Space News & Blog Articles

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 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.

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.

A preview of Prime Video's animated video game anthology, "Secret Level," which arrives on Dec. 10.

Specks of dust known as presolar grains predate our solar system and contain information about stars that died long before our cosmic neighborhood formed.

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.

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.

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.

Amateur astronomers have shown that the first satellites of the Chinese Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) constellation are bright enough to be seen naked-eye.

On 8 September 2024, the first of four Cluster satellites will return home and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled ‘targeted reentry’ over a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean. 

What time does SpaceX's Polaris Dawn private spacewalk mission launch?

Many red supergiant monster stars lurk in a Milky Way cluster astronomers have discovered with the Gaia space telescope. The cluster, Barbá 2, could help understand why some stars become black holes.

This is ESA: your perfect introduction to what Europe does in space

Scientists have observed an unexpected new behavior in a superconducting material. If physicists can figure out the cause, it could help them to find room-temperature superconductors.

Three U.S. teams in NASA's Deep Space Food Finale won a combination of $1.25 million for developing delicious and safe food for astronauts.

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission, which is scheduled to launch on Aug. 27, will feature the first-ever private spacewalk. Here's what to expect.

The total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, will pass over parts of Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Portugal and Spain.