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

12

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 FX9

Monday, Sep 14 · passes 3,592,430 km away — 9.3× the Moon's distance · ~66 m wide · 39,846 km/h

The cosmos right now

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

NASA Picture of the Day

LDN 1295: The Giraffe Nebula

LDN 1295: The Giraffe Nebula

What does this image look like to you? Many see a giraffe facing right, with neck stretched high and long legs mid-stride (but some may see a squirrel instead). The featured image shows LDN 1295, also called the Giraffe Nebula, in the constellation of the …

© Alessandro Merga Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II) · NASA APOD · Sep 10

Upcoming Rocket Launches

  1. Long March 2D/YZ-3 | Unknown Payload

    Sep 10, 09:00 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
    Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

  2. Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-153

    Sep 10, 15:42 UTC · SpaceX
    Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

  3. Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 11-13

    Sep 13, 18:49 UTC · SpaceX
    Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

  4. Starship | Flight 14

    Sep 15, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
    SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

  5. Vega-C | Sentinel-3C & FLEX

    Sep 15, 01:21 UTC · Avio S.p.A
    Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

  6. Gravity-1 | Unknown Payload

    Sep 15, 21:55 UTC · Orienspace Technology
    Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

  7. Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-259

    Sep 16, 01:00 UTC · SpaceX
    Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

  8. Soyuz 2.1b | Progress MS-35 (96P)

    Sep 16, 13:33 UTC · Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)
    Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

  9. Long March 12 | Unknown Payload

    Sep 17, 00:30 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
    Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

  10. Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-27

    Sep 20, 01:47 UTC · SpaceX
    Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

  11. Electron | LOXSAT 1

    Sep 30, 00:00 UTC · Rocket Lab
    Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

  12. Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13

    Sep 30, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
    Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

  13. Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A

    Sep 30, 00:00 UTC · SpaceX
    Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

  14. Long March 12A | Flight 2

    Sep 30, 00:00 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
    Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

  15. Long March 8A | Unknown Payload

    Sep 30, 00:00 UTC · China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
    Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Asteroids Passing Earth This Week

  • 2010 FX9

    2026-09-14 · misses us by 3,592,430 km · ~66 m wide · 39,846 km/h

  • 465824 2010 FRwatched by NASA

    2026-09-11 · misses us by 7,757,385 km · ~197 m wide · 41,734 km/h

  • 2018 VG

    2026-09-14 · misses us by 8,072,829 km · ~14 m wide · 31,892 km/h

  • 2014 FV32

    2026-09-10 · misses us by 12,283,851 km · ~130 m wide · 38,120 km/h

  • 2019 GM1

    2026-09-17 · misses us by 12,667,838 km · ~15 m wide · 13,109 km/h

  • 2007 QE3

    2026-09-16 · misses us by 13,284,379 km · ~432 m wide · 65,481 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.

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How Big Is It?

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