Space News & Blog Articles

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ESA satellite returns to Earth – ERS-2 reentry

Video: 00:03:29

Mission complete. ESA’s second European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) satellite has reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean. The satellite returned at 18:17 CET (17:17 UTC) between Alaska and Hawaii.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, February 23 – March 3

The full Moon splits the Sickle, the dawn Moon occults Antares, carnivore constellations stand up in the east, and the zodiacal light is at its evening best.

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Finally! Blue Origin’s New Glenn Goes Vertical on the Launch Pad

If you think about space travel and the means of escaping the confines of the Earth then most people, currently, are likely to think about the new Artemis project and the Space Launch System. That’s not the only new development though, Blue Origin have been working on their New Glenn rocket and finally we have got a glimpse of their new offering. The rocket was finally rolled onto the launch pad at Cape Canaveral for testing to commence and we may even see a launch later this year.

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Earth from Space: A veil of haze and smoke

Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image from October 2023 captures the plains of northern India and Pakistan under a white veil of haze and smoke.

Solar Physics: Why study it? What can it teach us about finding life beyond Earth?

Universe Today has investigated the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, and astrobiology, and what these disciplines can teach both researchers and the public about finding life beyond Earth. Here, we will discuss the fascinating field of solar physics (also called heliophysics), including why scientists study it, the benefits and challenges of studying it, what it can teach us about finding life beyond Earth, and how upcoming students can pursue studying solar physics. So, why is it so important to study solar physics?

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If Hycean Worlds Really Exist, What are Their Oceans Like?

Astronomers have been on the hunt for a new kind of exoplanet in recent years – one especially suited for habitability. They’re called hycean worlds, and they’re characterized by vast liquid water oceans and thick hydrogen-rich atmospheres. The name was coined in 2021 by Cambridge astronomer Nikku Madhusudhan, whose team got a close-up look at one possible hycean world, K2-18b, using the James Webb Space Telescope in 2023. In a newly accepted paper this January, Madhusudhan and coauthor Frances Rigby examined what the internal structure of hycean planets might look like, and what that means for the possibility of finding life within.

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Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus Lander Sends Faint Signal From the Moon

Intuitive Machines‘ Odysseus lander made space history today — becoming the first commercial spacecraft to survive a descent to the moon, and the first U.S.-built spacecraft to do so since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. But it wasn’t a trouble-free landing.

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Anti-Satellite Weapons Will Threaten Everyone’s Access to Space

It’s a headline straight out of the movies yet the White House has recently confirmed it believes that Russia is building space-based anti-satellite weapon! There seems to be no conclusive evidence what this might be but one option may be a nuclear bomb that would indiscriminately wipe out satellites within a huge volume of space! Not only would it devastate satellites but would cause more problems down on the surface and create a whole load of space junk. 

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Intuitive Machines lands on moon in nail-biting descent of private Odysseus lander, a 1st for US since 1972

The private Odysseus lander touched down near the moon's south pole this evening (Feb. 22), etching its name into the history books with a nail-biting descent.

A Lunar Odyssey: "Odie" Lander Touches Down on the Moon

Odysseus has become the first mission of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to soft-land on the Moon.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 22 Starlink satellites from California

An onboard camera captures the plume from the nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage of the Falcon 9 as it climbed away from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Feb, 22, 2024. Image: SpaceX.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the West Coast with another batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 8:11 p.m. PST Thursday (11:11 p.m. EST / 0411 UTC).

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Powerful Jets From a Black Hole are Spawning Star Clusters

Supermassive black holes are messy feeders, and when they’re gorging on too much material, they can hurl high-energy jets into the surrounding Universe. Astronomers have found one of the most powerful eruptions ever seen, emanating from a black hole 3.8 billion light-years away. The powerful jets are blowing out cavities in intergalactic space and triggering the formation of a huge chain of star clusters.

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NASA Eclipse Soundscapes Project will record how 2024's total solar eclipse impacts nature

The public is invited to contribute to NASA's Eclipse Soundscapes Project by recording sensory data as 2024's total eclipse passes overhead to determine its effect on the animal kingdom.

We Could Snoop on Extraterrestrial Communications Networks

The conditions for life throughout the Universe are so plentiful that it seems reasonable to presume there must be extra-terrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. But if that’s true, where are they? The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program and others have long sought to find signals from these civilizations, but so far there has been nothing conclusive. Part of the challenge is that we don’t know what the nature of an alien signal might be. It’s a bit like finding a needle in a haystack when you don’t know what the needle looks like. Fortunately, any alien civilization would still be bound by the same physical laws we are, and we can use that to consider what might be possible. One way to better our odds of finding something would be to focus not on a direct signal from a single world, but the broader echos of an interstellar network of signals.

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Gotcha: Firm Evidence for a Neutron Star in Supernova 1987A

After decades of debate, James Webb Space Telescope observations provide firm evidence of a neutron star inside the 1987A supernova remnant.

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James Webb Space Telescope spots neutron star hiding in supernova wreckage

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers spotted a neutron star that evaded detection for 37 years. It lives in Supernova 1987A, the aftermath of a stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Webb finds clues of neutron star at heart of supernova remnant

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for emission from a neutron star at the site of a recently observed supernova. The supernova, known as SN 1987A, occurred 160 000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. SN 1987A was observed on Earth in 1987, the first supernova that was visible to the naked eye since 1604 — before the advent of telescopes.

Radio signals from Orion nebula reveal new data about strange celestial objects: 'JuMBOS'

Astronomers have discovered a radio signal from a 'JuMBO' in the Orion nebula, a weird celestial object discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope that defy star and planet formation models.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching for record-tying 19th time tonight

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch for a record-tying 19th time tonight (Feb. 22), sending a batch of Starlink internet satellites to orbit.

New 'Lunarcraft' game lets you build your own moon base in the Minecraft world

JAXA's new 'Lunarcraft' game allows Minecraft fans to create an outpost on the moon.

Intuitive Machines moon lander sends home a haunting crater picture ahead of touch down today

The Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander imaged a crater on the moon ahead of its expected landing today. It may soon become the first private lander to touch down on the moon.


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