Credit: PixabayA relic from the Space Age is set to return to Earth as the long-dormant Soviet Kosmos 482 Venus lander, launched in 1972, plunges into the atmosphere around May 10.During the Cold War, the Soviet Union ran an ambitious lunar and deep space exploration program from 1959 to 1989, competing with the United...
Credit: DepositphotosScientists warned Wednesday that an unprecedented coral bleaching event, driven by human activity, is affecting 84% of the world's reefs and could wipe out large portions of these vital ecosystems.Since early 2023, the global coral bleaching crisis has escalated into the largest and most severe ever recorded, impacting reefs across the Pacific, Indian,...
This is not what the sky will look like. (Jackyenjoyphotography/Moment/Getty Images)Every so often, the night sky offers us a delightful surprise — and this month, a celestial arrangement might just bring a smile to your face.A Rare Morning AlignmentIn the early morning hours of Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, a rare alignment will...
Credit: Firefly AerospaceA groundbreaking discovery could transform space exploration: researchers have developed a way to produce solar energy on the Moon using lunar dust itself. This technique involves converting lunar regolith—the abundant surface material on the Moon—into a type of glass that can conduct electricity, potentially enabling the creation of sustainable lunar outposts without...
NASA's Lucy probe captured this closeup of the asteroid Donaldjohanson from a distance of about 660 miles. (NASA/Goddard/SwRI/JHUAPL/NOIRLab)NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently completed a successful flyby of its second asteroid target, capturing detailed images of the elongated and oddly shaped object known as Donaldjohanson. The close-ups revealed the asteroid’s distinct double-lobed form, confirming it as a...
Rendering of MEV-1 undockingNorthrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman has written a new chapter in the history of space exploration. Its Mission Extension Vehicle 1 (MEV-1) successfully performed the first undocking between two commercial satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), marking the beginning of a new era for commercial space operations.Developed and operated by SpaceLogistics LLC, a...
The newly reprocessed 2003 Hubble observations of the Sombrero Galaxy. (ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll)To celebrate 35 years of discoveries, the Hubble Space Telescope has released a newly enhanced image of one of the sky’s most captivating galaxies: the Sombrero Galaxy.A Hat in the Sky: The Sombrero Galaxy's Unique AppearanceAlso known as Messier 104, this...
Center of the Milky Way seen through NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared camera. (NASA, JPL-Caltech/Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al.)Astronomers have long been intrigued by two puzzling phenomena at the center of our galaxy. First, the gas in the so-called Central Molecular Zone (CMZ)—a dense and turbulent region near the Milky Way's core—appears to be ionized...
Some giant storms on Jupiter can generate mushballs if conditions are just right. (NASA)The weather on Jupiter may, in some ways, resemble phenomena on Earth, but there are peculiarities that completely defy our understanding.The “Mushball” HypothesisScientists now propose an explanation for the strange properties of the planet’s chaotic clouds: during massive thunderstorms with lightning and...
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover sees its tracks receding into the distance at a site nicknamed “Ubajara” on April 30, 2023. This site is where Curiosity made the discovery of siderite, a mineral that may help explain the fate of the planet’s thicker ancient atmosphere.New analyses from NASA’s Curiosity rover offer important clues about the...
