Astronomers are once again ringing alarm bells about rising light pollution destroying pristine night skies. This time, though, their worries extend beyond their core discipline.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Did Life Need Plate Tectonics to Emerge?
It’s widely accepted that Earth’s plate tectonics are a key factor in life’s emergence. Plate tectonics allows heat to move from the mantle to the crust and plays a critical role in cycling nutrients. They’re also a key part of the carbon cycle that moderates Earth’s temperature.
Final launch of Europe's powerful Ariane 5 rocket delayed indefinitely
The final liftoff of Europe's Ariane 5 rocket, targeted for Friday (June 15), has been delayed due to "a risk to the redundancy of a critical function" on the vehicle.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield wants to protect the moon with an 'Astra Carta'
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield plans to release a new space sustainability plan formulated with King Charles III. The plan borrows its name from the famous Magna Carta.
Startup PLD Space to Launch Europe’s First Reusable Rocket
PLD Space could launch its suborbital Miura-1 rocket this month.
Out of this world accommodation: What sci-fi gets right (and wrong) about life beyond Earth
Science fiction cinema has offered up countless attempts to foretell human existence beyond the stars. But just how rooted in science are these Hollywood attempts to depict humans settling other planets?
'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 premiere is a solid but subdued affair
What will Season 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" bring? The possibility of hijinks, hijacks, medical emergencies, marital emergencies, action, aliens and maybe more Sybok.
More Evidence of Massive First Generation Stars
A few days ago I wrote about the search for Population III stars. These stars were the first stars of the universe. Giant beasts hundreds of times more massive than the Sun, composed only of hydrogen and helium. These massive stars would have been very short-lived, exploding as brilliant supernovae in less than a million years. But Population III stars were so massive, their supernovae were uniquely different from the ones we see today, so our best way to find evidence of them is to look for their supernova remnants. And a recent study published in Nature may have found some.
Private space station: How Axiom Space plans to build its orbital outpost
Axiom Space is using the results of science experiments conducted on its private missions aboard the International Space Station to inform the design and use of the company's own orbital laboratory.
Carbon monoxide from fires in Canada
Image: As climate change increases the risk of wildfires across the globe, the spate of fires that hit Canada in May and June suggest that 2023 is on course to be the country’s worst fire season to date. These fires not only pose a serious threat to human life, wildlife, the environment and property, they also affect air quality.
Sun-watching Proba-3 formation flyers tested for take-off
ESA’s pair of Sun-watching Proba-3 satellites have been placed in take-off configuration, one on top of the other, for testing in simulated launch and space conditions at IABG in Germany, ahead of their planned lift-off next year.
The Apollo moon landing was real, but NASA's quarantine procedure was not
On its face, the Apollo 11 quarantine protocol looked sensible. But the new research suggests that NASA's "planetary protection" efforts were largely for show.
Winners unravel Euclid #CosmicMystery with creative inspiration
Over 90 participants were up for the challenge to visualise just how much we know and don’t know in the Universe and explain the #CosmicMystery that ESA’s Euclid mission will soon begin to investigate. From songs, crochets and animations to apparel, paintings and baked goods, the creativity of participants amazed the judges.
Best Love, Death + Robots episodes
Netflix’s science fiction anthology certainly features Love, Death + Robots, but which episodes from three seasons shine the brightest?
Paving the way for a new era in space: ESA's ambitions at the Paris Air Show 2023
The Paris Air Show, one the oldest and largest aerospace events in the world, is back at Le Bourget from 19 to 25 June. ESA is taking part to showcase the Agency’s latest accomplishments, highlight upcoming endeavours and present what’s next in the European Space Agency’s long-term ambitions. There will also be an intense week-long programme of lively panels and sessions, some of which will be livestreamed on ESA Web TV and Twitter. So, whether you are in Paris or not, you can join us at Le Bourget by watching our broadcasts!
Rocket Lab is set to launch a mystery mission from Virginia. What could it be?
Rocket Lab is gearing up to launch a mission from Virginia in the next few days, but you apparently won't be able to watch it live.
This 'postcard' of a Mars day from NASA's Curiosity rover is gorgeous (photo)
A striking new postcard from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the Marker Band Valley region of Mars in the morning and the afternoon.
'Starfield' offers players a massive space odyssey in new gameplay footage
Bethesda Game Studios has revealed new "Starfield" gameplay footage and details on limited editions of the game and special themed hardware.
A Day on Earth Used to Only Be 19 Hours
On Earth, a single solar day lasts 24 hours. That is the time it takes for the Sun to return to the same place in the sky as the day before. The Moon, Earth’s only natural satellite, takes about 27 days to complete a single circuit around our planet and orbits at an average distance of 384,399 km (~238,854.5 mi). Since time immemorial, humans have kept track of the Sun, the Moon, and their sidereal and synodic periods. To the best of our knowledge, the orbital mechanics governing the Earth-Moon system have been the same, and we’ve come to take them for granted.
