Space News & Blog Articles
ESA counts down to Asteroid Day with news on riskiest asteroid
Video: 00:29:18 Will we find 2021 QM1 before it finds us?
Tenoumer Crater, Mauritania
Image: Deep within the Sahara Desert lies one of the best-preserved craters on Earth. On Asteroid Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the almost-perfectly circular Tenoumer Crater in Mauritania.
A Dying Star’s Last Act was to Destroy all Its Planets
When white dwarfs go wild, their planets suffer through the resulting chaos. The evidence shows up later in and around the dying star’s atmosphere after it gobbles up planetary and cometary debris. That’s the conclusion a team of UCLA astronomers came to after studying the nearby white dwarf G238-44 in great detail. They found a case of cosmic cannibalism at this dying star, which lies about 86 light-years from Earth.
Live coverage: Virgin Orbit ready to haul seven payloads into orbit with air-launched rocket
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket. The air-launched rocket will climb into orbit with seven small satellite payloads after release from a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft southwest of Los Angeles. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
SpaceX closes out first half of 2022 with on-target launch for SES
SpaceX’s 27th mission of the year lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT) Wednesday. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography
SpaceX closed out the first half of 2022 with its 27th mission of the year, powering a commercial television broadcasting satellite into orbit for SES on a Falcon 9 rocket as the company is poised to break its annual launch record in the coming weeks.
The Rings of Uranus and Neptune Could Help map Their Interiors
Mapping the interior of the ice giants is difficult, to say the least. Not only are they far away and therefore harder to observe, but their constant ice cover makes it extremely hard to detect what lies underneath. So scientists must devise more ingenious ways to see what’s inside them. A team from the University of Idaho, Cal Tech, Reed College, and the University of Arizona think they might have come up with a way – to look at the structure of Neptunes’ and Uranus’ rings.
Mars clouds take center stage in new NASA project looking for volunteers
Fogs, plumes and other types of Martian clouds are getting the crowdsourcing treatment.
A New Map of Mars, Made From 51,000 Orbital Images
When NASA sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to the red planet in 2006, the spacecraft took an instrument with it called CRISM—Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. CRISM’s job is to produce maps of Mars’ surface mineralogy. It’s been an enormous success, but unfortunately, the loss of its last cryocooler in 2017 means the spectrometer can only undertake limited observations.
NASA's DART asteroid mission might completely deform small moonlet
A new study finds DART's impact could be stronger than expected.
Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to launch with SES broadcasting satellite
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station before launch with the SES 22 communications satellite. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is preparing to launch a television broadcasting satellite Wednesday for SES, with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral set for 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT).
Watch India launch 3 satellites Thursday morning
An Indian rocket will launch three satellites on Thursday morning (June 30), and you can watch the action live.
China tests engine for new crewed moon rocket (photo)
China has successfully conducted a hot-fire test of a new engine that will help power a next-generation rocket capable of launching astronauts to the moon.
Cygnus Boosts the International Space Station for the First Time. NASA Can Now Potentially Keep the Station Aloft Without Russia’s Progress Spacecraft
Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft conducted a successful reboost of the International Space Station over the past weekend, on Saturday, June 25, 2022. The Cygnus NG-17 “Piers Sellers” is the first US-based spacecraft to provide a substantial orbital adjustment to the ISS since the space shuttles retired in 2011. Russia’s Progress cargo spacecraft has been the primary source for station reboosts, attitude control, and debris avoidance maneuvers.
NASA sun mission spots stunning solar eclipse in space
A sungazing spacecraft captured the moon passing in front of the face of the sun Wednesday (June 29).
Gamma-ray bursts might be much rarer than we thought, study suggests
Study reveals why mysterious gamma-ray bursts appear to blink and suggests that these mysterious phenomena might be much rarer than astronomers thought.
EGNOS technology for Africa – ESA signs deal with ASECNA
European technology that allows satellite navigation signals to safely guide aircraft down for landing in the majority of Europe’s airports will now be put to use across Africa and the Indian Ocean. ASECNA, the Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar, and ESA today signed an agreement to deploy a Satellite-based Augmentation System (SBAS) across a service region of more than 16.5 million sq. km, one and a half times the size of Europe’s coverage area.
Record ‘Fast Nova’ Flares Over a Single Day
A galactic nova flared briefly into naked eye visibility for a day, before vanishing from sight.
Virgin Orbit ready for first night launch on Space Force mission
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket under the wing of the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. Credit: Virgin Orbit
The first nighttime flight of Virgin Orbit’s commercial air-launched rocket is on track for Wednesday night off the coast of California, carrying seven small payloads into orbit on a mission for the U.S. military’s Space Test Program.
How black holes and galaxies play tug-of-war across the cosmos
How monster black holes overpower their much larger host galaxies.
Meet The Sun, Our Home Star
The Sun isn't exactly your typical star, but its light, warmth, and overall stability has helped lead to life on Earth.
