explains<\/a>. At the time, the iceberg was about 4,000 square kilometers, over twice the size of Rhode Island. Now, estimates put its size at 1,182 square kilometers. Recent photos of it, captured from space by NASA satellites and an astronaut aboard the ISS, have alarmed scientists. The iceberg is now a vibrant blue, a sign of impending disintegration. <\/p>\nWhen the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA\u2019s Terra satellite captured an image of iceberg A-23A on December 26, 2025, scientists noted its bright blue surface, indicating pools of blue meltwater, which signals ongoing disintegration of the iceberg as it moved into relatively warm conditions in the southern hemisphere \u2014 after all, it is summer there now. <\/p>\n
![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/iceberga23a_tmo_20251226_lrg-800x534.jpg\")
NASA\u2019s MODIS camera aboard the Terra satellite shot this image of iceberg A-23A on December 26, 2025. <\/p>\n
The following day, an unnamed NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station pointed their camera down toward Earth and captured a portrait of iceberg A23-A in what is likely its final weeks of existence.<\/p>\n
The new images also showed evidence that the iceberg had \u201csprung a leak,\u201d as NASA put it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe white area to its left may be the result of what Shuman described as a \u2018blowout.\u2019 The weight of the water pooling at the top of the towering iceberg would have created enough pressure at the edges to punch through. The blowout may have allowed meltwater to spill tens of meters down to the ocean surface in what researchers call a \u2018freshwater discharge plume,\u2019 where it mixed with the m\u00e9lange of ice bits floating next to the iceberg,\u201d NASA explains. <\/p>\n
These signs indicate that iceberg A-23A, which has been floating in the ocean since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, is just \u201cdays or weeks\u201d away from complete disintegration. <\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly don\u2019t expect A-23A to last through the austral summer,\u201d says retired University of Maryland Baltimore County scientist Chris Shuman. <\/p>\n
This once-great \u201cmegaberg\u201d has had quite the journey over the past four decades, and has helped scientists learn much about icebergs. <\/p>\n
\u201cA-23A faces the same fate as other Antarctic bergs, but its path has been remarkably long and eventful. It\u2019s hard to believe it won\u2019t be with us much longer,\u201d Shuman added. <\/p>\n
\u2028Image credits: NASA <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A NASA astronaut about the International Space Station captured this photograph of iceberg A-23A on December 27, 2025.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[23642,4442,83725,47355,8647,3323,111,139,69,4029,147,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-227713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-astronaut","9":"tag-climate","10":"tag-glacier","11":"tag-iceberg","12":"tag-iss","13":"tag-nasa","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-satellite","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nasa-astronaut-iss-iceberg-a23a-featured_1-800x534.jpg\")
A NASA astronaut about the International Space Station captured this photograph of iceberg A-23A on December 27, 2025. <\/p>\n