Debris from the broken-apart Intelsat 33e telecom satellite is spreading across geosynchronous orbit, threatening spacecraft in this precious region of space, an animation shows.
Space News & Blog Articles
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission on Oct. 22, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is preparing for its second launch of the day with another Starlink flight. This Falcon 9 rocket will add another 23 Starlink satellites to the growing megaconstellation.
Astronomers Have Found the Fastest Spinning Neutron Star
Neutron stars are as dense as the nucleus of an atom. They contain a star’s worth of matter in a sphere only a dozen kilometers wide. And they are light-years away. So how can we possibly understand their interior structure? One way would be to simply spin it. Just spin it faster and faster until it reaches a maximum limit. That limit can tell us about how neutron stars hold together and even how they might form. Obviously, we can’t actually spin up a neutron star, but it can happen naturally, which is one of the reasons astronomers are interested in these maximally spinning stars. And recently a team has discovered a new one.
Cubesats on Europe's Hera asteroid mission phone home after Oct. 7 launch
The two cubesats will assist in the most detailed study ever of a binary asteroid.
Saturn's moon Titan may have a 6-mile-thick crust of methane ice — could life be under there?
A 6-mile-thick shell of methane ice on Saturn's moon Titan could assist in the hunt for life signs arising from this moon's vast subsurface ocean.
1st image of our Milky Way's black hole may be inaccurate, scientists say
The famous doughnut-shaped image of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole may not be fully accurate, an independent analysis of EHT data suggests.
Astronomers Discover Potential New Building Block of Organic Matter in Interstellar Space
Carbon is the building block for all life on Earth and accounts for approximately 45–50% of all dry biomass. When bonded with elements like hydrogen, it produces the organic molecules known as hydrocarbons. When bonded with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus, it produces pyrimidines and purines, the very basis for DNA. The carbon cycle, where carbon atoms continually travel from the atmosphere to the Earth and back again, is also integral to maintaining life on Earth over time.
There’s Another Ocean Moon Candidate: Uranus’ Tiny Moon Miranda
The Solar System’s hundreds of moons are like puzzle pieces. Together, they make a picture of all the forces that can create and modify them and the forces that shape our Solar System. One of them is Miranda, one of 28 known moons that orbit the ice giant Uranus. Miranda is its smallest major moon, at 471 km in diameter.
NASA's Perseverance rover gets stunning view of big Mars crater from slippery slope (video, photos)
NASA's Perseverance rover took a break from its Mars mountaineering expedition recently to survey its old stomping grounds.
China launches 3 astronauts to Tiangong space station on Shenzhou 19 mission (video)
China launched the Shenzhou 19 mission to orbit today (Oct. 29), sending three astronauts toward the nation's Tiangong space station for a six-month stay.
NASA faces tough decisions on Orion capsule's heat shield for Artemis moon missions
NASA remains in an ongoing test mode to determine what’s behind the ablative thermal protective material that chipped away unexpectedly from the Artemis 1 Orion heat shield during its reentry.
6 reasons not to buy in the Black Friday sales
While there are mistakes to avoid and reasons not to buy in the Black Friday sales, here's our advice to make the most of the shopping event.
Titan May Have a Methane Crust 10 Km Thick
Saturn’s moon, Titan, is an anomaly among moons. No other moons have surface liquids, and aside from Earth, it’s the only other Solar System object with liquids on its surface. However, since Titan is so cold, the liquids are hydrocarbons, not water. Titan’s water is all frozen into a surface layer of ice.
Live coverage: China to launch 3 taikonauts to the Tiangong space station
The trio of the Shenzhou-19 mission to the Tiangong space station salute before departing to the launchpad. Left to right: Wang Haoze, Chi Xuzhe (commander), Song Lingdong. Image: CCTV via livestream
Three of China’s taikonauts are preparing to journey to the Tiangong space station on the country’s eighth long-duration spaceflight.
'First tree on Mars:' Scientists measure greenhouse effect needed to terraform Red Planet
What is the amount of greenhouse warming required to heat up the cold climes of Mars enough so that trees can grow on the Red Planet?
Death of a Comet: S1 Didn’t Survive its Sungrazing Plummet
Sungrazer C/2024 S1 ATLAS broke apart at perihelion.
Key Atlantic current could collapse soon, 'impacting the entire world for centuries to come,' leading climate scientists warn
Leading climate scientists ring alarm bell on key Atlantic Ocean current collapse in open letter.
Watch China launch Shenzhou-19 astronauts to Tiangong space station today (video)
The crew were revealed less than a day ahead of launch.
Distorted galaxy whizzes through crowded cluster in new Hubble Telescope image
A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope captures the galaxy IC 3225 with a comet-like tail of gas streaming from its central disk as it moves through the Virgo Cluster.
Ariel takes shape and first shake
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The construction phase of ESA’s Ariel mission has started at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France) with the assembly of the spacecraft’s structural model. This marks a significant step forward for this mission designed to meticulously inspect the atmospheres of a thousand exoplanets and uncover their nature.
SpaceX launching 20 Starlink internet satellites from California this morning
SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, from California this morning (Oct. 29).