Twice daily

WIRE

TUE 29 SEPEvening12:45 AM

Back to the brief

SCINASA

Fire Cloud with a Pileus on Top

Photo: NASA

Scientists captured rare observations of an ephemeral pileus cloud hovering over a smoke-infused cloud that rose above a wildfire in Montana.

In summer 2026, scientists took to the air to intercept and study the towering, smoke-infused clouds that wildland fires sometimes create. But during an August 11 flight over the Sand Creek fire in Montana, they came back with a bonus—observations of an ephemeral pileus cloud hovering atop one of the towering fire clouds.

Read the original report

Opens NASA in a new tab

SCINASA

NASA, Boeing Share Update on Commercial Starliner Development Plans

On Monday, NASA and Boeing provided an update on the company’s Starliner spacecraft, including adding additional crew missions and certifying a new rocket for crew transportation to low Earth orbit. The agency intends to exercise options for a fifth and sixth flight to and from the space station using Starliner, and will work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify the Vulcan rocket for use after the Atlas V rocket’s final flight.

SCINASA

NASA Armstrong Celebrates 80 Years of Flight Innovation

On Sept. 30, 1946, five National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) engineers arrived at Muroc Army Airfield in California’s high desert to achieve supersonic flight for the first time. In less than two years, NACA flew the X-1 aircraft faster than the speed of sound, marking an important milestone in aviation history. Fast forward 80 years, and that former NACA outpost is now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, flying the X-59 supersonic X-plane in the same skies to demonstrate that supersonic flight doesn’t have to come with a boom.

Back to the brief