India plans to launch a key test of its Gaganyaan crew vehicle before the end of the year as the country gears up for human spaceflight missions.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Webb peeks into Perseus
Image: Webb peeks into Perseus
SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn astronaut launch to Aug. 28 due to helium leak
SpaceX has pushed the launch of the historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission back 24 hours, to Wednesday morning (Aug. 28), due to a helium leak.
NASA Announces the 2025 Human Lander Challenge
One of NASA’s core mission objectives, though not explicitly stated in its charter, is to educate Americans about space exploration, especially students. As part of that mission, NASA hosts a number of challenges every year where teams of students compete to come up with innovative ideas to solve problems. The agency recently announced the next round of one of its standard yearly challenges—the Human Lander Challenge.
NASA Decides to Play it Safe. Wilmore and Williams are Coming Home on a Crew Dragon in February
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain on board the International Space Station until February, returning to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon. NASA announced its decision over the weekend, citing concerns about the safety of the Boeing Starliner capsule due to helium leaks and thruster issues. The troublesome Starliner is slated to undock from the ISS without a crew in early September and attempt to return on autopilot, landing in the New Mexico desert.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts will conduct high-flying research in Earth orbit
Polaris Dawn has lots of science on board. The SpaceX mission will fly high in Earth orbit to investigate how the human body changes under the extreme conditions of space.
JAXA Officially Wraps Up its SLIM Lander Mission
On January 20th, 2024, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) made history when its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) made a soft landing on the Moon, becoming the first Japanese robotic mission to do so. This small-scale lander was designed to investigate the origins of the Moon and test technologies that are fundamental to exploring the low-gravity lunar environment. Unfortunately, mission controllers lost contact with the lander after April 28th, 2024, and have spent the last few months trying to reestablish communications.
Blue Origin's next space tourism flight will launch on Aug. 29
Blue Origin is targeting Thursday (Aug. 29) for the launch of its eighth suborbital crewed mission, a flight called NS-26.
Mattel rolling out Matchbox toy of SpaceX's Tesla astronaut transport
Mattel is counting down to the release of its latest space-themed Matchbox toy. Its 1:64 scale version of SpaceX's Crew Transport Vehicle is arriving Oct. 1.
After a Boost from Earth and the Moon, Juice is On its Way to Venus and Beyond
The first spacecraft to use gravity assist was NASA’s Mariner 10 in 1974. It used a gravity assist from Venus to reach Mercury. Now, the gravity assist maneuver is a crucial part of modern space travel.
Live coverage: Polaris Dawn astronauts to launch on historic mission featuring first commercial spacewalk
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft stand ready to launch the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission from Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is set for no earlier than 3:38 a.m. EDT (0738 UTC) on Aug. 27, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now
A commercial astronaut mission of historic firsts is set to launch in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning. The four members of the Polaris Dawn flight will climb aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon to embark on a roughly five-day, free-flying mission orbiting the Earth.
SpaceX fires up Falcon 9 rocket ahead of Polaris Dawn astronaut launch (photos)
SpaceX test-fired the first stage of Polaris Dawn's Falcon 9 rocket over the weekend, keeping the historic astronaut mission on track for an Aug. 27 launch.
Europe's JUICE probe snaps hi-res pics of Earth and the moon on its way to Jupiter (photos)
JANUS, which is the high-resolution camera on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, received a solid workout during the fly-by of Earth over Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
Get a sneak peek at the new video game anthology series 'Secret Level' (trailer)
A preview of Prime Video's animated video game anthology, "Secret Level," which arrives on Dec. 10.
Ancient grains of dust from space can be found on Earth − and provide clues about the life cycle of stars
Specks of dust known as presolar grains predate our solar system and contain information about stars that died long before our cosmic neighborhood formed.
X-Ray Telescopes Could Study Exoplanets Too
Exoplanets are often discovered using the transit method (over three quarters of those discovered have been found this way.) The same transit technique can be used to study them, often revealing detail about their atmosphere. The observations are typically made in visible light or infrared but a new paper suggests X-rays may be useful too. Stellar wind interactions with the planet’s atmosphere for example would lead to X-ray emissions revealing information about the atmosphere. As we further our exploration of exoplanets we develop our understanding of our own Solar System and ultimately, the origins of life in the Universe.
SpaceX 'go' to launch private Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission on farthest human spaceflight since Apollo
SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission is poised to launch a crew of private astronauts farther from Earth than any human has flown since Apollo 17.
'Fireflies' help NASA map radiation around Jupiter and its moons
The first ever 3D radiation map of Jupiter and its moons has been created using low-light cameras aboard the Juno Spacecraft that have been tweaked to operate as radiation detectors.
Life Needs Black Holes to Survive
Life is rare, and it requires exactly the right environmental mix to establish itself. And there’s one surprising contributor to that perfect mix: gigantic black holes.
How can we protect humans on Mars from dangerous solar storm radiation?
As space agencies and private companies look toward sending human crews to Mars, they'll have to find ways to mitigate the dangers posed by high-energy radiation from solar storms.
Observers’ Report: First Views of the Chinese “Thousand Sails” Satellites
Amateur astronomers have shown that the first satellites of the Chinese Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) constellation are bright enough to be seen naked-eye.
