Space News & Blog Articles

Week in images: 05-09 August 2024

The European Space Agency has launched a new citizen science project with Galaxy Zoo to classify tens of thousands of galaxies imaged by the Euclid space telescope.

Discover the key differences between meteor streaks and satellite streaks in photos. Learn how to identify each with these expert tips and tricks.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks late Sunday night August 11th and maybe Monday night too. Jupiter and Mars have a close conjunction on the morning of the 14th, looking radically different in the same telescopic view.

Image: The hidden intricacies of Messier 106

Build your own Ariane 6 rocket with ESA!

This 2013 artist’s concept shows the NASA’s WISE spacecraft, in its orbit around Earth. In September of 2013, engineers brought the mission out of hibernation to hunt for more asteroids and comets in a project called NEOWISE. Graphic: NASA

A spacecraft that helped bolster planetary defense is now at the end of its operational mission. On Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft into its final hibernation mode by shutting off its transmitter.

A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Friday morning launch will add another 21 satellites to the mega-constellation in low Earth orbit.

A Chinese Long March 6A rocket broke apart shortly after launching 18 internet satellites on Aug. 7, creating a cloud of at least 300 pieces of trackable debris.

At the annual 'Star Trek' Las Vegas convention, the actor who plays Lt. Malloy in 'The Orville' made the announcement to a small crowd of very lucky show aficionados.

The Mars Express spacecraft has taken a "deep dive" into Caralis Chaos, an ancient lake on the Red Planet believed to have been larger than any body of water on Earth.

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray space telescope, scientists have investigated if nearby exoplanets could support life, or if their stars are blasting them with too much deadly high-energy radiation.

Alien: Romulus is almost here, so we're diving back into all things Alien, including the coolest spaceships the movies have had so far. These are our favorites.

By precisely tracking the orbit of over 156,000 asteroids, the ESA star-surveying satellite Gaia has potentially found over 350 previously undiscovered asteroid-moon binaries.

Former NASA astronaut Jon McBride, who was the pilot on the first mission to launch seven people into space, has died at the age of 80. McBride flew on STS-41G, Challenger's sixth flight, in 1984.

Northern lights could be visible over some northern and upper Midwest states on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10. A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

A controversial comet strike theory has been circulating for 20 years. Now a group of researchers say they have found new evidence for it in ancient carvings at Göbekli Tepe, in Turkey.

The year’s long-awaited Perseid meteor shower will be accompanied by a graceful planetary conjunction. It’s well worth staying up all night to watch.

Find out where and when you can watch the peak of the Perseid meteor shower online for free.

When Crew-9 lifts off no earlier than Sept. 24, Space Force will be launching one of their own active servicemembers from their own launch complex for the first time ever.