NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams are slated to launch on Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its Starliner capsule, flying to the International Space Station on May 6.
Space News & Blog Articles
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JWST Uses “Interferometry Mode” to Reveal Two Protoplanets Around a Young Star
The JWST is flexing its muscles with its interferometry mode. Researchers used it to study a well-known extrasolar system called PDS 70. The goal? To test the interferometry mode and see how it performs when observing a complex target.
'Flash Gordon' returns to escape from a prison planet in new comic series
A preview of Mad Cave Studios' new "Flash Gordon" comic book series coming in July.
'Tiger stripes' on Saturn's moon Enceladus could reveal if its oceans are habitable
A new model of Enceladus "tiger stripe" fractures and their connection with the moon of Saturn's ice geysers and subsurface oceans could have implications for its ability to support life.
Astronomers finally know why stars born from the same cloud aren't identical twins
Astronomers finally know why giant binary stars born from the same collapsing cloud of gas and dust can be "non-identical twins" with different characteristics and planetary systems.
A Cold Brown Dwarf is Belching Methane Into Space
Brown dwarfs span the line between planets and stars. By definition, a star must be massive enough for hydrogen fusion to occur within its core. This puts the minimum mass of a star around 80 Jupiters. Planets, even large gas giants like Jupiter, only produce heat through gravitational collapse or radioactive decay, which is true for worlds up to about 13 Jovian masses. Above that, deuterium can undergo fusion. Brown dwarfs lay between these two extremes. The smallest brown dwarfs resemble gas planets with surface temperatures similar to Jupiter. The largest brown dwarfs have surface temperatures around 3,000 K and look essentially like stars.
Measuring Exoplanetary Magnetospheres with the Square Kilometer Array
Life on Earth would not be possible without food, water, light, a breathable atmosphere and surprisingly, a magnetic field. Without it, Earth, and its inhabitants would be subjected to the harmful radiation from space making life here, impossible. If we find exoplanets with similar magnetospheres then those worlds may well be habitable. The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) which is still under construction should be able to detect such magnetospheres from radio emissions giving us real insight into our exoplanet cousins.
Two new satellites join the Galileo constellation
The European Galileo navigation system has two more satellites in orbit following their launch in the early morning of Sunday, 28 April, at 01:34 BST/02:34 CEST. With 30 satellites now in orbit, Galileo is expanding its constellation, increasing the reliability, robustness and, ultimately, the precision, benefiting billions of users worldwide.
Webb captures iconic Horsehead Nebula in unprecedented detail
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The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. The observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.
Psyche is Still Sending Data Home at Broadband Speeds
When I heard about this I felt an amused twinge of envy. Over the last year I have been using an unimpressive 4G broadband service and at best get 20 Mbps, NASA’s Psyche mission has STILL been getting 23 Mbps at 225 million km away! It’s all thanks to the prototype optical transmission system employed on the probe. It means it can get up to 100 times more data transmission rate than usual radio.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites 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.
Following the historic launch of a pair of the European Commission’s Galileo satellites, SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of its own Starlink high-speed internet satellites. The Sunday evening Falcon 9 launch will mark the 29th dedicated launch of Starlink satellites in 2024.
Uh oh. Hubble's Having Gyro Problems Again
The Hubble Space Telescope has gone through its share of gyroscopes in its 34-year history in space. Astronauts replaced the gyros during the last servicing mission in 2009, bringing it back up to six (three with three spares), but they only last so long. Last week, HST went into safe mode because one of the gyros experienced fluctuations in power. NASA paused the telescope’s science operations today to investigate the fluctuations and perhaps come up with a fix.
Mars exploration, new rockets and more: Interview with ESA chief Josef Aschbacher
Space.com caught up with ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher recently to talk about Europe's space plans and priorities going forward.
Everything we know about James Gunn's Superman
James Gunn's Superman reboot kicks off the DC Extended Universe's refresh in 2025.
Sneak peek: Browncoats grab victory in Boom! Studios' upcoming 'Firefly: 'Verses' comic (exclusive)
A sneak peek at Boom! Studios' upcoming "What If?" one-shot, "Firefly: 'Verses."
SpaceX launching 23 Starlink satellites from Florida this evening
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites today (April 28).
NASA's mission to an ice-covered moon will contain a message between water worlds
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, headed to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa in October 2024, will carry a laser-etched message that celebrates humanity’s connection to water.
SpaceX's 30th Dragon cargo mission departs the ISS, heads home to Earth
SpaceX's 30th robotic Dragon cargo ship undocked from the International Space Station today (April 28) and headed back home to Earth.
SpaceX launches European Commission’s Galileo satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a pair of Galileo satellites for the European Commission’s constellation lifts off from Launch Complex 39A on April 27, 2024. The last time SpaceX launched an expandable Falcon 9 rocket was back in November 2022, 146 missions ago. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX hit some notable milestones with the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. Most notably, the weekend flight marked the first time that the European Commission’s Galileo satellites (similar to the United State’s Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites) launched onboard an American-made rocket and from U.S. soil.
News from the Press Site: Boeing Starliner gets go ahead for Crew Flight Test, communication reestablished with Voyager 1
In this week’s edition of News from the Press Site, Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Tariq Malik, editor-in-chief of Space.com, and Passant Robie, space reporter for Gizmodo. The panel discusses the arrival of the NASA astronauts who will be the first to fly onboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, the reestablishment of contact with the Voyager 1 spacecraft, the 300th Falcon 9 booster landing for SpaceX and much more.
Russia vetoes UN resolution against nuclear weapons in space
Russia's ambassador to the U.N. vetoed a resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan that called upon all nations to never deploy nuclear weapons in outer space.
