❌

Normal view

Received — 2 August 2026 ⏭

EAGLE

✇NASA Science
By: Stephen Carney
31 July 2026 at 23:02

EAGLE

Explorer for Artemis Geology, Lunar, and Earth — a NASA satellite program to study surface biology and geology on Earth, with technologies that could support future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Future Mission

NASA’s EAGLE program — Explorer for Artemis Geology, Lunar, and Earth — will be a series of satellite missions studying surface properties using technologies for Earth observation that will also benefit future missions to the Moon and Mars, where they could identify critical resources and safe landing sites.

The satellites making up the first two EAGLE missions will study biology and geology on Earth’s surface to support agriculture, disaster response, and other needs. Each mission will carry a different instrument with capabilities that complement each other. The first mission (EAGLE-VSWIR) is scheduled to take flight in 2028.

Mission Type

Orbiter

Target

Earth, Moon, Mars

Launch

No earlier than 2028

Objective

Study surface composition and changes

  • EAGLE-VSWIR

    EAGLE-VSWIR (Visible to Shortwave Infrared) will observe the Earth’s surface every 16 days with a high-resolution imaging spectrometer, which measures light reflected from the planet’s surface, separating wavelengths across the visual and into the infrared spectrum. The patterns created by light being reflected or absorbed across this spectral range act like fingerprints, letting scientists identify the composition of the surface. 

    A similar instrument, NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation), has been monitoring Earth from the International Space Station since July 2022, characterizing the surface mineral composition of Earth’s arid lands, monitoring ecosystem status, and tracking health and safety hazards — such as methane leaks and acid mine drainage — among other applications.

    EAGLE-VSWIR will have 25 times more capability than EMIT has today. This technological leap will allow scientists to map surface deposits of critical and rare-earth minerals, strengthen food security, and aid wildfire prevention and recovery. It can also highlight environmental hazards such as oil spills or landslide risks, and monitor water quality and availability.

    Region of Nevada as observed by NASA's EMIT with spectrum on right edge
    The front of this image cube shows a region in Nevada observed by NASA’s EMIT imaging spectrometer; the cube’s sides show the spectral fingerprint for every point in the image and can be used to discover mineral resources. EAGLE-VSWIR will have 25 times greater performance beyond NASA’s current state-of-the-art EMIT.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech

  • EAGLE-TIR

    The EAGLE-TIR mission will provide Thermal InfraRed (TIR) imagery when it launches two to three years after EAGLE-VSWIR, measuring energy emitted from the surface and producing data that scientists can use to map temperature, composition, and critical mineral deposits. On Earth that would let researchers monitor wildfires and volcanic activity, track drought and water use by crops, study urban heat islands, observe the rates that snow or ice accumulates or melts, and better understand Earth’s resilient ecosystems.

    EAGLE-TIR follows on from ECOSTRESS (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station), which has been observing Earth from the International Space Station since 2018. ECOSTRESS was designed to study how different ecosystems respond to drought and water stress, and the data has provided a vital understanding of how plants’ water use changes throughout the day. Since ECOSTRESS also measures emitted energy in the thermal infrared, its surface-temperature products have also been used for urban planning and wildfire monitoring. 

    Further innovation and lessons learned from ECOSTRESS has led to EAGLE-TIR, which will carry a multi-band thermal radiometer. EAGLE-TIR’s great strength compared to existing missions is that it provides detailed imagery of the entire globe every two days, day and night, at multiple wavelengths not available from other instruments.

    Aerial view of Namib desert in Infrared captured by ECOSTRESS
    This image shows the minerals contained in Namibian dunes using ECOSTRESS data. EAGLE-TIR will have more spectral channels to enable even better mineral discrimination.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech

  • EAGLE Program

    By advancing vital techniques for measuring our planet’s surface composition, resources, and hazards, the EAGLE program addresses critical needs in Earth observation, with technologies that can also transfer to planetary exploration, where they’ll serve as pathfinders for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

    015B0489.NEF
    As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth setting on the Moon’s limb on April 6, 2026.
    NASA
Featured Video

EAGLE

NASA unveiled the EAGLE program as one part of its “Ignition” event on March 24, 2026, when it announced a wide-ranging series of transformative agencywide initiatives. With EAGLE (the Explorer for Artemis Geology, Lunar, and Earth missions), NASA will deploy breakthrough hyperspectral images across Earth with later missions anticipated for the Moon and Mars in rapid succession. On Earth they’ll identify critical minerals for national security, enable precision agriculture, and support disaster response. On Earth and at Mars they will locate critical minerals and resources such as ice for propellants, rare-earth elements for technology, and construction materials for habitats.

EMIT

EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) measures the mineral composition of Earth’s dust source regions, to help scientists understand how they heat or cool our planet.

Learn More About EMIT

ECOSTRESS

ECOSTRESS (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station) is accurately measuring the temperature of plants on Earth.

Learn More About ECOSTRESS

The post EAGLE appeared first on NASA Science.

💾

Join us for continuing coverage as our leaders discuss the agency's implementation of the National Space Policy and our plans to advance science and discover...
Received — 17 June 2026 ⏭

Low Water at San Carlos Reservoir

✇NASA Science
By: Michala Garrison
17 June 2026 at 05:01
June 7, 2023
May 22, 2026
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River’s natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River’s natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
June 7, 2023
May 22, 2026
Little water remains in the San Carlos Reservoir in May 2026 (right) compared to fuller conditions in June 2023 (left). Images were captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on the Landsat 9 and 8 satellites, respectively. NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison.

The Gila River is among the Southwest’s most important rivers, delivering water for people, farms, and wildlife while linking the snow-fed mountains of southwestern New Mexico to the desert lowlands of southwestern Arizona.

In wetter years, seasonal snowfall on the Mogollon Mountains and Black Range provides much of the river’s spring flow and helps refill San Carlos Reservoir, which is formed by the Coolidge Dam. When filled to capacity, the reservoir is one of Arizona’s largest bodies of water.

However, in 2026, lackluster snowfall left the mountain snowpack in the Gila River watershed at 2 percent of the 1991-2020 March median. The limited snowpack pushed April streamflow to 39 percent of normal. By June, after mandatory water releases for downstream agriculture, the reservoir held less than 400 acre-feet of water.

The Landsat image above (right) shows the near-empty reservoir on May 22, 2026, when it stored 389 acre-feet of water—less than 1 percent full; the other image (left) shows the same area in June 2023, when it was about 60 percent full. The green vegetation growing along the river channel and reservoir edge includes a mixture of tamarisk, willow, cottonwood, sedges, and grasses.

Officials closed the reservoir indefinitely on June 5, 2026, after the declining water levels contributed to low oxygen levels—hypoxia—that killed virtually all of its fish. Species living in the reservoir included largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish, and several stocked species, including brown trout and rainbow trout. The decomposing fish may pose health risks to people attempting to boat or fish, the San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department warned.

The reservoir has hit similarly low water levels in the past, running out of water at least 20 times since it was filled in 1930, according to news reports. Even when the dam and reservoir were first dedicated, there was enough grass growing on the dried reservoir bottom that humorist Will Rogers famously quipped to President Calvin Coolidge: “If that was my lake, I’d mow it.”

Other years with major fish kills include 1976 and 2018. After more than 5 million fish died during a similar event in 1976, the Gila Herald reported that it took five years for the lake’s ecosystem to rebound.

The region is currently in the midst of a multi-year dry period that has left much of the Gila River’s headwaters in New Mexico in a state of severe drought, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

However, the river’s flow is highly variable, and heavy rains during the coming wet season could help the reservoir recover. A seasonal monsoon outlook released by NOAA in May 2026 projected a 33 to 50 percent chance that an above-average amount of rain would fall in the region that summer. El Niño in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which was strengthening in late spring 2026, can make heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest more likely.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

Downloads

The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.

June 7, 2023

JPEG (16.60 MB)

The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.

May 22, 2026

JPEG (16.85 MB)

References & Resources

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Drought Parches Florida
4 min read

The state was unusually dry for much of 2025, but the intensity of the drought has ratcheted up since January…

Article
Snow Is Scarce in the Upper Colorado Basin
5 min read

The mountains of Utah and Colorado are among the areas of the western U.S. that are low on snow and…

Article
Spring Rains Saturate Michigan
3 min read

Above-normal precipitation has swollen rivers and damaged infrastructure statewide.

Article

The post Low Water at San Carlos Reservoir appeared first on NASA Science.

Low Water at San Carlos Reservoir

✇NASA
17 June 2026 at 05:01




June 7, 2023
May 22, 2026

The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River’s natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River’s natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

June 7, 2023

May 22, 2026


Little water remains in the San Carlos Reservoir in May 2026 (right) compared to fuller conditions in June 2023 (left). Images were captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on the Landsat 9 and 8 satellites, respectively. NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison.

The Gila River is among the Southwest’s most important rivers, delivering water for people, farms, and wildlife while linking the snow-fed mountains of southwestern New Mexico to the desert lowlands of southwestern Arizona.

In wetter years, seasonal snowfall on the Mogollon Mountains and Black Range provides much of the river’s spring flow and helps refill San Carlos Reservoir, which is formed by the Coolidge Dam. When filled to capacity, the reservoir is one of Arizona’s largest bodies of water.

However, in 2026, lackluster snowfall left the mountain snowpack in the Gila River watershed at 2 percent of the 1991-2020 March median. The limited snowpack pushed April streamflow to 39 percent of normal. By June, after mandatory water releases for downstream agriculture, the reservoir held less than 400 acre-feet of water.

The Landsat image above (right) shows the near-empty reservoir on May 22, 2026, when it stored 389 acre-feet of water—less than 1 percent full; the other image (left) shows the same area in June 2023, when it was about 60 percent full. The green vegetation growing along the river channel and reservoir edge includes a mixture of tamarisk, willow, cottonwood, sedges, and grasses.

Officials closed the reservoir indefinitely on June 5, 2026, after the declining water levels contributed to low oxygen levels—hypoxia—that killed virtually all of its fish. Species living in the reservoir included largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish, and several stocked species, including brown trout and rainbow trout. The decomposing fish may pose health risks to people attempting to boat or fish, the San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department warned.

The reservoir has hit similarly low water levels in the past, running out of water at least 20 times since it was filled in 1930, according to news reports. Even when the dam and reservoir were first dedicated, there was enough grass growing on the dried reservoir bottom that humorist Will Rogers famously quipped to President Calvin Coolidge: “If that was my lake, I’d mow it.”

Other years with major fish kills include 1976 and 2018. After more than 5 million fish died during a similar event in 1976, the Gila Herald reported that it took five years for the lake’s ecosystem to rebound.

The region is currently in the midst of a multi-year dry period that has left much of the Gila River’s headwaters in New Mexico in a state of severe drought, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

However, the river’s flow is highly variable, and heavy rains during the coming wet season could help the reservoir recover. A seasonal monsoon outlook released by NOAA in May 2026 projected a 33 to 50 percent chance that an above-average amount of rain would fall in the region that summer. El Niño in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which was strengthening in late spring 2026, can make heavy rains in the U.S. Southwest more likely.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

Downloads

The reservoir appears lake-like and expansive in an image acquired in June 2023.

June 7, 2023

JPEG (16.60 MB)

The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.

May 22, 2026

JPEG (16.85 MB)

References & Resources

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Drought Parches Florida
4 min read

The state was unusually dry for much of 2025, but the intensity of the drought has ratcheted up since January…

Article
Snow Is Scarce in the Upper Colorado Basin
5 min read

The mountains of Utah and Colorado are among the areas of the western U.S. that are low on snow and…

Article
Spring Rains Saturate Michigan
3 min read

Above-normal precipitation has swollen rivers and damaged infrastructure statewide.

Article
❌