NASA
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Lava Flows Down Mayon
The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 acquired this rare, relatively clear image of Mayon, the most active volcano in the Philippines, on Feb. 26, 2026. The natural-color scene is overlaid with infrared observations to highlight the lava’s heat signature. On that day, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported volcanic earthquakes, rockfalls, and hot clouds of ash and debris called pyroclastic flows. Along…
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From Service to Space Systems: A Pathways Journey to NASA
For Corey Elmore, the path to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center did not begin in engineering. It began in service. Today he serves as a NASA Pathways engineering intern in the Technical Processes and Tools Branch (KSC-NE-TA) at Kennedy Space Center. Through the Pathways program, he is gaining hands-on experience supporting the engineering environments, technical tools and processes that help NASA…
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NASA’s Hubble Unexpectedly Catches Comet Breaking Up
In a happy twist of fate, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a comet in the act of breaking apart. The chance of that happening while Hubble watched is extraordinarily minuscule. The findings published Wednesday in the journal Icarus. The comet K1, whose full name is C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)—not to be confused with interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS—was not the original target of the Hubble…
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Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas
The Ides of March brought perilous weather to West Texas and the state’s Panhandle. A strong cold front blasted south across the arid plains on March 15, 2026, bringing stiff winds that stirred up a curtain of dust. The cloud of suspended particles slashed visibility and made for treacherous travel as it swept across the region. The high winds, coupled with dry…
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NASA’s X-59 Prepares for Second Flight
NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft is preparing for its second flight, a step that will set the pace for more flight testing in 2026. Over the coming months, NASA will take the quiet supersonic jet faster and higher, while validating safety and performance, a process known as envelope expansion. NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less will be at the X-59’s controls for second flight. Less…
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Dim Delights in Cancer
Cancer the Crab is a dim constellation, yet it contains one of the most beautiful and easy-to-spot star clusters in our sky: the Beehive Cluster. Cancer also possesses one of the most studied exoplanets: the superhot super-Earth, 55 Cancri e. Find the M44, the Beehive Cluster, at the center of the Cancer constellation, using nearby stars such as Regulus in Leo,…
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Solving Asteroid Bennu’s Mysteries
These X-ray computed tomography (XCT) scans released on March 17, 2026, give us a glimpse inside asteroid Bennu. They show the most common types of crack networks observed in Bennu samples; these networks solved a mystery that baffled NASA for years. When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft first approached asteroid Bennu in 2018, scientists expected to see smooth, sandy beach-like surfaces. Instead, they found a celestial body covered…
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Asteroid Bennu’s Rugged Surface Baffled NASA, We Finally Know Why
In one of the biggest surprises of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders, with few of the smooth patches that earlier observations from Earth-based instruments had indicated. “When OSIRIS-REx got to Bennu in 2018, we were surprised by what we saw,” said Andrew Ryan, a scientist with…
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Hail Yeah! NASA Researchers Use Volunteer Observations for Hail Estimates
The bigger the hailstone, the more damage it can cause. But scientists find that predicting hailstone size can be challenging. How quickly does hail melt as it falls? Now, you can help tackle this question by joining the SouthEast Region CoCoRaHS Hail (SEaRCH) project. This network of backyard weather observers includes volunteers of all ages and backgrounds who work together to measure…
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A Bit of Gray on an Emerald Isle
Today’s story is the answer to the March 2026 puzzler. Though Ireland is known for the many shades of green that grace its grassy pastoral landscapes, there’s one corner of the Emerald Isle where gray reigns supreme. In the Burren region, on the island’s west coast, what geologists describe as limestone pavement covers much of the rocky, treeless landscape. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this view of the Burren on…
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