Space News & Blog Articles
NASA's flying telescope is coming to the end of its mission but leaves a strong science legacy
Since 2014, SOFIA has been cruising through the night skies around the world, looking at the cosmos, but that mission ends this week.
Repeating fast radio burst with weird magnetic field challenges magnetar explanation
The repeating blasts of a fast radio burst from a galaxy like our own is challenging a proposed explanation for these fleeting but energetic bursts of radio waves.
New Omega Marstimer watch keeps time on Earth and the Red Planet
The maker of the Moonwatch is ready to keep time on Mars. Omega has announced the Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer, a new timepiece that can keep track of time and time zones on Earth and the Red Planet.
As Hurricane Ian Bears Down on Florida, NASA Decides to Roll Artemis 1 Back to the Assembly Building
As a result of the latest weather predictions regarding Hurricane Ian, NASA managers met on the morning of September 26 and made the decision to roll Artemis 1 back into the Vehicle Assembly Building to protect the rocket from the impending storm, an operation which commenced at 11 pm EDT that evening.
Upcoming Missions Could Search for Ancient Alien Technology Within the Solar System
Over sixty years ago, the first search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), known as Project Ozma, was conducted. This campaign was led by legendary astronomer Frank Drake, which relied on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia to listen to Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani for any signs of radio transmissions. Since then, the field of SETI has become more sophisticated thanks to more advanced radio telescopes, improved data analysis, and international collaboration. In the coming years, SETI will also benefit from advances in exoplanet studies and next-generation instruments and surveys.
Hurricane Ian delays SpaceX's Crew-5 astronaut launch to Oct. 4
Hurricane Ian has pushed the launch of SpaceX's next astronaut mission for NASA back by at least a day.
Hurricane Ian approaching Florida as powerful Category 3 storm, satellite images show
Hurricane Ian battered Cuba and turned toward the west coast of Florida on Tuesday (Sept. 26) as satellites track the harrowing storm from space.
As Hurricane Ian closes in, NASA weighs options for Artemis 1 moon rocket launch
The agency says an October launch is unlikely, but it won't "take anything off the table" after the storm comes through.
Artemis 1 rocket moved to hangar as spaceport completes hurricane preps
NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket moves into the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept. 27. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
NASA moved the Space Launch System moon rocket back into its hangar Tuesday to take shelter from Hurricane Ian, likely pushing back the next launch attempt for the agency’s long-delayed Artemis 1 lunar test flight until mid-November as Kennedy Space Center braces for high winds and flooding rains.
Small fire breaks out at Artemis 1 moon rocket's hurricane shelter
NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket left its launch pad for safety's sake last night (Sept. 26), only to encounter a bit of drama shortly after arriving at its designated shelter site.
Photos Show Drama of DART Asteroid Impact
The DART impact into asteroid moon Dimorphos wowed astronomers with an unexpectedly dramatic plume.
Another Ghostly Spiral Galaxy Revealed by JWST
The famous American baseball player once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” That’s certainly true of the JWST, which just released its latest “spider-web” image of a distant galaxy. It “watched” IC 5332 using the onboard Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). In the process it observed spectacular details not easily seen in visible light.
DART's impact won't make asteroid Dimorphos hit Earth — but here's what would happen if it did
NASA's DART mission didn't nudge its target asteroid toward Earth, but there could be other space rocks on a collision course with Earth.
Startup Vast Space wants takes artificial gravity station concept for a spin
Vast Space, which is backed by a cryptocurrency billionaire, says it is in the early stages of looking at artificial gravity space stations, but few details are available..
Climate Change is Making the Skies Worse for Astronomy
Light pollution. Satellite trains and radio frequency interference. Encroaching civilization. These all pose threats to ground-based astronomy. But, did anyone ever think that global climate change might wreak havoc on observatories? It turns out the answer is “yes.”
TESS Finds a Super-Earth and two Mini-Neptunes in a Single System
The field of extrasolar planet studies continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Currently, 5,090 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,816 systems, and another 8,933 candidates are awaiting confirmation. The majority of these have been Neptune-like gas giants (1,779), gas giants comparable to Jupiter or Saturn (1,536), and rocky planets many times the size of Earth (1,582). The most effective means for finding exoplanets has been the Transit Method (aka. Transit Photometry), where periodic dips in a star’s brightness are seen as an indication of a planet passing in front of its star (transiting) relative to the observer.
China launches three more satellites after recent rocket doubleheader
China launched three new satellites atop a Long March 6 rocket on Monday (Sept. 26), following two recent launches just 40 hours apart.
Behold the 1st images of DART's wild asteroid crash!
DART truly made a mess last night.
This is the Last Thing DART saw as it Smashed Into its Asteroid Target
The first-ever planetary defense technology demonstration mission successfully conducted its mission, slamming into the surface of a distant asteroid and going out in a blaze of glory. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft acted as a kinetic impactor, colliding with the small and harmless asteroid Dimorphos on September 26 at 7:14PM ET, with the hope of deflecting it.
Moon's best friend: Robot dogs could be future lunar explorers
Future lunar robots could fetch incredible science by borrowing from thousands of years of dog evolution. These companions can dig, jump and flip items over on the moon.
