NASA
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NASA
Winter Grips Japan
Northern Japan, especially the island of Hokkaido, is home to some of the snowiest cities in the world. Sapporo, the island’s largest city and host of an annual snow festival, typically sees more than 140 days of snowfall, with nearly 6 meters (20 feet) accumulating on average each year. The ski resorts surrounding the city delight in the relatively dry, powdery “sea-effect” snow that often falls…
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NASA
What You Need to Know About NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Mission
Four crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, where they will conduct research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the orbiting laboratory. The crew will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. The spacecraft previously…
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NASA
Space Station Research Contributes to Artemis II
Have you ever heard the saying, “You have to learn how to walk before you can run?” The same can be true in human space exploration. To push capabilities further and ensure safe, successful missions, NASA must test ideas and solve challenges ahead of time. While Earth-based research and engineering helps NASA progress through various challenges, it can’t fully replicate…
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NASA
Icy Hudson River
During a stretch of frigid weather in late January 2026, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the wintry landscape around midday on Jan. 28. This image uses representational color to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow. Vegetation appears red. Much of the ice in the image…
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NASA
A Grand, Snow-Rimmed Canyon
A sunny day in early 2026 revealed the remnants of a winter storm on Arizona’s high desert—and produced a striking, if somewhat puzzling, display of light and shadow in the Grand Canyon. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured these photographs of the distinct topography on January 26, 2026. Snow flurries were flying in the area the previous two…
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NASA
NASA Sets Coverage for Agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 Launch, Docking
NASA will stream live coverage of the upcoming prelaunch, launch, and docking activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than 6:01 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 11, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The targeted docking time is approximately 10:30 a.m., Thursday,…
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NASA
Boreal Forests Are Shifting North
The boreal forest—the world’s largest terrestrial biome—is warming faster than any other forest type. To understand the changing dynamics of boreal forests, Feng et al., 2026 analyzed the biome from 1985 to 2020, leveraging the longest and highest-resolution satellite record of calibrated tree cover to date. The study, published in February in Biogeosciences with four co-authors from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, confirms a…
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NASA
Strong Solar Flare
This Feb. 4, 2026, image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captures a strong solar flare erupting from the star. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can, along with other types of solar eruptions, can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts. The flare pictured was classified as an X4.2 flare. X-class…
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NASA
A Winter Blanket Covers North Carolina
A potent winter storm in late January 2026 left much of North Carolina dealing with significant snow accumulations. Though the state is no stranger to snow, such widespread coverage is unusual. This image, acquired on February 2 with the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite, reveals a nearly continuous blanket of white stretching from mountain cities in the west to beachfront towns…
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NASA
NASA Selects Two Earth System Explorers Missions
Two next-generation satellite missions announced Thursday will help NASA better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters. “NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to study our home planet to deliver life-saving data into the hands of disaster response and decision-makers every day for the benefit of all, while also informing future exploration across…
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