Billions of years ago, the close pass of another star might have sculpted the outer regions of our solar system.
Space News & Blog Articles
Belief in alien visits to Earth is spiraling out of control – here's why that's so dangerous
Belief in alien visitors is no longer a quirk, but a widespread societal problem. This belief is slightly paradoxical as we have zero evidence that aliens even exist.
Europe is Sending a Drill to the Moon to Search for Water
The Moon has been a source of interest of late largely due to the focus on getting humans back to the Moon. Future human explorers though will likely be there to stay in permanent lunar bases. Making this a reality means it is of vital importance to harvest materials from the Moon and water is just one of them. Recently, ESA Announced they have secured a ride to the Moon for their Prospect package in 2027. It consists of a drill and tiny laboratory that will hunt for water and other volatiles, paving the way for human exploration.
New 'StarRupture' gameplay trailer is a killer bug hunt on a crazy planet (video)
A preview of Creepy Jar's sci-fi survival game, "StarRupture," which is expected to be released later this year.
European greenhouse gas emissions decline but land stores weaken
According to recent research, Europe’s net greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by around 25% since the 1990s. While this is good news, the study also revealed a weakening in the capacity of land and vegetation to absorb and store atmospheric carbon.
Following a Moon Shadow
A penumbral lunar eclipse is coming on September 17th, and that little shadow is something to look forward to.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the ready to support the Starlink 10-4 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 28, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is targeting Wednesday morning for the 85th launch Falcon 9 rocket so far in 2024. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-11, will add another 21 Starlink satellites to the company’s megaconstellation.
Asking the Big Question: Where Did Life Originate?
Where on Earth did life originate, and where else could it occur? A comprehensive answer is most likely a long way off. But it might depend on how many suitable sites for abiogenesis there are on different worlds.
Hubble telescope spies a sparkling 'cosmic fossil' 3 million light-years away (image)
Located about 3 million light-years from Earth, the Tucana Dwarf galaxy sits at the far edge of the Local Group of galaxies and is home to aging stars that may hold clues from the early universe.
There Was a Strange Sound Coming From Starliner. It Was Caused by a Speaker in the Capsule
As part of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), NASA contracted with commercial space partners to develop crew-capable spacecraft to restore domestic launch capability to U.S. soil. In addition to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle, which was validated in 2020 and has been transporting crews to the International Space Station (ISS) ever since. Concurrently, Boeing developed the CT-100 Starliner, which has suffered a seemingly endless string of technical issues and delays. After undergoing a long checklist of fixes, the Starliner completed its first orbital flight test (OFT-1) in May 2022.
The Surprising Source of Radiation Coming From Black Holes
Black holes are famous for sucking in everything that crosses their event horizons, including light. So, why do astronomers see energetic radiation coming from the environment of a black hole in an X-ray binary system? It’s a good question that finally has an answer.
ESA scrubs swan song launch of its Vega rocket due to “electrical issues”
Sentinel-2 in the Vega launch tower. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/Optique vidéo du CSG–T. Leduc
Update 6:41 p.m. EDT: Arianespace announced that the mission is scrubbed for a Tuesday night launch attempt and is working towards an opportunity on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Thruster issues delay BepiColombo probe's Mercury arrival until November 2026
A thruster glitch suffered this past April will delay the BepiColombo mission's arrival at Mercury by nearly a year, to November 2026.
Scientists make lab-grown black hole jets
By using protons to probe how a magnetic field responds to an expanding plasma, experimenters have replicated the particle jets spewed out by active black holes.
This Ancient Galaxy Merger Will Produce a very Luminous Quasar
In the contemporary Universe, massive galaxies are plentiful. But the Universe wasn’t always like this. Astronomers think that galaxies grew large through mergers, so what we see in space is the result of billions of years of galaxies merging. When galaxies merge, the merger can feed large quantities of gas into their centers, sometimes creating a quasar.
'It basically lifts the skies up.' NASA discovers Earth's electrical field at last after 60-year search
A long-sought invisible electrical field wrapped around Earth has been detected more than half a century after it was first predicted to exist.
Watch Europe's Vega rocket launch its final mission tonight
Europe's Vega small-satellite launcher is scheduled to fly its final mission tonight (Sept. 3), and you can watch the swan song live.
Shelved NASA spacecraft could spy on asteroid Apophis before 2029 Earth flyby
NASA is considering pulling a pair of shelved spacecraft out of storage to spy on notorious asteroid Apophis ahead of its April 2029 Earth flyby.
Statue of fallen 'Teacher-in-Space' Christa McAuliffe unveiled at NH state house
A statue of Christa McAuliffe, NASA's "Teacher-in-Space" who died on board the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, has been unveiled in New Hampshire, the state where she taught.
Catch a Fall Feast of Lunar Occultations in September
September offers a number of fascinating lunar occultation events worldwide.
NASA science mission spacecraft are at risk from hackers, but a new law could help protect them
NASA missions are some of the most technologically advanced and critically important endeavors but they are at risk from hackers.