Space News & Blog Articles
Which U.S. states will October's 'ring of fire' solar eclipse be visible from?
On October 14, 2023, the Americas will experience a partial solar eclipse, but from only eight U.S. states will it be possible to see the 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse.
Meet Crew 7: A truly international space mission
Dragon Endurance features crew members representing four different nations. The mission is commanded by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli. The pilot is the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen from Denmark. Mission specialists are Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.
Contrails: What are they and how do they form?
Condensation trails, or contrails, are long, thin clouds that can form behind airplanes at cruising altitude. They are created by jet engines.
Ukraine's famed space sector is teetering on the brink, and Russian missiles aren't the main cause
Ukraine's former space chief thinks lost international collaborations are causing even greater harm to his nation's space sector than Russian missile strikes.
40th Rocket Lab Mission, “We Love The Nightlife”, Launches From New Zealand with Reused Engine
Private space company, Rocket Lab, launched its 40th Electron mission on their lauded Electron rocket, dubbed “We Love The Nightlife”, on August 24th at 11:45am New Zealand Standard Time (August 23rd at 7:45pm EST), which also marks the 7th launch of 2023, all successful. The purpose of the mission was to deliver the next-generation Acadia satellite for Capella Space to a circular orbit above the Earth at 640 km (400 miles), which was executed flawlessly. Acadia is part of Capella’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation and is the first of four Acadia satellites that Rocket is currently contracted to launch for Capella.
Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX is getting ready for its second Falcon 9 mission of the day. Following the successful launch of a four-member crew to the International Space Station early Saturday, it will send 22 second-generation Starlink satellites into orbit at 9:05 p.m. EDT (0105 UTC).
SpaceX's Crew-7 Dragon capsule to dock at ISS with four astronauts aboard. Here's how to watch it live online.
SpaceX's Crew-7 Dragon carrying four astronauts will arrive at the International Space Station Sunday (Aug. 27) and you can watch it all live online.
Pulsars Detected the Background Gravitational Hum of the Universe. Now Can They Detect Single Mergers?
Current gravitational wave observatories have two significant limitations. The first is that they can only observe powerful gravitational bursts such as the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. The second is that they can only observe these mergers for wavelengths on the order of hundreds to thousands of kilometers. This means we can only observe stellar mass mergers. Of course, there’s a lot of interesting gravitational astronomy going on at other wavelengths and noise levels, which has motivated astronomers to get clever. One of these clever ideas is to use pulsars as a telescope.
'Sasha' the sloth breaks speed records as SpaceX Crew-7 zero-g indicator (photos)
A new record may have just been set for the fastest-moving sloth in the world. And not just any sloth: a three-toed sloth named "Sasha" that served as the "zero-g indicator" for SpaceX's Crew-7.
NASA and Forest Service offer seedlings to grow Artemis 'moon trees'
NASA is seeking education and community organizations to help plant a practical forest of trees with a unique pedigree: the moon. The space agency and Forest Service want to grow Artemis moon trees.
SpaceX launches first all-international crew to space station
A SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff with an international crew riding aboard a Dragon capsule on Aug. 26, 2023. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.Running a day late, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a NASA commander, a Danish co-pilot, a Japanese astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut rocketed into orbit early Saturday and set off after the International Space Station for a six-month tour of duty.
James Webb Space Telescope instrument experiences glitch — but observatory remains in 'good health'
The JWST team announced that a mode of one of the observatory's infrared sensors indicated a reduction in the amount of light registered by the instrument.
Will newfound Comet Nishimura really be visible to the naked eye? Experts aren't so sure
While social media has been abuzz with talk of new Comet Nishimura being visible to the naked eye in September, experts aren't so sure.
SpaceX launches truly international astronaut team on Crew-7 flight to space station for NASA (video)
SpaceX launched a diverse international crew of astronauts toward the ISS on the Crew-7 mission for NASA early this morning (Aug. 26).
US Department of Justice sues SpaceX for hiring discrimination
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing SpaceX, alleging that Elon Musk's company discriminated against job applicants who are refugees or asylum recipients.
India's Rover Rolls Out Onto the Lunar Surface
On July 14th, 2023, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the third mission in its Chandrayaan (“Moon vehicle” in Hindi) lunar exploration program. Earlier this week (Wednesday, August 23rd), the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Vikram lander touched down on the far side of the Moon, making India the fourth nation in the world to send missions to the lunar surface and the first to land one near the Moon’s south pole region. Shortly after that, the ISRO announced that they had deployed Pragyan, the rover element of the mission, to the surface.
Private Ax-2 astronaut releasing free educational videos filmed in space on Aug. 28
Ride into space in a new video series Aug. 28 featuring Ax-2 private astronaut John Shoffner. He teaches students about space alongside commander Peggy Whitson, a record-breaking NASA astronaut.
See Saturn at its biggest and brightest of 2023 this weekend
Saturn will be directly opposite of the sun on Aug. 26 and 27, making this weekend a great time to observe the ringed gas giant.
NASA's New Horizons mission faces an uncertain future (op-ed)
With its budget being trimmed for 2024, NASA is making some weighty decisions... and one includes drastically trimming New Horizons funds by replacing the current science staff with a new team.
