A narrow river (dark blue) meanders across vegetated land (bright green) in a false-color satellite image. Small geometric ponds or waterlogged fields appear on the left side of the scene.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
In a false-color satellite image of the same area, floodwaters (dark blue) flank a meandering river and cover a large swath of agricultural or aquacultural land primarily on the left side of the scene.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
A narrow river (dark blue) meanders across vegetated land (bright green) in a false-color satellite image. Small geometric ponds or waterlogged fields appear on the left side of the scene.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
In a false-color satellite image of the same area, floodwaters (dark blue) flank a meandering river and cover a large swath of agricultural or aquacultural land primarily on the left side of the scene.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
October 7, 2025
October 2, 2026
September falls in the heart of the monsoon season in Thailand, where cities and towns are accustomed to the afternoon rains and thunderstorms that frequently roll through. But throughout late September and early October 2026, persistent heavy rains punctuated by intense downpours left low-lying areas across the country in Southeast Asia under sustained flooding.
Prachin Buri province was among the areas where flooding was widespread. The right image above shows land along the Bang Pakong River and nearby agricultural areas and aquaculture facilities inundated on October 2, 2026. The left image shows the same area at the same time of year in 2025. Acquired with NASA-USGS Landsat satellites, the images are false-color to better distinguish water from vegetation, developed land, and other surfaces. The bright red shapes are floating solar arrays.
Some of the flooding likely stemmed from a low-pressure system that stalled over the area for several days in late September. Stoked by moisture and energy from the warm Gulf of Thailand nearby, the system delivered especially intense rains to the region. About 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the west, Bangkok received nearly 300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain over a 48-hour period, according to news reports, close to the average monthly rainfall total for September of 344 millimeters (13.5 inches).
Since mid-September, flooding has occurred in 50 provinces across the country, affecting over 4 million people and causing dozens of deaths, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Government agencies estimate about 270,000 hectares (670,000 acres) of farmland, including rice fields and fruit orchards, have been damaged.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Stickney Crater
Explanation: Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planetâs moons in 1877. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon. This enhanced-color image of Stickney and surroundings was recorded by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed within some six thousand kilometers of Phobos in March of 2008. Even though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than 1/1000th Earthâs gravity, streaks suggest loose material slid down inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the craterâs rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may be related to tidal stresses experienced by close-orbiting Phobos or the crater-forming impact itself.
Galaxies warp and multiply as if in a house of mirrors in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released on Sept. 29, 2026.
The brilliant golden galaxies seen here are part of a galaxy cluster called MACS J0454.1-0300. The orange galaxies bunched together on one side of the image, however, are not actually part of the cluster, but rather galaxies much farther away whose light has been bent and magnified by gravitational lensing. This phenomenon occurs when the enormous mass of a foreground object such as a galaxy cluster bends and magnifies the light from a more distant object in the background.
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A KREPE-3 capsule floats inside the Northrup Grumman Cygnus XL 24 cargo spacecraft on October 7. Inside the capsule is a 3-D printed heat shield designed by researchers at NASAâs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA
NASA is testing heat shields that can keep astronauts safe as they return from missions to the Moon and Mars in an unusual way: by taking out the trash.
When Northrop Grumman 24th cargo resupply mission for NASA undocked from the International Space Station, it carried a fleet of 12 small, experimental capsules designed to test the next generation of thermal protection materials that could serve as the foundation for future heat shields.
The experiment, called the Kentucky Reentry Probe Experiment (KREPE-3), is the third in a series of low-cost, high-impact missions that use the final moments of the cargo spacecraftâs lifespan to gather valuable data.
The experiment is a collaboration among the University of Kentucky, the state of Kentucky, NASAâs Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), several NASA centers, and other federal and commercial partners.
âKREPE-3 is a great example of the goals of NASAâs EPSCoR program,â said David Berger, EPSCoR program manager at NASAâs Headquarters in Washington. âWe are supporting the next generation of scientists and engineers as they develop unique projects that benefit their education and NASAâs mission goals.â
Trash to treasure
Before the missionâs Cygnus XL spacecraft departed the station, astronauts packed it with waste and activated the 12 small capsules carried inside. Designed by University of Kentucky students, the capsules include sensors that will measure temperature, pressure, motion, magnetic field, and light during re-entry.
As the vehicle harmlessly breaks apart in Earthâs atmosphere on its planned route, the capsules will eject and begin collecting data on how each set of experimental heat shield materials performs. Satellite signals will transfer live data to researchers, offering insights into how larger heat shields could protect future cargo or crew.
âItâs a smart way to get flight data on materials that are still in development,â said Keith Peterson, a materials engineer at NASAâs Ames Research Center in Californiaâs Silicon Valley. âWeâre essentially hitching a ride on a vehicle thatâs already coming back to Earth.â
Close up of an Ames-produced thermal protection system (TPS) (heat shield) for the Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE) in the Sensors & TPS Advanced Research Laboratories (STAR Labs) N242.
NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrete
Heating up innovation
The capsules will carry a variety of thermal protective components, including proven technology such as the ceramic tile material used on the space shuttle. Others will test new options, such as a 3D-printed heat shield from the Additive Manufacturing of Thermal Protective Systems project developed at NASA Johnson and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Researchers at NASA Ames are contributing several materials to KREPE-3, including two capsules that will fly a next-generation family of protective coverings known as Materials Engineered for Re-entry using Innovative Needling Operations (MERINO). Made from layers of carbon and phenolic fibers stitched together like felt, the materials are more flexible, faster to produce, and less expensive than traditional protective substances â making them promising candidates for Mars missions. Thanks to Marsâ thinner atmosphere, missions to land on the Red Planet involve lower heat loads and allow for lighter protection.
A third capsule will combine those protective coverings with other elements. The Kentucky Instrumented Conical Hypersonic Experiment will utilize a dual-cone shape. It combines a tungsten tip attached to a cone layered with carbon and hear-resistant plastic fibers, and an aft cone wrapped in MERINO. This unique design will validate computer models against real-world data.
Another capsule is shaped like the protective aeroshell that will protect NASAâs upcoming mission, Dragonfly, as it arrives at Saturnâs moon, Titan, and will test the dynamic stability of the design. It is covered in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator, a material developed at NASA Ames that has applications for commercial vehicles and flew on NASAâs Stardust, Mars Science Laboratory, and Mars 2020 missions.
One capsule will test a deployable heat shield called Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology, which is shaped like an umbrella to increase surface area and slow descent. At full scale, Adaptable Deployable Entry design could be folded, making it ideal for deploying payloads that are larger than the rockets that launch them into flight.
While some capsules are testing new materials to carry missions to Mars, others are testing new shapes and designs that will further research and understanding of computer modeling and sensor design â technologies that could open doors to another generation of re-entry design innovation.
Additional capsules developed by domestic and international partners will test a variety of known and new materials, including a heat flux sensor developed at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, that will help researchers measure how heat moves across a surface during re-entry.
âWeâre pushing the boundaries of what heat shields can do,â said Peterson. âAnd weâre testing them in a way thatâs fast, affordable, and incredibly effective.â
NASA is advancing American leadership in space by taking the next step toward a future where commercial space stations lead the way in low Earth orbit. On Friday, the agency released its final Request for Proposals inviting industry to submit plans for the next generation of commercial space stations.
âIn alignment with the Presidentâs National Space Policy, NASA is committed to maintaining a sustained American presence in low Earth orbit long after the International Space Station retires,â said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. âWe will continue to need a place to conduct research, develop technologies, train crews, and prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars. Commercial space stations may provide that capability while creating new opportunities for American industry and allowing NASA to concentrate more of our resources on the near-impossible missions ahead.â
Building on the agencyâs Ignition event earlier this year, NASA regularly has engaged with private industry to shape the agencyâs future direction in low Earth orbit. This included publishing two Requests for Information in March to gather industryâs perspective on low Earth orbit destinations and transportation. The agency also published a draft Request for Proposals in July, followed by an industry day and one-on-one meetings that allowed interested companies to review and comment on the planned acquisition approach.
âWeâve made it clear that NASA will never give up its presence in low Earth orbit,â said Isaacman. âSince Ignition, we have spent a lot of time listening to industry and working through what it will take to make this transition successful. The opportunity is significant, but the economics ultimately have to work. We want to see credible plans, strong technical execution, and companies prepared to invest in destinations that can serve NASA while developing additional customers and markets of their own.â
Proposals are due Tuesday, Dec. 8, with contract awards expected in spring 2027.
Under the solicitation, NASA outlines requirements for companies interested in designing, building, testing, certifying, and operating commercial low Earth orbit destinations capable of providing end-to-end destination and transportation services for human spaceflight use.
NASA intends to award firm-fixed-price, multi-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts supporting development, certification, and services for continued low Earth orbit research and exploration. This will allow NASA to select two or more contractors through early development, followed by a competitive task order for final design, test, and evaluation, as well as certification and services from one or more contractors.
Learn more about NASAâs missions on the agencyâs website:
This artistâs concept depicts the proposed design for NASAâs PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA), which was selected by the agency in September 2026. The PRIMA observatory is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within the agencyâs longstanding Explorers Program. By observing far-infrared light, PRIMA will enable scientists to study cosmic objects heavily obscured by dust, providing new insights into the formation of planets, stars, and black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be. If confirmed by the agency, PRIMA will be targeted to launch in 2033, for a planned five-year mission.
NASAâs SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission will launch on the companyâs Dragon spacecraft on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deliver research and supplies to the International Space Station.
NASA
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Oct. 13 to launch scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station.
Loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will lift off aboard the companyâs Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following its arrival to the orbital complex, Dragon will autonomously dock to the space-facing port of the space stationâs Harmony module.
NASA will stream launch and docking coverage through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:
NASAâs SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission will launch from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA
For more than 25 years, the International Space Station has supported research by scientists from more than 110 countries, enabling more than 4,000 experiments in microgravity. Research conducted aboard the station helps advance long-duration missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis program and to Mars, while also providing multiple benefits to humanity.
Science Highlights
In addition to cargo for the crew aboard the space station, Dragon will deliver several new science experiments, including:
Lambda-Vision-1 studies artificial retinas in microgravity and could help patients with incurable retinal diseases on Earth.
NASA
With LambdaVision-1, NASA is testing how to manufacture artificial eye retinas in microgravity, building them one thin layer at a time. Reduced settling in microgravity may create more uniform, stable layers, potentially improving implantsâ performance. These artificial retinas could help restore vision for patients with currently incurable retinal diseases on Earth.
Stellar Spheroids examines growth and function of 3D heart tissues models in microgravity. Credit: NASA
NASA
NASA will use the Stellar Spheroids experiment to study how microgravity affects the growth and function of 3D human heart tissue models. Researchers will assess whether microgravity improves the formation of advanced vascular networks. Results could help researchers develop more realistic heart tissue models for disease research and support largerâscale drug testing on future space missions.
ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 studies how glass forms in microgravity when made from non-traditional elements.
NASA
Using non-traditional elements, ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 studies how glass forms in microgravity. Researchers will observe molten behavior in space, then return solid samples to Earth for detailed analysis. These unconventional glasses could offer higher strength, improved optical capabilities, and greater durability for spacecraft, habitats, and other exploration technologies.
MINDS seeks to reveal new targets to treat diseases like Alzheimerâs, Parkinsonâs, and multiple sclerosis.
NASA
The MINDS experiment studies brain organoids to better understand inflammation linked to neurodegenerative diseases. The investigation uses âorganoid villages,â which combine cells from multiple people to better represent patient diversity. Results could help identify new treatment targets for diseases like Alzheimerâs, Parkinsonâs, and multiple sclerosis.
Arrival and Return
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk will monitor the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk will monitor the Dragon spacecraftâs arrival. It will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about a month before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, returning critical science and hardware to teams on Earth.
Cargo Highlights
NASAâs SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission will launch on the companyâs Dragon spacecraft on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deliver research and supplies to the International Space Station
NASA
Launch
International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSA) â The final pair of IROSAs that will be installed on the space station, completing the augmentation of its power system to support critical operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.
Collapsible Continency Urinal and supporting hardware â A demonstration and test unit supporting NASAâs Artemis III mission.
Canadarm2 joint flight support equipment â A large foam clamshell will fly empty to return the failed robotic arm joint that was replaced during a June 30 spacewalk. After its return to Earth, teams will analyze the joint on the ground.
Additional equipment launching includes a toilet dose pump, a toilet pretreat quality sensor, and a robot micro-conical tool used for space station maintenance and utilization tasks with external replacement units and payloads.
Return
When Dragon returns in midâNovember, it will bring back the failed joint on the Canadarm2 for analysis and refurbishment, a spacesuit for ground refurbishment, a fluid- and pressure-control pump assembly from the urine processor, and a filtration unit for the water processor assembly.
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft departs from the International Space Station on June 16 after undocking from the Harmony module’s forward port. Dragon, packed with completed science experiments and cargo for retrieval and analysis on Earth, parachuted to a splashdown off the coast of southern California the following day.
Credit: NASA
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 6:33 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, Oct. 13, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment, including the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, to the space station. This is the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital complex for NASA.
NASA also will host a media teleconference on Thursday, Oct. 8 that will preview the cargo resupply flight, as well as provide a post-splashdown update for the agencyâs SpaceX Crew-12 mission, which will have returned to Earth from the space station Thursday morning.
Loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, to the space-facing port of the stationâs Harmony module.
NASAâs live launch and docking coverage will stream through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:
In addition to the solar arrays, the Dragon spacecraft will deliver hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity to help restore vision on Earth and 3D heart tissues models to advance largeâscale drug testing on future missions. The spacecraft will carry materials to study how a new type of glass forms in microgravity and brain organoids that could reveal treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimerâs, Parkinsonâs, and multiple sclerosis.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with time-critical research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.
NASAâs mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Thursday, Oct. 8
1:15 p.m.: International Space Station briefing for Crew-12 return, and SpaceXâs 35th Commercial Resupply Services launch with the following participants:
Bill Spetch, deputy manager of Commercial, Low Earth Orbit Program
Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASAâs International Space Station Office
Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Customer Operations and Integration, SpaceX
Andreas Mogensen, leader, Human Exploration Group, ESA (European Space Agency)
To participate in the teleconference, media must contact the NASA Johnson Space Center newsroom for call details by 12 p.m., Oct. 8, at: [email protected] or 281-483-5111. To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agencyâs media credentialing policy is available online.
Tuesday, Oct. 13
6:15 a.m.: Launch coverage begins
6:33 a.m.: Launch
Thursday, Oct. 15
9:15 a.m.: Arrival coverage begins
11 a.m.: Docking
NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy Space Center newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates.
Attend launch virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASAâs virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.
Watch, engage on social media
Let people know youâre watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
A satellite image of farmland around Lubbock, Texas, on September 22, 2025, features a patchwork of green and brown agricultural fields and several playa lakes with varying amounts of water.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
A satellite image of the same Lubbock region on September 9, 2026, appears parched, with much less green vegetation and mostly dry lakes.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
A satellite image of farmland around Lubbock, Texas, on September 22, 2025, features a patchwork of green and brown agricultural fields and several playa lakes with varying amounts of water.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
A satellite image of the same Lubbock region on September 9, 2026, appears parched, with much less green vegetation and mostly dry lakes.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin
September 22, 2025
September 9, 2026
Fields were parched and brown, and playa lakes mostly dry, in Lubbock County in September 2026 (right) compared to September 2025 (left) in imagery captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on the NASA/USGS Landsat 8 satellite. NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin
For many longtime cotton farmers in the Texas High Plains, the 2026 drought sparked flashbacks to catastrophic harvests of the past. Miserably dry seasons forced farmers in Americaâs largest cotton-producing region to abandon massive portions of their dryland crop, including 72 percent in 2022 and 66 percent in 2011.
But in some ways, farmers felt the drought in 2026 entered new territory. âThis is the first year that weâve had cotton completely die,â said Lacy Cotter-Vardeman, a farmer based in Lubbock County whose family has worked the land there for several generations. âI was just talking to our insurance people, and they said theyâd never seen this before,â she said, adding that roughly 90 percent of her dryland cotton was dead.
Satellite images highlight the scale of the problem in Lubbock and adjacent counties. Brown, parched crops and vacant plots dominated the landscape on September 9, 2026, when the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured the image above (right). In contrast, much greener landscapes prevailed on September 22, 2025 (left), when the sensor captured an image of the same area during a more typical year with a relatively healthy harvest.
Rows of spindly, wilted cotton photographed in one of Cotter-Vardemanâs fields in Slaton, Texas, appear stressed and near death on August 14, 2026.
Lacy Cotter-Vardeman
Subtler signs of the drought are also visible. With groundwater growing scarce in the High Plains aquifer, many farmers in the region have started irrigating just one-half or one-third of their center-pivot fields, explained Tillery Timmons-Sims, an agricultural conservationist who owns land in Brownfield, Texas, and used to grow cotton. In the imagery, these appear as green semicircles and quarter circles.
Note also the many shallow water features known as playa lakesâsometimes called mud holes, buffalo wallows, and lagoonsâscattered throughout the image. Some, like Double Lakes and Mound Lake, are fairly large, but most of the more than 19,300 playa lakes in the Texas High Plains are quite small, less than 30 acres.
Many of these ephemeral lakes were dry in September 2026, unlike the previous year. Playa lakes are critical in this water-stressed region because the clay-lined features, if active, collect rainfall and provide pathways for water to seep underground and recharge the aquifer below, the regionâs primary source of irrigation water. However, about 80 percent are modified by tilling or buried with sediment, and many no longer function that way.
Drought remained severe across many parts of the Texas High Plains in October 2026 despite some rain falling in recent weeks. The data depicted in the map are produced by the U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA.
NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin
Farmers in this region operate along the eastern margin of the aquifer, which has declined sharply in recent decades. According to U.S. Geological Survey data, the water table across much of Lubbock County has dropped by between 25 and 100 feet since 1950, around when people began drawing large volumes of water from the aquifer to irrigate. Losses have been even more extreme (150 feet or more) in counties to the north, including Parmer, Castro, Swisher, and Briscoe.
The aquiferâs long-term decline, combined with the 2026 drought, left many wells âpumping airâ this summer for some of the farmers Timmons-Sims knows. âWe simply donât have groundwater to fall back on anymore,â she said. Many farmers she knows thought that water might run out during the next generation; instead, itâs âhappening now,â she said. For Cotter-Vardeman, the problem couldnât be more tangible. Many of her irrigation wells stopped working in August.
Rains in September and October, aided by a strong El Niño in the Pacific, are bringing needed moisture to the region, but they havenât been enough, according to analysis from the U.S. Drought Monitor. âIt will take about 7 inches of rain over a three-month period to âendâ the current drought,â said Jonathan Case, a meteorologist at NASAâs Marshall Space Flight Center and one of the Drought Monitorâs authors.
The deteriorating aquifer is one of the reasons Timmons-Sims stopped farming in 2007. She now spends most of her time searching for ways to keep farms in business, such as converting irrigated croplands to grasslands to earn water credits, developing alternative energy projects, adopting water-efficient techniques, and working with conservation organizations to plan for the long term.
Through that work, the Sandhills Area Research Association, a conservation organization she helps run, partnered with NASA Acres, a research consortium that connects farmers with NASA science to address agricultural challenges.
In August, a NASA Acres Space for Agriculture listening tour brought NASA officials to Cotter-Vardemanâs farm in Slaton, a vineyard in Meadow, and parched cotton fields in Kress (below). At each stop, the conversation returned to water: how to preserve the ailing aquifer, and how farmers could manage their land in ways that would help restore playa lakes and return billions of gallons of water to the aquifer.Â
Farmers and NASA scientists inspect wilted cotton in Kress, Texas, during a NASA Acres Space for Agriculture listening tour on August 25, 2026.
NASA Acres/Adam Zwerner
The playa lakes around Lubbock were among the first scientific topics researchers studied after Landsat 1 launched in 1972. One early analysis by a Texas Tech geoscientist highlighted the Double Lakes playa (shown above), estimating that monitoring lakes from space would cost just a fraction of what ground surveys would.
More recently, a team of Texas Tech University researchers used a deep learning framework to identify and track changes affecting thousands of playa lakes over three decades. Their results, published in September 2026, showed that since 1995, playa lakes declined significantly in 15 of the 45 counties analyzed, highlighting the water challenges facing farmers like Cotter-Vardeman, a member of the NASA Acres Farm Innovation Ambassador Team (FIAT).
In Texas, Timmons-Sims and FIAT are working to connect farmers and NASA scientists, making it easier for farmers to use NASA data to decide what and when to plant, how to use cover crops and irrigation, and how to manage sediment and playa lakes. âWeâre simply running out of time and water,â Timmons-Sims said. âFarmers need information, innovation, optimization, and solutionsâand they need it now.â
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S.Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Photos by Lacy Cotter-Vardeman and Adam Zwerner. Story by Adam Voiland.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
The Saturn System SmörgÄsbord
Explanation: How was the Saturn system imaged so clearly? Astrophotographer Tom Williams captured such exquisite details due to one night of exceptional atmospheric conditions above the United Kingdom. This means more than a cloudless sky. Pockets of air at different temperatures and densities move around and bend light as it travels through Earthâs atmosphere, distorting astronomy images. This is called âseeing.â Less atmospheric turbulence means clearer images. The astrophotographer reduced the impact of seeing with the lucky imaging technique: thousands of short-exposure images are taken very quickly with a high-speed camera and the clearest images are added up. Which object in this smörgĂ„sbord interests you? Perhaps Titan or the icy stripes of Enceladus? Maybe the gaps and spokes in Saturnâs rings? Saturnâs opposition, when Earth passes in between the planet and the Sun, occurred on October 4th. Due to the planetâs proximity and full illumination from the Sun, now is a great time of year to observe it!
