Mary Cleave, who launched twice on the space shuttle before becoming the first woman to head NASA's science division, has died. Cleave was the 10th woman to fly in space and spent 11 days in orbit.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Hubble Space Telescope is in safe mode — but scientists aren't too worried
The Hubble Space Telescope has entered an automatic safe mode due to gyroscope difficulties, but scientists aren't worried about the observatory's health.
Powerful 'Cannibal' solar burst will hit Earth tonight. Widespread auroras predicted
A 'Cannibal' plasma eruption from the sun will hit Earth on Dec. 1. Scientists predict strong geomagnetic storm conditions and impressive auroras.
Asteroid Phaethon's mysterious tail may finally have an explanation
Spectral analysis of the mystery asteroid Phaethon reveals its composition at last.
Webb study reveals rocky planets can form in extreme environments
An international team of astronomers have used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to provide the first observation of water and other molecules in the inner, rocky-planet-forming regions of a disc in one of the most extreme environments in our galaxy.
Our solar system's planets aren't weird after all. Exoplanets have tilted orbits, too
All solar system planets circle our sun with slightly tilted orbits — and a new study shows even distant planetary systems in quiet neighborhoods have orbital tilts, too.
Big blob of hot water in Pacific may be making El Niño act weirdly
El Niño is in full swing and will likely remain "strong" this winter, but its effect on weather patterns in the U.S. depends on the behavior of an unusually warm blob in the western Pacific, experts say.
Earth-like planets may form even in harsh environments, James Webb Space Telescope finds
The James Webb Space Telescope has found water and organic carbon molecules in the vicinity of a massive, active young star.
Our neighbor the Andromeda Galaxy shines overhead this week. Here's how to see it
Located at a distance of 2.5 million light-years, the Andromeda Galaxy is readily visible to the unaided eye on dark, clear nights. Here's where you should look this week.
A Gamma-ray Burst Disturbed the Earth’s Ionosphere
You’d think that something happening billions of light-years away wouldn’t affect Earth, right? Well, in 2002, a burst of gamma rays lasting 800 seconds actually impacted our planet. They came from a powerful and very distant supernova explosion. Its gamma-ray bombardment disturbed our planet’s ionosphere and activated lightning detectors in India.
ISS astronauts watch Russian cargo ship burn up in Earth's atmosphere (photos)
NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli watched Russia's Progress MS-23 cargo ship burn up in Earth's atmosphere just hours after it undocked from the International Space Station.
Get Ready to Greet the Geminid Meteor Shower!
The year's most spectacular meteor shower is upon us. Prepare to enjoy the Geminids under a dark, moonless sky, when you might see more than 100 meteors per hour.
Watch Jupiter's Moons in Unusual Lineups
You'll have five opportunities in the coming months to see Jupiter's moons in interesting alignments.
Do Glaciers on Mercury Suggest Such a Planet Could Be Habitable?
Salt glaciers on Mercury suggest conditions friendly to life — but not life itself — might once have existed on the innermost planet.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, ULA mark 60th anniversary of RL10 rocket engine
A Dual Engine Centaur upper stage for Atlas V nears completion at the factory in Decatur, Alabama. The RL10 engine marked 60 years of flight on Nov. 27, 2023. Image: United Launch Alliance
A rocket engine with a long pedigree marked a big milestone on Monday. It’s 60 years since the hydrogen-fueled RL10 engine debuted onboard a Centaur upper stage launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 27, 1963.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
A Falcon 9 heads on a south-easterly trajectory from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 28, 2023, carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. Image: Pete Carstens.
The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service soared into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Amateur Astronomers Discover an Asteroid’s Moon
The small object orbiting around main-belt asteroid 5457 Queen’s is the second confirmed asteroid moon discovered during a stellar occultation.
JWST Reveals Protoplanetary Disks in a Nearby Star Cluster
The Orion Nebula is a favourite among stargazers, certainly one of mine. It’s a giant stellar nebula out of which, hot young stars are forming. Telescopically to the eye it appears as a grey/green haze of wonderment but cameras reveal the true glory of these star forming regions. The Sun was once part of such an object and astronomers have been probing their secrets for decades. Now, a new paper presents the results from a detailed study from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that has been exploring planet forming disks around stars in the Lobster Nebula.
Apollo Samples Contain Hydrogen Hurled from the Sun
According to the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, men should drink 3.7litres of water a day and women 2.7litres. Now imagine a crew of three heading to the Moon for a 3 week trip, that’s something of the order of 189 litres of water, that’s about 189 kilograms! Assuming you have to carry all the water rather than recycle some of it longer trips into space with more people are going to be logistically challenging for water carriage alone. Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have discovered lunar rocks with hydrogen in them which, when combined with lunar oxygen provide a possibly supply for future explorers.
Next Generation Space Telescopes Could Use Deformable Mirrors to Image Earth-Sized Worlds
Observing distant objects is no easy task, thanks to our planet’s thick and fluffy atmosphere. As light passes through the upper reaches of our atmosphere, it is refracted and distorted, making it much harder to discern objects at cosmological distances (billions of light years away) and small objects in adjacent star systems like exoplanets. For astronomers, there are only two ways to overcome this problem: send telescopes to space or equip telescopes with mirrors that can adjust to compensate for atmospheric distortion.
The Early Universe Had No Problem Making Barred Spiral Galaxies
Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are like cosmic snowflakes—no two are exactly alike. For many years, astronomers thought spirals couldn’t exist until the universe was about half its present age. Now, a newly discovered galaxy in the early Universe is challenging that idea.
