Last year, astronomers detected the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2024 YR4 that orbits the Sun every four years and periodically crosses Earth’s orbit. The nature of its orbit makes it a Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO), meaning it could pose a collision risk with Earth someday. Recently, refined estimates of its orbit have ruled out the possibility … Read more
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft acquired images to create this composite of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, on November 13, 2015. Credit: NASA Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is particularly captivating for scientists. This is thanks in large part to its status as the only other planetary body in the solar system known to host an atmosphere about 1.5 … Read more
When the moon falls into Earth’s shadow Thursday night into Friday (March 13-14), observers will be treated to views of a “blood moon” total lunar eclipse. But given that lunar spacecraft are solar-powered, how do they survive when they’re cut off from the sun? For NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been orbiting the … Read more
WASHINGTON — The former chief executive of Google is taking a stake in, and becoming chief executive of, Relativity Space as that launch vehicle company notes progress on its Terran R rocket. A company spokesperson confirmed March 10 that Eric Schmidt is the new chief executive of Relativity, a move that was announced internally earlier … Read more
By Alan Boyle March 8, 2025 Let’s face it: Space is a hostile environment for humans. Even on Mars, settlers might have a hard time coping with potentially lethal levels of radiation, scarce resources and reduced gravity. In “Mickey 17” — a new sci-fi movie from Bong Joon Ho, the South Korean filmmaker who made … Read more
The Athena lander toppled over in the shadow of a crater around 820 feet (200 meters) from its intended landing site. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission has ended after its lunar lander, Athena, apparently toppled over as it touched down and came to rest on its side yesterday in a shadowed crater, the … Read more
After more than a week of delays, two new NASA missions have been cleared for liftoff tonight (March 8). The space agency’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions, which are sharing a ride aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, are scheduled to lift off no earlier than 10:09 p.m. EST (7:09 p.m. PST) tonight from Launch Complex … Read more
If you’ve ever looked at Mars through a telescope, you probably noticed its two polar ice caps. The northern one is made largely of water ice—the most obvious sign that Mars was once a wetter, warmer world. A team of researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) used that ice cap to make surprising discoveries … Read more
Our Solar System is in motion and cruises at about 200 kilometres per second relative to the center of the Milky Way. During its long journey, it has passed through different parts of the galaxy. Research shows that the Solar System passed through the Orion star-forming complex about 14 million years ago. The Orion star-forming … Read more
PUNCH is a group of four satellites that will orbit Earth above the day-night terminator to study the Sun. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab On March 2, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission into low Earth orbit. From … Read more