Olympus Mons rises 22 km above the Martian surface—2.5 times higher than Mount Everest and wide enough to cover entire countries. A giant among giants, it is the largest volcano in the solar system. When we think of the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest instantly comes to mind. Towering at 8.8 km (8,850…
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured this breathtaking image of California’s San Francisco Bay Area on August 3, 2025. From 260 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS), her photo showcases San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and their suburbs glowing under the summer sky. The International Space Station Earth observation program provides a unique…
Can We Make Oxygen from Water—Elsewhere in the Universe? On Earth, we often say forests are the “lungs of our planet,” but the real oxygen powerhouses are microscopic: phytoplankton in the oceans produce over 50% of our atmospheric oxygen through photosynthesis. The process is simple—water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) are converted into oxygen (O₂)…
