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NASA | ESA Space Updates

@nasaupdates.bsky.social
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Space news from around the globe, all in one place Focusing on NASA & ESA Missions Artemis III 🚀🌕 | 2027 Note we are not NASA just #Spacenerds #Moonjoy

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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 22h
🔭 Record-breaker! Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers pinpointed the host galaxy of fast radio burst FRB 20240304B, confirming it occurred just 3 billion years after the big bang. 🌌✨ #JWST #SpaceNews #Astronomy
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) was able to detect the host galaxy of the fast radio burst called FRB 20240304B, whose location is shown by the white cross. They found it is a small dwarf galaxy actively forming stars.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
As part of upcoming mission updates, Artemis III will send four astronauts to low Earth orbit next year to test critical systems required for future lunar landings! 🛰️👨‍🚀 #ArtemisIII #SpaceExploration
The Moon, as seen by Artemis II astronauts just before they passed behind it. The edge of the visible surface of the Moon, or the limb, is visible. Just beyond that is Earth, lit like a crescent moon.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
🤖 Meet Idefix! The 25-kg rover heading to Phobos will experience gravity so low that it will weigh the equivalent of just 15 grams on the moon's surface! It will scout ahead for the main lander. 🌕🐾 #MMX #Rover #Mars
The Idefix Rover
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
🚀 Liftoff is near! The JAXA-led MMX mission launches on Oct 19/20, 2026, to explore Mars's mysterious moons. It will be the first mission to collect samples from Phobos and bring them back to Earth! 🌌 #MMX #SpaceExploration #Mars
MMX at Mars and Phobos
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Did you know extreme debris disks are surprisingly rare? Scientists estimate that roughly only 1% of young stars show observable signatures of this chaotic planetary collision phase! 🌌✨ #NASA #JWST #Space
Artist’s concept of a star and its debris disk against the black background of space. The star is in the background, right of center, and depicted as a small, luminous sphere. The debris disk is a large blue ring that encircles the star. The debris disk is angled toward the viewer, so that the portion nearest to the viewer extends beyond the bottom frame of the illustration. Many dark, rocky fragments are scattered throughout the debris disk. In the foreground, toward the left, is a small planetary embryo colliding into the left side of a larger spherical object. The impact site glows bright yellow and orange and has a mottled appearance, as though chunks of both colliding bodies are breaking up and being destroyed. Orange-yellow streams of vapor extend outward from the collision area. Behind the debris disk and its star are many small stars in the background. A label in the bottom right corner reads “Artist’s Concept.”
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Look at this young star cluster captured by Webb Space Telescope! 🌟 At its center sits a bright yellow star boasting the largest eight-pronged diffraction pattern. To its left, a massive yellow region of dust and gas stretches across two-thirds of the view, embedding blue stars of all sizes.
A young star cluster filled with many stars that display Webb’s unique eight-pronged diffraction pattern. At its center is a yellow star which sports the largest diffraction pattern. To the left of the star, there is a region filled with yellow dust and gas. This yellow region extends from the bottom, covering about two-thirds of the image. The yellow region has several blue stars of different sizes embedded within. The top third, which lies outside of the yellow region, holds a few bright protostars, within dense gray gas. Those stars illuminate the gas, making it appear blue. A few red outflows from other protostars are visible above this grayish-blue region. To the right of the central star, there is a clumpy, flame-like plume of red dust and gas with protostars that emit a soft white light within. The plume is surrounded by more dense gray gas and dust.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Welcome home! After spending over seven months aboard the International Space Station, NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles inside the Dragon capsule "Freedom". 🚀🌊 #NASA #Crew12
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev aboard in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 2026.
Credit: NASA/Keegan BarberNASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev returned to Earth
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
During the Artemis II mission, astronauts spotted five extremely faint "pinprick" flashes of light caused by rocky fragments colliding with the Moon from about 46,000 miles away! 🌠🛰️ #ArtemisII #NASA
Front cover of the Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report - Through photographs, spoken observations, drawings, and annotations, the Artemis II crew created a unique scientific record—one that is now available to the science community and the public for further study.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
In the crowded Milky Way center, teasing apart light is tough! For the first time, researchers used a special technique to remove overlapping X-ray sources, revealing a pristine, uncontaminated view of the Sgr A East supernova remnant. 🔭🔬 #Space #NASA #Chandra
A labeled version of the main image that points out the Sgr East Supernova Site to the left of our galaxy's supermassive black hole, Sgr A*.
Sagittarius A East, labeled. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/McGill Univ./M. Balakrishnan et al.; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Sub-mm: EAO/James Clerk Maxwell Telecope; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds, N. Wolk
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Astronomers have captured the clearest view yet of Sagittarius A East, a supernova remnant located right next to our galaxy's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (which packs 4 million solar masses)! 🌌✨ #Astronomy #MilkyWay #Chandra
This composite image provides a view of Sagittarius A East (Sgr A East), a supernova remnant near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers used a special technique to separate Chandra’s view of Sgr A East from other X-ray sources in this crowded region, allowing them to study its diffuse emission and map elements including iron, sulfur, argon, and calcium. Lower-energy Chandra X-rays are shown in green and higher-energy X-rays are shown in blue, combining to appear purple near the remnant’s center. Radio data from the NSF’s Very Large Array (red) and submillimeter data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (dark blue) complete this multiwavelength view. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/McGill Univ./M. Balakrishnan et al.; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Sub-mm: EAO/James Clerk Maxwell Telecope; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds, N. Wolk
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 8:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 7, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission from the International Space Station, pending favorable weather conditions. Watch live on NASA+! 🚀🛰️ #SpaceX #Crew12 #NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 members gather for a portrait in the pressure suits they will wear when they depart the International Space Station inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. From left, Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 pilot and commander respectively, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and mission specialist Sophie Adenot.
Credit: NASA/Anil Menon
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Welcome to the International Space Station, SpaceX Crew-13! 🚀 NASA’s Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, CSA's Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos's Sergey Teteryatnikov arrived safely aboard the Dragon spacecraft. Hatch opening is up next! 👩‍🚀👨‍🚀 #SpaceX #Crew13 #ISS
The SpaceX Dragon, with its nose cone open and carrying four Crew-13 members, approaches the International Space Station for a docking.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission has successfully launched! 🚀 This kicks off several months of scientific exploration aboard the International Space Station
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
All clear for liftoff! NASA and SpaceX have officially completed the Launch Readiness Review, giving Crew-13 a "go" for launch targeting no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1 from Cape Canaveral. 🚀🛰️ #NASA #SpaceX #Crew13
Ahead of launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, stands vertical at the launch pad of Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🚀 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission will fly aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Grace! Previously flown during Axiom Mission 4 in 2025, Grace is heading back into orbit to safely transport four crew members to the International Space Station. 🌌 #Crew13 #NASA #SpaceX
Crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Using the combined power of The Hubble Space Telescope(visible light) and Webb Telescope (infrared), astronomers conducted the deepest survey yet of objects beyond Neptune—discovering 27 new, ultra-faint Trans-Neptunian Objects! 🌌🔭
This artist’s concept depicts a Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO), a small, faint, icy body orbiting the Sun beyond the orbit of Neptune. Often more than 100 million times dimmer than objects visible to the unaided eye, TNOs are so small that even with NASA’s Hubble and Webb space telescopes, they appear only as tiny points of light. Artwork: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
By combining manual algorithms with machine learning, astronomers uncovered an elusive intermediate-mass black hole devouring a star. Occurring in 2001–2002, it is one of the earliest tidal disruption events seen by Chandra! ✨ #Space #BlackHole
The Phoenix Cluster
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/M.McDonald et al.; Radio: NRAO/VLA; Optical: NASA/STScI)
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Using AI to search through decades of NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory data, scientists discovered 7 previously unknown pairs of galactic cavities—the direct result of explosive outbursts from supermassive black holes! 🌌 #Astronomy #AI #Space
Artist's illustration of the Chandra X-ray Observatory in space. (Credit: NASA/CXC & J.Vaughan)
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
🚀 NASA and Boeing are holding a joint news conference on Monday, Sept. 28, at 3 p.m. EDT. Leaders will share updates on Starliner’s ongoing development and outline plans for regular crewed missions to the International Space Station. #Starliner #NASA #Space
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is pictured approaching the International Space Station for docking.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
🚀 NASA and SpaceX are targeting Oct. 1 at 11:10 AM EDT for the launch of Crew-13 to the International Space Station! The mission will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida.
The SpaceX Crew-13 members pose for a portrait in their pressure suits during a preflight training session at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. From left are, Roscosmos Sergey Teteryatnikov, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk.
SpaceX
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
✨ Deep in the heart of our galaxy, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a brilliant star field surrounding Sagittarius A*. Webb’s powerful mid-infrared eyes are giving us unprecedented views of the extreme environment at the center of the Milky Way!
A bright, densely populated star cluster lies near the center of the image, surrounded by intricate clouds of glowing gas and dust in shades of red, pink, orange, and blue. Dark lanes of dust weave through the nebula, contrasting with the luminous central region. Countless stars are scattered across the field, with a few brighter foreground stars showing Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes. Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, F. Peißker, J. Lu, F. Yusef-Zadeh, N. B. Sabha, C. Chan
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Next stop: Titan! 🪐 NASA’s Dragonfly mission is scheduled to launch in summer 2028 and will reach Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan in late 2034 to begin a 3.3-year primary exploration mission.
Highlighted in purple, located in the equatorial dune fields of Saturn’s moon Titan, Ahmakiq Undae has a diameter of approximately 500 miles (810 kilometers) and borders the roughly 50-mile (80-kilometer) diameter Selk impact crater, to the upper right. Deposits formed during the impact that created Selk Crater are primary exploration targets for NASA’s Dragonfly mission. The yellow box on the global image of Titan denotes the approximate area.
NASA/Jason Barnes
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered McGetchin crater, the largest newly formed crater ever spotted in the solar system! Formed in early 2024, scientists estimate an impact of this massive scale happens on the Moon only about once every century. 🌕💥
An aerial view of a lunar crater. A bright, circular impact crater sits in the center of a dark, cratered surface, with white rays of ejected lunar material radiating outwards in all directions, creating a stark contrast against the gray terrain.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🪐 Scientists discovered a giant 10-sided atmospheric wave—a decagon—encircling Saturn's south pole! Captured by Hubble Space Telescope, this is the first large, regular-sided jet pattern ever seen in the planet's southern hemisphere.
Two views of Saturn from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveal a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling the planet’s south pole. The feature, called a decagon, is the first large, persistent, regular-sided pattern observed at Saturn’s southern hemisphere.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
NASA’s Webb Telescope discovered brown dwarfs in star cluster IC 348 that are just TWICE the mass of Jupiter! 🌌 Weighing only 0.19% of our Sun's mass, these are the least massive brown dwarfs ever found—challenging current models of how stars form.
A star-forming region. The left two thirds of the image is blanketed in thick clouds of green and yellow gas and dust that form swirling patterns. Some of the gas is spread into thin, thready wisps. The right third of the image is the black background speckled with stars and multi-colored dots that represent distant galaxies. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the center of the scene. Each is crowned with six long spikes and two shorter spikes created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Two missions, one launcher! 🚀 Europe's Vega-C rocket is carrying both Sentinel-3C and FLEX into orbit. During flight VV30, Vega-C will deploy Sentinel-3C first, then perform key maneuvers to release FLEX from its Vespa+R payload adapter
FLEX and Sentinel-3C in the launch tower
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 astronauts (Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev) will hold an in-orbit news conference at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to discuss their mission and return to Earth. 🌍
The four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 (from left: Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot) posing in white space suits. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory uncovered a new class of cosmic objects: 84 “hypersoft X-ray sources” scattered across six different galaxies, including Andromeda and the Pinwheel galaxy!
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🚀 NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning to emeritus status at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston! Following their historic Artemis II mission around the Moon, both will step into mentor roles while pursuing new opportunities.
From left, NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, and Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, conduct leak checks on their spacesuits inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, ahead of the Artemis II test flight.
Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Nebula N44 is located about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud—a dwarf satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way. Hubble’s view offers an up-close look at active star birth in the constellation Dorado! 🌌✨
This Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque nebula LHA 120-N44, or N44.
NASA, ESA/Hubble, D. Gouliermis
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A new NASA study published in Nature suggests there may be no upper limit to how intensely Earth reacts to solar storms. For decades, scientists thought Earth's response capped out, but new data shows solar storm effects on technology could be far worse than realized. 🛰️⚡ 1/4
A diagram featuring a detailed space visualization alongside two comparative line graphs. Top Right: Earth is shown surrounded by a complex network of blue magnetic field lines. Far Right: A blue, curved line denotes the “Bow shock,” which transitions into an orange-red turbulent region labeled the “Magnetosheath.” The “WIND” spacecraft is positioned far to the left in the “Solar wind” stream, connected to a label reading “Measured solar wind strength.” The “THEMIS” spacecraft sits closer to Earth inside the magnetosheath, labeled “Corrected solar wind strength.” Left Graph: Plots “Earth's response [mV/m]” against “Measured solar wind strength [mV/m].” A blue line initially follows a linear path but then flattens out, marked with the text “illusion of saturation due to measurement uncertainty.” Right Graph: Plots “Earth's response [mV/m]” against “Corrected solar wind strength [mV/m].” A pink line continues steadily upward diagonally, labeled as the “True linear response.”
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Did you know Saturn’s north pole is wrapped in a massive, six-sided jet stream? 🪐 This geometric storm spans 20,000 miles (30,000 km) across—more than twice the width of Earth—with winds reaching 300 mph (500 kph)! 1/4
Black-and-white photo of the north polar region of Saturn, which is surrounded by a hexagonal pattern of wind flow in the cloudsThe globe of Saturn, seen here in natural color, is reminiscent of a holiday ornament in this wide-angle view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The characteristic hexagonal shape of Saturn's northern jet stream appears somewhat yellow here. At the pole lies a Saturnian version of a high-speed hurricane, eye and all. Images taken using red, green and blue filters were combined to create this natural-color view, taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 22, 2013, at a distance of approximately 611,000 miles (984,000 kilometers) from Saturn.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
NASA’s Titan-bound Dragonfly rotorcraft is getting wired up! Its electrical harness acts as a "nervous system," featuring 17,315 feet of conductor wire and 374 connectors to route power and data across the spacecraft. 🛰️⚡ #NASA #Dragonfly #Space 1/4
Highlighted in purple, located in the equatorial dune fields of Saturn’s moon Titan, Ahmakiq Undae has a diameter of approximately 500 miles (810 kilometers) and borders the roughly 50-mile (80-kilometer) diameter Selk impact crater, to the upper right. Deposits formed during the impact that created Selk Crater are primary exploration targets for NASA’s Dragonfly mission. The yellow box on the global image of Titan denotes the approximate area.
NASA/Jason BarnesClockwise from center, Joe Minty, Ben Thistle, Sam Rutan-Weeks, Carlisa Drew, Jackie Perry, Erika Dorsey, and Alan Busbey connect sections of electrical wiring harness to components inside NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander in a clean room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Milestone in orbit! 🛰️ NASA astronaut Jessica Meir completed her 7th spacewalk during U.S. Spacewalk 99 outside the @Space_Station. With this achievement, Meir now ranks 3rd all-time among NASA women for total spacewalks! #SpaceStation #WomenInSTEM #NASA 1/4
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir prepares to enter the Quest airlock and complete a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
NASA
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
👩‍🔬 NASA’s Roman Space Telescope is named after Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer! Known as the "Mother of Hubble," her legacy lives on as this new mission prepares to unlock the secrets of the cosmos. 🚀✨ #WomenInSTEM #NASA #SpaceHistory 2/4
Dr Nancy Grace Roman, mission namesake 

NASA’s first chief astronomer! Known as the "Mother of Hubble,"
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
🌌 Did you know NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has a view 100x larger than Hubble? Over its lifetime, it will capture light from over a billion galaxies to paint an unprecedented map of our universe! 🔭✨ #NASARoman #Space #Astrophysics 1/4
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope lifting off from NASA Kennedy Space Centre on 30th August, 2026 at 7:26am ET
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
We have lift off! It's a great day to be a space fan! The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope has lifted off on its journey of discovery at 7:26am ET (1126 UTC) NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre 🔭🚀🛰️
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has arrived at the SpaceX hangar at Kennedy Space Center ahead of launch! Roman is launching 9 months ahead of schedule to help transform our view of the universe. 🚀 1/3
A nighttime shot of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope encapsulated in its payload fairing, traveling to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Sydney Rohde (Rocz)
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
🚀 Major milestone for Artemis III! NASA technicians at Kennedy Space Center have begun installing the 4 RS-25 engines into the SLS rocket core stage. Each 7,700 lb engine generates nearly 500,000 lbs of thrust to launch the next crewed lunar mission. 🌕 1/4
Technicians prepare to transfer the #2 RS-25 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket engine (front) to the work stand with the #3 engine (back) for integration with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA/Clayton RougelotTechnicians prepare to transfer the #2 RS-25 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket engine (front) to the work stand with the #3 engine (back) for integration with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA/Clayton Rougelot
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Humans carry about 1 million bacteria on every patch of skin the size of a pencil eraser! NASA research shows these human-related microbes can vent from spacesuits and survive in the shaded regions of the Moon's South Pole. 🚀🌕 1/4
This image was taken by an Artemis II astronaut from the Orion capsule in April 2026, as the spacecraft traveled past the Moon and back over 10 days. The gray-brown, heavily cratered Moon dominates the frame against black space, with a partially lit crescent Earth setting behind its upper-left edge. Credit: NASA
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 features a central bridge of stars that channels gas toward its core. Studying NGC 1672 helps astronomers understand how gas in our own Milky Way feeds its central black hole and triggers new star formation! 🌟 More gallery images - science.nasa.gov/gallery/gala... 4/4

NGC 1672
A barred spiral galaxy featuring a prominent central bar or bridge of stars that channels gas toward its core. Chandra X-rays (purple) highlight growing black holes along the bar and core, merged with Hubble optical light (white, yellow and soft blue) and JWST infrared dust filaments (red). Studying barred spirals in action can help reveal how gas in our own Milky Way, which is also a barred spiral, feeds its central black hole and forms new stars.

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble Heritage Team; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/J. Lee and T. Williams; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major, K. Arcand
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Spiral galaxy NGC 4258 is famous for having two extra "anomalous" spiral arms. Chandra X-ray data shows these extra arms consist of hot gas created by superheated shockwaves from the galaxy's central supermassive black hole jets. 🕳️✨ 3/4
NGC 4258
A spiral galaxy famous for having two extra, "anomalous" spiral arms composed of hot gas. Chandra's X-rays (royal blue) show superheated shockwaves created by central black hole jets, combined with optical light from Hubble (red, yellow and pale blue) and infrared dust filaments from Webb (bright orange). M106 helps show how supermassive black holes can create structural features that mimic star-bearing spiral arms, influencing a galaxy's evolution.

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
✨ NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has released a new gallery featuring 16 galactic images! Each image combines Chandra X-ray data with observations from telescopes like Webb and Hubble to showcase the diverse beauty and structure of the universe. 🌌 1/4
This gallery displays a collection of 16 galactic images from Chandra and other telescopes. Astronomers put galaxies into three main categories: spirals like our own Milky Way, ellipticals that are older and likely the results of mergers, and irregulars that can encompass a wide range of galactic phenomena. All types are represented in this collection. Each galactic image contains X-ray data from Chandra combined with data from telescopes such as NASA’s Webb, Hubble, IXPE, Swift, and NuSTAR, and others both in space and on the ground.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Mark your calendars! 🚀 NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, at 7:26 a.m. EDT for the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A. #NASARoman #SpaceX 1/4
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Spotted by Hubble: Spiral galaxy NGC 4654! Located 72 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster, this galaxy features a bizarrely asymmetric shape caused by titanic cosmic forces. 🌌✨ #Hubble #Space 1/3
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 4654, located 72 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden).
NASA, ESA/Hubble, D. Thilker, J. Lee, and the PHANGS-HST Team
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
NASA’s Webb Telescope just revealed the "Treasure Chest" in the Carina Nebula! 🌌✨ This cosmic "cometary globule" is an isolated cloud of gas and dust featuring a dense, dark head and a sweeping tail. Pure celestial beauty! 🔭💫
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Reiter; Acknowledgement: M. H. Özsaraç
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
To travel further on the Moon, we need better wheels. NASA’s "Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge" aimed to find next-gen lunar rover wheel designs that are lightweight, durable, and capable of handling rugged lunar terrain. The goal? To expand what we can build and explore on the lunar surface. 1/4
NASA engineers, NASA Robotics Academy students, and teams from the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge pose with the wheel prototypes at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Rock Yard in Houston on July 31, 2026.
NASA/Luna Posadas Nava
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope found definitive proof that a dwarf galaxy merged with the young Milky Way 11.8 billion years ago. This discovery extends our understanding of our home galaxy's collision history by 1.8 billion years farther back in time! 🌌 🔭 1/4
About 12 billion years ago, a dwarf galaxy known as LKH collided with a young Milky Way and merged with it. This artist’s concept portrays that collision. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope uncovered definitive evidence of this collision by studying globular star clusters.
Illustration: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is warming up its cameras! 📸 Scientists are testing the spacecraft’s view of its future targets—the Trojan asteroids—from millions of miles away. These tests are key to capturing perfect surface details during the upcoming flybys. #NASALucy #SpaceNews 1/4
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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
NASA’s Webb Telescope captured a stunning new view of the Lion Nebula (NGC 2392). Its iconic lion-like "face" is actually a expanding bubble of ionized gas, while the surrounding "mane" is made up of dense dust clumps illuminated by a dying central star. 🌌 ✨ 1/4
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope imaged the planetary nebula NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula, using the observatory’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments. The central star’s remains are responsible for the nebula’s structure, including a lion face-shaped bubble of ionized gas and dust “mane.”
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
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