The New Space RaceAboutBlue Origin has conducted the first hot-fire static test of the fully integrated second stage of the company's New Glenn orbital rocket. The 15-second test took place on September 23, 2024 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. (5 days ago)
7 days ago
Asteroids can devastate the planet in an instant – just ask the dinosaurs. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have now demonstrated a proof of concept method to deflect a potential Earthbound asteroid using a blast of X-rays.
12 days ago
The Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) of the European Space Agency (ESA) was sent on its journey to a polar orbit 600 km above the Earth on August 16, 2024. On board: four low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF in Freiburg.
12 days ago
The first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth, Europa Clipper aims to find out whether the ice-encased moon Europa could be habitable.
14 days ago
After almost five decades sailing through space, NASA is trying to squeeze a few more years out of the venerable Voyager 1 deep space probe by swapping a wonky thruster system for a disused secondary one to ensure the craft can keep its radio antenna pointing at the Earth.
14 days ago
After five days in orbit, the Polaris Dawn mission, which conducted the world's first commercial spacewalk, has returned safely to Earth. At 3:36 am EDT, the Dragon capsule Resilience splashed down off the coast of the Dry Tortugas, Florida.
16 days ago
The success of the all-civilian spacewalk on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission shows that private space flight is starting to catch up with government space agencies.
17 days ago
The world's first private spacewalk has been completed. On September 12, 2024 at 7:58 am EDT, two of the four-person crew of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Resilience returned after a 106-minute tethered EVA 732 km (455 miles) above the Earth.
18 days ago
A groundbreaking civilian spacewalk saw two astronauts partially exit a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule wearing a brand new design of spacesuit. Every previous spacewalk ever completed before this was performed by government-trained astronauts.
18 days ago
If you were standing on Mars as it was hit by a solar flare, you might be able to see an aurora just like on Earth.
18 days ago
Having completed its first day in orbit, the Polaris Dawn mission is preparing to make the first private spacewalk in history. Two astronauts are scheduled to exit the Dragon spacecraft Resilience at 2:23 am EDT and here's how to watch.
20 days ago
Four private astronauts are riding a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule further from Earth than any human since 1972, where they will attempt the first ever civilian spacewalk.
20 days ago
Using images captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, researchers have created a cloud atlas of Mars, to better understand the climate of the Red Planet.
20 days ago
The most ambitious private space mission yet, which will see the first private spacewalk, has lifted off. At 5:23 am EDT, the Polaris Dawn mission rose from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket for low-Earth orbit.
21 days ago
Are humanoid robots the future of space exploration? New Scientist reporter James Woodford took NASA's Valkyrie for a spin to find out.
21 days ago
SpaceX founder Elon Musk says that the first of his company's Starship spacecraft will set off for Mars in two years and the first crewed missions will follow in 2028. He sees this as part of his plan to make humanity an interplanetary species.
21 days ago
Solar eclipses don’t just look cool – they can send gravity waves rippling through Earth’s atmosphere like dropping a stone in a pond. An international team of students has measured these gravity waves for the first time.
23 days ago
The ill-fated Starliner spacecraft has returned from Earth at the end of a 93-day mission that was only supposed to last eight days. The empty capsule landed safely on September 7, 2024 at 12:01 am EDT at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
a month ago
Space missions are extremely hard. Things going wrong should be expected, so having a sensible plan B is crucial.
a month ago
A faint glow from all of the galaxies that have ever existed fills the cosmos, and NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has made the best measurement ever of just how faint it is.
a month ago
NASA is investigating a strange noise coming through the speaker on Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which has been beset with technical issues.
a month ago
NASA scientists have discovered a third global energy field around Earth. Known as the ambipolar electric field, this force drives charged particles into space above the poles.