TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
February 6, 2026
Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light 11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the still-hot filaments and knots in the supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding blast wave is about 20 light-years across. A series of light echoes from the massive star's cataclysmic explosion are also identified in Webb's detailed images of the surrounding interstellar medium.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SafZn947ChM
Record Cold, Cell Phone Radiation, Solar Superstorms | S0 News and frens
Feb.6.2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADpMs1KljBw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ZJAF4Ppfo (MrMBB333: The Sun Isn't Appearing Where It SHOULD Be (VIDEO))
https://www.miragenews.com/why-we-need-national-space-weather-forecast-1615257/
https://english.pravda.ru/science/165744-solar-storms-geomagnetic-bursts-health-civilization/
https://www.space.com/live/aurora-forecast-northern-lights-possible-tonight-feb-4
https://x.com/CW39Houston/status/2019785306740781376
https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2019788522119377136
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
https://spaceweather.com/
February Changes Everything — 3I/ATLAS
February 6, 2026
Introduction: First things first we sincerely apologize! The period of limited communication was a calculated necessity.
Following an intensive development phase focused on neutral-atom quantum computing architectures in technical alignment with QuEra Computing Inc., our research focus shifted toward stabilizing a robust deployment framework.
Over the past month, resources were also highly prioritized for a strategic interface partnership with 3I Atlas Research.
This collaboration involved integrating complex backend data structures into a streamlined web interface, ensuring that ongoing data + quantum research remains accessible and scalable.
With these foundational milestones now complete, research operations have officially resumed at full capacity. 🌎🚀💥
As the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) officially closed its public observing window last week on January 27, 2026, 3I/ATLAS is now transitioning from a scientific curiosity into a "Ghost Object".
While the world’s eyes are being legally and technically shut, the data left behind paints a picture far more complex than just a rare comet.
Welcome back, 🌎 👁️
Let’s begin…
Part 1. The Chemical Anomalies:
Forget the debunked radio signals; the real mystery lies in the verifiable chemical fingerprint of this interstellar interloper.
The Nickel-Rich Paradox: JWST and ground-based spectroscopy confirmed a forbidden transition of atomic nickel at 7.507~mu m.
This gas-phase metal is appearing at temperatures as low as 150 K, far below the sublimation point of nickel minerals.
While researchers suggest the photodissociation of organometallic complexes, the absolute production rates remain significantly higher than anything seen in solar system comets.
Carbon Dioxide Overload: 3I/ATLAS is exceptionally "volatile-rich." Its CO_2:H_2O mixing ratio is enhanced by over an order of magnitude compared to typical comets, approaching the levels of the freakish solar system object C/2016 R2.
The Methane Delay: Methane (CH_4) was directly detected for the first time in an interstellar object, but only after perihelion.
This delayed onset suggests the CH_4 was "buried deep" in unprocessed subsurface layers, only reachable once the thermal wave of the Sun penetrated the interior.
The true scientific significance of 3I/ATLAS lies not in these chemicals individually, but in their thermal and structural interdependence.
When viewed as a single system, they paint a portrait of a "Pristine Volatile Engine."
The relationship between these 3 signatures reveals a gradient of preservation. The Nickel gas serves as the "atmospheric skin," the CO_2 as the "insulating mantle," and the Methane as the "cryogenic heart."
This layering suggests that 3I/ATLAS is a low-porosity body; if it were a loose "rubble pile," the Methane would have leaked out simultaneously with the CO_2.
Instead, the "Methane Delay" proves the interior remained structurally sealed until the thermal wave reached critical depth.
yuge cont.
https://medium.com/@earthexistclothing/february-changes-everything-3i-atlas-75c1cf3185e4
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/life-as-we-do-not-know-it-ai-and-alien-intelligence-49a07ea13b59
https://medium.com/@wildhope/3i-atlas-quantum-gravity-and-the-higgs-boson-61d0fd503395
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/3i-atlas-spherex-december-2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbr4Gpcy4cI (Ray's Astrophotography: Comet 3I ATLAS - It Looks Different — I Took a Picture)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdBPrmMr9b4 (Avi Loeb: How Many Interstellar Objects Are Hiding in Our Solar System?)
https://x.com/3IATLASEXPOSED/status/2019663540206932282
https://x.com/EarthExist/status/2019744556086861834
A Winter Blanket Covers North Carolina
Feb 06, 2026
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 in the east.
According to the North Carolina State Climate Office, measurable snow fell in all 100 counties for the first time in more than a decade.
Snowfall in North Carolina typically requires cold air funneled in from the north to combine with moisture supplied by a low-pressure system.
During the January 31 weekend event, Arctic air from earlier in the week lingered across the state as a storm approached along a near-shore track, setting the stage for widespread snow.
Snow totals exceeded a foot in some of the state’s western, mountainous regions, following several years without significant snowfall events, though some locations such as Asheville saw smaller amounts.
The storm even pushed south into Greenville, South Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the downtown area saw about 5 inches (13 centimeters) by the evening of January 31, according to the National Weather Service.
In the Piedmont region, the hilly central part of the state, Charlotte received nearly a foot of snow—the most since 2004—while Raleigh saw a lighter accumulation of 2.8 inches, according to the state climate center.
Even coastal parts of the state traded brown sandy beaches for a blanket of white, with more than a foot reported in parts of Carteret County.
Beaufort, a mainland town in the southern Outer Banks area, experienced heavy blowing snow. Slightly inland, Greenville received 14 inches, an amount not seen since a large storm in March 1980.
Though appearing serene from space, the storm posed real hazards on the ground. Dangerous road conditions snarled traffic and caused collisions, according to local news reports, while coastal areas saw high winds and waves.
Overwash on Highway 12 in the Outer Banks coated parts of the road in standing water and sand, while several homes along the shore of Hatteras Island collapsed into the sea.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/a-winter-blanket-covers-north-carolina/
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/worldview-image-archive/effects-back-back-winter-storms-over-eastern-u.s.-bahamas
NASA Rocket to Conduct ‘CT Scan’ of Auroral Electricity
February 5, 2026 3:30PM
A NASA rocket mission will soon launch from Alaska to reveal the electrical circuitry underlying the aurora. The rocket will use a technique similar to a CT scan to reconstruct the electrical currents flowing from the northern lights.
The Geophysical Non-Equilibrium Ionospheric System Science, or GNEISS (pronounced “nice”), mission will launch from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska, as early as Feb. 7.
When an aurora lights up the sky, it’s because electrons are flowing from space into Earth’s atmosphere. You can think of these electron beams like the electricity flowing through a cord to illuminate a lightbulb.
The electricity doesn’t stop where the light appears. Electricity travels in loops; the lightbulb is just a pit stop on a roundtrip journey known as a circuit. If the light is on, electrons aren’t just flowing in — they’re also flowing back out through the power cord from whence they came.
For auroras, the incoming electrons flow along beams that resemble a power cord, but the current flowing back from the aurora is not nearly as organized. After setting the aurora alight, the auroral electrons scatter in unpredictable directions.
Collisions, diverging winds and pressure gradients, and transient electric and magnetic fields all shape their paths. They ultimately find their way back to complete the auroral “circuit,” but only after meandering through the ever-shifting chaos of our atmosphere.
To understand how the aurora works, we need a clear picture of how the auroral current closes, including the winding paths electrons take after sparking the aurora.
Yet observing that returning current is no simple feat. It means somehow scanning all the possible paths the electricity could take.
“We’re not just interested in where the rocket flies,” said Kristina Lynch, principal investigator for GNEISS and a professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. “We want to know how the current spreads downward through the atmosphere.”
Lynch designed GNEISS to do exactly that. With two rockets and a network of ground receivers, GNEISS will create a three-dimensional view of the electrical environment of an aurora.
“It’s essentially like doing a CT scan of the plasma beneath the aurora,” Lynch said.
The GNEISS mission launches its two rockets at the same time, flying side by side through the same aurora along different “slices.” Once inside, each rocket will eject four subpayloads. These subpayloads measure distinct locations inside the aurora.
As the rockets fly overhead, they send radio signals through the surrounding plasma to receivers on the ground. The plasma alters those radio waves en route, in the same way different body tissues alter the beams from a CT scan.
The GNEISS team uses these radio signals infer plasma density, which reveals where electricity can flow. It’s a large-scale auroral CT scan.
Figuring out how auroral currents work isn’t only about filling in a missing piece of physics. Those currents shape how energy from space spreads through Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Where the current fans out, the atmosphere heats up. Winds stir, and satellites plow through unexpectedly turbulent air.
Scientists have long studied the atmosphere where auroras form using ground-based observations. NASA’s EZIE satellite mission, launched in March 2025, determines auroral electrical currents from above.
Combining those measurements with rocketry, GNEISS offers a rare chance to actually look inside the system.
“If we can put the in situ measurements together with the ground-based imagery, then we can learn to read the aurora,” Lynch said.
The GNEISS mission won’t be flying alone. During the same launch window, NASA also plans to launch the Black and Diffuse Aurora Science Surveyor.
This sounding rocket mission focuses on unusual blank spots inside auroras known as black auroras. Scientists suspect they are where auroral currents suddenly reverse direction.
It will be the mission’s second attempt at flight, following a 2025 attempt when science and weather conditions were unfavorable for launch.
Auroras emerge where space meets sky. Electric currents, particle flows, and collisions create these natural wonders, and sounding rockets let us fly directly through them to place instruments exactly where the action is.
With short, targeted flights and carefully timed launches, missions like GNEISS help turn brief flashes of light into lasting scientific insight.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/wallops/2026/02/05/nasa-rocket-to-conduct-ct-scan-of-auroral-electricity/
NASA Selects Two Earth System Explorers Missions
Feb 05, 2026
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 our solar system,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“By understanding Earth’s surface topography, ecosystems and atmosphere, while also enabling longer range weather forecasting, these missions will help us better study the extreme environments beyond our home planet to ensure the safety of astronauts and spacecraft as we return to the Moon with the Artemis campaign and journey onward to Mars and beyond.”
These two missions were selected for continued development as part of NASA’s Earth System Explorers Program, which conducts principal investigator-led Earth science missions based on key priorities laid out by the science community and national needs.
The program is designed to enable high-quality Earth system science investigations to focus on previously identified key targeted observables.
The STRIVE (Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) mission will provide daily, near-global, high-resolution measurements of temperature, a variety of Earth’s atmospheric elements, and aerosol properties from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere – at a much higher spatial density than any previous mission.
It also will measure vertical profiles of ozone and trace gasses needed to understand the recovery of the ozone layer.
The data collected from STRIVE would support longer-range weather forecasts, an important tool in protecting coastal communities, where nearly half the world’s population lives.
The mission is led by Lyatt Jaeglé at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The EDGE (Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer) mission will observe the three-dimensional structure of terrestrial ecosystems and the surface topography of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice.
The mission will provide an advancement beyond the measurements currently recorded from space by NASA’s ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2) and GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation).
The data collected by EDGE will measure conditions affecting land and sea transportation corridors, terrain, and other areas of commercial interest. The mission is led by Helen Amanda Fricker at the University of California San Diego.
The selected missions will advance to the next phase of development. Each mission will be subject to confirmation review in 2027, which will assess the progress of the missions and the availability of funds.
If confirmed, the total estimated cost of each mission, not including launch, will not exceed $355 million with a mission launch date of no earlier than 2030.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-two-earth-system-explorers-missions/
https://explorers.larc.nasa.gov/2023ESE/
Voyager 1 just said hello to NASA from interstellar space despite being over twenty-five billion kilometers away
Feb 06, 2026 at 11:56 AM (UTC+4)
Voyager 1 has been drifting through the dark for nearly half a century, long after its original mission wrapped up and its expectations quietly expired.
Now, from more than 25 billion kilometers away, it’s checked in again.
The signal was faint, almost laughably so, but it arrived all the same.
And at this distance, that alone feels like a small miracle.
Voyager 1 is still talking to Earth from interstellar space
Launched in 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 was never meant to last this long.
It flew past Jupiter and Saturn, sent home its postcards, and then just kept going.
In 2012, it officially entered interstellar space, becoming the most distant human-made object ever.
Today, it’s roughly one light-day from Earth, moving at around 61,000km/h through a region no spacecraft had ever reached before.
On February 2, engineers received another radio signal from Voyager 1.
It wasn’t carrying new science data or dramatic discoveries.
It was simply proof the spacecraft is still alive.
The energy behind that transmission is so weak it’s often compared to less than the impact of a falling snowflake.
Most of Voyager’s instruments have already been shut down to conserve power, leaving only the bare minimum systems running on a slowly fading nuclear energy supply.
The fact that NASA can still hear anything at all is well beyond what the mission’s designers ever planned for.
At this point, communication itself is the achievement.
When 25 billion kilometers still isn’t very far
After nearly 50 years of nonstop travel, Voyager 1 is about one light-day from Earth, which works out to roughly 25 billion kilometers.
That’s a huge distance by human standards.
But in space, it’s barely anything.
At its current speed of around 61,000km/h, Voyager wouldn’t reach the Andromeda Galaxy for roughly 45 billion years – longer than the universe has existed.
This is why space distances are so hard to picture.
Numbers like light-days and light-years sound impressive, but they don’t translate well to real movement across the universe.
Even the fastest thing humans have ever built is moving incredibly slowly on a cosmic scale.
It’s not a design flaw.
Space is just that big.
https://supercarblondie.com/tech/voyager-1-said-hello-to-nasa-from-interstellar-space/
https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/1qwdoin/voyager_1_just_said_hello_to_earth_from/
Dragon Preps, Artificial Intelligence, and Medical Gear Fill Crew’s Day
February 5, 2026 2:55PM
SpaceX Dragon arrival preparations and artificial intelligence research to improve crew operations continued aboard the International Space Station on Thursday.
The Expedition 74 crew also checked out new medical hardware and trained to use emergency gear while keeping up orbital lab maintenance.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission continues its countdown to a launch targeted for no earlier than 6:01 a.m. EST on Feb. 11, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The four Crew-12 members Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, both from NASA, Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency), and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos will dock to the orbital outpost’s space-facing port on the Harmony module the following day.
They will spend nine months conducting advanced microgravity research aboard the orbital outpost benefitting humans living on and off the Earth.
Station Flight Engineer Chris Williams kept up his Dragon training and station configurations ahead of Crew-12’s planned arrival next week.
Williams spent an hour continuing to review the procedures he will use while monitoring Dragon’s automated approach and rendezvous toward Harmony.
Afterward, he began gathering and organizing standard spacecraft emergency hardware that will be transferred into Dragon shortly after it arrives.
Williams also checked out the new Ultrasound 3 biomedical device that is replacing the Ultrasound 2 scanner on the station.
He powered on the device in the Columbus laboratory module and tested its configurations and electrical connections with a laptop computer and the Human Research Facility.
The Ultrasound 3 was delivered to the orbital outpost on Sept. 18, 2025, aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft.
It can be used for advanced imaging of a crew member’s cardiovascular, abdominal, and musculoskeletal systems in weightlessness with real-time guidance from doctors on the ground.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, station commander and flight engineer respectively, joined each other on Thursday exploring using artificial intelligence to boost crew efficiency aboard the orbital outpost.
The duo tested AI-assisted tools to convert speech-to-text for speedier documentation and improve data handling and communications between the crew and ground controllers.
Kud-Sverchkov also conducted crew medical officer training familiarizing himself a variety of emergency hardware, including an automated external defibrillator and respiratory support pack, to treat a crew member in the unlikely event of a medical situation aboard the space station.
The two-time station resident continued experiment operations for the Plasma Kristall-4 investigation that explores complex plasmas to advance spacecraft designs, better understand planetary formation, and improve fundamental physics research.
Mikaev began his shift testing space-to-ground communications hardware with mission controllers in Russia. Afterward, the first-time space flyer checked the Elektron oxygen generator’s water tanks for air bubbles to ensure the life support device’s continuous operation.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/05/dragon-preps-artificial-intelligence-and-medical-gear-fill-crews-day/
COL Anne McClain
@AstroAnnimal
With February launches coming up, you’re going to hear a lot about zero-g indicators. So, here’s a quick explainer on them.
On launch, we’re strapped in tight: 5-point harness, legs and feet restrained. That’s critical for safety, especially in the event of an abort, but it also means we can’t feel the exact moment gravity lets go.
That’s where the zero-g indicator comes in.
Every crew chooses a small, soft object - sometimes from our kids, sometimes designed just for the mission - which is tethered inside the capsule. When it floats, we know we’re weightless. We’re in space!
Every astronaut remembers the moment their zero-g indicator lifts off. That’s the moment spaceflight becomes real! What will the Artemis II and Crew-12 crews choose for their indicator?
We will all find out together after launch! (hint: keep watching the broadcast for about 30 minutes)
Here are a few photos of друг, the Crew-10 zero-g indicator that launched with us on 14 March 2025, floating in the @Space_Station
cupola. друг, pronounced "droog," means "friend" in Russian. And here are the words we called down to mission control as we watched друг floating in the cabin for the first time:
"Our zero-g indicator is a hand-crocheted origami crane, with patches displaying our mission number and flags from each of our countries.
Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper. This is a nod to the unique and deep cultural traditions from which each of us come. We are from different parts of the world, but we are brought together in this bold endeavor, and we represent all of humanity.
The folded paper design was also chosen to represent the paper airplanes we made when we were kids, before we were astronauts, when all we had was a dream, when we looked up at the sky and wondered “what if?”
It’s a symbol that every big accomplishment starts with a quiet dream - and that dreams do come true, when you believe in yourself and listen to those who believe in you.
For those of you with doubt, filter out the voices that say you or your work are not worthy. Crew-10 believes in the dreamers, because all of this started with our impractical dreams.
The flag and number markings on the crane are intentionally placed to resemble the markings of an airplane.
This is a nod to each of our shared experience as professional pilots. Kirill flew the Boeing 757 and 767, @Astro_Onishi the Boeing 767, @Astro_Ayers the Air Force F-22, and I flew the Army OH-58D helicopter.
This is a source of deep pride for our crew - what pilot doesn’t like to talk about the fact they are a pilot? - but it also symbolizes our shared culture as astronauts.
In our years of training together, we have found that we have far more in common than we do different.
Our zero-g indicator was hand-crocheted by a small business owner in the US – this represents all of the hands which created our entire space program, and this rocket and capsule we are flying today.
It also represents all of the artists and musicians who inspire people to imagine beyond what they can see.
Spaceflight is perhaps the most complex endeavor of our time, but it was built one step at a time, by one person at a time. Crew-10 wants to recognize all of those people.
Finally, the origami crane is the international symbol for peace, hope, and healing. Crew-10 hopes to serve as a beacon of hope, and a reminder of what humans can accomplish when we see the goodness in one another and choose to work together toward a common goal.
We are united today not through a common enemy, but through shared optimism and a basic belief in the goodness of humanity.
It is far easier to be enemies than to be friends. It is easier to break relationships than it is to build them.
Spaceflight is hard. Success in these pursuits depends on leaders of character, who choose the harder right over the easier wrong, who build programs and partnerships, and who believe in the power of the common good. We explore for the benefit of all!
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, then go together. We choose to go together in peace, because you cannot be great without the greatness of others.
GO @NASA, GO @roscosmos, GO @JAXA_en, GO CREW-10!"
9:51 AM · Feb 2, 2026
https://x.com/AstroAnnimal/status/2018381754084565365/photo/2
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 to Study Adaptation to Altered Gravity
Feb 05, 2026
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission is preparing to launch for a long-duration science mission aboard the International Space Station.
During the mission, select crew members will participate in human health studies focused on understanding how astronauts’ bodies adapt to the low-gravity environment of space, including a new study examining subtle changes in blood flow.
The experiments, led by NASA’s Human Research Program, include astronauts performing ultrasounds of their blood vessels to study altered circulation and completing simulated lunar landings to assess disorientation during gravitational transitions, among other tasks.
The results will help NASA plan for extended stays in space and future exploration missions.
The new study, called Venous Flow, will examine whether time aboard the space station increases the chance of crew members developing blood clots.
In weightlessness, blood and other bodily fluids can move toward the head, potentially altering circulation. Any resulting blood clots could pose serious health risks, including strokes.
“Our goal is to use this information to better understand how fluid shifts affect clotting risk, so that when astronauts go on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, we can build the best strategies to keep them safe,” said Dr. Jason Lytle, a physiologist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston who is leading the study.
To learn more, crew members in this study will undergo preflight and postflight MRIs, ultrasound scans, blood draws, and blood pressure checks.
During the flight, crew members also will capture their own jugular vein ultrasounds, take blood pressure readings, and draw blood samples for scientists to analyze after their return to Earth.
In another study, called Manual Piloting, select crew members will perform multiple simulated Moon landings before, during, and after the mission.
Designed to assess their piloting and decision-making skills, participants attempt to fly a virtual spacecraft toward the lunar South Pole region — the same area future Artemis crews plan to explore.
“Astronauts may experience disorientation during gravitational transitions, which can make tasks like landing a spacecraft challenging,” said Dr. Scott Wood, a neuroscientist at NASA Johnson who is coordinating the investigation.
While spacecraft landings on the Moon and Mars are expected to be automated, crews must be prepared to take over and pilot the vehicle if necessary.
“This study will help us examine astronauts’ ability to operate a spacecraft after adapting from one gravity environment to another, and whether training near the end of their spaceflight can help prepare crews for landing,” said Wood.
“We’ll monitor their ability to manually override, redirect, and control a vehicle, which will guide our strategy for training Artemis crews for future Moon missions.”
The risk of astronauts experiencing disorientation from gravitational transitions increases the longer they’re in space.
For this study, which debuted during the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission, researchers plan to recruit seven astronauts for short-term private missions lasting up to 30 days and 14 astronauts for long-duration missions lasting at least 106 days.
A control group performing the same tasks as the astronauts will provide a basis of comparison.
A different study will investigate potential treatments for spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome, or SANS, which causes vision and eye changes. Researchers will examine whether taking a daily B vitamin supplement can help relieve SANS symptoms.
After returning to Earth, select crew members will participate in a study that documents any injuries, such as scrapes or bruises that may occur during landing.
Transitioning from weightlessness to Earth’s gravity can increase the injury risk without proper safeguards. The data will help researchers improve spacecraft design to better protect crews from landing forces.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasas-spacex-crew-12-to-study-adaptation-to-altered-gravity/
Hubble Spots Lens-Shaped Galaxy
Feb 05, 2026
This new Hubble image, released on Jan. 30, 2026, is the sharpest taken of NGC 7722, a lenticular galaxy located about 187 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus.
A lenticular, meaning “lens-shaped,” galaxy is a type whose classification sits between more familiar spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.
It is also less common than spirals and ellipticals — partly because these galaxies have a somewhat ambiguous appearance, making it hard to determine if it is a spiral, an elliptical, or something in between.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hubble-spots-lens-shaped-galaxy/
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-sees-galaxy-with-dark-rings-in-new-light/
The New and Improved Schedule F is Now Schedule P/C
February 6, 2026
A final rule by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) titled “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service” (preview text) has dropped and will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow.
Update: 91 FR 5580 – Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service is now formally posted in the Federal Register As implemented, it will lead to tens of thousands of nonpartisan career civil servants being moved to Schedule Policy/Career (Schedule P/C, a revived Schedule F) and being stripped of their civil service protections.
The rule says that the President can fire anyone in the new Schedule P/C who disagrees with whatever the Administration says or does.
Protect Democracy filed a suit a year ago and will be filing an amended complaint soon. [Earlier NASAWatch posts] Here’s the summary of what this all means according to OPM:
“The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduct.
The final rule authorizes agencies to move policy-influencing positions into Schedule Policy/Career. These positions will remain career jobs filled on a nonpartisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals.
This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives.
The rule requires agencies to establish internal policies protecting employees from prohibited personnel practices.”
https://nasawatch.com/personnel-news/schedule-f-is-now-schedule-p-c/
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/FR-2026-02-06/2026-02375
NASA Appoints Kevin Murphy to Dual Acting Roles as CAIO and CDO
Updated 5:30 AM PST, February 6, 2026
NASA has appointed Kevin Murphy as its Acting Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO) and Acting Chief Data Officer (CDO), according to a post he shared on LinkedIn.
He succeeds David Salvagnini, who previously held both roles and was the agency’s first-ever CAIO.
A veteran of more than 17 years at NASA, Murphy most recently served as the agency’s Chief Science Data Officer.
In that role, he led the development of data, computing, and analytics capabilities supporting scientific and engineering innovation across the agency, working closely with the Science Mission Directorate’s five science divisions to advance cloud computing, machine learning, and data platforms.
Murphy also oversees NASA’s High-End Computing Capability (HECC) portfolio, which provides supercomputing and data services to support large-scale modeling, simulation, and analysis across science, engineering, and exploration missions.
Earlier in his career, he managed data systems for NASA’s Earth-observing satellite programs and led initiatives including the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program.
He holds a master’s degree in Geography and has completed doctoral coursework at the University of Maryland.
Murphy’s leadership has been recognized with several honors, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and the Charles S. Falkenberg Award.
https://www.cdomagazine.tech/leadership-moves/nasa-appoints-kevin-murphy-to-dual-acting-roles-as-caio-and-cdo
NASA scientists join U.S. Drought Monitor team
Feb 5, 2026
Two representatives from NASA have joined the team of U.S. Drought Monitor authors.
The monitor is hosted by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and produced through a partnership between the drought center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and now NASA.
The new authors are Ben Cook, with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University, and Jonathan Case, with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
“Since the inception of the U.S. Drought Monitor in 1999, it has been a uniquely collaborative product,” said Mark Svoboda, director of the drought center.
“We are very excited about this partnership, which marks a new step in joint efforts between NASA and the Drought Monitor authoring team.”
This is the first time NASA has contributed authors to the monitor’s development process. To mark their involvement, the administration’s logo now appears in the lower-right corner of the Drought Monitor map.
Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, said NASA Earth science has been proud to contribute unique data and expertise to the monitor effort for years.
“This agreement formalizes our partnership and incorporates NASA scientists as key members of the expert team that produces the weekly maps that are the gold standard for observing and forecasting drought,” she said.
“This is one of many ways that NASA’s Earth science and data power the operational services that U.S. farmers, ranchers and resource managers rely on.”
The Drought Monitor is a weekly map showing the location and severity of drought across the United States and its territories, using six classifications to designate the extent of abnormal dryness or drought.
Authors are from the partner organizations, and the new NASA authors bring their number to 11. Each week, one of the authors uses dozens of indicators from multiple data sources, including NASA, to update drought levels across the U.S. and territories.
A network of drought experts from each of the 50 states and Puerto Rico also provide input on local conditions.
Cook and Case have been added into the author rotation and will each complete their first two-week shift later this year.
https://www.tsln.com/news/nasa-scientists-join-u-s-drought-monitor-team/
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
“No known mechanism could have created this” — NASA admits an unusual hexagon-shaped structure on Saturn
February 5, 2026 in Technology
Outer space is most definitely the largest mystery to us humans here on Earth. It is so unfathomably large that our brains cannot fully comprehend it.
Rules that apply down here go out the window up in space, and phenomena so strange occur that we can barely believe them to be real. One such occurrence is Saturn’s hexagonal structure that so far defies all scientific understanding.
How we have barely touched the tip of the iceberg that is outer space
Almost all of outer space remains a mystery to us as tiny little humans. It is so massive that we will never be able to explore it all, and it just keeps expanding.
The observable universe is around 93 billion light-years across, a number so large we can barely make sense of it. And that’s just the observable universe, meaning the area of space that light has been able to reach since the Big Bang.
In theory, so much more exists beyond that.
The sheer size of the universe makes it impossible for us to know what actually exists out there. And since it is so difficult to travel to outer space, due to dangerous conditions as well as extreme distance to anything else out there, we have a lot to learn.
But we do know that some incredible phenomena occur up there, like supernova (exploding stars), black holes (areas in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape), dark matter and dark energy that hold the universe together, and so much more.
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We have such a limited understanding and evidence of these phenomena, but science has created strong theories surrounding these things.
Another interesting occurrence that has been sighted for decades is a unique hexagonal shape on the planet Saturn, which doesn’t really make sense to scientists at all.
The unusual hexagon-structure on Saturn that continues to amaze scientists
First spotted back in 1981, this strange shape that Saturn sports has amazed scientists and space enthusiasts alike for many years.
The Voyager mission that set out decades ago to study Jupiter and Saturn managed to capture some extremely interesting images of the North Pole of Saturn, showing this unique hexagonal structure. But what exactly was it that they had just discovered?
Saturn is already one of the most interesting planets with all its unique moons, but this makes it even cooler. It took many years before NASA was able to get better images and a better understanding of what this shape was.
The Cassini probe, which investigated Saturn from 2004 to 2017, was able to give researchers a clearer idea, but much still remains a mystery.
The probe used the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to better see the shape, even though it was in its winter season, and a lot darker.
Over a few years, the imaging was able to capture what was actually occurring: a symmetric jet stream of winds, stretching for 20,000 miles in diameter, spinning around a vortex right at Saturn’s north pole.
This phenomenon has some similarities to an Earth-like hurricane, but it does not get its energy from water and heat as we do here. So how was it occurring?
There is so much we still don’t know about this hexagonal vortex
Kevin Baines, a VIMS and planetary scientist for NASA, says it is one of the biggest mysteries of the dynamics of Saturn.
Scientists do not understand how such a symmetrical shape can stay in place in Saturn’s atmosphere, nor why it has occurred for so long.
There is still so much to figure out about this storm that Saturn has created, and as researchers continue to investigate data from the probe, more will undoubtedly be discovered.
That’s not all that’s strange about this planet; it also appears to have a unique moon environment that is shocking scientists more than ever.
https://www.ecoportal.net/en/hexagon-shaped-structure-on-saturn/17126/