Space News & Blog Articles

Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.

NASA cancels half-billion dollar water-ice-seeking VIPER Moon rover

NASA’s VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – sits assembled inside the cleanroom at the agency’s Johnson Space Center. Image: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas

NASA announced Wednesday it was pulling the plug on the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. It was the second time in less than a decade, NASA scrapped plans for a roving scout to explore the Moon for water ice, the decision coming six years after cancelling a similar mission, the Resource Prospector.

Continue reading

ESA gears up for the Farnborough International Airshow

The Farnborough International Airshow is set to return for its 76th edition from 22 to 26 July 2024, and ESA will be there to showcase the agency’s latest achievements and to highlight its next steps and future vision for Europe in space. 

Officially, Only the Sun Can Have Planets. Is it Time to Fix the Definition of “Planet”?

What is the true definition of a planet, and could there be a more refined definition in the future? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers from the United States and Canada investigated the potential for a new definition of a “planet”. This study holds the potential to challenge the longstanding definition outlined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which established IAU Resolution B5 in 2006, resulting in demoting Pluto from a “planet” to a “dwarf planet”.

Continue reading

Neutron Star is Spraying Jets Like a Garden Sprinkler

X-ray binaries are some of the oddest ducks in the cosmic zoo and they attract attention across thousands of light-years. Now, astronomers have captured new high-resolution radio images of the first one ever discovered. It’s called Circinus X-1. Their views show a weird kind of jet emanating from the neutron star member of the binary. The jet rotates like an off-axis sprinkler as it spews material out through surrounding space, sending shockwaves through the interstellar medium.

Continue reading

NASA Stops Work on VIPER Moon Rover, Citing Cost and Schedule Issues

NASA says it intends to discontinue development of its VIPER moon rover, due to cost increases and schedule delays — but the agency is also pointing to other opportunities for robotic exploration of the lunar south polar region.

Continue reading

'The Ark' season 2 is 'love letter' to optimistic classic sci-fi, creators say (exclusive)

An interview with showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner for "The Ark" season 2.

NASA Cancels Lunar Rover Mission

The development of the VIPER lunar rover has been discontinued.

Continue reading

NASA cancels $450 million VIPER moon rover due to budget concerns

NASA announced it has ended the VIPER rover project, which was intended to explore the moon in search of ice near the lunar south pole.

25 things to admire in the night sky that aren't just the moon and stars

We've picked out 25 skywatching targets to celebrate Space.com's 25th anniversary. Can you catch them all?

Experimental Radar Technique Reveals the Composition of Titan’s Seas

The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn generated so much data that giving it a definitive value is impossible. It’s sufficient to say that the amount is vast and that multiple scientific instruments generated it. One of those instruments was a radar designed to see through Titan’s thick atmosphere and catch a scientific glimpse of the moon’s extraordinary surface.

Continue reading

ISS could 'drift down' for a year before SpaceX vehicle destroys it in Earth's atmosphere

It will take some time for the ISS to come down to Earth in the 2030s. NASA says it will take about 12 to 18 months to naturally fall back to our planet before a new SpaceX deorbit vehicle pushes it back into Earth's atmosphere.

Vaya Space receives pathfinding liquid oxygen tank shell for its Dauntless rocket

A liquid oxygen tank shell was delivered from Scorpius Space Launch Company in California to Vaya Space in Florida on Monday, July 15, 2024. This will serve as a pathfinding test article as Vaya Space continues working on its forthcoming Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now

A delivery from California to Florida on Monday marked a new milestone for aerospace company, Vaya Space. It received its first, full-sized liquid oxygen tank shell for its two-stage Dauntless rocket.

Continue reading

'Star Wars: The Acolyte' episode 8: How open-ended is the conclusion?

"The Acolyte" sticks the landing with a strong season 1 finale that gives closure to the main plot while offering a look at the series' future.

The James Webb Space Telescope is studying an exoplanet's eternal day — and eternal night

A tidally locked gas giant experiences eternal sunshine on one side, and eternal darkness on the other.

These durable Celestron Nature DX 12x56 binoculars have dipped below $200 at Amazon

Get these attractive, yet rugged, waterproof and fog-proof binoculars before they return to full price tomorrow.

These are the cheapest binocular deals you can buy on the last day of Prime Day

The Best Prime Day binocular deals to snap up before midnight tonight (July 17)

Newly discovered cave on the moon could house future lunar astronauts

The lava tube is likely one of many on the lunar surface.

Rare 'daytime fireball' spotted as meteor falls to Earth over New York City (video)

A meteor crashed into Earth over New York City on July 16. Watch the rare daytime fireball light up the skies above New Jersey and Connecticut in this dramatic footage.

Elon Musk moving SpaceX headquarters to Texas over new California LGBTQ+ law

SpaceX's Elon Musk, father to a transgender daughter, says he will move his space company to Texas because he feels California is being too protective of LGBTQ+ kids.

You won't find better than these Prime Day drone deals

Prime Day is nearly over and it's your last chance to take to the skies for cheap! Save up to $310 with these amazing Prime Day drone deals.

Win a bundle of digital bookazines worth over $100 with our anniversary birthday cake hunt

Indulge yourself in a special birthday cake hunt onsite competition to celebrate our 25th anniversary.


SpaceZE.com