The fasted object ever made by humans has completed another milestone. The Parker Solar Probe recently celebrated the new year by completing its 18th flyby of the Sun.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Planetesimals Are Buffeted by Wind in their Nebula, Throwing Debris into Space
Before planets form around a young star, the protosolar disk is populated with innumerable planetesimals. Over time, these planetesimals combine to form planets, and the core accretion theory explains how that happens. But before there are planets, the disk full of planetesimals is a messy place.
SpaceX's new direct-to-cell Starlink satellites relay their 1st text messages
SpaceX just broke in its newly launched direct-to-cell Starlink satellites, using them to send text messages for the first time.
Solar Electric Propulsion Systems are Just What we Need for Efficient Trips to Mars
There are many different ways to get to Mars, but there are always tradeoffs. Chemical propulsion, proven the most popular, can quickly get a spacecraft to the red planet. But they come at a high cost of bringing their fuel, thereby increasing the mission’s overall cost. Alternative propulsion technologies have been gaining traction in several deep space applications. Now, a team of scientists from Spain has preliminary studied what it would take to send a probe to Mars using entirely electric propulsion once it leaves Earth.
See the elusive planet Mercury at its best and brightest on Friday
The elusive planet Mercury reaches its furthest point from the sun on Friday (Jan. 12), with this separation allowing skywatchers a rare chance to spot the tiny planet.
Private Peregrine moon lander powers up lunar payloads despite propulsion anomaly
Astrobotic's latest mission update on its Peregrine moon lander indicates that, despite a crippling propulsion system anomaly, the mission's payloads are working as planned.
Satellite Data Shows US East Coast is Sinking
Based on satellite imagery, geologists have determined major cities on the U.S. Atlantic coast are sinking, some areas as much as 2 to 5 millimeters (.08-0.2 inches) per year. Called subsidence, this sinking of land is happening at a faster rate than was estimated just a year ago. In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, researchers say their analysis has far-reaching implications for community and infrastructure resilience planning, particularly for roadways, airport runways, building foundations, rail lines, and pipelines.
January's new moon welcomes Mercury as a 'morning star'
The first new moon of 2024 occurs on January 11, leaving the skies dark for stargazers to find Mercury at its most visible during its greatest separation from the sun.
Nearby exoplanet may be rich in life-giving water, study finds
Researchers have just come a step closer to uncovering the secrets of an alien planet that may be the most likely of all known extrasolar worlds to host life.
Did Webb Detect an Atmosphere on Hot Super-Earth 55 Cancri e?
New Webb data suggests that the hot super-Earth 55 Cancri e has a thick atmosphere, perhaps maintained by the planet's magma ocean.
ESA’s merchandise shines brightest
ESA won the Best Merchandise award at Space Creator Day 2023, a significant recognition by a community of space enthusiasts. The award highlights ESA’s efforts to promote its activities through innovative and attractive designs that appeal to the public.
SETI scientists begin huge new hunt for intelligent aliens
The search for alien technosignatures has dramatically expanded, thanks to a new experiment called COSMIC.
'Missing link' supernova connects star's death to birth of black hole or neutron star
Astronomers have discovered a "missing link" supernova that directly connects the death of a massive star to the birth of a black hole or a neutron star.
Massive Mars dust storm spotted by China's Tianwen-1 probe (photos)
China's Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter spotted a massive dust storm near Olympus Mons, the biggest mountain in the solar system.
China won't beat US Artemis astronauts to the moon, NASA chief says
After declaring last year that we're in a space race, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is now unconcerned that China will beat the United States in returning astronauts to the moon.
ESA Director General’s Annual Press Briefing
Video: 01:16:00
Watch the replay of ESA's start-of-the-year press briefing looking ahead to 2024. Director General Josef Aschbacher presents this year's key milestones from ESA HQ in Paris: in 2024, Europe will regain its autonomous access to space, with the inaugural flight of the heavy-lift launcher Ariane 6 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Hear more about Hera, the planetary defence mission which will be launched at the end of 2024 and EarthCARE, ESA’s Earth observation mission studying the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting solar radiation. Updates are also provided on how commercial European space companies will compete to deliver supplies to the International Space Station by 2028.
DWARFLAB Dwarf II smart telescope review
The book-sized DWARFLAB Dwarf II is a much more budget-friendly smart telescope than the competition, but does it hold its own against them?
Hubble Shows That a Fast Radio Burst Came From a Giant Group of Galaxies
Way back when the cosmos was only five billion years old, a powerful explosion happened in a group of young galaxies halfway across the Universe. It sent out a blast of radiation from one member of that distant galaxy group.
Chinese Rocket Lofts the Einstein Probe and its “Lobster Eyes”
Any astronomical instrument dubbed “Lobster Eyes” is bound to grab attention. It’s actually unlike scientists to give anything creative names, take the big red coloured storm on Jupiter which resembles a spot…aka the Great Red Spot! Lobster Eyes is the name adtoped by the X-ray telescope that just been launched from China and will scan the sky looking for X-rays coming from high-energy transients.
Impact Craters: Why study them and can they help us find life elsewhere?
When we look at the Moon, either through a pair of binoculars, a telescope, or past footage from the Apollo missions, we see a landscape that’s riddled with what appear to be massive sinkholes. But these “sinkholes” aren’t just on the Moon, as they are evident on nearly every planetary body throughout the solar system, from planets, to other moons, to asteroids. They are called impact craters and can range in size from cities to small countries.
Doomed Peregrine moon lander snaps another selfie as it zooms away from Earth (photo)
Astrobotic's Peregrine moon lander snapped another in-space selfie as it cruised away from Earth, toward a date with lunar destiny that it can no longer keep.
