An artist's interpretation of BD+05 4868 Ab, a dissolving exoplanet with a long tail. (Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT)Astronomers have identified one of the most inhospitable exoplanets ever seen—a tiny world being scorched by its parent star and trailing a massive, comet-like plume of vaporized rock behind it.A Molten Planet with a Vapor TailWhile much of exoplanet research...
Credit: PixabayElon Musk’s SpaceX is creating its own official company town. On Saturday, residents near the Starbase launch site in South Texas voted decisively to incorporate the area as a city, also called Starbase. Cameron County election results show 212 votes for incorporation and just six against.Musk Declares Starbase, Texas Officially a City on...
Credit: PixabayFor the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, NASA has officially received a spacecraft designed to carry humans to the Moon. On Thursday, Lockheed Martin, the primary contractor for the Orion capsule, handed over the Artemis II spacecraft to NASA's Exploration Ground Systems team at Kennedy Space Center.NASA is scheduling Artemis II...
Credit: PixabayNASA's newly released budget reveals a significant reduction in funding for the Orion spacecraft and the Lunar Gateway space station. The agency's total budget has dropped to $18.8 billion, marking a 24% cut of $6 billion. NASA’s budget shift reflects a realignment of resources, prioritizing crewed missions to the Moon and Mars over...
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...
