SpaceX has delayed the launch of its Polaris Dawn mission, which aims to send four private citizens to space, due to unfavorable weather off the coast of Florida. The mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, was scheduled for an early Wednesday launch but was postponed to ensure safe reentry conditions, as the capsule won’t be docking at the International Space Station. A backup launch window … Continue reading SpaceX postpones the launch of private Polaris mission once again

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, a 6½-foot-tall robotic moon lander, is set to launch later this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. This mission, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, will carry scientific instruments to the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin. Currently undergoing environmental testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Blue Ghost is expected to gather critical data for future human … Continue reading Blue Ghost, a robotic moon lander built by Firefly Aerospace, to launch soon on SpaceX Falcon 9

China’s Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering (SAST) has proposed a magnetic catapult system on the Moon to transport resources, such as helium-3, back to Earth. This concept, which has been explored by scientists for decades, could become part of China’s long-term lunar development plans within the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a joint project with Russia. The system would use magnetic levitation to launch payloads … Continue reading China Proposes Magnetic Launch System for Sending Resources Back to Earth

New research suggests that gravitational waves generated by the collapse of massive, spinning stars, known as collapsars, could be detectable by instruments like LIGO and Virgo. These waves, caused by material spiraling into black holes after a star’s explosive death, could offer insights into the inner workings of stars and black holes. Previously, gravitational waves have only been detected from mergers of compact objects like … Continue reading Dying Stars Send Out Gravitational Waves Across the Universe

NASA announced that Boeing will return its Starliner capsule from the International Space Station (ISS) without the astronauts it delivered in June. Instead, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay on the ISS for six more months and return to Earth in February on SpaceX’s Crew-9 vehicle. The decision to bring Starliner back empty marks a significant shift, as the capsule was originally intended … Continue reading Boeing Starliner returning empty as NASA turns to SpaceX to bring astronauts back from ISS

Former Pentagon insider Luis Elizondo claims that the Department of Defense has a secret program to retrieve crashed spacecraft and has recovered nonhuman specimens. In a NewsNation special, Elizondo provided more details than any previous Pentagon official, naming government agencies and aerospace companies allegedly involved in these recoveries. He asserts that the U.S. government recovered an unidentified craft during the 1947 Roswell incident and has … Continue reading Ex-Pentagon official alleges US has recovered nonhuman specimens

Chinese scientists have discovered a new method to produce water using lunar soil from China’s 2020 Chang’e-5 mission, which retrieved lunar samples for the first time in 44 years. Researchers found that the moon’s soil contains minerals with high amounts of hydrogen, which can be heated to produce water vapor. This breakthrough could significantly aid in building future lunar research stations and space outposts, as … Continue reading Chinese scientists use lunar soil to produce water, state media reports

On September 26th, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroids Redirect Test (DART) successfully collided with Dimorphos, a small moonlet orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos, demonstrating the kinetic impact method as a strategy for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids. By October 2026, the European Space Agency’s Hera mission will examine the impact site to confirm the effectiveness of this planetary defense approach. However, while this method could divert asteroids … Continue reading NASA Asteroid Collision Debris May Be Headed Toward Earth

Scientists have discovered that the Moon’s south pole was once covered by an ocean of molten rock, supporting the Lunar Magma Ocean theory, which suggests the Moon’s surface formed from magma around 4.5 billion years ago. This finding was made by India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed on the Moon’s south pole in August 2023. The mission, a historic first for exploring this isolated region, found … Continue reading Ancient ocean of magma found on Moon south pole

A rocket engine exploded during a test launch at the SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, on Monday evening, according to German manufacturer Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA). No injuries were reported. Video footage showed the engine exploding on the launchpad, engulfing the structure in flames and thick smoke. The spaceport, recently licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is the only fully-licensed vertical rocket launch … Continue reading Rocket engine explodes during test launch from new spaceport in Scotland

SpaceX launched a new batch of 22 Starlink internet satellites into orbit on August 20, using a Falcon 9 rocket on its maiden flight. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and successfully returned to Earth, landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. This launch is notable because SpaceX typically uses pre-flown rockets for its missions. The new … Continue reading SpaceX launches 22 Starlink internet satellites into orbit

Chinese scientists are planning to build an $18 billion magnetic space device to launch resources from the moon back to Earth, aiming to address the planet’s energy crisis. Developed by researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering, the device will use magnetic levitation to fling lunar materials, such as helium-3, toward Earth. Helium-3 is seen as a potential clean energy source through nuclear fusion, … Continue reading Chinese scientists planning rotating launch system on the moon

The European Space Agency’s Juice mission is set to achieve two historic firsts as it embarks on its journey to study Jupiter’s icy moons. Launched in April 2023, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will perform the first-ever consecutive flybys of the moon and Earth, along with the first double gravity assist maneuver on August 19-20. These maneuvers will use Earth’s gravity to adjust Juice’s … Continue reading Spacecraft will slingshot around Earth and the moon this week on its way to Jupiter

The Polaris Dawn mission crew landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on August 19, preparing for their upcoming launch scheduled for no earlier than August 26. This marks the second privately crewed SpaceX mission funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, following his 2021 Inspiration4 mission. Polaris Dawn will push the boundaries of private spaceflight, aiming to fly farther from Earth than any human has in 50 … Continue reading SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew lands at launch site ahead of 1st-ever private spacewalk mission

SpaceX successfully launched its Transporter 11 mission on August 16, sending 116 satellites into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket’s first stage landed back near the launch site, marking its 12th successful flight. Among the payloads was an Nvidia Jetson Orin NX chip, protected by a nanoparticle-infused polymer developed by Cosmic Shielding Corporation. This mission is … Continue reading SpaceX launches 116 satellites

NASA’s Perseverance rover is embarking on a challenging new mission to ascend the steep western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater. After spending two and a half years exploring the crater floor and river delta, Perseverance, which has already collected 22 rock cores and traveled over 18 miles, will begin its ascent the week of August 19. The rover’s climb, which will see it gain about … Continue reading NASA’s Mars rover to begin ‘most challenging’ journey up crater rim

Astronauts are preparing for lunar construction in anticipation of NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to land astronauts on the moon by 2026 and eventually establish a permanent base. To support this goal, an experiment on the International Space Station is testing cement-mixing techniques using simulated lunar soil. NASA is exploring ways to construct habitats on the moon more economically by using local materials, potentially reducing … Continue reading Astronauts on ISS practice moon base cement-mixing tech in microgravity

On August 15, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched two Maxar Intelligence imaging satellites, known as Maxar-2, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This launch, SpaceX’s 79th of 2024, is the second of three missions to deploy Maxar’s WorldView Legion constellation of six high-resolution imaging satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully returned to Cape Canaveral, and both satellites were confirmed to be deployed about … Continue reading SpaceX launches second pair of Maxar WorldView Legion imaging satellites

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station (ISS due to delays with the Boeing Starliner, have adapted to their extended stay. Initially planned for a short mission, the astronauts have now been aboard for over two months, with their return possibly delayed until February 2025. Due to limited sleeping quarters, Wilmore has been “roughing it” by sleeping in a … Continue reading Astronaut stuck on the ISS is roughing it in a sleeping bag over in the Japanese space module

Russia launched its 89th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 14, sending the uncrewed Progress MS-28 spacecraft into orbit atop a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The craft, carrying nearly three tons of supplies, is set to dock with the ISS on August 17. This mission follows the departure of the Progress MS-26 vehicle, which recently burned up … Continue reading Russia launches 89th Progress cargo spacecraft to ISS

Cryptocurrency speculator Chun Wang has purchased a SpaceX multi-day flight, marking the first crewed space mission in polar orbit, set to launch later this year. Named “Fram2” after a historic polar expedition ship, the mission will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. Wang, who paid for the mission, has invited three Arctic specialists to join him: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, Australian explorer Eric … Continue reading Crypto magnate buys SpaceX mission for private polar spaceflight expedition

Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected a component of water in the form of rust on the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. This discovery offers new insights into the asteroid’s composition and formation. Psyche, a large and unusually shiny asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, was once thought to be entirely metallic and potentially the core of a planetesimal. However, … Continue reading James Webb telescope detects signs of rust on priceless, metal-rich asteroid Psyche

SpaceX successfully launched 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Monday morning from Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:37 a.m., marking the 17th flight for the first-stage booster used in this mission. The booster, which has supported various missions including SES-22, HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, and 11 previous Starlink launches, successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic … Continue reading SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket, Starlink mission from Kennedy Space Center

Mars and Jupiter are set for their closest alignment of the decade on Wednesday, appearing so close in the night sky that only a sliver of the moon could fit between them from our perspective. Despite this close visual proximity, the two planets are actually more than 575 million kilometers apart. This planetary conjunction, a rare event that occurs every three years, won’t happen this … Continue reading Mars and Jupiter get close in conjunction this week

New research using data from NASA’s retired InSight mission has uncovered evidence of a vast underground reservoir of water deep beneath Mars’ surface. Scientists estimate that this water, trapped in cracks and pores within the Martian crust, could fill oceans and cover the planet’s surface to a depth of 1 mile. The water is located 7 to 12 miles beneath the surface, making it difficult … Continue reading Underground reservoir on Mars could fill oceans on the planet’s surface