discoveries

- NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed a Mars close approach on May 15, passing 2,864 miles (4,609 km) above the surface. - Its multispectral imager captured representative color images showing the double-ring Huygens crater and the cratered southern highlands. - The flyby used a gravity assist to increase speed and

- A wildland fire burned large areas of Santa Rosa Island (Channel Islands National Park); part of the island was closed while firefighters worked to contain it. - Landsat 9 OLI captured false-color and natural-color images on May 16, 2026, showing the burned area and active fire front. - The burned

- Photo (NASA/Bill Ingalls) shows the Moon (thin crescent) and Venus in conjunction above the Washington Monument, May 18, 2026, viewed from NASA HQ. - The two appear close in the sky due to line-of-sight alignment from Earth. - They are actually separated by millions of miles. - Additional photos of

- About 15,000 years ago Lake Agassiz covered southeastern Manitoba and much of the surrounding region. - The lake began draining ~12,000 years ago and left a thick, nearly flat deposit of nutrient-rich silt and clay that now supports productive farmland. - The Dominion Land Survey’s one-square-mile

- NASA-funded TRISH selected two early‑career scientists for its next postdoctoral class, starting projects in May. - Dr. Baiyang Liu (Columbia University) will develop a diazotrophic, nutritionally optimized spirulina strain for extended space missions. - Dr. Dylan Pham (Texas A&M) will study effects of simulated microgravity and aging on

- SpaceX’s 34th commercial resupply mission launched May 15, 2026, from Cape Canaveral carrying a Dragon spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. - The vehicle carries nearly 6,500 pounds of cargo for Expedition 74 and is scheduled to autonomously dock to the Harmony module on May 17. - Payloads include