Scientists propose that China should enhance its asteroid research efforts, prioritizing low-cost, high-frequency sample return missions. Published in the Chinese Journal of Space Sciences, the paper advocates for the establishment of scientific design teams to bolster China’s asteroid exploration endeavors. Such missions not only deepen our understanding of the solar system’s early stages and the origins of life but also pave the way for future … Continue reading Chinese scientists call for focus on asteroid missions

SpaceX successfully launched another group of its broadband satellites into orbit on the evening of March 25. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink internet satellites took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:42 p.m. EDT (2342 GMT). Following liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned, executing a precise vertical landing on SpaceX’s drone ship A Shortfall … Continue reading SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida

The Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) two days after launch, bringing two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut for a six-month stay. The spacecraft, piloted by Oleg Novitskiy, Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus, and NASA’s Tracy Dyson, docked at the Earth-facing Prichal module. Upon arrival, they were greeted by ISS commander Oleg Kononenko, cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and … Continue reading Russian Soyuz brings crew of 3 to the International Space Station

A severe geomagnetic storm hit the planet recently, reaching the second-highest level on NOAA’s rating system. This event caused significant disruption to Earth’s magnetic field, potentially affecting infrastructure and expanding the visibility of the northern lights. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a warning about the storm after detecting a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun’s corona, which occurred alongside a solar flare. Although … Continue reading Earth just experienced a severe geomagnetic storm

On Wednesday, China achieved a significant milestone in its lunar exploration program by launching a satellite designed to facilitate communication between ground operations on Earth and an upcoming mission on the far side of the moon. According to state media reports, a Long March 8 rocket carrying the 1.2-metric ton Queqiao-2 satellite, named after a mythological bridge made of magpies, along with two miniature satellites, … Continue reading China launches signal relay satellite for mission to moon’s hidden side

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is gearing up for the launch of new satellites designed to enhance the U.S. military and intelligence community’s ability to monitor moving vehicles and individuals from space. The Air Force aims to replace its aging E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft, which provide targeting data, with more resilient space assets. A portion of the ground moving target … Continue reading Spy Agency Spy Ready to Launch New Vehicle-tracking Satellites

NASA has unveiled its budget for 2025, maintaining the funding level at $25,383,700,000, consistent with allocations in 2023 and 2024. While $25 billion may appear substantial, it accounts for less than 0.4 percent of the United States’ total expenditure for the upcoming year. To put it in perspective, for every $100 spent by the U.S. government, NASA receives a mere 34 cents, while the Defense … Continue reading NASA To End Chandra After 24 Years Due To New Budget, Hubble May Not Be Far Behind

NASA’s groundbreaking asteroid mission has unveiled that Bennu harbors minerals containing ingredients conducive to the formation of life. A recent comprehensive examination of samples dating back 45 million years revealed the presence of magnesium phosphate, a compound also found in Earth’s oceans, alongside phyllosilicates commonly observed in tectonic plates. Additionally, glycine, a crucial component in proteins, was detected. Moreover, scientists confirmed the existence of water-bearing … Continue reading NASA’s asteroid contains ‘ingredient of life’ – finds new analysis of Bennu space rock 

Several remarkable asteroids exhibit “activity,” displaying comet-like tails or enveloping gas and dust. NASA’s Active Asteroids project recently unveiled the discovery of such activity on 15 asteroids, challenging established notions about the solar system. The identification of these 15 rare objects involved the collaborative efforts of over 8,000 volunteers who meticulously examined 430,000 images captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on the Victor … Continue reading NASA volunteers find 15 rare ‘active asteroids’

During the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas, scientists unveiled a groundbreaking discovery: a colossal volcano and potentially a buried glacier ice sheet in the eastern sector of Mars’ Tharsis volcanic province, situated near the planet’s equator. Despite being imaged repeatedly by spacecraft orbiting Mars since Mariner 9 in 1971, the immense volcano remained obscured by extensive erosion, eluding recognition … Continue reading Giant volcano discovered on Mars

NASA is set to send a unique “message in a bottle” to Jupiter later this year in its pursuit of discovering potential alien life on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. The Europa Clipper spacecraft, scheduled for launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Station in October, will transmit 2.6 million soundwaves of human names into space. The spacecraft’s six-year journey to cover 0.6 billion miles is expected … Continue reading NASA sending ‘message in a bottle’ to possible alien life hiding on Jupiter’s moon Europa

On Sunday night, SpaceX achieved a successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The launch occurred at 9:09 p.m. and involved carrying 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). Notably, this marked the 17th flight for the first stage booster, which had previously supported missions such as Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, … Continue reading SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday

On April 8, during the occurrence of a rare total solar eclipse, skygazers may be treated to the sight of the “devil comet,” officially known as 12P/Pons-Brooks. This comet, named after the astronomers Jean-Louis Pons and William Robert Brooks, who first observed it in 1812 and 1883 respectively, has earned its demonic moniker due to the horn-shaped gas and dust trail it leaves behind. While … Continue reading Horned ‘devil comet’ eruption may coincide with April 8 total solar eclipse

On Sunday, the Sun exhibited intense activity, emitting a potent M-Class solar flare with the potential to induce radio blackouts. The Solar Ultraviolet Imager on NOAA’s GOES East satellite captured the M7.4 X-ray flare, indicating its strength as the second-most-intense type. While powerful solar flares can cause high-frequency radio blackouts and pose risks to space missions and satellites, the impact on the general public is … Continue reading Strong solar flare sent blasting from Sun causing limited radio blackouts

According to scientists, the minuscule black holes causing red dots in the sky could revolutionize our comprehension of the formation of supermassive black holes and provide insights into the enigmatic processes involved. Initially observed as specks through the Hubble Space Telescope, these distant phenomena appeared akin to regular galaxies. However, the unveiling of their true nature has been made possible by NASA’s James Webb Space … Continue reading Small red dots in the sky are tiny black holes, scientists say

Germany is closely monitoring the trajectory of debris expected to descend from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, with reports suggesting that parts of it may land in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate or other regions of the country. The debris, identified as a battery pack detached from the ISS three years ago, weighs 2.6 tons (2600 kilograms), equivalent to the size of an … Continue reading Uncontrolled space junk to hit Earth this weekend

For over 45 years, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has journeyed through the cosmos, surpassing the boundaries of our solar system to claim the title of the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. An iconic explorer, Voyager 1 has provided groundbreaking insights into Jupiter and Saturn, capturing the poignant image of Earth from the far reaches of space. However, the solitude experienced by an … Continue reading NASA Is Still Fighting to Save Its Historic Voyager 1 Spacecraft

On Saturday, astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station conducted the facility’s second spacewalk, engaging in an eight-hour mission focused on completing repairs to damaged solar panels. Astronauts Tang Hongbo and Jiang Xinlin ventured outside the station, utilizing a robotic arm positioned on the facility’s exterior to address issues with the panels on the Tianhe core module, as reported by the China Manned Space Agency. Tang … Continue reading Chinese astronauts take a walk to fix damaged solar panel on Tiangong space station

A recent study suggests that there is likely no cause for concern regarding the asteroid Apophis, known for its impending close encounter with Earth in 2029. Scientists have determined that this space rock is not at risk of colliding with other celestial bodies that could potentially alter its orbit and redirect it toward Earth—at least until its scheduled close approach to our planet. Apophis, a … Continue reading Asteroid Apophis will swing past Earth in 2029

Following the successful launch of the Crew-8 mission, a four-person crew destined for the International Space Station, SpaceX achieved yet another milestone with the Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. The Starlink 6-41 mission involved deploying an additional set of 23 internet satellites to join the expanding constellation in low Earth orbit. The liftoff occurred from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force … Continue reading SpaceX launched Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with 23 Starlink satellites

Two research teams, utilizing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, have made significant findings while examining a galaxy, including the identification of the most distant active supermassive black hole ever documented. The focus of their study was GN-z11, an extraordinarily luminous galaxy that originated when our 13.8 billion-year-old universe was merely around 430 million years old, making it one of the youngest ever observed, as per … Continue reading Supermassive black hole is most distant ever found

On Monday (March 4), scientists revealed their achievement in quantifying the presence of molecular oxygen—the type essential for life on Earth—around Jupiter’s moon Europa. Despite prior estimations of the icy moon’s oxygen levels, this marks the first direct measurement of such content. In summary, the findings fell short of some previously high estimates. Does this suggest that Europa, thought to contain a substantial ocean of … Continue reading Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa may have less oxygen than we thought

Researchers have discovered two supermassive black holes in collision-created “fossil galaxies” that are so massive they resist colliding and merging. This finding may help explain why, despite theoretical predictions of supermassive black hole mergers, such events have not been observed in progress. The binary supermassive black hole system is situated in the elliptical galaxy B2 0402+379, with a combined mass 28 billion times larger than … Continue reading Heaviest pair of black holes ever seen weighs 28 billion times more than the sun

A small robotic lander developed by a private company recently landed near the moon’s south pole with a scientific payload for NASA, marking the first American spacecraft to land on the moon in over 50 years. Despite tipping over on its side, this event is part of NASA’s broader lunar program called Artemis, which seeks to return humans to the moon, establish an outpost at … Continue reading NASA is working with SpaceX and Blue Origin to land U.S. astronauts back on the moon

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has launched from Florida, carrying three US astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut on the Crew-8 mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, space exploration remains an area of close cooperation between the US and Russia. The crew, consisting of three men and one woman, is aboard a SpaceX capsule previously used four times. … Continue reading ISS launch: New US-Russian crew heads to space station