NASA’s X-59 research aircraft moves from its construction site to the flight line – or the space between the hangar and the runway – at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on June 16, 2023. This milestone kicks off a series of ground tests to ensure the X-59 is safe and ready to fly […]
A full moon was visible behind the Artemis I SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2022. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I tested SLS and Orion as an integrated system p
The highly irregular galaxy ESO 174-1, which resembles a lonely, hazy cloud against a backdrop of bright stars, dominates this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. ESO 174-1 lies around 11 million light-years from Earth and consists of a bright cloud of stars and a faint, meandering tendr
Teams install the heat shield on the Artemis II Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2023. The 16.5-foot-wide shield will ensure the safe return of the astronauts on board as the spacecraft travels at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour and experiences outside tem
Aerostar’s high-altitude balloon is shown here moments after launch carrying payloads from 20 student teams as part of NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge. Credits: Fresh Produce Students from 20 middle and high schools watched as their experiments launched aboard a high-altitude balloon on June 14 as
A young alligator rests on a concrete structure at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 25, 2023. Alligator breeding season starts in May when males begin courting females. By June, pairs have mated, and females build vegetation nests in the marsh. Eggs hatch in about 65 days. The mother
Local students take in the sights—and data—at an Earth Information Center student engagement event, Friday, June 23, 2023, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Earth Information Center is a new immersive experience that combines live data sets with innovative data visualization and storytelling t
The teeming stars of the globular cluster NGC 6544 glisten in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This cluster of tightly bound stars lies more than 8,000 light-years away from Earth and is, like all globular clusters, a densely populated region of tens of thousands of stars. This i
During the Skylab 2 crew’s final fly-around inspection on June 22, 1973, they saw this overhead view of the Skylab space station. It has a single solar panel and a parasol solar shield, rigged to replace the micrometeoroid shield. A mishap in the original Skylab 1 liftoff and orbital insertion
As sunlight and warmth increase in the spring and summer, the North Sea starts to gain swirls and tendrils of color. Phytoplankton—tiny, plant-like organisms that often float near the ocean surface—become abundant during this time, giving the shallow water the distinctive look seen in this June 14,
