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A space capsule with charred black on its bottom sits inside of a tall clean room.

The charred hull of Artemis 2's Orion | Space photo of the day for May 8, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

NASA's Artemis 2 Orion spacecraft rests after its flight around the moon, charred from the return to Earth.

13 Comments
Human Spaceflight
On the upper righthand side of this image of the black of space is a small rock that is actually Jupiter's Moon Thebe.

Moon joy at Jupiter | Space photo of the day for May 7, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

NASA's Juno spacecraft captured a photo of Jupiter's moon Thebe.

5 Comments
Jupiter
A close-up of the heads side of a penny covered in Mars dust.

Why does NASA's Curiosity rover have a 'lucky penny' on Mars? | Space photo of the day for May 6, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

Providing good luck to the first Martian to find it.

5 Comments
Mars Rovers
a tall cylindrical spacecraft wrapped in gold foil can be seen through a round door in a large metal chamber

Moon lander preps for the lunar surface | Space photo of the day for May 5, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

Blue Origin's MK1 moon lander has passed its tests in the vacuum chamber as NASA continues to develop the hardware needed to return astronauts to the moon.

4 Comments
Private Spaceflight
four bright yellow lines of light extend up into a starry night sky

Lasers take aim at a galaxy far, far away | Space photo of the day for May 4, 2026

By Brett Tingley Published

Looking like a scene out of "Star Wars," this image shows the ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) beaming four separate lasers into the sky towards the Tarantula Nebula.

Astronomy
Two people wearing glasses work above what looks like a large tire with fabric on the outside on a table.

Is it cake? No, it's a parachute! | Space photo of the day for May 1, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

In this donut-shaped bag is a massive parachute. Next stop? Mars.

Mars
A black background of space is speckled with a wide array of stars. At the center is a flat, glowing galaxy shaped like a stretched out sombrero.

The cosmos wears a galactic sombrero | Space photo of the day for April 29, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

The Sombrero galaxy's name fits perfectly.

Galaxies
A view of the Artemis 2 Orion heat shield underwater. The heat shield appears as different shades of dark blue.

Artemis 2 heat shield is a sunken treasure in the ocean | Space photo of the day for April 28, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

This eerie image shows the heat shield following splashdown.

2 Comments
Human Spaceflight
A black space background covered in stars has a central bright, egg-shaped galaxy with blue and red coloring.

Backyard snapshot delivers stunning galaxy image | Space photo of the day for April 27, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

The Small Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor of our Milky Way galaxy, stuns in this ambassador's picture.

Galaxies
A black and white image of the landscape of Mars with crescent-shaped dunes.

Ice melts in the springtime on Mars | Space photo of the day for April 24, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd Published

Springtime has arrived at the Red Planet's Chasma Boreale, as this photo by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows.

Mars
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