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A sunny day in early 2026 revealed the remnants of a winter storm on Arizona’s high desert—and produced a striking, if somewhat puzzling, display of light and shadow in the Grand Canyon. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured these photographs of the distinct topography on January 26, 2026.

Snow flurries were flying in the area the previous two days, as they were across much of the central and eastern U.S. Hazardous conditions within Grand Canyon National Park prompted officials to close Desert View Drive, which runs along a portion of the South Rim shown in the photo above, and to issue warnings about icy trails. (The North Rim is closed to traffic in winter and early spring.) When the road reopened around the time of these photos, a layer of white remained on both the South Rim, at an elevation of around 7,000 feet (2,100 meters), and the North Rim, at about 8,000 feet (2,400 meters).

Snow is typical at these high elevations in winter. The South Rim and North Rim see average season totals of 58 inches and 142 inches, respectively. At lower, warmer elevations, precipitation tends to fall as rain. On January 24, for example, snow fell on the plateau, while a weather station at Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor recorded 0.06 inches of rain.

If these photos make the iconic feature of the American West look more like a mountain range than a vast chasm, the effect is likely due to a visual illusion called relief inversion. Many people have an unconscious expectation that a light source should come from the top of an image. In these images, however, the Sun is shining from the south, or the bottom of the photos. Though the shadows on the canyon walls may be visually deceiving, the presence of snow helps to signal that the flat areas sit at higher elevations.

Astronaut photographs ISS074-E-208838 and ISS074-E-208848 were acquired on January 26, 2026, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 400 millimeters. They are provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The images were taken by a member of the Expedition 74 crew. The images have been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

References & Resources

• Grand Canyon National Park (2025, November 28) Visiting Grand Canyon During Winter. Accessed February 6, 2026.
• Grand Canyon National Park (2025, February 18) Weather and Climate. Accessed February 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2019, March 10) Grand Canyon Under Snow. Accessed February 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2013, April 20) Exploring the Grand Canyon. Accessed February 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2011, July 12) Are you ever fooled by relief inversion? Accessed February 6, 2026.

NASA will stream live coverage of the upcoming prelaunch, launch, and docking activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station.

Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than 6:01 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 11, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The targeted docking time is approximately 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 12.

Watch agency launch coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Individual events on YouTube will have their own stream closer to their start time. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, to the orbiting laboratory for a science mission. This is NASA’s 12th crew rotation mission and the 13th human spaceflight mission to the space station supported by the Dragon spacecraft since 2020, as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

Media who need access to NASA live video feeds may subscribe to the agency’s media resources distribution list to receive daily updates and links.

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, Feb. 8

11 a.m. – Crew-12 virtual media event from Astronaut Crew Quarters at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the following participants:

• Jessica Meir, commander, NASA
• Jack Hathaway, pilot, NASA
• Sophie Adenot, mission specialist, ESA
• Andrey Fedyaev, mission specialist, Roscosmos

Watch live coverage of the virtual crew media event on NASA Kennedy’s YouTube account.

Media may ask questions via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour prior to the beginning of the news conference at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

Monday, Feb. 9

11 a.m. – Prelaunch news conference with the following participants:

• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA
• Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA
• Andreas Mogensen, Human Exploration Group Leader, ESA
• William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX

NASA will provide live coverage of the news conference on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Media may ask questions in person and via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour prior to the beginning of the news conference at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

Wednesday, Feb. 11

4 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

6:01 a.m. – Launch

Following the conclusion of launch coverage, NASA will distribute audio-only discussions between Crew-12, the space station, and flight controllers during Dragon’s transit to the orbital complex. NASA+ coverage resumes at the start of rendezvous and docking and continues through hatch opening and welcoming remarks. 

7:30 a.m. – Postlaunch news conference with the following participants:

• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
• Josef Aschbacher, director general, ESA
• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA
• Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA
• Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Human Spaceflight Mission Management, SpaceX

Live coverage of the postlaunch news conference will stream on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour prior to the beginning of the news conference at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

Thursday, Feb. 12

8:30 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

10:30 a.m. – Targeted docking to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.

12:15 p.m. – Hatch opening followed by welcome remarks

All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on real-time operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.

Live video coverage prior to launch

NASA will provide a live video feed of Space Launch Complex 40 approximately six hours prior to the planned liftoff of the Crew-12 mission. Pending unlikely technical issues, the feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA+, approximately two hours prior to launch. Once the feed is live, find it online at: http://youtube.com/kscnewsroom.

NASA website launch coverage

Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming at 4 a.m. Feb. 11, and blog updates 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 newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on the commercial crew or Crew-12 blog.

Attend launch virtually

Members of the public may register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s 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.

Audio only coverage

Launch audio also will be available on Launch Information Service and Amateur Television System’s VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and KSC Amateur Radio Club’s UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, FM mode, heard within Brevard County on the Space Coast.

Watch, engage on social media

Follow the Crew-12 mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @Space_Station, @ISS National Lab, @SpaceX

Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab

Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab, @SpaceX

Coverage en Espanol

Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for additional mission coverage.

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425; antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov; o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371; messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is opening access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. For more than 25 years, humans have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies that enable us to prepare for human exploration of the Moon as we prepare for Mars.

To learn about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov

This Feb. 4, 2026, image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captures a strong solar flare erupting from the star. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can, along with other types of solar eruptions, can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts. The flare pictured was classified as an X4.2 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

SDO measures the Sun’s properties and solar activity to help us better understand the Sun’s magnetic changes. By studying flares and how they affect our planet and nearby space, SDO helps us to better prepare for and deal with these potential disruptions.

Image credit: NASA/SDO

The boreal forest—the world’s largest terrestrial biome—is warming faster than any other forest type. To understand the changing dynamics of boreal forests, Feng et al., 2026 analyzed the biome from 1985 to 2020, leveraging the longest and highest-resolution satellite record of calibrated tree cover to date. The study, published in February in Biogeosciences with four co-authors from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, confirms a northward shift in boreal forest cover over the past four decades. Landsat imagery played a central role in this study: the researchers applied machine learning to process 224,026 scenes collected by Landsats 4, 5, 7, and 8 to create annual, 30-meter resolution maps of tree cover across the entire boreal biome. They downscaled and extended calibrated MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields data to 30-meter resolution, creating a 36-year time series (1984-2020) that provided unprecedented spatial detail for tracking forest changes.

The analysis revealed that boreal forests both grew in size and moved northward. The forests expanded by 0.844 million km² (a 12% increase) and shifted northward by 0.29° mean latitude, with gains concentrated between 64-68°N. Their work also showcased the capacity of new growth to act as a carbon sink. Young boreal forests (up to 36 years) hold an estimated 1.1-5.9 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) with potential to sequester an additional 2.3-3.8 Pg C if allowed to mature. Landsat’s long time series of highly calibrated data allows researchers to study how ecosystems shift over decades, a crucial insight into our changing world. 

A potent winter storm in late January 2026 left much of North Carolina dealing with significant snow accumulations. Though the state is no stranger to snow, such widespread coverage is unusual.

This image, acquired on February 2 with the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite, reveals a nearly continuous blanket of white stretching from mountain cities in the west to beachfront towns in the east. According to the North Carolina State Climate Office, measurable snow fell in all 100 counties for the first time in more than a decade.

Snowfall in North Carolina typically requires cold air funneled in from the north to combine with moisture supplied by a low-pressure system. During the January 31 weekend event, Arctic air from earlier in the week lingered across the state as a storm approached along a near-shore track, setting the stage for widespread snow.

Snow totals exceeded a foot in some of the state’s western, mountainous regions, following several years without significant snowfall events, though some locations such as Asheville saw smaller amounts. The storm even pushed south into Greenville, South Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the downtown area saw about 5 inches (13 centimeters) by the evening of January 31, according to the National Weather Service.

In the Piedmont region, the hilly central part of the state, Charlotte received nearly a foot of snow—the most since 2004—while Raleigh saw a lighter accumulation of 2.8 inches, according to the state climate center.

Even coastal parts of the state traded brown sandy beaches for a blanket of white, with more than a foot reported in parts of Carteret County. Beaufort, a mainland town in the southern Outer Banks area, experienced heavy blowing snow. Slightly inland, Greenville received 14 inches, an amount not seen since a large storm in March 1980.

Though appearing serene from space, the storm posed real hazards on the ground. Dangerous road conditions snarled traffic and caused collisions, according to local news reports, while coastal areas saw high winds and waves. Overwash on Highway 12 in the Outer Banks coated parts of the road in standing water and sand, while several homes along the shore of Hatteras Island collapsed into the sea.  

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

References & Resources

• The Charlotte Observer (2026, January 31) I-85 north of Charlotte reopens after 100+ vehicles stuck from collision and snow. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• Island Free Press (2026, February 1) Ocean overwash reported Sunday morning on Hatteras, Ocracoke Islands. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• National Weather Service Charleston SC (2026, February 1) January 31 – February 1, 2026 Winter Storm. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• National Weather Service Newport/Morehead City NC (2026, February 1) Total Snowfall Reports Through Noon. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• The New York Times (2026, February 1) A ‘Historic’ Snowfall Hits the Carolinas. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• North Carolina State Climate Office Large-Scale Winter Patterns. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• North Carolina State Climate Office (2026, February 2) Rapid Reaction: A Statewide Snowstorm for the Ages. Accessed February 5, 2026.
• The Washington Post (2026, February 1) ‘Historic storm’ delivers biggest snowfall in decades for North Carolina. Accessed February 5, 2026.

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