Four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—conducted a dress rehearsal countdown inside their Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Kennedy Space Center, preparing for the Artemis 2 lunar mission. The complex test experienced some stops and starts, but Wiseman called it “extremely successful,” confirming the crew and vehicle are ready for launch procedures. Artemis 2 is tentatively scheduled … Continue reading Astronauts complete practice countdown for upcoming trip around the moon

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has launched new AI-driven weather forecasting models designed to deliver faster and more accurate predictions while using far less computing power. The AI models—AIGFS, AIGEFS, and Hybrid-GEFS—leverage decades of historical data and traditional equation-based models like the Global Forecast System to improve forecasts without replacing existing systems. AIGFS can generate a 16-day forecast using just 0.3% of the … Continue reading NOAA says its new AI-driven weather models improve forecast speed and accuracy

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a highly unusual exoplanet, PSR J2322-2650b, orbiting a pulsar in a black widow system. Unlike typical exoplanets, it is distorted into an oblong “lemon” shape by the pulsar’s intense gravity. Its atmosphere is dominated by helium and carbon, with molecular carbon present instead of more common compounds like water or methane. Scientists are puzzled by its formation, as … Continue reading Astronomers find mysterious lemon-shaped exoplanet with NASA’s Webb telescope

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has captured ultraviolet images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it makes a close approach to Earth, though the observation was coincidental. Traveling at roughly 153,000 mph, the comet will pass within about 168 million miles of our planet on Dec. 18–19, visible as a faint green dot through backyard telescopes. The spacecraft’s Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph collected seven hours of data … Continue reading NASA eyes 3I/ATLAS with alien-hunting Clipper spacecraft as comet approaches Earth

President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority” on December 18, directing U.S. efforts to dominate space for security, economic, and exploratory purposes. The order calls for returning astronauts to the moon by 2028 and constructing a permanent lunar base by 2030, including deploying nuclear reactors in orbit and on the moon. It also emphasizes strengthening U.S. space defense, with next-generation … Continue reading Trump signs sweeping executive order aimed at ‘ensuring American space superiority’

New research suggests Saturn’s moon Titan has slushy ice layers rather than a vast underground ocean, challenging a decade-old theory. NASA scientists reanalyzed Cassini data and found pockets of liquid water could exist within these ice layers, potentially supporting microscopic life. Titan’s surface contains liquid methane lakes, but the ice pockets could reach temperatures around 21°C, offering more concentrated nutrients than a large ocean. Researchers … Continue reading Saturn’s largest moon contains slushy ice layers but habitable zones might exist

Rocket Lab successfully launched four new “DiskSats” for the U.S. Space Force early Thursday morning from Wallops Island, Virginia, on an Electron rocket. The mission, dubbed “Don’t Be Such a Square,” marked the first deployment of DiskSats, a thin, 40-inch-wide spacecraft developed by The Aerospace Corporation with NASA funding. DiskSats’ unique flat design offers more power and surface area for instruments, and could enable very-low-altitude … Continue reading Rocket Lab launches 4 experimental ‘DiskSats’ for the US military

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman was confirmed by the Senate as NASA’s new head, ending a year-long nomination saga. Initially nominated by President-elect Donald Trump in December 2024, his nomination was withdrawn five months later due to a review of prior associations, then renominated in November. Isaacman’s confirmation comes at a critical time as NASA faces budget and staffing challenges from previous federal cuts. The Senate … Continue reading Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is confirmed as new NASA chief

Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket successfully launched its first pair of Galileo navigation satellites on Wednesday, Dec. 17, from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana. The satellites, part of Europe’s GPS-equivalent constellation, will deploy about 3 hours and 20 minutes after liftoff and undergo a four-month positioning phase before becoming operational. Most previous Galileo satellites were launched on Ariane 5 or Russian Soyuz rockets, with Europe … Continue reading Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket launches its 1st pair of Galileo navigation satellites

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, once speculated by some—including Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb—to be alien technology, has been shown to behave like a typical comet. A new study in Research Notes of the AAS finds that its unusual motion is caused by natural “outgassing,” where gas and dust expelled from its surface give it small rocket-like pushes, altering its speed, orbit, and spin. Measurements using NASA’s Psyche spacecraft … Continue reading New research suggests interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is not a spaceship

The observable universe contains up to two trillion galaxies, which are not randomly scattered but instead form giant cosmic “bubbles” separated by mostly empty regions called cosmic voids. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will map these voids with unprecedented precision, helping scientists study the universe’s expansion and the mysterious roles of dark matter and dark energy. By combining galaxy positions and spectroscopic redshifts, astronomers … Continue reading NASA’s Roman Telescope Will Observe Thousands of Newfound Cosmic Voids

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope may have found the first evidence of “monster” stars that existed shortly after the Big Bang, with masses up to 10,000 times that of the sun. These prehistoric stars, now extinct, likely collapsed into massive black holes, leaving behind chemical “fossils” in the universe. The discovery came from studying the galaxy GS 3073, 12.7 billion light-years away, where … Continue reading James Webb Space Telescope finds 1st evidence of ‘dinosaur-like’ stars in the early universe

SpaceX successfully launched 29 Starlink satellites from Florida early Monday, marking the 100th Falcon 9 flight from the state in 2025. The rocket lifted off at 12:25 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 and reached space about 8 minutes and 40 seconds later. After a coast period and a second engine burn, the Falcon 9 upper stage deployed the satellites, completing the … Continue reading SpaceX launches Starlink satellites into orbit on 100th Falcon 9 flight

United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch 27 Amazon Leo satellites on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on Monday, Dec. 15, at 3:49 a.m. EST. Amazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, aims to build a 3,200-satellite internet megaconstellation in low Earth orbit across more than 80 launches. This will be the fourth Atlas V mission for the project, which has already placed 153 satellites in … Continue reading Atlas V rocket launch 27 of Amazon’s internet satellites to orbit

A mysterious interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, is reportedly “changing colours” as it approaches its closest point to Earth, sparking speculation that it could be an alien spaceship. Theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, who has long suggested that some interstellar objects may be artificial, believes the object is not a natural comet but a potential craft from another galaxy. Recent satellite imagery shows its surrounding halo shifting from … Continue reading ‘Spaceship’ 3I/ATLAS dramatically changes colour as Earth approach just days away

SpaceX launched a new batch of 27 Starlink satellites early Wednesday, marking the company’s 160th Falcon 9 flight of 2025. The launch took place at 6:40 a.m. EST from Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the satellites deployed into low Earth orbit just over an hour later. The Falcon 9 first stage completed its 18th flight, landing safely on the droneship Of Course I Still Love … Continue reading SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from California on 160th Falcon 9 flight of the year

Chinese astronauts on the Shenzhou 21 mission conducted an eight-hour spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station on December 9 to inspect and maintain equipment. During the EVA, they photographed cracks in the Shenzhou 20 capsule’s windows, installed a space debris protection system, and replaced the cover of a temperature control adapter. The damage to Shenzhou 20 was caused by a space junk strike, making it … Continue reading Chinese astronauts inspect damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft during 8-hour spacewalk

NASA has lost contact with its Maven spacecraft, which has orbited Mars since 2014, after it failed to communicate following its passage behind the planet. Maven, launched in 2013, studies Mars’ upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind, helping explain how the planet lost much of its atmosphere over time. The spacecraft also serves as a communication relay for the Curiosity and Perseverance … Continue reading NASA loses contact with its Maven spacecraft orbiting Mars for the past decade

Astronomers have observed the most distant supernova ever seen, dating back 13 billion years, just 730 million years after the Big Bang, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The explosion, accompanied by a gamma-ray burst (GRB 250314A), marks the death of a massive star and possibly the birth of a stellar-mass black hole. Initial detection came from the SVOM satellite and NASA’s Swift Observatory, … Continue reading The James Webb Space Telescope just found the oldest supernova ever seen

Astronomers have observed ultra-fast winds from a black hole in the spiral galaxy NGC 3783, traveling at 60,000 km/s, or about 20% the speed of light. The black hole, with a mass of 30 million suns, powers an active galactic nucleus that emits intense radiation and drives these powerful winds. Researchers found that bursts of X-ray light from the black hole trigger the winds within … Continue reading Black hole spotted blasting winds at 130 million mph

SpaceX successfully launched a classified U.S. military payload, NROL-77, from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 9 at 2:16 p.m. EDT. The mission, for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), carries a national security satellite, though specific details about the payload remain secret. The mission patch features a flying squirrel and the motto “Another One Gone — Today, Tomorrow and Beyond,” symbolizing endurance and knowledge-gathering in space. This … Continue reading SpaceX launches mysterious NROL-77 mission for the US military

Early on Dec. 8, the Sun unleashed a powerful X1.1-class solar flare from sunspot region AR4298, temporarily disrupting radio communications across Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. The flare, which peaked at 12:01 a.m. EST, also ejected a coronal mass ejection (CME), though initial analyses indicate it is not Earth-directed. The eruption adds to an active week of solar activity, with several earlier CMEs expected … Continue reading Sun unleashes intense X-class solar flare, triggering radio blackouts across Australia

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky safely returned to Earth Tuesday after an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station, landing on the Kazakh steppe. The Soyuz MS-27/73S undocked Monday evening, endured re-entry temperatures of 2,500°F, and parachuted to a precise landing at 12:03 a.m. EST. Russian recovery crews quickly extracted the crew, conducted medical checks, and prepared them for … Continue reading NASA astronaut, two Russian cosmonauts return to Earth from space station

The Department of the Air Force has approved SpaceX’s plan to convert the former Delta 4 launch site, SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral, into a Starship launch complex. The approval followed completion of an environmental impact statement, which found no major environmental concerns aside from significant noise and overpressure during launches and landings. An early plan to build an additional Starship site, SLC-50, was dropped due … Continue reading SpaceX gets approval to build Starship launch complex at Cape Canaveral

SpaceX launched 29 new Starlink satellites on Dec. 7 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 12:58 a.m. EST and reached low Earth orbit about nine minutes later, with the satellites deployed roughly an hour after launch. The rocket’s first stage, B1088, completed its 12th flight and landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in … Continue reading SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites from Vandenberg in California