Astrochemistry is the study of how molecules can form and react in space. Its roots trace back to the 1800s when astronomers such as William Wollaston and Joseph von Fraunhofer began identifying atomic elements from the spectral lines of the Sun. But it wasn’t until recent decades that the field began to mature.
Space News & Blog Articles
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NASA just recycled 98% of all astronaut pee and sweat on the ISS (engineers are thrilled)
ISS systems hit a water recovery milestone of 98% with the better processing of water contained in brine created when crewmates’ urine is distilled.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and DARPA want to fix your PDFs. Here's how.
When NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory isn't piloting a rover on another world, it's apparently helping make PDF files more secure.
Bizarre object hotter than the sun is orbiting a distant star at breakneck speed
Scientists have discovered a weird celestial object that's blurring the line between planet and star.
1 year on 'Mars:' NASA analog astronauts begin mock Red Planet mission today
The next time the CHAPEA crew will see blue sky, a year will have passed on Earth. Not that the analog astronauts are leaving the planet, but for the next 12 months they will live in a mock Mars base.
Musk outlines major upgrades for Starship rocket
SpaceX’s Starship sits atop its Super Heavy booster prior to the the launcher’s first test flight in April 2023. Image: SpaceX.
SpaceX will need another six weeks or so to finish implementing hundreds of changes to its Super Heavy-Starship rocket and the gargantuan booster’s Texas launch pad before it will be ready for a second attempt to reach orbit, company founder Elon Musk said Saturday.
The Clouds of Venus Could Support Life
A recent study published in Astrobiology examines the likelihood of the planet Venus being able to support life within the thick cloud layer that envelopes it. This study holds the potential to help us better understand how life could exist under the intense Venusian conditions, as discussions within the scientific community about whether life exists on the second planet from the Sun continue to burn hotter than Venus itself.
Extending Earth's Internet to Mars With Orbital Data Servers
You’ve done it. After years of effort and training, sacrifice, and pain, you become an astronaut and have finally set foot on Mars. Time to post your triumph on TikTok for that sweet social media cred. If only you can get a signal.
Early Black Holes Were Bigger Than We Thought
Every large galaxy in the nearby universe contains a supermassive black hole at its core. The mass of those black holes seems to have a relationship to the mass of the host galaxies themselves. But estimating the masses of more distant supermassive black holes is challenging. Astronomers extrapolate from what we know about nearby galaxies to estimate distant black hole masses, but it’s not a perfectly accurate measurement.
There Could Be Captured Planets in the Oort Cloud
Our solar system has had a chaotic past. Earth and the other planets are now in stable orbits, but while they were forming they experienced drastic location shifts. Jupiter was likely much closer to the Sun than it is now, and its shift not only shifted other planets but also cleared the solar system of debris, tossing much of it to the Oort Cloud.
New monument will honor Florida's role in space exploration
Florida's role in space exploration will be recognized by a landmark now that lawmakers have given the "go" for the project. The Florida Space Exploration Monument will stand in Tallahassee.
Earth's thermosphere reaches highest temperature in 20 years after being bombarded by solar storms
The atmospheric temperature spike, which was caused by successive geomagnetic storms, suggests the "solar maximum" is fast approaching.
What causes the strange green flash at sunset and sunrise on Earth?
There are very special cases, when the sky is very clear and exceptionally transparent, that a green flash can be glimpsed just as the very topmost part of the sun is rising or setting.
Space explorers mourn the loss of Titan submersible's 5 crewmates
The exploration community is still reeling from the announcement that the submersible Titan broke apart, resulting in the death of its five passengers.
SpaceX to launch Europe’s Euclid dark energy probe 1 week from today
Euclid will launch on July 1 to hunt for dark matter and dark energy, in a quest to understand the nature of our universe's history and future.
Mind-Blowing Animation Shows What the World Would Look Like If You Could See Carbon Dioxide Emissions
It’s a strange, eerie-looking place. Carbon dioxide gas appears… and disappears in cycles and bursts throughout the year. It’s how our planet would look if we could detect carbon dioxide (CO2) with our eyes. Scientists at NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office made computer animations of its presence in our atmosphere. Those videos show an almost-alien view of Earth under the influence of this gas.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe starts summer with 16th swoop by the sun
The Parker Solar Probe conducted its 16th perihelion pass on Thursday morning (June 22), cruising through the sun’s superhot outer atmosphere, called the corona.
The Earth’s Rotational Pole has Shifted from All the Groundwater We’ve Pumped Out
Earth is, in many ways, a water world. Around two-thirds of its surface is covered in water, and the oceans that provide that cover make up over 96% of all water on Earth, according to the US Geological Survey. Glaciers and ice caps make up another 1.74%, but groundwater is the third most plentiful source at 1.69% of all water available on Earth. That’s an astonishing 23.4 million cubic kilometers of the stuff, dwarfing the mere 176,000 cubic kilometers contained in all the lakes in the world. But that does not mean the total amount of groundwater is unlimited, and removing it can have a lasting impact on more than just the people who use it for bathing and drinking. A new study points to how humans pumping out groundwater impacts Earth’s rotation.
Watch a house-size asteroid zoom past Earth live on June 25
A small asteroid the size of a three-story building will pass between Earth and the moon on Sunday (June 25), and you can watch the encounter live thanks to a free telescope livestream.
You've never seen Mars like this. Amazing NASA photos reveal Red Planet in ultraviolet light
NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft photographed the Red Planet in July 2022 and January 2023, showcasing its rapidly changing seasons.
Rocket Lab to recover booster from ocean after July 14 launch
Rocket Lab plans to recover the first stage of its Electron rocket after its next launch, a seven-satellite rideshare mission targeted for July 14.
