The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft is seen in this early morning photo from Dec. 14, 2022, as preparations for launch continued. SWOT, the first satellite mission that will observe nearly all water on Earth’s surface, launched on Dec. 16. Jointly developed by NASA and Centre Na […]
On April 8, 2022, this 30-second exposure captured the International Space Station as it passed over the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This photo was chosen by the NASA Headquarters photographers as one of the best images from 2022. Se
An osprey is seen in front of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard as launch preparations continued Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This photo was chosen by the NASA Headquarters photographers as one of the best from 2022. See the rest
This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft’s HIRISE instrument on Oct. 23, 2022, of the northern plains of Arabia Terra shows craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution. For instance, the deposits are located on the south sides of the craters, b
The James Webb Space Telescope spies the spiral galaxy NGC 7469, located 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus, in this image released on Dec. 21, 2022. This galaxy is very dusty, but Webb’s infrared vision can peer through to observe features like the intense ring of star
On Dec. 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first humans to orbit the Moon, and the first to witness the magnificent sight called “Earthrise.” As the spacecraft was in the process of rotating, Anders took this iconic picture showing Earth ri
Dec. 22, 2022 — Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada prepares a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station’s (ISS) Port-4 truss segment as the orbiting lab flew 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia. Astrona
Hawaii’s big island and its two major volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa rest under a partly cloudy sky on Feb. 8, 2022, in this view from the International Space Station. Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano had been quiet for nearly 40 years. However, in 2022, the volcano began to st
By taking a closer look at one of Webb’s first images, the iconic Cosmic Cliffs, scientists have found dozens of energetic jets and outflows from young stars previously hidden by dust clouds. The discovery marks the beginning of a new era of investigating how stars like our Sun form, and how the rad
On Dec. 18, 2022, InSight did not respond to communications from Earth. As expected, the lander’s power has been declining for months, and it’s assumed InSight may have reached its end of operations. NASA will declare the mission over when InSight misses two consecutive communication sessions with t
