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This story is an update to the Arctic sea ice feature in our World of Change series, which tracks long-term change on Earth’s surface through satellite imagery.

A layer of frozen seawater caps the Arctic Ocean. This sea ice grows through the long polar winter, usually peaking in March, then melts through the summer to its annual low in September. It is a natural fluctuation that has persisted for millennia. But satellite records show the ice now covers less of the Arctic Ocean at its annual maximum and minimum than it did a few decades ago.

Sea ice in 2026 reached its annual minimum extent on September 12 (above), when it covered an estimated 4.6 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles), according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). That ties 2008, 2010, and 2025 for the 10th-lowest minimum in the satellite record.

The maps below pair each September since 1990 (left), around the ice’s annual minimum, with the following March (right), near its annual maximum, through March 2026.

Lower Lows, Thinner Ice

Scientists have used satellites to observe the annual growth and retreat of Arctic sea ice continuously since late 1978. While sea ice extent has declined overall during that time, the downward trend steepened in the 2000s and set off a run of record and near-record lows. Each of the past 20 summers, from 2007 through 2026, ranks among the 20 lowest minimum extents in the satellite record. The lowest occurred in September 2012.

More recently, the September sea ice extent has been relatively steady. Weather can make a big difference in how much ice melts from one summer to the next. For example, over the past decade, increased cloud cover has prevented sunlight from accelerating the melt, according to NASA scientists. Despite this recent plateau, the summer minimum remains well below the long-term average.

Across the Arctic, the ice that remains is younger and thinner. Observations show a decline in multiyear ice—that which survives at least one melt season—leaving an Arctic dominated by thinner first-year ice. Winter ice is also shrinking. The March 2026 maximum statistically tied the 2025 maximum for the lowest in the satellite record.

Cycles of natural variability such as the Arctic Oscillation are known to play a role in Arctic sea ice extent, but the decline observed throughout the satellite record cannot be explained by natural variability alone. Natural variability and rising global temperatures have worked together to melt greater amounts of Arctic sea ice. Scientists have projected an essentially ice-free Arctic could occur at least once before the middle of the 21st century.

Seeing Through the Clouds

To determine sea ice extent, scientists rely on satellites with passive microwave sensors that measure the microwave energy Earth naturally emits. Sea ice emits more of this energy than open water, so it stands out in microwave images. Because microwaves pass through clouds, the satellites can observe sea ice regularly, regardless of weather.

The record began in 1978 with data collected by NASA’s Nimbus-7, followed by Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites starting in 1987 and NASA’s Aqua satellite between 2002 and 2011. Starting in 2025, scientists began using observations from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s GCOM-W satellite. The white circle at the center of each image is the “pole hole,” north of which satellite sensors have historically been unable to collect data. The sea ice estimates assume that this hole is ice-filled.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

References & Resources

• IPCC (2021) Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earthdata (2026, October) Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2026, October 6) World of Change: Arctic Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2016, September 16) Sea Ice. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• NASA Earth Science (2026, September 23) Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2026 Annual Minimum Extent. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (2026, September 23) Arctic sea ice minimum ties for tenth lowest. Accessed October 6, 2026.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (2026, March 26) Arctic sea ice record low maximum strikes again. Accessed October 6, 2026.

After delivering more than 11,000 pounds of supplies, science experiments, and other cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is scheduled to depart Friday, Oct. 9, as part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24.

Watch NASA’s live coverage of undocking and departure beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Cygnus XL spacecraft from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and maneuver it into position for release at 12:45 p.m. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney will monitor the operation from aboard the orbital complex.

Loaded with thousands of pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo, Cygnus XL will deorbit Sunday, Oct. 11, for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will safely burn up. NASA will not provide coverage of the spacecraft’s deorbit.

The resupply spacecraft launched on April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Learn more about this NASA commercial resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-24/

-end-

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

Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

Every month, NASA Earth Observatory features a puzzling satellite image. The October 2026 puzzler appears above. 

Your Challenge
Identify the location shown in this satellite image. Share what clues you see, where you think it is, and what makes this place interesting or unique to you.

How to Answer
Submit your response using this form and select “Puzzler Answer” as the topic. Please include your preferred name or alias.

You can keep it simple and just guess the location. Want to impress us? Tell us which satellite and instrument captured the image, which spectral bands were used, or point out a subtle detail about the geology or history of the area. If something catches your eye, or if this is your home or means something to you, we’d love to hear about it.

The Prize
We can’t offer prize money or a trip to space to see Earth like satellites and astronauts do. But we can offer something almost as rewarding: puzzler bragging rights.

About a week after the challenge, we’ll post the answer at the top of this page, along with a link to an Earth Observatory Image of the Day story that explains the image in more detail. We’ll recognize the first person who correctly guesses the location, and we may also highlight readers who share especially thoughtful or interesting answers. By submitting a response, you acknowledge that your comments may be edited, excerpted, and published on this page.

Until then, zoom in, look closely, and enjoy the challenge. See you at the reveal!

As an astronaut traverses the lunar South Pole, tribocharging from walking on the lunar surface and plasma charging from the ambient plasma generate electric charge on the spacesuit. This problem is severely compounded when entering lunar shadows and Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs). In these dark zones, the spacesuit can buildup a substantial negative potential due to a lack of ambient ion flux and the absence of photoelectron emission to balance ambient electron collection.

The risk occurs when an astronaut returns to the spacecraft. Because the lunar surface lacks a natural environmental mechanism to bleed the charge accumulated on spacesuit away, the astronaut may become a walking, high voltage capacitor.

In the sunlit region, the stationary lander will hold slightly positive electrical potential. When a highly negatively-charged astronaut approaches the vehicle, the extreme voltage differential can trigger electrostatic discharge (an instantaneous electrical arc, or a spark) during physical contact. A rapid discharge from the astronaut to the lander risks degrading vital suit layers, damaging sensitive suit electronics, threatening the oxygen-rich environment inside the suit, and delivering dangerous electrical shocks to the crew.

Through the Lunar Grounding Challenge, NASA is seeking innovative designs and operational solutions to provide a lunar bringing to equilibrium capability to safely discharge a suited astronaut from high triboelectric charge buildup during lunar surface EVAs in the South Pole. This challenge seeks innovative concepts for an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) mitigation solution to neutralize the astronaut in a safe and timely manner under this extreme charge differential before astronauts directly interact with the lander.

Award: Up to $150,000 in prizes

Challenge Open Date: October 5, 2026

Submissions Close Date: January 15, 2027

For more information, visit: https://work.crowdplat.com/challenge/lunar-grounding-challenge

In 6 days, 10,000+ people from across the global startup and tech ecosystem will come together at San Francisco’s Moscone West for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. If you’re planning to be one of them, don’t wait to register your ticket before prices increase at the door. Save up to $100 on your pass, plus 50% on a second of the same type.

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