NASA Science
Spring Rains Saturate Michigan
The start of spring 2026 brought bouts of heavy rain to much of Michigan. Above-normal levels of precipitation in March and early April—exacerbated by snowmelt in the northern part of the state—saturated soils and caused damaging flooding along multiple rivers. A flood watch spanned the entirety of both the upper and lower peninsulas as rain continued to fall in mid-April.
Flooding along the Grand River—Michigan’s longest—near Grand Rapids is visible in the image above (right), acquired on April 11, 2026. For comparison, the left image shows the area the previous April. The images are false-color to better distinguish water from vegetation and other land cover.
At the time of the 2026 image, river gauge data showed the Grand River at Comstock Park was in minor flood stage. The river had crested on April 8 at about half a foot beneath the major flood level at this gauge, making it one of the harder-hit locations along the river. Water had already submerged roads and trails along its banks and encroached on homes, according to news reports, and more water was still to come. After another round of rain, the river was rising again as of April 16, with the potential to reach one of the highest levels on record in Grand Rapids.
The area has been beset by many weeks of soggy weather. Grand Rapids saw approximately double the normal March rainfall totals in 2026. In the first half of April, it received 5.79 inches (147 millimeters), exceeding the average for the entire month by nearly 2 inches.
The story is similar throughout the state. To the north, where an above-normal snowpack still covered the ground, abundant rainfall combined with melt to amplify flooding. Floodwaters in the northern Lower Peninsula washed out roads, including part of a scenic drive, and rendered airport runways unusable. The buildup of water has also stressed dams around the state. Officials have been monitoring several reservoirs that are close to overtopping and have advised some residents to prepare to evacuate.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
References & Resources
- Bridge Michigan (2026, April 16) Michigan flood watch: Newaygo urges evacuations; Cheboygan Dam waters rise. Accessed April 16, 2026.
- FOX 17 (2026, April 5) Grand River forecast to reach major flood stage near Comstock Park. Accessed April 16, 2026.
- MLive (2026, April 15) All of Michigan under Flood Watch as roads washed out, dams fail, people evacuated. Accessed April 16, 2026.
- The New York Times (2026, April 15) Dam Failure Could Imperil Thousands in Northern Michigan. Accessed April 16, 2026.
- NOAA (2026) National Water Prediction Service. Accessed April 16, 2026.
- WGRD (2026, April 15) How the Current Grand River Flood Ranks Historically. Accessed April 16, 2026.
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Eyeing the Richat Structure
In a remote part of northern Mauritania on the Adrar Plateau lies a desert landscape rich in human history. This region of northwestern Africa is sprinkled with Paleolithic stone tools, Neolithic cave paintings, and the remains of medieval towns once used by caravans crossing the Sahara Desert.
When viewed from space, the landscape appears to be shaped most prominently by natural forces. Wind sculpted the seas of colorful sand dunes and scoured plateaus capped with dark desert pavement, while ancient flowing water carved valleys and networks of dried river channels.
But the region’s most eye-catching feature when seen from above is the Richat Structure—a large geologic formation made of concentric ridges on the eastern side of the plateau. French geographers first described the feature in the 1930s, calling it the Richat “buttonhole.” NASA astronauts Ed White and James McDivitt helped bring wider global attention to what became known as “The Eye of the Sahara” after photographing it during their history-making Gemini IV mission.
The 40-kilometer-wide (25-mile-wide) structure was initially thought to be an impact crater because large meteors can produce circular features on Earth’s surface. However, researchers later showed that it is actually a deeply eroded geologic dome formed by the uplift of rock above an underground intrusion of igneous material. Over time, differing erosion rates among rock types in the exposed upper dome led to the development of circular ridges known as cuestas. The orange and gray colors reflect differences in sedimentary and igneous rock types across the structure and the surrounding landscape.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources
- Abdeina, E.H., et al. (2024) How old is the Eye of Africa? A polyphase history for the igneous Richat Structure, Mauritania. Lithos, 107698.
- Abdeina, E.H., et al. (2021) Geophysical modelling of the deep structure of the Richat magmatic intrusion (northern Mauritania): insights into its kinematics of emplacement. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 14(22), 2315.
- The Debrief (2021, April 16) The Richat Structure: The “Eye of the Sahara” is One of Earth’s Strangest Marvels. Accessed April 8, 2026.
- Géoconscience, Adrar Plateau. Accessed April 8, 2026.
- International Commission on Geoheritage, Richat Structure, A Cretaceous Alkaline Complex. Accessed April 8, 2026.
- Matton, G., et al. (2005) Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex. Geology, 33 (8), 665-668.
- Matton, G. & Jébrak, M. (2014) The “eye of Africa” (Richat dome, Mauritania): An isolated Cretaceous alkaline–hydrothermal complex. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 97, 109-124.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2022, July 10) The Eye of the Sahara. Accessed April 8, 2026.
- National Archives (1965, June 4) Richat Structure. Accessed April 8, 2026.
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In southeastern Libya, Jabal Arkanū’s concentric rock rings stand as relics of past geologic forces that churned beneath the desert.
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NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Maps Water Ice Throughout Cygnus X
NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Maps Water Ice Throughout Cygnus X
Description
An observation made by NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) shows the chemical signatures of water ice (shown in bright blue) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (orange) in Cygnus X, one of the most active and turbulent regions of star birth in our Milky Way galaxy.
One of several maps of molecular clouds made by SPHEREx, this observation is detailed in a study published April 15, 2026, in The Astrophysical Journal. The study supports the hypothesis that interstellar ice forms on the surface of tiny dust particles no larger than particles found in the smoke from a candle. The findings show the densest regions of ice coincide with the densest regions of dust, and the dust shields the ice from the intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by newborn stars.
Figure A shows the same region, but in three different wavelengths assigned the colors green, blue, and red. This SPHEREx observation highlights the dark, dusty lanes that protect the water molecules from the intense radiation generated by newborn stars.
Although space telescopes such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the agency’s retired Spitzer have detected water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other icy molecules throughout our galaxy, the SPHEREx observatory is the first infrared mission specifically designed to find such molecules over the entire sky, via the mission’s large-scale spectral survey.
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the SPHEREx observatory launchedMarch 11, 2025, and has the unique ability to see the sky in 102 colors, each representing a different wavelength of infrared light that offers distinctive information about galaxies, stars, planet-forming regions, and other cosmic features. By late 2025, SPHEREx had completed the first of four all-sky infrared maps of the universe, charting the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in 3D to help answer major questions about the cosmos, including those about the origins of water and life.
The mission is managed by JPL for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The telescope and the spacecraft bus were built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data is being conducted by a team of scientists at 13 institutions across the U.S. and in South Korea and Taiwan, led by Principal Investigator Jamie Bock, who is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment, and by JPL Project Scientist Olivier Doré. Data is processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, which manages JPL for NASA. The SPHEREx dataset is freely available to scientists and the public.
For more information about the SPHEREx mission visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/spherex/
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Contours of the James Bay Lowlands
Early spring around Hudson Bay in northern Canada is largely indistinguishable from winter. Sea ice still clings to land, and the boggy lowlands remain frozen. In the dulled tones of the boreal landscape, however, snow helps accentuate the area’s subtle topography. In late March 2026, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photo of frozen channels feeding Hannah Bay—a southern offshoot of James Bay, which is itself an extension of Hudson Bay.
Some of the patterns visible in the photo relate to the region’s ice age history. During the Pleistocene Epoch, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of present-day Canada. It centered on Hudson Bay, where its immense weight depressed the land. Since the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, the ice has retreated and the land has been bouncing back. Glacial isostatic adjustment, or isostatic rebound, is relatively rapid around southern Hudson Bay; the surface continues to rise about 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) per year, or 1 meter per century.
The process has left a fingerprint on the newly emerged land. In this photo, faint, closely spaced ridges parallel the shore of ice-covered James Bay at the terminus of the Harricana river. These beach ridges formed from tidal action reworking sands and silts along the shore, with newer ridges developing along the water as land rises and relative sea level drops.
The Harricana and adjacent waterways flow through boreal peat bogs, or muskeg, in the Hudson Bay Lowlands on their journey out to sea. As the world’s second largest peatland complex, the lowlands store significant amounts of soil carbon. Elsewhere around the bay, the landscape retains features carved by glaciers, such as drumlins and eskers.
With the approach of summer, the muted colors of the frozen months give way to a more varied palette. Peatlands take on a lush, green appearance, and partially decayed organic matter in the peat releases tannins that stain the water dark brown like a strong tea. Sea ice that has remained attached to the James Bay shoreline for several months typically begins to break up in mid- to late-May, with melting complete by the end of July.
Astronaut photograph ISS074-E-417241 was acquired on March 26, 2026, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 200 millimeters. It was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 74 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
References & Resources
- EBSCO Research Starters (2024) Hudson Bay. Accessed April 14, 2026.
- GRACE Tellus, Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). Accessed April 14, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2023, June 17) James Bay Melts Out. Accessed April 14, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2016, October 1) Some Tea With Your River? Accessed April 14, 2026.
- Price, J.S., et al. (1988) Vegetation patterns in James Bay coastal marshes. II. Effects of hydrology on salinity and vegetation. Canadian Journal of Botany, 66(12): 2586-2594.
- Rice, J.M., et al. (2024) The surficial geology record of ice stream catchment dynamics and ice-divide migration in the Quebec-Labrador sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quaternary Science Advances, 13, 100123.
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Nearly 50 years ago, the first Landsat satellite captured the rare sight of Mid-Atlantic waterways frozen over.
Ice in the Hudson River hugged the shore of Manhattan amid a deep freeze.
Patches of open water in the region contributed to low sea ice extent across the Arctic in March 2026, which…
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Super Typhoon Sinlaku
In mid-April 2026, a powerful typhoon bore down on the Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean. The storm, Super Typhoon Sinlaku, was notable for reaching such exceptional strength so early in the year.
The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this image at about 03:30 Universal Time (1:30 p.m. local time) on April 13, 2026, as Sinlaku approached the islands. At the time, the storm carried sustained winds of around 280 kilometers (175 miles) per hour. That places it as a violent typhoon—the highest intensity on the scale used by the Japan Meteorological Agency and equivalent to a category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
The storm continued along its northwest track toward the Marianas on the morning of April 14, as storm bands began to bring heavy rain to the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, according to an update from the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for typhoon conditions to affect Saipan and Tinian from April 14 into April 15 before subsiding to tropical storm conditions.
Though Super Typhoon Sinlaku occurred in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, it formed gravity waves that were visible much higher. The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite captured this nighttime image of the concentric waves made visible in the mesosphere by airglow.
Sinlaku is the second category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026, following Horacio, which churned over the South Indian Ocean in late February. Meteorologists note that Sinlaku is also one of only a handful of category 5 typhoons—a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean—known to have occurred so early in the year.
Meanwhile, several other storms spun over the planet’s oceans. On April 10, Tropical Cyclone Maila rotated in the opposite direction across the equator, and on April 12, Tropical Cyclone Vaianu crossed New Zealand’s North Island.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Story by Kathryn Hansen.
References & Resources
- CIMSS Satellite Blog (2026, April 12) Super Typhoon Sinlaku rapidly intensifies to a Category 5 storm. Accessed April 13, 2026.
- Japan Meteorological Agency (2026, April 13) Tropical Cyclone Information. Accessed April 13, 2026.
- Joint Typhoon Warning Center (2026, April 13) Super Typhoon 04W (Sinlaku) Warning #20. Accessed April 13, 2026.
- National Weather Service (2026, April 14) Zone Forecast for Guam and the Northern Marianas. Accessed April 13, 2026.
- Yale Climate Connections (2026, April 12) Cat 5 Super Typhoon Sinlaku the 2nd-strongest typhoon so early in the year. Accessed April 13, 2026.
- Yale Climate Connections (2026, February 23) Tropical Cyclone Horacio: Earth’s first Category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026. Accessed April 13, 2026.
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Megaberg Ends Its Long Odyssey at Sea
Iceberg A-23A ranks among the giants known to have broken, or “calved,” from Antarctica. Though several other icebergs in the satellite era have been larger, A-23A was remarkable for its longevity. After spending its early days in the Weddell Sea, its journey came to an end in the South Atlantic Ocean, months shy of its 40th birthday.
These images show the iceberg at the start and end of its lifespan. The MSS (Multispectral Scanner System) on Landsat 5 captured the top image on November 10, 1986, shortly after Iceberg A-23 broke from the Filchner Ice Shelf. (The main section was later renamed A-23A after a smaller piece split off.) It is pictured here with several other major icebergs from the same calving event. A-23A outlived all of them.
The second image, captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite on April 3, 2026, shows what remained of the iceberg at the end of its journey. By this point, the ice had drifted into warmer waters north of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands—more than 2,300 kilometers (2,000 miles) north of where the iceberg first calved.
Drifting Toward Disintegration
Iceberg A-23A’s final months brought abundant drift, melt, and breakage. It exited the U.S. National Ice Center’s area of analysis during the week of February 6, 2026, and was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Argentinian Meteorological Service as it drifted into maritime traffic lanes, according to the center’s ice analysts.
Jan Lieser of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and Christopher Shuman of the University of Maryland (retired) have long been tracking the iceberg with remote sensing. They estimated that by March 27, 2026, A-23A had shrunk to just over 170 square kilometers (66 square miles)—a small fraction of the more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) it spanned in 2020 as it lay grounded off the Antarctic coast. Large pools of deep-blue meltwater collected on its surface and likely contributed to its ultimate collapse, visible on March 31.
Clouds obscured some satellite observations of the berg’s final days. “I noticed in recent weeks how Mother Nature seemed to keep a veil (of clouds) over the dying iceberg as if trying to give it some privacy at this stage,” Lieser said. There were still enough observations, however, to capture glimpses of its death throes, as well as the many stages of its long, winding journey.
Tracking A-23A Across the Satellite Era
Iceberg A-23A “came of age” during a period of advances in Earth observation. The Landsat program, ongoing since the early 1970s, captured detailed images throughout the iceberg’s life, while the Terra and Aqua satellites—imaging Earth since the early 2000s—offered broader, daily snapshots as sunlight and clouds allowed.
By the time A-23A broke free from the seafloor in 2022 and began drifting north, a vastly expanded fleet of missions was available to observe its journey—capturing everything from detailed images of its shifting shape to its effects on the surrounding environment. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station added their own close-up perspective, while the newer PACE satellite identified the iceberg’s ripple effects on marine ecosystems. The video below brings together some of NASA’s most striking views of the drifting giant’s journey.
“The technology that allows us to tell ‘iceberg stories’ is a tribute to the engineers and funding that put crucial sensors into orbit to collect those data and make them accessible,” Shuman said. “Through time, these efforts have allowed us to understand the general patterns of iceberg movement around Antarctica, especially in the last handful of decades.”
Lingering Mysteries of Iceberg Motion
With all the images and data that A-23A and other bergs have left behind, scientists now have even more questions about the factors driving iceberg motion, from ocean currents to the shape of the seafloor. Lieser is particularly interested in the small- to medium-sized bergs that break from the giants, as they pose significant hazards to shipping. These smaller bergs, such as the trail near A-23A on March 1, are also notoriously difficult to track, as well as to model in terms of their expected drift.
The megabergs generated by Antarctica’s vast ice shelves also still carry plenty of mystery. In the case of A-23A, Lieser and Shuman wonder what the bathymetry looks like where it became stuck shortly after calving in 1986 and how the iceberg later became ensnared by a rotating vortex of water, or Taylor column, north of the South Orkney Islands.
“We certainly do know a fair bit about the general drift patterns of icebergs and the general environment,” Lieser said. “But when it comes to individual pieces—large and small—and their tracks, there’s still a fair bit to learn.”
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey, VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Map made using data from the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) and the Antarctic Iceberg Tracking Database (BYU). Earth Observatory video by Kathryn Hansen, featuring imagery from sources listed under References & Resources. Story by Kathryn Hansen.
References & Resources
- NASA Earth Observatory (2026, March 6) Ailing “Megaberg” Sparks Surge of Microscopic Life. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2026, January 8) Meltwater Turns Iceberg A-23A Blue. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2025, September 25) A Giant Iceberg’s Final Drift. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2025, August 2) Antarctic Iceberg Downsizes. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2025, May 7) Antarctic Iceberg Loses Its Edge. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2025, March 7) Iceberg Grinds to a Stop off South Georgia Island. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2024, December 20) Antarctic Iceberg Spins Out. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2023, December 1) Antarctic Iceberg Sails Away. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2022, March 19) March of the Icebergs. Accessed April 10, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2010, January 15) Rapid Sea Ice Breakup along the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf. Accessed April 10, 2026.
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After a four-decade run, the massive, waterlogged berg is leaking meltwater and on the verge of disintegrating.
As Iceberg A-23A disintegrated, it shed meltwater that helped fuel an extensive phytoplankton bloom in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Puffs of low-level clouds mingle with the volcanic terrain of Candlemas and Vindication islands in the remote South Atlantic.
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Earthset From the Lunar Far Side
NASA’s Artemis II mission will conclude its 10-day journey around the Moon on April 10, 2026, when the crew splashes down off the California coast. While additional imagery will continue to be processed after their return, the astronauts have already delivered a remarkable collection of photos. Among them is a shot of Earthset, echoing the iconic Earthrise photos taken by Apollo 8 astronauts in 1968.
During an Earthset, the planet appears to sink below the lunar horizon. In this scene, a partially lit crescent Earth drops behind the Moon as seen by crew on the Orion spacecraft. The Earth’s sunlit side shows white clouds and blue water over the Oceania region, while the dark areas are experiencing nighttime. The image also shows incredible detail of the Moon’s surface and its overlapping craters and basins.
The image was taken at 6:41 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 6, 2026, as the Artemis II astronauts passed behind the Moon’s far side. It is one of many photos taken during the seven-hour flyby, including images of a total solar eclipse, the light from several planetary neighbors, and the long shadows cast along the terminator line where lunar day meets night.
More images from the historic flyby can be viewed in the Artemis II lunar flyby gallery, and other mission photos and resources are available on the mission’s multimedia page. Past views of Earth from afar can be found in this collection from NASA Earth Observatory.
Image by NASA. Text by Kathryn Hansen, adapted from NASA resources.
References & Resources
- NASA (2026, April 7) Artemis II Lunar Flyby. Accessed April 9, 2026.
- NASA (2026, April 4) NASA Answers Your Most Pressing Artemis II Questions. Accessed April 9, 2026.
- NASA (2026, April) Artemis II Multimedia. Accessed April 9, 2026.
- NASA (2026) Artemis II. Accessed April 9, 2026.
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A series of nighttime satellite images revealed how moonlight reaching Earth varied throughout a total lunar eclipse.
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The Large Magellanic Cloud—one of our closest neighboring galaxies—is a hotbed of star formation that is visible to both astronauts…
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Watching the Artemis II Mission Unfold at JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility
Watching the Artemis II Mission Unfold at JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility
Description
Staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California watch the agency’s Artemis II mission unfold soon after launch on April 1, 2026, at the Space Flight Operations Facility, which operates the Deep Space Network (DSN).
The DSN comprises of three complexes in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia. Each complex has several radio frequency antennas that communicate with dozens of spacecraft exploring the solar system in addition to the crewed Artemis II mission.
The DSN is managed by JPL for the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation program, which is located at NASA Headquarters within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. The DSN allows missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from faraway spacecraft. JPL is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, for NASA.
For more information about Artemis II, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
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The Deep Space Network Acquires Artemis II Signal
The Deep Space Network Acquires Artemis II Signal
Description
A graphical representation of the Deep Space Network’s radio frequency antennas indicate signal acquisition from NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon on April 1, 2026, inside the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Two antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, Deep Space Station 54 and 56, can be seen communicating with Artemis II (the signals are labelled “EM2”, short for “Exploration Mission 2”; elsewhere they are labelled “ART2” for “Artemis II”).
A similar visualization can be found at DSN Now, which details all the missions that the network is communicating with 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Space Flight Operations Facility operates the DSN, which comprises of three complexes in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia. Each complex consists of several radio frequency antennas that communicate with dozens of spacecraft exploring the solar system in addition to the Artemis II mission.
The DSN is managed by JPL for the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation program, which is located at NASA Headquarters within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. The DSN allows missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from faraway spacecraft. JPL is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, for NASA.
For more information about Artemis II, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
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The Deep Space Network Acquires Artemis II Signal
The Deep Space Network Acquires Artemis II Signal
Description
The acquisition of the radio frequency signal from the Artemis II crewed mission to the Moon by NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is indicated by the peak in the data signal shown on the top computer screen.
Soon after the mission’s launch on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT, NASA’s Near Space Network led communications with the Orion capsule. Then, communications were handed off to the DSN, marking the first time in over 50 years that the network would be communicating with a crewed spacecraft traveling through deep space.
The Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California (where this photo was taken) operates the DSN, which comprises three complexes in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia. Each complex consists of several radio frequency antennas that communicate with dozens of robotic spacecraft exploring the solar system in addition to the Artemis II mission.
The DSN is managed by JPL for the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation program, which is located at NASA Headquarters within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. The DSN allows missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from faraway spacecraft. JPL is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, for NASA.
For more information about Artemis II, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
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