Today’s hidden fact · Sunday, August 9, 2026

Voyager Is the Farthest Human Object Ever — and It Still Calls Home Daily

Voyager 1 is over 24 billion km away, so far its radio signal takes 22+ hours to arrive, sent by a transmitter weaker than a refrigerator bulb.

Read the full fact Scroll to the edge of the universe →

74 hidden facts to explore

15 launches on the horizon

6 asteroids passing this week

Daily updates, with no humans involved

Right now in space

The Space Station LIVE

A football-field-sized lab, falling around Earth at 8 km every second.

Speed: —
Altitude: —
Position: —

Contacting the tracking station…

Humans off Earth right now

ISS Oleg Kononenko · Nikolai Chub · Tracy Caldwell Dyson · Matthew Dominick · Michael Barratt · Jeanette Epps · Alexander Grebenkin · Butch Wilmore · Sunita Williams

Tiangong Li Guangsu · Li Cong · Ye Guangfu

Next rocket leaves in

–days

–hrs

–min

–sec

Checking the launch schedule…

Closest space rock this week

2010 JA

Monday, Sep 21 · passes 10,081,613 km away — 26.2× the Moon's distance · ~17 m wide · 24,046 km/h

The cosmos right now

Live from NASA and the world's launch pads — refreshed every morning.

NASA Picture of the Day

Cocoon Nebula Wide Field

When does a nebula look like a comet? In this crowded starfield covering over two degrees within the high-flying constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a nebula b…

Upcoming Rocket Launches

Long March 8A | Unknown Payload
Sep 23, 13:30 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
Long March 6A | Unknown Payload
Sep 24, 08:45 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Electron | Owlright, Owlright, Owlright (StriX Launch 13)
Sep 26, 00:15 UTC · Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-385
Sep 26, 11:56 UTC · SpaceX
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Starship | Starlink Group 31-1 (Starship Flight 14)
Sep 28, 12:15 UTC · SpaceX
SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-25
Sep 30, 16:00 UTC · SpaceX
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13
Oct 1, 15:10 UTC · SpaceX
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
SR75 | Flight 2
Oct 5, 00:00 UTC · HyImpulse
SaxaVord Spaceport
Ariane 64 Block 2 | Amazon Leo (LE-04)
Oct 7, 00:00 UTC · Arianespace
Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Nuri | NeonSat-2 to 6
Oct 7, 03:23 UTC · Korea Aerospace Research Institute
Naro Space Center, South Korea
H3-24 | Martian Moon eXplorer (MMX)
Oct 19, 19:41 UTC · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Oct 31, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Dragon CRS-2 SpX-35
Oct 31, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
Oct 31, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Oct 31, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Asteroids Passing Earth This Week

2010 JA
2026-09-21 · misses us by 10,081,613 km · ~17 m wide · 24,046 km/h
2012 VB37
2026-09-23 · misses us by 10,304,606 km · ~34 m wide · 22,855 km/h
2016 LY8
2026-09-25 · misses us by 13,142,327 km · ~107 m wide · 26,214 km/h
2008 ST
2026-09-26 · misses us by 14,878,930 km · ~16 m wide · 22,191 km/h
523934 1998 FF14watched by NASA
2026-09-28 · misses us by 15,393,501 km · ~325 m wide · 84,523 km/h
2018 HN
2026-09-25 · misses us by 16,612,224 km · ~44 m wide · 42,456 km/h

Distances look huge — the Moon is 384,400 km away. Anything under a few million km counts as a close shave in space terms.