Space News & Blog Articles

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Curious asteroid Selam, spotted by NASA's Lucy spacecraft, is a cosmic toddler

NASA's Lucy spacecraft serendipitously found a small moonlet orbiting the mission's asteroid target Dinkinesh. Scientists named it Selam, and have now learned that Selam is a cosmic toddler.

Is the JWST Now an Interplanetary Meteorologist?

The JWST keeps one-upping itself. In the telescope’s latest act of outdoing itself, it examined a distant exoplanet to map its weather. The forecast?

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 30th Starlink mission of 2024 on Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral

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

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch on the 30th Starlink flight of the year. The mission will add 23 more satellites to the mega constellation.

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Astronauts on the moon could stay fit by running in a Wheel of Death

Scientists suggest lunar astronauts can stay fit by running sideways within a Wheel of Death.

Solar Orbiter Takes a Mind-Boggling Video of the Sun

You’ve seen the Sun, but you’ve never seen the Sun like this. This single frame from a video captured by ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission shows the Sun looking very …. fluffy!  You can see feathery, hair-like structures made of plasma following magnetic field lines in the Sun’s lower atmosphere as it transitions into the much hotter outer corona. The video was taken from about a third of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

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What Can AI Learn About the Universe?

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become ubiquitous, with applications ranging from data analysis, cybersecurity, pharmaceutical development, music composition, and artistic renderings. In recent years, large language models (LLMs) have also emerged, adding human interaction and writing to the long list of applications. This includes ChatGPT, an LLM that has had a profound impact since it was introduced less than two years ago. This application has sparked considerable debate (and controversy) about AI’s potential uses and implications.

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Watch live: China launching Chang'e 6 mission to far side of the moon early May 3 (video)

China's Chang'e 6 sample return mission to the moon's far side is scheduled to launch early Friday morning (May 3), and you can watch the action live.

Meet Alkaid, the Big Dipper’s Handle

Alkaid is the end star of the Big Dipper's handle, a bright-blue example of a nearby B-type star.

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Watch ULA assemble Atlas V rocket ahead of Boeing Starliner astronaut test flight (video)

United Launch Alliance's new video highlight's how the Atlas V launch vehicle for Boeing's Starliner was stacked and mated to the spacecraft.

NASA's Hubble Telescope is back in action — but its TESS exoplanet hunter may now be in trouble

Both the Hubble Telescope and TESS exoplanet hunter went into safe mode on April 23. Hubble is back on, but TESS remains off.

NASA selects Rocket Lab for back-to-back climate change research launches

NASA's PREFIRE mission will deploy a pair of satellites from twin launches aboard Rocket Lab's Electron rockets that will contribute to climate change studies in the Arctic and Antarctica.

Ariane 6 stands tall for launch

Video: 00:02:59

Last week, Ariane 6’s central core – the main body of the rocket – was stood tall at the launch zone and connected to its two solid-fuel boosters. This exciting moment means only one thing: it’s the start of the first launch campaign.

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SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites tonight in 2nd half of spaceflight doubleheader

SpaceX is scheduled to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites tonight (May 2), on the second half of a planned spaceflight doubleheader.

Some planets 'death spiral' into their stars and scientists may now know why

WASP-12b is a planet on a date with a fiery destiny, doomed to plunge into its sun-like star. Scientists may finally know why some hot Jupiters eventually death spiral into their stars.

NASA inspector general finds Orion heat shield issues 'pose significant risks' to Artemis 2 crew safety

NASA's inspector general writes that the Artemis 1 test flight of the Orion spacecraft revealed anomalies that "pose significant risks to the safety of the crew."

Restored Atlas rocket erected on display as Mercury astronaut's ride to orbit

Sixty-one years after it stood ready to send NASA's last one-man mission into orbit, the Mercury-Atlas 9 rocket is standing again. A replica is on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force.

SpaceX launches Maxar’s first WorldView Legion satellites on Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the first pair of WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Space Systems. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX completed the first of a planned pair of Falcon 9 launches on Thursday, hours after it worked with NASA to relocate its Crew Dragon spacecraft on the International Space Station. First up to launch was a pair of Maxar Space Systems’ WorldView Legion satellites.

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A year in training: ESA's new astronauts graduate

Video: 00:05:16

ESA's newly graduated astronauts reach the end of one year of rigorous basic astronaut training. Discover the journey of Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Selected in November 2022, the group began their training in April 2023.

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The Sun’s fluffy corona in exquisite detail

Video: 00:00:48

This otherworldly, ever-changing landscape is what the Sun looks like up close. ESA's Solar Orbiter filmed the transition from the Sun's lower atmosphere to the much hotter outer corona. The hair-like structures are made of charged gas (plasma), following magnetic field lines emerging from the Sun's interior.

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Enceladus’s Fault Lines are Responsible for its Plumes

The Search for Life in our Solar System leads seekers to strange places. From our Earthbound viewpoint, an ice-covered moon orbiting a gas giant far from the Sun can seem like a strange place to search for life. But underneath all that ice sits a vast ocean. Despite the huge distance between the moon and the Sun and despite the thick ice cap, the water is warm.

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Watch SpaceX's Crew-8 astronauts move their Dragon at the ISS May 2 to make way for Boeing's Starliner

The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-8 mission will move their Dragon capsule to a different port at the ISS on Thursday morning (May 2), and you can watch it live.


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