A bewildering number of factors and variables led up to the planet we occupy today, where life finds a way to survive and even thrive in the most marginal conditions. The Sun is the catalyst for it all, propelling life on its journey to greater complexity with its steady fusion.
Space News & Blog Articles
Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.
Record-breaking 'BOAT' gamma-ray burst continues to amaze scientists
The brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen was also the first to impact Earth's upper ionosphere, a new study suggests.
Japan Tests Robotic Earth-Moving Equipment in a Simulated Lunar Jobsite
Japan has embarked on an exciting new lunar program that will test automated remote construction machinery for the Moon. In 2021, representatives from the Kajima Corporation, the National Research and Development Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Shibaura Institute of Technology announced they would be working with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) to develop a next-generation construction system (A4CSEL®) that will enable the creation of lunar infrastructure.
Atomic Oxygen Detected on Venus
New data provide direct evidence for the existence of atomic oxygen in Venus's upper atmosphere, enabling new science on our sister planet.
Minecraft goes cosmic with new Jedi-centric 'Star Wars: Path of the Jedi DLC' (video)
A preview and new trailer for Minecraft's latest 'Star Wars' DLC titled 'Path of the Jedi.'
Dark matter data salvaged from balloon-borne telescope that landed hard on Earth
Science data from a damaged balloon-borne telescope was salvaged, thanks to old-fashioned SD drives.
Earth has many objects in orbit but definitely only one moon — despite what some people think
While the term “planet” has a clear definition, there is no strict definition of a moon. We can either say that there is one moon around Earth, or more than 160 million moons.
Dedicated Amateur Astronomer Makes Rare Pair of Asteroid Discoveries
Two recent asteroid discoveries made by an amateur astronomer highlight what is possible, with access to the right equipment.
US military taps Rocket Lab to launch hypersonic test vehicle in 2025
Rocket Lab will launch a drone on its suborbital launch vehicle as part of a U.S. Defense Department hypersonic development project.
NASA's Mars robots are on their own right now — here's why
NASA has stopped sending commands to its Mars missions for two weeks, but that doesn't mean the robotic explorers are taking a vacation.
An Amateur Astronomer Discovered One-of-a-Kind Supernova Remnant
In 2023, amateur astronomer Dana Patchick was looking through images from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer archive and discovered a diffuse, circular object in the constellation of Cassiopeia. He found this apparent nebula was interesting because it was bright in the infrared portion of the spectrum, but virtually invisible in the colors of light visible to our eyes. Dana added this item to the database of the Deep Sky Hunters amateur astronomers group, believing it was a planetary nebula – the quiet remnant of stars in mass similar to the sun. He named it PA 30.
SpaceX launches world's 1st satellite that can pinpoint carbon emissions from space
The world's first satellite capable of detecting industrial sources of carbon emissions from space has just reached orbit — and it promises to be a game-changer.
Blast from the past: gamma-ray burst strikes Earth from distant exploding star
An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Such disturbances are usually associated with energetic particle events on the Sun but this one was the result of an exploding star almost two billion light-years away. Analysing the effects of the blast could provide information about the mass extinctions in Earth’s history.
Europe’s quantum decade extends into space
Europe – and the world – is in the midst of the ‘quantum decade’: a period in which the peculiar properties of matter that manifest at the very tiniest of scales are being transformed from mere scientific curiosities into the basis of practical technologies and products. The result? Major leaps forward in communications, navigation, computing and environmental sensing.
When Stars Consume Their Partners, We Could Detect a Blast of Neutrinos
You might be familiar with the bizarre ritual of the female praying mantis which, I’m told, bites off the head and eats other body parts of the poor male they just mated with. It seems consuming partners is not unheard of. It’s even seen in the lives of stars where binary stars orbit one another closely and one star ultimately consumes the other. If the victim is a neutron star a burst of neutrinos can be generated and a new study reveals they might just be detectable on Earth.
Starship Could Be Ready to Launch on Friday
Space exploration should never be run of the mill nor something that finds itself on the back pages of the newspaper. Captain James T. Kirk was right that space really is the final frontier and making it more accessible is one of the driving forces behind SpaceX. Their mission to seek out new life and new civilisations, wait that’s wrong – that’s Starfleet. The SpaceX mission ‘to revolutionise space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets is at the forefront of the development of the enormous Starship which may make another launch attempt as soon as this Friday 17th November.
Webb Shows Planets Really Do Start with Pebbles
New observations have turned up evidence that icy pebbles deliver the water to inner regions of planet-forming disks.
Monitoring methane from space
Video: 00:03:23
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Curbing methane emissions could deliver immediate and long-lasting benefits for the climate, seeing as the gas only lingers in the atmosphere for a relatively short time.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 3rd pair of O3b mPOWER satellites from Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with a pair of SES’ O3b mPOWER satellites heading up to medium Earth orbit. Image: Michael Cain
Update 4:43 p.m. EST (2143 UTC): SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket to begin the mission. The satellites will start being deployed around 6:08 p.m. EST (2308 UTC).
Asteroid Will Cover Betelgeuse, May Reveal Its Visible Surface
Astronomers are gearing up for an unusual celestial event: an asteroid’s occultation of an iconic star.
