Dry, warm, and windy conditions across the U.S. Great Plains led to extreme fire activity in March 2026.

The countdown for NASA’s Artemis II test flight is underway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with members of the launch team arriving at their consoles inside the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center. The onsite countdown clock started ticking down at 4:44 p.m. EDT to a…

Expedition 74 started the week training for the arrival of the next U.S. cargo mission and continuing to clean up after last week’s spacewalk. The orbital residents also practiced medical emergency procedures, unloaded supplies from a new Roscosmos resupply ship,…