Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts. StarBurst will launch aboard a Bandwagon rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station…
Day: September 18, 2026
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 18 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Messier 33: The…
5 Min Read Newfound ‘Baby’ Planet Smashes Record for Youngest Known World An artist’s concept of the youngest known exoplanet, Elias 2-24 b. Credits: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko Astronomers have confirmed a world that’s less than a million years old as the youngest known planet, using data from NASA-funded archives. Called Elias 2-24 b,…
The rollout ceremony for NASA’s first space shuttle, OV-101, coincided with Constitution Day of the nation’s bicentennial on Sept.17, 1976. Although the orbiter was originally planned to be named Constitution, Star Trek fans successfully convinced President Gerald Ford to name it Enterprise after the series’ fictional starship. NASA Fifty years ago, on Sept. 17, 1976—Constitution…
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on May 15, 2026, carrying about 6,500 pounds of science, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station during the company’s 34th commercial resupply mission for NASA. Credit: NASA Media accreditation is open for the next cargo launch that will deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the…
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) iss075e0088825 (Sept. 4, 2026) — Expedition 75 flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Anna Kikina and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos smile for a portrait as they check out emergency medical equipment inside the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module. NASA Discover the IMM…