On July 3, one of NASA’s two Mars-destined ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft captured photos of Earth and the Moon in visible and thermal infrared light. At the time, the spacecraft was 363,250 miles (584,600 kilometers) from Earth and 115,600 miles (186,100 kilometers) from the Moon, making the Moon appear relatively large.

Taken with the Sun only partly illuminating Earth and the Moon, the visible light image shows the two bodies as crescents, with only around 8% of each face sunlit. Yet in the thermal infrared image, the shadowed hemisphere of Earth is illuminated by its own heat from both the atmosphere and surface, glowing at minus 10 to minus 44 degrees Fahrenheit (250 to 280 kelvins). Without the insulating blankets of oceans and atmospheres, the Moon’s far side remains at a much cooler minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (100 kelvins).

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ESCAPADE Photos of Earth and Moon

July 3, 2026

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Image Details

In these images from NASA’s ESCAPADE mission, Earth (left) and Moon (right) can be seen. The image to the left of the slider shows visible light reflected by the Sun while the infrared image to the right shows the bodies’ emitted energy. White rings have been added in the thermal image to show the actual size of Earth and the Moon. Credit: NASA/UCB-SSL/NAU-Radiant/Lucint

The ESCAPADE mission used its Visible and Infrared Observation System cameras, provided by Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, to capture the images, which are more than just road trip photo album snaps.

“We are thrilled that ESCAPADE was able to accommodate these excellent space-qualified cameras which will search for visible Martian aurora and investigate thermal properties of the Martian surface and atmosphere,” said Rob Lillis, the mission’s principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley. “Since Earth and the Moon are well-known targets, imaging them provides an important calibration check for ESCAPADE’s cameras.”

The ESCAPADE spacecraft, which were built by Rocket Lab, are currently in a “loiter” orbit around Lagrange point 2, a location in space about a million miles from Earth. In November 2026, the spacecraft will fly by Earth to use the planet’s gravity to slingshot their way to Mars. When the spacecraft arrive in September 2027, they will study how a million-mile-per-hour stream of material flowing from the Sun, known as solar wind, interacts with the Martian environment and how that drives atmospheric loss at the Red Planet.

The ESCAPADE mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. The UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads the mission with key partners Rocket Lab; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Advanced Space; and Blue Origin.

By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The post NASA’s ESCAPADE Snaps Family Portrait of Earth, Moon appeared first on NASA Science.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 28th close approach to the Sun on June 8, again matching its record distance of 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. The flyby allowed the spacecraft to continue its measurements of the solar wind and solar activity at their source, while adding to our understanding of how the Sun’s atmosphere changes throughout the solar cycle.

The spacecraft checked in with flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland — where Parker Solar Probe was designed and built — on Thursday, transmitting a beacon tone that indicated its systems were operating normally. Zooming around the Sun on a trajectory that limited communications with Earth, Parker had been out of contact and operating autonomously for nine days around its closest approach, as planned.
 
During this solar encounter, which started June 3 and ends Saturday, June 13, Parker’s four scientific instrument packages gathered data from inside the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona. Parker will begin returning detailed spacecraft telemetry on June 14, with science data transmission set to run from Wednesday, June 17 to Tuesday, June 30.
 
Parker’s observations of the solar wind and solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and the aftermaths of flares, are critical to advancing humanity’s understanding of the Sun and the phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to astronauts, satellites, air travel, and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics of space weather enables more reliable prediction of astronaut safety during future deep-space missions to the Moon and Mars.
 
Parker also equaled its record-setting speed of 430,000 mph — a mark that, like Parker’s distance to the Sun, was set during a close approach on Dec. 24, 2024, and matched during five flybys since, most recently on March 11. Parker will continue matching these speed and distance records during future flybys.
 
Through all six close approaches, mission leads say, the spacecraft has remained in excellent condition. While Parker doesn’t have a temperature sensor on the front of its heat shield — known as the Thermal Protection System, or TPS — the team can estimate through models that the heat shield reaches temperatures of about 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit at closest approach.

“The heat shield material is incredibly light and fragile, but the thermal design, as well as the software that keeps the spacecraft pointing the TPS toward the Sun, have been outstanding,” said John Wirzburger, Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer at APL. “It’s a real tribute to the team that designed, built, and operates Parker Solar Probe.”
 
Meanwhile, the team can measure the temperature of the barrier blanketing below the heat shield, and the actual spacecraft temperature has remained consistent on each pass.
 
“That temperature consistency is a major indicator of spacecraft health,” said Wirzburger. “It tells us the heat shield isn’t degrading. If it were cracking or weakening, we’d see temperatures drift upward as more heat leaked through.”
 
Parker launched in August 2018. At the time, the Sun was near the minimum of its 11-year activity cycle. In 2024, representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced that the Sun had reached its solar maximum period. Parker’s 28 encounters with the Sun reflect this change over time, sampling the Sun’s atmosphere from quiet to very active periods. Parker Solar Probe will remain in this orbit around the Sun and continue making observations into the declining phase of solar activity.
 
The next steps for the mission in late 2026 and beyond are under NASA review.
 
Parker Solar Probe was developed as a part of NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The LWS program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Johns Hopkins APL manages Parker Solar Probe for NASA and designed, built, and now operates the mission.
 
Mike Buckley, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

The post Parker Solar Probe Makes 28th Close Pass of Sun appeared first on NASA Science.