Every once in a while, our planet captures a “mini-moon,” a tiny asteroid that hangs out in our orbit for a bit before venturing back into the depths of space. New research suggests these small, temporary natural satellites carry tremendous scientific and commercial opportunities—but the trick will be in finding them.
NASA has announced the first astronauts who will head to the International Space Station on a commercially built spacecraft.
The Moon today is not habitable. It’s covered in potentially killer dust and seemingly dry as a bone. But though it seems wild to think, a new perspective wonders: What if the Moon used to be friendly to life?
Boeing and SpaceX, owing to manufacturing delays and certification hurdles, are unlikely to provide NASA with the vehicles required to transport astronauts to the International Space Station next year, according to an alarming government report. As a result, and starting in late 2019, the U.S. might not have a crew…
Whether it’s rovers rolling about on Mars, probes drilling into asteroids, or Tesla Roadsters drifting through space, it’s clear that our activities in the Solar System are changing. Accordingly, methods and rules to prevent our germs from spreading beyond Earth need to be updated, according to a new report aimed…
After a 20-day journey, China’s Queqiao lunar communications relay satellite has made it to lunar orbit. Its companion, the Longjiang-2 microsatellite, wasted no time, taking some neat pics of Earth and the lunar surface.
The US Government Accountability Office released a scathing report in May claiming that NASA’s most expensive projects have “deteriorated” significantly in the past year both in terms of added costs and scheduling delays. Earlier today, NASA had to explain itself in front of a Congressional subcommittee, where it…
The Juno spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter was supposed end its mission by crashing into the gas giant next month. Not anymore!
In a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, SpaceX is postponing its plan to send a pair of private citizens on a trip around the Moon.
That’s one small hole for a probe, but one giant leap for NASA. This past weekend, the space agency jerry-rigged Curiosity’s malfunctioning drill, allowing the rover to bore into Martian rock for the first time in over a year.
NASA’s InSight lander is on its way to Mars following Saturday’s successful launch of an Atlas V rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the lander is not alone—it has a pair of twin communication CubeSats in tow. Called MarCO-A and MarCO-B, the tiny machines have already passed the first…
Astronauts hoping stay on the moon for long-term missions have another reason to worry about moon dust: It could be quite harmful if inhaled, as demonstrated in a new study.
NASA announced today that it has completed tests of its Kilopower portable nuclear fission reactor, a device designed to one day power bases on Mars or the moon. The tests met or exceeded expectations on all metrics, which means the device can now go on to more serious flight testing.
Earlier today, officials with NASA and the European Space Agency signed a statement of intent to explore the various ways in which Martian soil samples can be collected and delivered back to Earth. Sounds great, but a complex project of this nature won’t be easy, as it would involve the first-ever rocket launch from…
Earlier today, a Soyuz MS-08 rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying with it two NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut bound for the International Space Station. Here’s what they’ll be up to for the next five months.
It’s been known for some time that the White House has been considering cutting off funding to the International Space Station by 2025 to free up resources for NASA, an agency President Donald Trump wants to send astronauts back to the moon but has also proposed should make do with a shoestring budget. Per the …
Donald Trump’s administration has touted big plans for NASA in the past few months, but it hasn’t been willing to put up much cash. So the White House has come up with a way to stretch the space agency’s budget further: Forwarding the bills for the International Space Station to, like, anyone else.
Mars likely held flowing water during its ancient past, possibly even vast oceans of it. Most of this precious liquid escaped into space, but some of it stayed behind, transforming into ice and settling beneath the rocky surface. New research shows that a sizable portion of this water ice is surprisingly near the…
On Sunday night, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch “Zuma,” a mysterious government spacecraft of unknown purpose, on one of its partially-reusable Falcon 9 two-stage rockets from Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The exact time of the launch has yet to be set, though SpaceX has set a…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently en route to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that could contain the basic building blocks of life. Late last year it collected some images to remind us how small and insignificant we really are.
