With just three more episodes remaining after this one, "Star Trek: Discovery" offers us a surprisingly well-written installment.
Space News & Blog Articles
Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.
Elon Musk isn't convinced that aliens have ever visited Earth, according to remarks the SpaceX CEO and founder made during a conference on Tuesday (May 7).
Is Stonehenge aligned with the moon? Scientists hope to find out during a rare 'major lunar standstill, which happens once every 18.6 years.
The upcoming launch of the Φsat-2 mission is a prime example of the pioneering work that ESA does in the field of AI in Earth observation.
But when it comes to AI, hopes and fears abound in equal measure. In this interview, ESA’s Rochelle Schneider sets the record straight on how this transformational technology is improving access to crucial information on the state and future of our planet.
When astrophysicists observe the cosmos, they see different types of black holes. They range from gargantuan supermassive black holes with billions of solar masses to difficult-to-find intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) all the way down to smaller stellar-mass black holes.
But there may be another class of these objects: primordial black holes (PBHs) that formed in the very early Universe. If they exist, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope should be able to spot them.
Stellar-mass black holes form when massive stars explode as supernovae. SMBHs grow over time by merging with other black holes. How IMBHs form is still unclear, but it could involve mergers between stellar-mass black holes or multiple stellar collisions in dense star clusters.
Primordial black holes, if they exist, didn’t have any of these mechanisms available to them.
“If we find them, it will shake up the field of theoretical physics.”
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was rolled off the launch pad today (May 8) to replace a misbehaving valve on its Atlas V rocket.
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to support the Starlink 7-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission also includes the first six satellites that will be used for the company’s direct-to-cell service. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is getting ready for the second Falcon 9 launch of the day following a successful mission from Florida’s Space Coast. Notably, the Starlink 8-2 mission from the company’s West Coast launch pad features 13 more satellites boasting a Direct to Cell capability.
In total, there are 20 Starlink satellites awaiting departure from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) Wednesday night. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base is set for 7:48 p.m. PDT (10:48 p.m. EDT, 0248 UTC).
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, B1082 in the SpaceX fleet, will be launching for a fourth time. It previously supported the launches of the USSF-62 mission along with two Starlink flights.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1082 will touch down on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This will mark the 89th landing for OCISLY and the 306th booster landing to date.
New images from the VLT Survey Telescope will help scientists learn about galaxy pasts, and perhaps futures.
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they’re as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural paradise where life has persevered under its azure skies despite multiple mass extinctions. On the other hand, Venus is a blistering planet with clouds of sulphuric acid and atmospheric pressure strong enough to squash a human being.
But the sister thing won’t go away because both worlds are about the same mass and radius and are rocky planets next to one another in the inner Solar System. Why are they so different? What do the differences tell us about our search for life?
The international astronomical community recognizes that understanding planetary habitability is a critical part of space science and astrobiology. Without a stronger understanding of terrestrial planets and their atmospheres, whether habitable or not, we won’t really know what we’re seeing when we examine a distant exoplanet. If we find an exoplanet that exhibits some signs of life, we’ll never visit it, never study it up close, and never be able to sample its atmosphere.
Artist’s impression of the exoplanet Ross 128 b orbiting its red dwarf star. Potentially habitable rocky worlds like this one are beyond our physical reach. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser. Public DomainThat shifts the scientific focus to the terrestrial planets in our own Solar System. Not because they appear to be habitable but because a complete model of terrestrial planets can’t be complete without including ones that are near-literal hellholes, like sister Venus.
A recent research perspective in Nature Astronomy examines how the two planets diverged and what might have driven the divergence. It’s titled “Venus as an anchor point for planetary habitability.” The lead author is Stephen Kane, from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside. His co-author is Paul Byrne from the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis.
SpaceX is set to launch 20 Starlink internet satellites tonight (May 8), on the second leg of a spaceflight doubleheader for the company.
One of the Star Wars fandom's most infamous memes is joining the Star Wars canon (kind of) in this Lego Star Wars special mini-series.
NASA's exoplanet-hunting spacecraft TESS is back in action after nine days in safe mode, returning to scientific observations on May 3.
Axiom Space, which was founded in 2016, has already organized three private crewed missions to the International Space Station, and it's building the spacesuits for NASA's Artemis moonwalkers.
55 Cancri e is a super-Earth planet that appears composed of diamond-like carbon — now, thanks to the JWST, astronomers have found the world has "grown" a second atmosphere.
Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of a rocky planet atmosphere outside our Solar System.
China just sent a secret mini-rover to the far side of the moon on its Chang'e 6 sample-return probe
A tiny, previously undisclosed lunar rover has been spotted strapped to the side of China's moon-bound Chang'e 6 lander in newly released pre-launch photos. The true purpose of the rover, which is scheduled to land on the moon's far side, remains a mystery.
Watch the sun explode in a fury as it unleashes yet another barrage of solar flares, including two of the most powerful: X-class.
Are you excited about Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS's prospects for a bright appearance this autumn? Guess what? It's already gorgeous.
The post Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Brightens, Grows a Tail appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
China's Chang'e 6 has entered orbit around the moon ahead of its upcoming landing attempt on the lunar far side where it will collect samples that will be returned to Earth.
