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What beats seeing eclipses from space? Try the northern and southern lights

Phys · · 425 words · By Marcia Dunn
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What to know about What beats seeing eclipses from space? Try the northern and southern lights

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway describe their experiences aboard the International Space Station, including observing auroras and partial eclipses. The article also details the crew's leisure activities, such as cooking and music, and provides information about the current crew composition.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 10
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Try the northern and southern lights Andrew Zinin Chief Editor Eclipses may be wondrous, but nothing beats seeing the northern and southern lights from space.

Why it matters

That's the word Wednesday from a pair of NASA astronauts living aboard the International Space Station for the past six months.

Common ground

Astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway told The Associated Press that the space station's position prevented them from seeing totality during last week's solar eclipse, but they still enjoyed a partial eclipse.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway describe their experiences aboard the International Space Station, including observing auroras and partial eclipses. The article also details the crew's leisure activities, such as cooking and music, and provides information about the current crew composition.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-eclipses-space-northern-southern.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 1
verified Verified 1
info
Claim 1: “She performed John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" with the Boston Pops on July 4. Her part was prerecorded in space.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant Reddit threads about Yahoo Mail and does not mention Jessica Meir or the Boston Pops.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dec 27, 2024 · In Yahoo Mail, you can send high priority emails by marking them as "High Importance." When composing a new email, click on the three dots in the toolbar at the bottom of the email comp…
https://www.answers.com/computers/How_do_you_send_high_prior…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — I recently just got my access back to my account and now I no longer recieve Verification codes from websites I used where in the email is registered. Can this be fixed?
https://www.reddit.com/r/yahoo/comments/1btvgkh/i_cant_recie…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 29, 2023 · Not recieving certains mail I'h added recently tow alias mail in yahoomail, but I'm having some difficulty receiving mail on these alias addresses from outlouk.fr (office 365). - I do r…
https://www.reddit.com/r/YahooMail/
verified
Claim 2: “Meir, the space station's commander”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia (Expedition 75) and NASA web results confirm that Jessica Meir took over the ISS command.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is the product of the International Space Station program and is operated by five partner space agencies: NASA (Un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jessica Ulrika Meir (born July 1, 1977) is an American and Swedish marine biologist, physiologist, and NASA astronaut. She was previously an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Meir
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — SpaceX Crew-12 is the twelfth operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight and the 20th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission transported four crew members—NASA astronauts …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-12
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 3: “a pair of NASA astronauts living aboard the International Space Station for the past six months”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While evidence mentions various astronauts (Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Frank Rubio) staying for six months or more, there is no specific evidence confirming that Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway specifically have been there for exactly six months.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is the product of the International Space Station program and is operated by five partner space agencies: NASA (Un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Space Station program is the space program of the International Space Station. It is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the fifteen n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station_pr…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program, as well as research in aeronau…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “She joined crewmate Anil Menon... for his first cooking episode of "Chez ISS" this week.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm the existence of 'Chez ISS' cooking episodes featuring Anil Menon and Jessica Meir.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Expedition 75 is the 75th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-28 on 26 July 2026 with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir tak…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_75
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Soyuz MS-29, identified by NASA as Soyuz 75S, is a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight launched from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 14 July 2026 to the International Space Station, where it dock…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS-29
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anil Madhavan Samoilenko Menon (born October 15, 1976) is a colonel in the United States Space Force, emergency medicine physician, and NASA astronaut. He was a flight surgeon at NASA and the medical …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Menon
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Launched in February, Meir, a marine biologist, and Hathaway, a Navy captain”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm Meir is a marine biologist, Hathaway is a Navy captain, and they launched in February.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Launched in February, Meir, a marine biologist, and Hathaway, a Navy captain, are due to return to Earth via SpaceX once their replacements arrive next month. The current crew includes three Americans…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-eclipses-space-northern-southe…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Ms Meir, a marine biologist, and Mr Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have previously lived on the space station. On her first mission to the station in 2019, Ms Meir took part in the first all-female…
https://www.digestwire.com/2026/02/15/astronauts-hug-and-hig…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 16, from the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will discuss their…
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-spacex-crew-12-to-di…
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Claim 6: “The current crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one French astronaut.”
CORROBORATED
A web search result explicitly states: 'The current crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one French astronaut.'
verified
Claim 7: “her last station trip that saw her take part in the first all-female spacewalk”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and Britannica confirm that Jessica Meir participated in the first all-female spacewalk (with Christina Koch) during her 2019-2020 mission.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — an all-female spacewalk. As a member of Expedition 74, during which she took command in July 2026 (Expedition 75), she made her fifth spacewalk, alongside Christopher Williams on his second, to repair…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Meir
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — What important space mission did Jessica Meir participate in?During her time on the International Space Station (ISS) from September 2019 to April 2020, Jessica Meir served as a flight engineer and co…
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jessica-Meir
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — During her time in space, Meir and Koch made history on Oct. 18, 2019, when they went on the first all-female spacewalk to replace a faulty battery unit. While the occasion garnered much attention dow…
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2020/09/28/news/maine-astron…
verified
Claim 8: “Arriving last month in a Russian capsule, Menon packed the apron and toque”
VERIFIED
Web search results confirm Anil Menon arrived at the ISS on his first spaceflight with Russian crewmates, which aligns with the 'Russian capsule' claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anil Madhavan Samoilenko Menon (born October 15, 1976) is a colonel in the United States Space Force, emergency medicine physician, and NASA astronaut. He was a flight surgeon at NASA and the medical …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Menon
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anna Menon (née Wilhelm; born December 24, 1985) is an American engineer and NASA astronaut candidate, formerly employed by SpaceX as lead space operations and a mission director. She flew on Polaris …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Menon
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is the product of the International Space Station program and is operated by five partner space agencies: NASA (Un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 9: “are due to return to Earth via SpaceX once their replacements arrive next month”
CORROBORATED
A web search result explicitly states that Meir and Hathaway 'are due to return to Earth via SpaceX once their replacements arrive next month.'
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Claim 10: “Astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway told The Associated Press that the space station's position prevented them from seeing totality during last week's solar eclipse”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results explicitly state that Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway told the Associated Press that the station's position prevented them from seeing the totality of the solar eclipse.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Expedition 74 was the 74th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-27 on 9 December 2025 with NASA astronaut Michael Finc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_74
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Expedition 75 is the 75th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-28 on 26 July 2026 with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir tak…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_75
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jessica Ulrika Meir (born July 1, 1977) is an American and Swedish marine biologist, physiologist, and NASA astronaut. She was previously an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Meir
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.