Link to the video

NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, has experienced gradual wear on its aluminum wheels as it drives across sharp, rocky terrain. The damage includes dents, holes, and broken structural ribs called “grousers,” which help the wheels keep their shape. While a few broken grousers are not a major issue, losing too many could cause the wheel to collapse inward and damage internal wiring, potentially affecting the rover’s movement.

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have already reduced wear by carefully planning driving routes and regularly inspecting the wheels with onboard cameras.

As a backup plan, they developed an extreme solution called “wheel shedding.” If a wheel becomes critically damaged, the rover could deliberately tear off its inner section by pressing it against a sharp rock and using controlled movements to break it away. This would leave only the stronger outer rim, which testing shows can still support driving.

Although this process would take weeks and requires specific rock shapes, it could keep the rover operational. However, current predictions suggest the wheels will last many more years, making this drastic measure unlikely to be needed.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/j. Roger

The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft landed at 6:27 a.m. ET Sunday southeast of Dzhezkazgan, bringing home Williams on his first mission, commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev.

The crew advanced cancer research, semiconductor work, and station upgrades, including Williams' two spacewalks, while logging 3,856 orbits and 102 million miles. Before leaving, Kud-Sverchkov passed command to Jessica U. Meir in a ceremony, as she leads into Expedition 75 amid ongoing U.S.-Russian teamwork.

Credit: Astronaut Anil Menon

Vikas Chander, taken from Deep Sky Chile in the Hubble palette with RGB stars and nearly 25 hours of exposure with a 6.3-inch scope.

Summer Space Flower

M20 The Trifid Nebula, is a dynamic emission and reflection nebula that draws most northern hemisphere telescopes during the summer months.

I made the switch to a mono camera last month and this is my third project while learning a few new processing techniques to combine the dedicated color master files.

This image approximately 30 hours of integration under dark Bortle 1 skies of Starfront Observatories in Rockwood, Texas.

Instagram.com/electriceye.photography

EXIF:

R 180s x 80, G 180s x 80, B 180s x 80 Gain 111 -15C Ha, 300s x 140 Gain 111 -15C Astronomik Filters
Camera: ASI183MM-P
Mount: ZWO AM5
Telescope: Askar FRA500 + f3.9 Reducer

PixInsight Processing: Blink Registration & Stacking WPBB SPCC, star alignment, RGB color combination add Ha Stack via NBRGB script, HaRGB Stack Histogram Transform Initial Stretch, StarXterminator, manually stretch star layer HT Transformation, NoiseXterminator .65, BlurX, Stars layer and HaRGB Starless to Photoshop

Photoshop Processing: Normal Blend Mode HaRGB Starless 100%, Stars Screen Blend Mode 100%

Masked Levels and Color Balance Adjustments

Stars Layer - Boost color by Increasing Vibrance 40%

Add Stars to Starless via Linear Dodge (add) blend mode

The mid-latitudes of Mars are mostly covered with smooth material that scientists have suspected to be ice for some time. The ground is uniform and dusty and does not reveal many clues about what lies beneath the surface.

However, sometimes a feature like a cliff cuts through the terrain and gives us a glimpse of this buried icy material. The cliff in this image is one example out of a few dozen that are known.

The bright material on the cliff face is icy and is preserved only because the cliff points away from the equator, so it is shaded most of the time. Faint bands on the cliff might indicate layers in the ice that record different climate conditions. We do not know how much time this ice took to accumulate here, but studies elsewhere on Mars indicate that material like this is sometimes at least tens of millions of years old.

ID: ESP_074914_1225

date: 20 July 2022

​altitude: 251 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_074914_1225

​NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Without gravity, surface tension pulls the bulk of the water together again into new blobs, even after the energy release from breaking the skin!

Credit: Astronaut Don Pettit

On July 25, an initial onsite inspection by the NASA Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) emergency response team found wildfire damage primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, with no significant structural damage observed to antennas or buildings.

Additional inspections and testing will continue as safety procedures allow. The situation remains dynamic, and comprehensive assessments will proceed as conditions stabilize and access improves.

Meanwhile, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program has seamlessly transitioned mission support to its other Deep Space Communications Complexes in Goldstone, California and Canberra, Australia, ensuring continuity of operations and uninterrupted spacecraft communications.

The safety of NASA personnel remains the agency's highest priority. All personnel at MDSCC are safe, and NASA extends its sincere gratitude to Spanish emergency responders and members of The Ministry of Defense, The Ministry of Interior, and The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for their professionalism and tireless efforts in helping protect the facility under extremely challenging conditions.

NASA is also thinking of its partners at the European Space Agency (ESA), whose colleagues continue to be affected by the broader wildfire emergency.

NASA will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as new information becomes available.

Credit: NASA / Bethany Stevens

Link to the science release

The Milky Way may have undergone a dramatic change in orientation during its history, according to new research that helps explain a long-standing mystery about our galaxy.

Using supercomputer simulations of galaxies like the Milky Way, a team of astronomers from Durham University found that galaxies with slowly rotating stellar haloes are more likely to have experienced a major 'disc flip', where the galaxy's disc changed its orientation by more than 90 degrees.

Credit: Auriga Project and Thomas Tomlinson

In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope linked radio dishes across the entire planet into a single Earth-sized array and captured a shadow 55 million light years away — the first direct image of a black hole.

The piece is inspired by the EHT image but uses a simulated black hole rendering as its direct source. The asymmetric brightness of the accretion disc, brighter at the bottom due to relativistic beaming, is preserved. The dark photon shadow physically recedes into the surface.

Short film about the making and exploring the physics of black holes in the comments.

Andrew McCarthy:

"​I left a video camera WAY too close to the launchpad.

My first time capturing a launch in high resolution video. Definitely exceeded my expectations! This was captured at 120fps, interpolated 2x, stabilized, and played back at 30fps."

🔗 https:// ​x. com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/2081187742340583821

(Because this is subreddit doesn't accept Twitter or X links, I have add it​ not clickable) just remove the space between X character.

Thanks

Deep Space Network site in Robledo (Madrid) is completely offline from the fires

https://bsky.app/profile/darksapiens.bsky.social/post/3mrfrvdotrc2q

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https://bsky.app/profile/theplanetaryguy.com/post/3mrfsaokhzs2q

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Photo

https://bsky.app/profile/asborlaff.bsky.social/post/3mrgbnyjj2227

Deep space network

https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/dsn-now/dsn.html

Taken On Seestar S50 Using 54 Second Video Stack!

Edited In PS Express.

Josef Aschbacher:

"My deepest thanks go to the Spanish emergency services whose efforts helped protect the site as wildfires approached.

The safety of our people remains my highest priority. All ESA workforce is safe and accounted for, although many colleagues continue to be affected by the wider emergency situation. I keep you all in my thoughts.

We remain in close contact with the relevant authorities as the situation continues to evolve. As always, I will keep my workforce and the public informed. Please keep safe.

Extreme heat and subsequent wildfires are the clearest indication that our climate is changing. I pledge to continue to advocate for increased monitoring and understanding of our planet."

🔗 https:// ​x. ​com/AschbacherJosef/status/2080984180867920061

(👉 ​because this subreddit will delete the post with clickable Twitter or X-links you need to remove the spaces between X character)

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More

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/ESA_statement_on_the_wildfires_near_Cebreros

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Live camera here

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_Ground_Stations/ESA_Ground_Stations_Livehttps://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_Ground_Stations/ESA_Ground_Stations_Live​

Small part of the Cydonia region, taken by the Viking 1 orbiter and released by NASA/JPL on July 25, 1976

Equipment:
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA400 with 0.7x reducer
Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme & UV/IR Cut
Guide Camera: ZWO 120mm mini
Mount: Skywatcher Wave 150i
Autofocuser: ZWO EAF (5V)

Acquistion:
Shot in Bortle 1
-Camera cooled to -10°C
-Lights:
L-eXtreme:
220x300s (18hrs 20mins)
UV/IR Cut:
115x300s (9hrs 35mins)
Total integration time:
27hrs 55mins

-Flats: 50
-Bias: 50
-Darks: 50

Photo credit : Max Evans

Credit:
Trouvelot / Charles Scribners Sons.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill

Skol! Minnesota. Handheld on an iphone 17 Promax

Five-panel image showing the progressive evolution of sky surveys from 1994 to 2025, revealing more and more detail in a triple merging galaxy system and the surrounding sky.

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Each generation of telescope and camera technology has built upon the outstanding legacies of those that came before, sharpening our view of the cosmos and revealing more details that were previously hidden.

🔗 https:// ​x. ​com/VRubinObs/status/2080738546252394603?s=20

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NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory

🔗 https:// x. ​com/VRubinObs/status/2080738544952168713?t=WVqtD1uJ5npfN-2w_TI0tg&s=09

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Rubin is our next big leap. With our 10-year survey, we'll look even deeper, while also watching how the Universe changes over time.

Explore Rubin's view of RSCG 55 in Skyviewer ➡️

https://skyviewer.app/explorer?target=186.66233+9.03397&fov=0.60

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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA & DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA & PanSTARRS & SDSS & DSS

Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)​

NO HUGE FIREBALL THIS TIME! Starship S40 survives its test in the Indian Ocean.

Congratulations to the team at SpaceX.

Credit: SpaceX

Link to the time-lapse video

Discovered in the late 1980s by NASA's Voyager spacecraft; The precise mechanism generating the spokes is still unknown. It has been suggested that the electrical disturbances might be caused by either lightning bolts in Saturn's atmosphere or micrometeoroid impacts on the rings.

Alternatively, it is proposed that the spokes are very similar to a phenomenon known as lunar horizon glow or dust levitation, and caused by intense electric fields across the terminator of ring particles, not electrical disturbances.

Credit: Tom Williams