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NASA Invites Media to Latvia Artemis Accords Signing Ceremony

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NASA Invites Media to Latvia Artemis Accords Signing Ceremony

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Credit: NASA

The Republic of Latvia will sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at 9 a.m. EDT Monday, April 20, at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will host Dace Melbārde, Latvia’s minister for education and science; Jānis Beķeris, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the United States; and Jacob Helberg, under secretary of state for economic affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

This event is in person only. Media interested in attending must RSVP no later than 3 p.m. on Friday, April 17, to: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.

The signing ceremony will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E Street SW.

In 2020, during the first Trump Administration, the United States, led by NASA and the State Department, joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies.

The accords introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety, transparency, and coordination of civil space exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Latvia will be the 62nd country to sign the Artemis Accords.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords

-end-

Camille Gallo / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
camille.m.gallo@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

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Apr 16, 2026

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Elizabeth Shaw

Station Orbits Higher as Crew Runs New Science Experiments

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Station Orbits Higher as Crew Runs New Science Experiments

The Roscosmos Progress 93 cargo craft, docked to the rear port of the Zvezda service module, fires its engines to raise the International Space Station's orbit. This reboost maneuver positioned the orbital outpost at the correct altitude for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-28 crew spacecraft on Nov. 27 and the undocking of the Soyuz MS-27 crew spacecraft on Dec. 8.
The Progress 93 cargo craft, docked to the rear port of the Zvezda service module, fires its engines on Nov. 19, 2025, raising the International Space Station’s orbit. This reboost maneuver positions the orbital outpost at the correct altitude to receive arriving spacecraft.
NASA

The International Space Station is orbiting higher today after the Progress 93 resupply ship, docked to the Zvezda service module, fired its engines for just over five minutes Wednesday night. The orbital reboost places the space station at the correct altitude for the upcoming Progress 95 cargo mission scheduled to resupply the Expedition 74 crew at the end of April.

Meanwhile, brand new science experiments are underway and advanced lab hardware is being installed on the orbital outpost following the arrival of the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft on Monday. The crew has been unpacking several tons of scientific gear, research samples, crew supplies, and more since the hatches were opened on Cygnus on Tuesday.

NASA flight engineers Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and Chris Williams took turns on Thursday learning how to manage cardiovascular health and infectious diseases in space. Hathaway started first setting up a portable glovebag in the Harmony module and configuring the Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP) that can generate artificial gravity for a wide range of biology and physics investigations. Meir and Williams then installed sample hardware housing bacteria and heart tissue samples inside the MVP. Researchers will observe how bacteria affects heart tissue in the microgravity environment to learn how to treat heart and infectious diseases.

Later in his shift, Hathway installed light hardware inside the Columbus laboratory module’s Veggie facility and collected light measurements for the upcoming Veg-06 study to learn how to grow plants for food on future space missions. Meir swapped blood stem cell samples inside the Destiny laboratory module’s fluorescent microscope providing researchers with insights into cancerous diseases and blood disorders. Finally, Williams installed the new European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device, or E4D, inside Columbus. The E4D is being evaluated for its ability to support crew workouts on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

At the beginning of her shift on Thursday, flight engineer Sophie Adenot from ESA (European Space Agency) assisted her crewmates with the scientific work and the E4D installations. She later finalized the installation of a new quantum physics module inside the Destiny laboratory module’s EXPRESS rack. The new module expands the Cold Atom Lab’s (CAL) quantum science capabilities for improved insights into general relativity and aid the search for dark matter.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev began their day conducting maintenance and inspections inside the Zvezda service module. The duo later split up as Kud-Sverchkov studied ways to use artificial intelligence tools to improve crew operations while Mikaev continued inspections inside Zvezda. Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev spent his shift on lab maintenance disinfecting water tanks, checking the battery levels of tablet computers, and replacing orbital plumbing gear.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_stationon X, as well as the ISS Facebookand ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia

At the Edge of Light

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At the Edge of Light

Part of the Moon stands out against the blackness of space. Its surface is marked with many craters of different sizes. The craters are mostly on the left and bottom. The upper right portion of the Moon's surface is much smoother.
NASA

In this photo taken on April 6, 2026, a portion of the Moon’s far side is seen along the terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—where low-angle sunlight casts long shadows across the surface.

A section of Orientale Basin is visible along the upper right portion of the lunar disk, its structure subtly revealed under grazing illumination. This lighting enhances contrast across the cratered terrain, highlighting variations in surface features and providing insight into the Moon’s geologic history.

See more imagery from the Artemis II mission.

Credit: NASA

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Monika Luabeya

Eyeing the Richat Structure

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Eyeing the Richat Structure

 
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The Richat Structure appears as a giant “bull’s eye” on a plateau in Mauritania in this mosaic, composed of images captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 and Landsat 8 on March 5 and March 6, 2026, respectively.
NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin

In a remote part of northern Mauritania on the Adrar Plateau lies a desert landscape rich in human history. This region of northwestern Africa is sprinkled with Paleolithic stone tools, Neolithic cave paintings, and the remains of medieval towns once used by caravans crossing the Sahara Desert.

When viewed from space, the landscape appears to be shaped most prominently by natural forces. Wind sculpted the seas of colorful sand dunes and scoured plateaus capped with dark desert pavement, while ancient flowing water carved valleys and networks of dried river channels.

But the region’s most eye-catching feature when seen from above is the Richat Structure—a large geologic formation made of concentric ridges on the eastern side of the plateau. French geographers first described the feature in the 1930s, calling it the Richat “buttonhole.” NASA astronauts Ed White and James McDivitt helped bring wider global attention to what became known as “The Eye of the Sahara” after photographing it during their history-making Gemini IV mission.

The 40-kilometer-wide (25-mile-wide) structure was initially thought to be an impact crater because large meteors can produce circular features on Earth’s surface. However, researchers later showed that it is actually a deeply eroded geologic dome formed by the uplift of rock above an underground intrusion of igneous material. Over time, differing erosion rates among rock types in the exposed upper dome led to the development of circular ridges known as cuestas. The orange and gray colors reflect differences in sedimentary and igneous rock types across the structure and the surrounding landscape.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

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Crew Begins New Space Research and Installs New Science Gear

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Crew Begins New Space Research and Installs New Science Gear

NASA astronauts (from left) Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway, both Expedition 74 flight engineers, pose for a portrait inside the cupola during a break in their procedures as Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft approached the International Space Station. Williams operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm from inside the cupola to capture Cygnus XL, while Hathaway monitored the spacecraft during its approach and rendezvous. Cygnus XL delivered more than 11,000 pounds of new science experiments, lab hardware, and crew supplies for the Expedition 74 crew.
NASA astronauts (from left) Chris Williams and Jack Hathaway, both Expedition 74 flight engineers, pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s cupola.
Credit: NASA/Jessica Meir

New science experiments are getting underway and new research hardware is being activated aboard the International Space Station after being delivered by a Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft on Monday. The Expedition 74 crew spent Wednesday unpacking Cygnus XL and stowing the new gear and supplies throughout the orbital outpost.

A new microgravity workout machine from ESA (European Space Agency), known as the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device, or E4D, is being configured for activation and installation inside the Columbus laboratory module. NASA flight engineer Chris Williams began his day unpacking computer hardware that supports the E4D then installing it and powering it on inside Columbus. Next, he joined NASA flight engineer Jessica Meir and replaced components on the E4D to ensure its accurate motion, alignment, and system longevity. The E4D is being evaluated for its ability to support crew workouts on missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA flight engineer Jack Hathaway kicked off the new Space Surface Spirulina experiment to demonstrate more efficient protein food production and carbon dioxide processing aboard spacecraft. He worked inside the Kibo laboratory module setting up the research hardware and retrieving microalgae samples for placement inside the Cell Biology Experiment Facility’s incubator unit. Scientists will observe how the spirulina microalgae grow in weightlessness to support the design of advanced, highly efficient life support systems for future space missions.

Afterward, Hathaway installed a new quantum physics module inside the Destiny laboratory module’s EXPRESS rack. The new module expands the Cold Atom Lab’s (CAL) quantum science capabilities for improved insights into general relativity and aid the search for dark matter. The CAL produces and chills clouds of atoms to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero enabling the observation of atomic wave functions, a fundamental part of quantum physics. 

ESA flight engineer Sophie Adenot photographed Hathaway as he set up the new Cold Atom Lab hardware inside Destiny and performed other scientific duties. She also spent most of her day in and out of Cygnus XL unpacking lab hardware, crew supplies, and food replenishing the space station crew.

Station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos worked throughout Wednesday conducting a photographic inspection inside the Zvezda service module. Flight engineer Sergei Mikaev assisted with the inspections then worked on life support maintenance servicing the Elektron oxygen generator and replacing carbon dioxide filters. Flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev spent his shift transferring water between the station’s U.S. and Roscosmos segments, as well as ensuring the operability of the Nauka science module’s ventilation system.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia