August 2022
Jupiter's clouds revealed in true colors in new Juno image
Wednesday, August 31, 2022: This new image captured by NASA's Juno Jupiter explorer reveals features in the turbulent atmosphere of the solar system's largest planet in the same colors a human observer would see them.
Juno took the image on July 5, 2022, during its 43rd close flyby of Jupiter using its JunoCam instrument. The spacecraft was at a distance of 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometers) from the tops of the gas giant's clouds when the image was taken, zipping by at 130,000 mph (209,000 kilometers per hour).
Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson processed the raw data from Juno to create two images. The image on the left hand side shows the view as it would appear to a human observer in Juno's position. In the image on the right, Jónsson digitally enhanced color saturation and contrast, allowing the intricate structure of the planet's atmosphere to come to the fore. – Tereza Pultarova
Devastating floods in Pakistan
Tuesday, August 30, 2022: Devastating floods hit Pakistan after weeks of heavy rains.
This image compares the extent of Hamal Lake in central Pakistan near the city of Larkana in mid-July and on August 29. Both images were captured by the European Earth-observing satellite Sentinel-2, which is part of the Copernicus program.
More than two million people have been affected by the floods and thousands displaced. – Tereza Pultarova
Early hours of launch day
Monday, Aug. 29, 2022: All eyes turned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center for today's scheduled launch of the Artemis 1 SLS megarocket, a crucial test flight in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon. Fueling began early in the morning, in advance of a two-hour launch window that opened at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT). Find continuing coverage of the launch attempt at our live updates page. — Meghan Bartels
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Countdown to lift-off!
Friday, August 26, 2022: NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket photographed by an Earth-observing satellite of U.S. company Maxar Technologies as it sits on the launch pad waiting for its debut uncrewed flight, which is scheduled for Monday (Aug. 29).
The image was taken on Thursday (Aug. 25) as the satellite passed south of Cuba, about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) away from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Looking back at a steep angle, the spacecraft captured the 322-foot-tall (111 meters) rocket peeking through clouds. – Tereza Pultarova
Astronaut fly jets to salute upcoming moon mission
Thursday, August 25, 2022: The jets in this image are piloted by several NASA astronauts who executed this spectacular formation flight to salute NASA's upcoming moon mission Artemis 1.
The monstrous Space Launch System rocket that will propel an uncrewed Orion capsule for a debut test flight to the moon and back on Monday (Aug. 29), can be seen sitting on its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida below the four jets.
Astronaut candidates Nichole "Vapor" Ayers and Jack Hathaway were among the pilots of the formation flight. – Tereza Pultarova
Svalbard melting fast amid record-breaking heatwave
Wednesday, August 24, 2022: The Svalbard archipelago has experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer, which led to extreme glacial melting in this nordic region.
A comparison of images captured by the European Earth-observing Sentinel-2 satellite shows the difference between the extent of the ice cap on Svalbard's southern island Edgeøya in August 2021 and August 2022. The image reveals that the surface layers of ice and snow disappeared completely in some regions this year, revealing the older ice layers, which are now melting rapidly.
According to the Laboratory of Climatology and Topoclimatology of the Liege University in Belgium, temperatures in Svalbard this summer were 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 3 degrees Celsius) above long-term averages. – Tereza Pultarova
Artemis I ready to go!
Tuesday, August 23, 2022: NASA's Space Launch System rocket on launchpad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after passing its Flight Readiness Review for its debut moon flight next week.
The rocket is now set to lift off on Monday (Aug. 29) at 8:33 a.m. EDT (12:33 GMT). It will propel an uncrewed Orion spaceship on a test flight as part of the Artemis I. mission. If successful, the mission will pave the way for a human return to the moon in 2024 and a landing one year later. – Tereza Pultarova
Amazing auroras entertain astronauts aboard the International Space Station
Monday, Aug. 22, 2022: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti shared incredible images of auroras seen from the International Space Station.
In a tweet posted Sunday, Aug. 21, Cristoforetti wrote "The sun has been really active lately. Last week we saw the most stunning auroras I have ever experienced in over 300 days in space!"
In the image, the space station can be seen silhouetted against spiraling bright green auroras dancing across the Earth's upper atmosphere. A high number of sunspots on the sun's surface have been generating solar flares and coronal mass ejections in recent months, suggesting the sun is entering a more active phase of its regular 11-year-cycle. — Brett Tingley
Hubble reveals scintillating globular cluster on the Milky Way's heart
Friday, Aug. 19, 2022: The Hubble Space Telescope photographed a glittering stellar cluster at the heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way, which could help astronomers unravel some of the mysteries of the galaxy's past.
The globular cluster called NGC 6540 is located about 17,000 light-years away from Earth toward the center of the Milky Way and consists of thousands of stars packed tightly by their gravitational attraction.
The cluster, which can be found in the night sky in the constellation Sagittarius, could help astronomers learn more about the Milky Way's past. Globular clusters are very old and by measuring their ages, shapes and structures, astronomers get a glimpse of how galaxies evolve. – Tereza Pultarova
Stunning auroras brighten up view from space station
Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022: With the increased activity of the sun over the past week, astronauts on the International Space Station get treated to spectacular views of polar light displays above the planet.
This image, shared on Twitter by NASA astronaut Bob Hines on Wednesday (Aug. 17), coincides with the arrival of a coronal mass ejection, a burst of plasma from the sun, which triggered a geomagnetic storm in Earth's atmosphere.
"Absolutely SPECTACULAR aurora today!!! Thankful for the recent solar activity resulting in these wonderful sights!," Hines said in his Tweet.
While Earthling's won't be able to enjoy such magnificent spectacles, auroras can currently be spotted from areas farther away from the poles than usual. In the U.S., these natural light displays might brighten up the sky as far south as New York, and the northern parts of Europe can get a glimpse too. – Tereza Pultarova
NASA's moon rocket heading to launch pad
Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022: NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket photographed on its journey to the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of its debut flight later this month.
The rocket, which will send the uncrewed Orion space capsule for an test trip around the moon as part of the Artemis I mission on Aug. 29, left the iconic Apollo-era Vehicle Assembly Building at about 10 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 16 (0200 GMT Wednesday, Aug. 17).
The 365-foot-tall (111 meters) rocket travels in an upright position on a giant crawler vehicle that moves at a speed of only 1 to 2 miles an hour (1.6 to 3.2 km/h), making the whole roll-out process last about 11 hours. – Tereza Pultarova
NASA's moon rocket ready for roll-out ahead of debut flight
Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022: NASA's Space Launch System rocket captured inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of its roll out to the launch pad.
The rocket is scheduled to launch an uncrewed Orion space capsule for a round trip to the moon and back on August 29 to test technologies for future human exploration of Earth's natural satellite. – Tereza Pultarova
A different kind of crater lake
Monday, Aug. 15, 2022: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has one of the best views of our planet from her perch on the International Space Station, and in a tweet posted Thursday (Aug. 11), she shared the view with the people of Chad to celebrate the nation's independence day.
"We explore space, and sometimes space comes to us," she wrote introducing an image of the Gweni-Fada meteorite impact crater, which she noted is about 9 miles (14 kilometers) across and formed more than 300 million years ago. The view displays the crater's characteristic circular shape; this crater currently contains a crescent-shaped lake where a river flows into the impact scar. —Meghan Bartels
Betelgeuse recovering after mysterious dimming episode
Friday, Aug. 12, 2022: Betelgeuse underwent a strange dimming event in 2019. Now scientists looking at data from the Hubble Space Telescope and several other observatories believe the red giant star blew its top in 2019, and that Betelgeuse's behavior is still somewhat temperamental as a result.
Astronomers put together a timeline of the events showing that the star likely had a huge surface mass ejection. That event made a huge area of Betelgeuse blast off into space. The outburst was 400 billion times more massive than a typical coronal mass ejection that the sun experiences. — Elizabeth Howell
NASA 'moonikin' readies for Artemis 1 launch
Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022: The German space agency caught a glimpse of a NASA 'moonikin' during final preparations for a lunar mission. While DLR was loading some mannequins on board Artemis 1, engineers uploaded an image of the NASA human simulant, who is named after Apollo 13 engineer Arturo Campos.
"Our #LunaTwins have taken their places. This past week, Helga & Zohar have been assembled & installed in the capsule at . Waiting inside to greet them – Commander Moonikin Campos who is also one of the ‘passengers’ on board #Artemis I," DLR tweeted.
Artemis 1 aims to launch no earlier than Aug. 29 for a round-the-moon mission that will last more than a month. The mission will use these mannequins to assess the space environment for radiation, shaking and other stresses of spaceflight to make sure the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are ready to carry humans later in the 2020s. — Elizabeth Howell
SpaceX does a static fire test for Starship rocket
Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022: SpaceX is getting ready for its first orbital flight of Starship. SpaceX conducted a "static fire" test of its Starship Super Heavy Booster 7 on Aug. 9, 2022 at its launching facility in south Texas.
"Team at Starbase completed a single Raptor engine static fire test of Super Heavy Booster 7 on the orbital launch pad," SpaceX wrote in a tweet describing the test.
SpaceX will need to secure full approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before making the launch, which will be Starship's first in orbit and the first mission of any sort since 2021. SpaceX hopes to make that journey later in 2022 to prepare Starship for NASA human Artemis program missions to the moon and eventually, human Mars exploration. — Elizabeth Howell
NASA astronauts train with xEMU lunar spacesuit
Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022: NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared an image of he and fellow agency astronaut Doug Wheelock, each wearing an xEMU spacesuit prototype. The NASA spacesuit is being assessed at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Pettit wrote, for its ability to support astronaut activities on the moon.
"Learning how to clean our spacesuits before ingressing the lander," Pettit wrote on Twitter. "Everyone wore full face respirators. Lunar regolith has health implications to crewed #artemis missions."
NASA initially planned to use xEMU in support of its Artemis program, which aims to put boots on the surface no earlier than 2025. Earlier this year, however, the agency asked commercial companies to manufacture Artemis spacesuits after the NASA Office of the Inspector General raised concerns about development delays with the xEMU. The companies making lunar spacesuits will have access to xEMU data during development of their own astronaut outfits. — Elizabeth Howell
'Celestial cloudscape' shines in Orion Nebula
Monday, Aug. 8, 2022: A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope appears to be peering into the depths of a watercolor cloud. The "celestial cloudscape", as European Space Agency officials termed it, is in reality a swirl of gas surrounding a star nursery in the famed Orion Nebula.
Hubble was capturing activity around Herbig Haro (HH) object 505. HH objects are glowing areas around fresh stars, which occur as winds flowing off from these newborns slams swiftly. into regional gas and dust.
"In the case of HH 505, these outflows originate from the star IX Ori, which lies on the outskirts of the Orion Nebula around 1000 light-years from Earth," Hubble officials added. "The outflows themselves are visible as gracefully curving structures at the top and bottom of this image, and are distorted into sinuous curves by their interaction with the large-scale flow of gas and dust from the core of the Orion Nebula." – Elizabeth Howell
Water level so low in Europe's Rhine river that cargo ships may no longer be able to pass
Friday, August 5, 2022: The prolonged spell of hot and dry weather that affects Europe this summer has caused the water level in the river Rhine, one of western Europe's major waterways, to drop so low that cargo ships may no longer be able to pass.
A comparison of two images captured by the European Earth-observing satellite Sentinel-2 a year apart, on Aug.5 2021 and Aug. 3 2022, reveals the severity of the situation near the city of Gendt in the Netherlands.
Measurements taken in Lobith, near the Dutch border with Germany, revealed that the river is near record low levels. Earlier this week, the Dutch government declared the official water shortage situation in the country. – Tereza Pultarova
Thunderstorms seen from space
Thursday, August 4, 2022: Lightnings brightening up the night sky over eastern Africa on the backdrop of the star-studded blackness of the universe can be seen in this image taken from aboard the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Bob Hines, who is a member of the current Crew-4 aboard the orbital outpost, shared the image on his Twitter account on Sunday, July 31.
"Thunderstorms over eastern Africa," Hines said in the tweet. "The @Space_Station is a wonderful post to observe the beautiful intricacy of our planet!" – Tereza Pultarova
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins checking science experiments at International Space Station
Wednesday, August 3, 2022: There is no up and down in microgravity. It only depends on the viewpoint. So NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is really not hanging from the ceiling of the International Space Station while checking science experiments.
Watkins, who arrived at the orbital outpost as part of Crew-4 on board SpaceX's Dragon capsule Freedom on April 27, shared the image on her Twitter account on Wednesday (Aug. 3).
"Just another day in the life on @Space_Station, doing microscopy on the ceiling," Watkins said in the tweet. Our Lab module is jam-packed with science, but access to three dimensions opens up a lot more space! Here, I'm checking out how immune cells age in microgravity in support of the Immunosenescence study."
Watkins is the first black woman on a long-duration mission to the International Space Station. She is also among the candidates for NASA's future moon mission. – Tereza Pultarova
Astronauts see wildfires raging from International Space Station
Tuesday, August 2, 2022: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have an overview of our planet struggling amid the warming climate.
This image, shared by European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on her Twitter account on Tuesday (Aug. 2), reveals a massive cloud of smoke rising from a wildfire devouring a rye field in western Poland on the final July weekend.
"We spotted a huge wildfire near Nowa Wieś Zbąska, Poland, this weekend," Cristoforetti said in her tweet. "According to local news it destroyed over 50 hectares [0.2 square miles] of grain. Our thoughts are with the residents and the farmers."
The fire is only one of many that has ravaged Europe this summer as the continent broiled in a record-breaking heatwave. – Tereza Pultarova
Svalbard melts mid record-breaking temperatures
Monday, August 1, 2022: Ice caps in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard are melting fast this summer as temperatures reach 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) above the historical average.
This image, captured by the European Earth-observing satellite Sentinel-2 on July 31, shows a large amount of sediments flowing into the Arctic Sea from the islands, which are among the northernmost inhabited areas of the world.
The rapidly melting snow and ice in areas near the polar circle, contribute to the rising sea levels, a major consequence of progressing climate change. The summer of 2022 is exceptionally warm in Svalbard with temperatures up to 9 degrees F (5 degrees C) above the average levels for 1981 - 2010. -- Tereza Pultarova
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.