“I am not a stranger to being the only woman in the room.” — Christina Hammock Koch

I had some good success with guessing the Artemis II crew, knowing that Reid Wiseman had just stepped down as head of astronaut office, Canada was sending an astronaut and the wish to not have the crew going around the moon be all white dudes, that left a small number of highly qualified options. Artemis III is to LEO, it's a different vibe. I see ESA is streaming the event, so that's a clue an ESA astronaut might be involved. ESA previous said that a german astronaut would be the first to fly to the moon but with this being LEO, and a mission involving testing hardware the ESA jet pilots have an edge so I'd guess Luca Parmitano or Samantha Christoforetti. From NASA, Andre Douglas was a backup for Artemis II and seems like an obvious choice. Raja Chari has been working on astronaut development for HLS since his flight in 2022, he seems like someone already well positioned for this flight. Jasmin Moghbeli has also been involved in HLS, not as much as Raja though. Nicole Mann also has a lot of relevant experience, working with exploration systems development. There's definintly some other great choices, Woody Hoburg was on the Orion heat shield review team and Artemis III has another new heat shield. And I won't be surprised if there's choices not on this list.

NASA released 12,000 new Artemis II photos, and I checked them all so you don't have to! Full highlights of the release in this YouTube video! youtu.be/nR0RsJ4RJuA

This is where you can find real photos from Artemis II. NASA Johnson flickr: flickr.com/photos/nasa2explo… Official NASA website: nasa.gov/gallery/journey-to-… NASA Image and Video Library: images.nasa.gov/ Too many large accounts are posting AI images.

The phenominal images from the Artemis II lunar flyby are starting to emerge!! 👀🔥🌕 Even more are available here: flickr.com/photos/nasa2explo…

Earthset. The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise image taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years earlier as the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon.

🌌✨ Stargazing 2026 - FREE tickets now available! ✨🌌 Join us on 28th January at University of Portsmouth for: 🌠 Talks from astronomers 🌕 Telescopes (weather permitting!) 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Fun for all ages 🎟️ FREE – book now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/stargazin… 🔗 More info: port.ac.uk/stargazing

👀 Our scientists used @ESA_Gaia data to craft the most accurate 3D map of star-forming regions in the Milky Way! 🌌 🔗esa.int/Science_Exploration/…

O Christmas tree, o cosmic tree 🎄 Located about 2,500 light-years from Earth, NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. The stars appear as blue and white lights surrounded by swirls of gas—the “pine needles” of the tree—with green representing light in the visible spectrum. Learn more:go.nasa.gov/3MN1xdX

Oh, the lights are shining so brightly everywhere ✨ As we wrap up 2025, Webb captured a star-studded glimpse into Westerlund 2, a cosmic nursery that reminds us to look forward to the beauty of new beginnings. esawebb.org/images/potm2512a…

Our @ESA_JUICE spacecraft captured comet #3IATLAS during its active phase, showing its glowing coma, plasma tail, and maybe even a dust tail. The full data will arrive in February, but here is a sneak preview from JUICE's navigation camera. More info 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…

Webb took a look at the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud, the most massive, and active star-forming region in our galaxy, located only a few hundred light years from our central black hole. Why is it so much more active than the rest of the galactic center? go.nasa.gov/46lurcz

Looking like a cosmic double-bladed lightsaber, Webb captured enormous jets of gas 8 light-years across erupting from a massive baby star. This rare sighting is helping us better understand how massive stars form. science.nasa.gov/missions/we…

🆕 Our ESA/Webb Picture of the Month captures another cosmic butterfly! 🦋 Read more: esawebb.org/images/potm2508a… or 🧵👇

Be a team player ✅ We recently observed comet 3I/ATLAS with our Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument, adding to the data collected by @NASAHubble and the recently launched SPHEREx mission. science.nasa.gov/blogs/3iatl…

It is not aliens. Again. “As a theoretical astrophysicist crashing the field [of planetary science], Loeb is unburdened by the obvious similarities of 3I/ATLAS to all other comets.” Details in the amusing read below by Steve Desch. medium.com/@steve.desch/ther…

Perseid Meteor Shower PEAKS TONIGHT! There should be quite a few shooting stars that are quite easy to spot, and it will be even if you can find a nice dark spot! Stay safe team, and clear skies to you all! youtu.be/J9b8cdsBZIs #perseids2025 #perseidmeteorshower

ESA's Hera mission has spotted its first asteroids! Hera is on the way to the Didymos binary asteroid system to explore the aftermath of humankind's first attempt to move an asteroid. Though faint, these observations are very encouraging for the performance of Hera's camera.

Interesting comparison of Euclid vs. Rubin imaging - first one I've seen! arxiv.org/abs/2507.01942

🚨 New Citizen Science Alert! 🚨 Introducing Rubin Comet Catchers – the first public project using real data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory! 🧵