A mysterious Russian satellite broke apart early last month, creating a cloud of debris that could linger in Earth orbit for a while. The Kosmos 2499 spacecraft disintegrated on the night of Jan. 3, according to the U.S. Space Force‘s 18th Space Defense Squadron (18th SDS), which tracks human-made objects in orbit. The breakup event generated at least 85 pieces of trackable debris, 18th SDS … Continue reading Mysterious Russian satellite breaks up in orbit, generating cloud of debris

A Falcon 9 lit up the Florida skies Monday night in what is now a very familiar scene.  The rocket successfully deployed Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus communications satellite into a trajectory that will take it to a geostationary orbit, from where it will expand the Spanish company’s coverage across the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean, and Greenland. The rocket took flight at 8:32 p.m. ET from Space … Continue reading SpaceX Falcon 9 Delivers 5-Ton Communications Satellite to Orbit

An asteroid roughly the size of Rome’s Colosseum — between 300 to 650 feet (100 to 200 meters) in length — has been detected by an international team of European astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.  Their project used data from the calibration of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), in which the team serendipitously detected an interloping asteroid.  The object is likely the smallest observed to date … Continue reading Webb Detects Extremely Small Main Belt Asteroid

NASA’s Curiosity rover currently exploring the sulphate-bearing unit on Mt. Sharp, which is the central peak in Mars’ Gale Crater. The high -tech rover is analyzing a metal meteorite, composed almost entirely of nickel and iron, that is currently in its path. The following is from Live Science: MSL Curiosity is going about its business exploring Mars. The high-tech rover is currently exploring the sulphate-bearing unit … Continue reading NASA Rover Encounters Spectacular Metal Meteorite on Mars

Some planets seem to have it all. Jupiter is the largest in the solar system, sporting a distinctive and fashionable red spot, subtle but elegant rings and dozens of moons. As if that weren’t enough, it looks as though Jupiter has 12 more small moons in its orbit, bringing the total number of natural satellites within its grasp to a whopping 92.  Astronomer Scott Sheppard from the … Continue reading Jupiter Takes Crown for Most Moons, With New Tally of 92

Although astronomers have discovered more than 5,200 exoplanets, less than 200 are rocky — so the discovery of a new terrestrial exoplanet is always exciting.  In a new study, a team of 50 astronomers from around the world have confirmed the existence of exoplanet Wolf 1069 b, which orbits a red dwarf star, Wolf 1069, only 31 light-years from Earth. What makes this discovery particularly … Continue reading Astronomers discover potential habitable exoplanet only 31 light-years from Earth

A mysterious spiral formation was spotted in the night sky above Hawaii earlier this month, sparking curiosity among observers. The spectacle, initially spotted by an observatory in Mauna Kea on Jan. 18, first looked like a traveling bright star before it morphed shapes. It grew into a larger blob before it transformed into a dot with a spinning spiral around it, footage from the Subaru-Asahi … Continue reading Mysterious spiral formation appears among stars above Hawaii

AN incredible image captured by a US spy plane shows a metallic orb UFO flying over Iraq. The picture was included in a classified briefing video shown to American government agencies and it’s claimed that it’s the first time a UFO has been filmed in an active conflict zone. The image was obtained by UFO investigators Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, who have now posted … Continue reading US spy plane photo shows metallic orb UFO flying over Iraq

The first orbital space launch from British soil is scheduled to take off on Monday. A modified Boeing 747 airplane known as Cosmic Girl will take off from Spaceport Cornwall in England. Once it reaches 35,000 feet in the air, the converted aircraft will deploy a rocket, called LauncherOne, into space. The LauncherOne rocket will deliver several payloads into orbit, including Wales’ first satellite and … Continue reading The first orbital space launch from British soil will take off on Monday

A powerful solar flare exploded on the surface of the sun late Thursday from a complex sunspot that could, quite literally, flare up again very soon.  The blast of charged particles was recorded as an X1.2-class flare. X flares are the most powerful category of flares, and can cause geomagnetic storms to affect Earth’s magnetic field with the potential to damage satellites, communications equipment and … Continue reading Sun Unleashes Intense X-Class Solar Flare, With More Expected

A newly discovered comet could be visible to the naked eye as it shoots past Earth and the Sun in the coming weeks for the first time in 50,000 years, astronomers have said. The comet is called C/2022 E3 (ZTF) after the Zwicky Transient Facility, which first spotted it passing Jupiter in March last year. After travelling from the icy reaches of our Solar System … Continue reading Once in 50,000-year comet may be visible to the naked eye

The Orion spacecraft swung by the Moon on Monday, flying to within 130 km of that world’s surface as it set course for a return to Earth this weekend. In making this “powered flyby burn” to move away from the Moon, Orion’s service module performed its longest main engine firing to date, lasting 3 minutes and 27 seconds. After successfully completing the maneuver, NASA’s mission … Continue reading After lunar flyby, NASA’s Orion spacecraft is set to splash down on Sunday

Researchers have discovered two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth. The discovery was made in Somalia, inside a massive meteorite. It may hold important clues to how asteroids form. Continue reading Two minerals never before been seen on Earth found inside 17-ton meteorite

NASA’s Orion spacecraft has successfully completed one of the key maneuvers of its maiden journey: a flyby of the Moon during which it got as close as 81 miles to the lunar surface. This was important for a few reasons, not least because it marked a critical test for the propulsion system. Orion carried out four trajectory correction burns on its way to the Moon, … Continue reading NASA’s Orion crew vehicle successfully completes Moon flyby

Humans could stay on the Moon for lengthy periods during this decade, a Nasa official has told the BBC. Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft programme for the agency, said habitats would be needed to support scientific missions. He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Wednesday’s launch of the Artemis rocket, which carries Orion, was a “historic day for human space flight”. Orion … Continue reading Artemis: Nasa expects humans to live on Moon this decade

The cosmic chaos caused by a very young star has been captured in the latest enchanting image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The protostar the image centers around is hidden from view in the neck of a dark, hourglass-shape cloud of gas and dust. The dark line across the middle of the neck is a protoplanetary disc — dense gas and dust that could … Continue reading Cosmic hourglass captured by the James Webb Space Telescope reveals birth of a star

The historic Artemis I mission took flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning after months of anticipation. The milestone event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century. The Orion spacecraft’s spectacular first views of Earth were shared more … Continue reading Artemis I mission shares spectacular view of Earth after a historic launch