SpaceX test-fired the first stage of Polaris Dawn's Falcon 9 rocket over the weekend, keeping the historic astronaut mission on track for an Aug. 27 launch.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Europe's JUICE probe snaps hi-res pics of Earth and the moon on its way to Jupiter (photos)
JANUS, which is the high-resolution camera on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, received a solid workout during the fly-by of Earth over Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
Get a sneak peek at the new video game anthology series 'Secret Level' (trailer)
A preview of Prime Video's animated video game anthology, "Secret Level," which arrives on Dec. 10.
Ancient grains of dust from space can be found on Earth − and provide clues about the life cycle of stars
Specks of dust known as presolar grains predate our solar system and contain information about stars that died long before our cosmic neighborhood formed.
X-Ray Telescopes Could Study Exoplanets Too
Exoplanets are often discovered using the transit method (over three quarters of those discovered have been found this way.) The same transit technique can be used to study them, often revealing detail about their atmosphere. The observations are typically made in visible light or infrared but a new paper suggests X-rays may be useful too. Stellar wind interactions with the planet’s atmosphere for example would lead to X-ray emissions revealing information about the atmosphere. As we further our exploration of exoplanets we develop our understanding of our own Solar System and ultimately, the origins of life in the Universe.
SpaceX 'go' to launch private Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission on farthest human spaceflight since Apollo
SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission is poised to launch a crew of private astronauts farther from Earth than any human has flown since Apollo 17.
'Fireflies' help NASA map radiation around Jupiter and its moons
The first ever 3D radiation map of Jupiter and its moons has been created using low-light cameras aboard the Juno Spacecraft that have been tweaked to operate as radiation detectors.
Life Needs Black Holes to Survive
Life is rare, and it requires exactly the right environmental mix to establish itself. And there’s one surprising contributor to that perfect mix: gigantic black holes.
How can we protect humans on Mars from dangerous solar storm radiation?
As space agencies and private companies look toward sending human crews to Mars, they'll have to find ways to mitigate the dangers posed by high-energy radiation from solar storms.
Observers’ Report: First Views of the Chinese “Thousand Sails” Satellites
Amateur astronomers have shown that the first satellites of the Chinese Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) constellation are bright enough to be seen naked-eye.
Watching Salsa’s reentry live from the sky
On 8 September 2024, the first of four Cluster satellites will return home and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled ‘targeted reentry’ over a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean.
What time does SpaceX's Polaris Dawn private spacewalk mission launch?
What time does SpaceX's Polaris Dawn private spacewalk mission launch?
Rare Milky Way star cluster is packed with red supergiants 1 million times brighter than the sun
Many red supergiant monster stars lurk in a Milky Way cluster astronomers have discovered with the Gaia space telescope. The cluster, Barbá 2, could help understand why some stars become black holes.
This is ESA: your perfect introduction to what Europe does in space
This is ESA: your perfect introduction to what Europe does in space
The Big Fringe Telescope. A 2.2 KILOMETER Telescope on the Cheap. And it Can Make Exoplanet “Movies”.
Can a kilometer-scale telescope help conduct more efficient science, and specifically for the field of optical interferometry? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a pair of researchers propose the Big Fringe Telescope (BFT), which is slated to comprise 16 telescopes 0.5-meter in diameter and will be equivalent to a telescope at 2.2 kilometers in diameter. What makes BFT unique is its potential to create real-time exoplanet “movies” like the movies featuring Venus transiting our Sun, along with significantly reduced construction costs compared to current ground-based optical interferometers.
Physicists find superconductor behavior at temperatures once thought 'impossible'
Scientists have observed an unexpected new behavior in a superconducting material. If physicists can figure out the cause, it could help them to find room-temperature superconductors.
NASA challenged the public to make 'deep space food' — here are the winners
Three U.S. teams in NASA's Deep Space Food Finale won a combination of $1.25 million for developing delicious and safe food for astronauts.
What Makes a Supercluster?
By eye, it’s impossible to pick out the exact boundaries of the superclusters, which are among the largest structures in the universe. But that’s because they are not defined by their edges, but by the common motion of their components.
How SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn private spacewalk will work
SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission, which is scheduled to launch on Aug. 27, will feature the first-ever private spacewalk. Here's what to expect.
Where can I see the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026?
The total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, will pass over parts of Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Portugal and Spain.
Neutron Star Mergers Could Be Producing Quark Matter
When neutron stars dance together, the grand smash finale they experience might create the densest known form of matter known in the Universe. It’s called “quark matter, ” a highly weird combo of liberated quarks and gluons. It’s unclear if the stuff existed in their cores before the end of their dance. However, in the wild aftermath a neutron-star merger, the strange conditions could free quarks and gluons from protons and neutrons. That lets them move around freely in the aftermath. So, researchers want to know how freely they move and what conditions might impede their motion (or flow).
