NASA's Earth Observatory reports unusually high fire emissions on both sides of New Guinea in September and October 2026, as drought linked to a strong El Niño left the landscape primed to burn.
NASA's Perseverance rover reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles) driven on Mars on Oct. 11, 2026, setting a record for the farthest distance driven on another celestial body, the mission team reported.
Hubble observations reveal a ten-sided atmospheric wave around Saturn's south pole, the first large regular-sided jet pattern seen in the planet's southern hemisphere. Researchers say it resembles the northern hexagon but appears to be newly forming.
NASA says Artemis III will send four astronauts into low Earth orbit in 2027 to practice rendezvous and docking with test versions of Blue Origin's Blue Moon and SpaceX's Starship landers ahead of planned lunar landings in 2028.
ESA confirmed that BepiColombo's Mercury Transfer Module separated from the spacecraft stack on 3 September 2026, the first step in a six-month arrival sequence toward orbit around Mercury.
NASA hot-fired RS-25 engine No. 10001 on Oct. 21 at Stennis Space Center, running it for almost 500 seconds and reaching 111% power to test components and a new nozzle thermal protection system.
NASA's Langley Research Center has signed a Space Act Agreement with the Virginia Department of Energy to share solar, meteorological and weather-risk datasets for state energy modeling and long-term planning.
A deep image of M42, the Great Nebula in Orion, highlights glowing gas around hot young stars at the edge of an interstellar molecular cloud about 1,500 light-years away.
ESA reports that the FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellites have been enclosed in the fairing of their Vega-C rocket at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, ahead of a planned September launch.
Expedition 75 astronauts aboard the International Space Station bioprinted blood vessels, ran a spacesuit fit check in the Quest airlock, trained on robotic arms and set up Earth photography, NASA reported on October 22, 2026.
NASA and its commercial partners Blue Origin and SpaceX have changed lander designs and operations as the agency targets a crewed lunar landing in 2028, with Artemis III now set to test rendezvous and docking in low Earth orbit.
NASA's PACE satellite is tracking fall foliage from orbit, using its Ocean Color Instrument to measure leaf pigments worldwide and map the shift from green to red as autumn progresses.
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