AST SpaceMobile's first five giant commercial direct-to-cell satellites, huge spacecraft called BlueBirds, lifted off this morning (Sept. 12) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Are Claims of Alien Visitation Causing a Problem to Society?
I’ve been an avid stargazer for a fair few decades now and not once have I seen anything that makes me believe we are being visited by aliens! My own experiences aside, there’s no evidence of alien visitations but it seems much of the population believes anything that they cannot immediately identify in the sky MUST be ailens. A new paper suggests there are costs associated with increasing claims such as disctractions to government programs and background noise that hampers science communication. How on Earth should we deal with it? If debunking doesn’t work, then maybe its time for a scientific investigation.
Juno Sees a Brand New Volcano on Io
Jupiter’s moon, Io, is the most volcanic body in the Solar System. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been getting closer and closer to Io in the last couple of years, giving us our first close-up images of the moon in 25 years.
High Resolution Images Show Bubbling Gas on the Surface of Another Star
Although stars are enormous, they’re extremely far away, and appear as point sources in telescopes. Usually, you never get to see more than a pixel. Now astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to resolve details on the surface of the star R Doradus and track its activity for 30 days. The images revealed giant, hot bubbles of gas 75 times larger than the entire Sun. R Doradus is 350 times larger than our Sun, but only 180 light-years away.
Watch SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts conduct 1st private spacewalk early Sept. 12
SpaceX's Polaris Dawn astronaut mission plans to conduct the first-ever private spacewalk early Thursday morning (Sept. 12), and you can watch the historic action live.
NASA's Voyager 1 probe swaps thrusters in tricky fix as it flies through interstellar space
NASA's most distant spacecraft had a critical thruster problem far from home. Fixing it required a long-distance call to overcome extreme cold and dwindling power.
NASA's Juno probe spots massive new volcano on Jupiter moon Io
Researchers have spotted a huge new active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io by comparing images taken by two NASA missions more than a quarter of a century apart.
NASA astronaut, 2 cosmonauts arrive at ISS aboard Russian Soyuz capsule (video)
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft delivered NASA astronaut Don Pettit and two cosmonauts to the International Space Station today (Sept. 11), just three hours after lifting off.
Hot 'Salsa:' European satellite burns up in landmark controlled reentry (photo)
The European Space Agency's Salsa satellite safely deorbited on Sunday (Sept. 8) over a hand-picked region of the South Pacific Ocean.
New record! 19 people are orbiting Earth right now
Three people launched toward the ISS today (Sept. 11) aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, bringing the total number of people in Earth orbit to 19 — a new record.
Projecting what Earth will Look Like 1000 years from now Could Assist in the Search for Advanced Civilizations
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is regularly plagued by the fact that humanity has a very limited perspective on civilization and the nature of intelligence itself. When it comes right down to it, the only examples we have to go on are “life as we know it” (aka. Earth organisms) and human civilization. On top of that, given the age of the Universe and the time life has had to evolve on other planets, it is a foregone conclusion that any advanced life in our galaxy would be older than humanity. Luckily, this presents an opportunity to develop and test theoretical frameworks in the field.
Astronomers Watch a Giant Star Blow Bubbles
Astronomers can see hot gas boiling on the surface of the giant star R Doradus, 180 light-years away.
Harvest Moon Takes a Quick Dip in Earth's Shadow
September's partial lunar eclipse will be the first and only time the Moon ducks into Earth's umbral shadow in 2024. The Moon also occults Saturn and hides members of the Pleiades this month.
How SpaceX built a new spacesuit for Polaris Dawn's private spacewalk (video)
SpaceX has given us a detailed look at their stylish and innovative new extravehicular activity suit ahead of it being worn during the Polaris Dawn mission's first-ever private spacewalk.
Meet the NASA science flying on SpaceX's Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission
SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission carried a variety of NASA experiments to orbit. Here's a quick look at the research and its goals.
Lego is 'Over the Moon' with new spaceship kit made in collaboration with Pharrell Williams
It's unlike any Lego space shuttle we've had before, but the upcoming 'Over the Moon' set is certainly eye catching.
What's behind the Martian methane mystery?
The cause of mysterious methane spikes on Mars may be a strange form of alien life — or it may just be interesting chemistry. Either way, something odd is happening on the Red Planet.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit to make fourth trip to the International Space Station
NASA astronaut Don Pettit is seen in quarantine, behind glass, during a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 a the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft on September 11. Photo Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls
An astronaut and avid photographer is heading back to space for a fourth time on Wednesday. NASA astronaut Don Pettit, first ventured to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 6 in November 2003 and last returned from a trip to the orbiting outpost on July 1, 2012.
Mystery of dwarf planet Ceres' origin may finally be solved, thanks to retired NASA spacecraft
Was Ceres born in the main asteroid belt, or did it migrate there from the outer solar system? The answer is buried in data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
Episode 2 – Below the surface
Video: 00:04:29
Watch the second episode of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission – Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars.
Polaris Dawn crew flies higher than 1966 Gemini 11 orbital record
The private SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew has now flown farther from Earth than any astronauts have traveled since the last Apollo mission left for the moon.
