23 June 2026

From watching the Apollo launches as a child to guiding NASA’s Artemis II spacecraft through the vastness of space, Kathleen Harmon has become an indispensable figure in NASA’s quest to return humans to the Moon. As the Artemis II Mission Interface Manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), Harmon ensures that every signal sent to and from spacecraft millions of miles away is flawlessly maintained, making her role critical to the success of deep space exploration.

As autumn takes hold in Australia’s Southern Hemisphere, the Victorian Alps transform into a landscape shrouded in thick morning fog. Captured by NASA’s Terra satellite, these breathtaking images reveal dense radiation fog filling valleys across several national parks nestled in the mountains of eastern Victoria during May.

On Mars, **Curiosity** continues to showcase remarkable ingenuity and perseverance, echoing the spirit of its Mars 2020 siblings, the **Ingenuity** helicopter and **Perseverance** rover. Over sols 4886 to 4892, the rover demonstrated a masterclass in engineering precision and scientific inquiry by recovering its stuck drill and performing detailed geological investigations in the Gale Crater region.

On the 4,877th Martian day of NASA’s Curiosity rover mission, the rover captured detailed images of a rock that had caused a rare mechanical hiccup on its drilling system. The rock, dubbed “Atacama” , got stuck on the drill bit at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm, prompting engineers to undertake a careful operation to free it.

From 267 miles above Earth, the International Space Station captured a striking image of snow-blanketed fields at the southern tip of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada . This photograph, taken by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot , sparked a flurry of insightful observations from readers intrigued by the geometric patterns and frozen landscape.

From aspiring astronaut to vital engineer, Nicholas Houghton has transformed his childhood dream into a career safeguarding the lives of astronauts on NASA’s groundbreaking Artemis missions. As a key member of the Orion Crew Survival Systems team, Houghton plays an indispensable role in designing and certifying the life-preserving technologies that protect astronauts during their journeys beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA is gearing up to host its highly anticipated 2026 Lunabotics Challenge , a premier robotics competition focused on advancing lunar exploration technologies. Scheduled from Tuesday, May 19, through Thursday, May 21 , this event will take place at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education within the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

The collaboration between NASA , the European Space Agency (ESA) , and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has taken a significant step forward in enhancing the reliability of commercial Earth observation data.

The heart of the Milky Way, known as the galactic bulge, conceals a dense and dynamic region packed with stars, planets, and mysterious celestial objects. Now, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is preparing to revolutionize our understanding of this crowded stellar hub by conducting an unprecedented survey.

Jessica Meir , a distinguished astronaut at NASA, embodies the spirit of exploration and scientific excellence. Captured in a striking portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on September 23, 2025, this image was honored as a finalist for the prestigious 2025 NASA Photographer of the Year award.