Hold your breath: astronomers are re-evaluating their definition of a planet. Spoiler: it won’t bring Pluto back into the family.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Drugs can partially prevent muscle loss caused by microgravity, experimental study finds
With prolonged space missions on the horizon, scientists are racing to understand how microgravity affects the human body and how drugs could mitigate some of those effects.
Airplane contrails are a tricky, and surprising, contributor to global warming
Commercial airplanes have made strides in reducing carbon emissions, but it turns out the exhaust clouds trailing behind them can have long-term impacts on the environment.
'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew:' First adventurous trailer lands at Disney's D23 fan event
The first trailer for Disney+'s "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" drops at Lucasfilm's D23 panel.
Newly found star 30 times the size of the sun has an unexpected chemical composition
A newly discovered star 30 times as large as the sun has a baffling chemical composition that could provoke a revision to stellar evolution models.
Chinese company CAS Space takes steps toward 1st launch of reusable rocket
The Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space is making serious progress on a new reusable rocket called Kinetica-2, and is targeting a debut in 2025.
Wildfires rage across Athens
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Firefighters in Greece are battling a rapidly spreading wildfire that has swept across several neighbourhoods in Athens, Greece, on Monday. Thousands of residents have been evacuated as the massive fire reached the suburbs of Athens, with some flames reaching heights of 25 m.
Did the Milky Way Form Faster Than We Thought?
New research suggests that our galaxy’s first stars might have come together within a billion years after the Big Bang.
A Hopper Could Explore Over 150km of Triton’s Surface In Two Years
Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, is one of the most biologically interesting places in the solar system. Despite being hard to reach, it appears to have active volcanoes, a thin atmosphere, and even some organic molecules called tholins on its surface. However, Voyager only visited it once, in passing, 35 years ago. Technology has advanced a lot in the intervening decades, and a new push for a lander on Triton specifically has been garnering attention. One such mission was described by Steve Oleson and Geoffrey Landis of NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Their concept mission, known as Triton Hopper, was funded by NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) back in 2018 and utilized a cryogenic pump to extract propellant from Triton’s surface to power a “hopper” that could travel up to 5 km a month, and do some fascinating science along the way.
Can Meteor Showers Be Dangerous to Spacecraft?
We’ve all read the advice, during a meteor shower there is no equipment needed. All you need to do is lay back and wonder at one of the most spectacular sights the universe has to offer. That’s about it though and while you lay back on a lounger and watch it really can be a wonderfully grounding and relaxing experience. Unless you happen to be on National TV and miss a meteor behind your head and just tell the world there’s nothing to see. Not that I’m bitter about that of course!
Arctic Weather Satellite: advancing weather forecasting in a changing climate
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The effects of the climate crisis are felt more acutely in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet. The weather in the Arctic is not only severe, but it changes extremely quickly. More frequent data are urgently needed to improve weather forecasts for this susceptible polar region.
Scientists hail scientific legacy of comet-chasing Rosetta probe on 10th anniversary
ESA scientists recall highlights of the historic Rosetta comet-chasing mission on its 10th anniversary.
NASA is Looking for a Commercial Partner to Save VIPER
Space exploration has led the world in that wonderful human ability to co-operate, alas history shows we don’t do it quite as much as we should! Recently NASA has put a request out to the wider community for ideas for their VIPER rover which was designed for lunar exploration. The exact purpose of VIPER was to hunt for volatile minerals in the polar regions of the Moon. The big question, will NASA get any takers?
SpaceX to launch privately-financed international crew of four around Earth’s poles
The Fram2 crew, seen during a visit to SpaceX’s Hawthorn, Calif., manufacturing facility. Left to right: Eric Philips, Jannicke Mikkelse, commander Chun Wang and Rabea Rogge. Image: SpaceX.
A blockchain entrepreneur, a cinematographer, a polar adventurer and a robotics researcher plan to fly around Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule by end of year, becoming the first humans to observe the ice caps and extreme polar environments from orbit, SpaceX announced Monday.
SpaceX to launch 4 people on historic Fram2 mission over Earth's poles in late 2024
SpaceX plans to make more spaceflight history late this year, by launching the first crewed mission to explore Earth's polar regions.
Aurora alert: Geomagnetic storms from solar flares may supercharge northern lights across US, Canada
The sun's stormy weather is supercharging auroras on Earth this week, due to a series of intense geomagnetic storms triggered by recent solar flares.
Axiom Space's next astronaut mission to the ISS with SpaceX delayed to spring 2025
Axiom Space's next astronaut mission will be delayed due to the approval process required for International Space Station crews, according to NASA.
NASA satellite data adds key pollutant to national environmental justice database
Satellite data has helped scientists to begin tracking a key air pollutant previously absent from a national database, marking a crucial step forward in monitoring differences in air quality across the U.S. and identifying groups whose health is unfairly affected.
Chinese astronauts celebrate Olympics on Tiangong space station (video)
Astronauts on China's Tiangong space station recently reenacted some of the sports that athletes of the just-completed 2024 Paris Olympics competed in here on Earth.
'Borderlands' review: A return to the dark ages of video game adaptations
Lionsgate and Gearbox's long-awaited Borderlands movie is a dreary mess that lacks almost everything that made the source material pop.
The Next Solar Cycle Has Started… But the Current One Hasn’t Finished Yet
We may be already seeing the makings of next solar cycle, peeking out through the current one.
