Space Harpoon Successfully Snatches Floating Hunk of Space Junk
A small satellite has captured a piece of space debris using a claw-tipped harpoon. The test represents an important…
Orbital Sculpture Stays Flaccid Due to Government Shutdown
An inflatable space sculpture launched to orbit in December remains unfurled, in one of the more unanticipated…
Artificial Meteor Showers Are the Atmospheric Spectacles No One Asked For
Tomorrow morning, an Epsilon-4 rocket will blast off from the JAXA Uchinoura Space Center in Japan. Onboard is a…
Hey Artists, Stop Putting Shiny Crap Into Space
As if there isn’t already enough junk in space, an artist is planning to launch a reflective, inflatable sculpture to…
Is China Really Planning to Destroy Space Junk With Lasers?
There may be at least half a million pieces of man-made junk orbiting this planet. Tiny pieces can travel around 10…
A Japanese Effort to Remove Hazardous Space Junk Has Failed
An experimental Japanese mission to remove dangerous debris from orbit has ended in failure. It’s a frustrating setback…
NASA Is Building a $127 Million Space Mechanic
You would never buy a hundred million-dollar computer without a repair plan, but that’s exactly what NASA does when it…
Space Threw Something at California Last Night [Update]
Around 9:30pm last night, residents of Northern California began reporting bright lights in the sky that could be seen…
This Trash-Collecting Spacecraft Will Pit Giant Nets Against a Space Harpoon
It won’t be long now. In just a few short months, the long-standing debate—space harpoon versus giant butterfly…
Watch 60 Years of Space Junk Accumulate Around Earth
You think the trash problem in your city is bad? Try outer space. We humans have been littering our cosmic backyard…
The Quest to Design a Satellite That Destroys Itself When the Mission Ends
Satellites are built to endure decades in the most inhospitable conditions in the known universe. Paradoxically,…
A Trash-Munching Robot Could Turn Space Junk Into Propulsion
Humans clearly have a trash problem on Earth, but our track record isn’t that much better in outer space, where tens of…
That "Mysterious Object" on a Collision Course with Earth Just Burned In Our Atmosphere
I wasn’t worried. Were you worried?
Here's What a "Mysterious Chunk of Space Trash" Looks Like
Earlier this week, the internet worked itself into a frenzy over the “mysterious chunk of space trash” — actually a spen…
The "Mysterious Object on a Collision Course With Earth" Is a 7-Foot Long Hollow Rocket Body
You may be surprised to learn that a “mysterious object dubbed ‘WT1190F’” is headed directly for Earth. THIS IS TRUE.…
Mysterious Chunk of Space Trash is on a Collision Course With Earth
A rogue chunk of debris that orbited Earth far beyond the Moon is making a homecoming on November 13th, astronomers…
Bask in the Beautiful Destruction of This Space Junk Collision Test
January 1, 1963: This is what happens when a piece of space junk hits a spacecraft in orbit. While gorgeous, the energy…
The ISS Astronauts Had To Shelter From Russian Space Junk This Morning
About two hours ago—at about 8AM EST this morning—a piece of an old Russian-built weather satellite sped by the…
Here's a Real-Time Map of All the Objects in Earth's Orbit
Fellow space nerds, I come bringing sweet internet relief for the Monday doldrums. It’s stuffin.space, a real-time,…
What Was the Huge Flash of Light Over the Southeast U.S. Last Night?
Something lit up the sky over a whole swath of the lower Eastern states last night, catching eyes all the way from…