Space

Exoplanet science and the search for life beyond Earth continue to advance at break-neck speeds, with the number of confirmed exoplanets by NASA rapidly approaching 6,300, with 223 of those exoplanets being designated as terrestrial (rocky) exoplanets. With the promise of discovering an increasing number of Earth-sized exoplanets increasing every... Read more

Millions of people watched the historic launch of Artemis II and were captivated by the mission's 10-day journey around the moon as NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen ventured farther into space than any human before. Part of the... Read more

The astronauts on Artemis II's trip to the moon in April 2026 didn't just have an amazing journey through space. They also saw something extraordinary. They were the first humans to see a total solar eclipse from space.... Read more

There are tens of thousands of near-Earth objects (NEOs) that represent some of the most easily accessible resources in the solar system. Planning trajectories to rendezvous with these miniature worlds is notoriously difficult, and requires a massive amount of computational power to calculate. But a new paper from astrodynamicist Alessandro... Read more

You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you're told the Odyssey spacecraft designed to take you there will be the smoothest ride you'll ever take. It features a newly christened electric propulsion engine which was in the late stages of testing during the first three missions. The mission... Read more

Expose an animal to extreme physical stress, and the expectation is simple: It will break down. But when UC Riverside scientists subjected fruit flies to forces many times stronger than Earth's gravity—a condition called hypergravity—the insects did something unexpected. They survived. They even mated and reproduced. Their movements and behaviors... Read more

Laser sail propulsion is an idea that won't go away. By aiming powerful Earth-based lasers at tiny spacecraft with light sails, tiny spacecraft can be accelerated to near-relativistic speeds without carrying fuel or an energy source, and without carrying any kind of propulsion system at all. There are clear advantages... Read more

Europe's most powerful rocket Ariane 6 successfully released 32 satellites into orbit Thursday for Amazon's internet constellation, which is bidding to rival Elon Musk's giant Starlink.... Read more

It has been a dream of astronomers and solar scientists for ages. A new mission gives solar researchers a powerful new tool in their arsenal: on-demand, total solar eclipses. Launched in 2024, The European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission has proven the feasibility of a free-flying, space-based coronagraph. Now, the first... Read more

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he believes NASA has a good chance of returning astronauts to the moon's surface before he leaves the White House at the start of 2029.... Read more

You're in the lab analyzing Martian regolith samples within your cozy Mars habitat serving on the fifth human mission to Mars. The power within the habitat has been flowing flawlessly thanks to the MARS-MES (Mars Atmospheric Resource & Multimodal Energy System), including the general habitat lighting, science lab, sleeping quarters,... Read more

The spacecraft that flew four astronauts around the moon is back where its record-breaking journey began.... Read more

Shielding materials are essential in key modern industrial settings—such as spacecraft, nuclear power plants, semiconductor equipment, and advanced medical devices—to protect both equipment and personnel from electromagnetic waves and radiation. In particular, as space exploration gains momentum—such as with the successful launch of Artemis 2 on the 2nd—the importance of... Read more

A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the United... Read more

I watched Armageddon again fairly recently with Bruce Willis, oil drillers in space and an asteroid the size of Texas bearing down on Earth. Buried beneath the Hollywood chaos is a genuinely interesting question: What exactly could we do with an asteroid if we got our hands on one? As... Read more