After eight years of science missions, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft has found permanent residence at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Artemis I: liftoff to splashdown
Video: 00:01:11
The uncrewed Artemis I test flight saw Orion travel around the Moon and farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans and return them to Earth. Artemis is the international lunar exploration programme that is taking humankind to the Moon. This first mission provided a first test of both NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion moonship that was propelled by the European Service Module’s 33 engines beyond the Moon and into deep space. Future European Service Modules will provide electricity, propulsion and cabin thermal control for astronauts on lunar missions as well as breathable atmosphere and drinking water.
MTG-I1 rolled out and good to go
With liftoff set for today at 21:30 CET, the Ariane 5 rocket carrying the first Meteosat Third Generation Imager, MTG-I1, satellite is poised patiently on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana while the final checks are being carried out. Once in geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above the equator, this new satellite is set to herald a new era for meteorology.
Orion Splashes Down in the Pacific Ocean, Completing the Artemis I Mission
On December 11th, at 09:40 a.m. PST (12:40 p.m. EST), NASA’s Artemis I mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. The return of the uncrewed Orion spacecraft marks the end of the Artemis Program’s inaugural mission, which launched on November 16th and validated the spacecraft and its heavy launch vehicle – the Space Launch System (SLS). During its 25.5-day circumlunar flight, the Orion spacecraft traveled more than 2.25 million km (1.4 million mi) and flew beyond the Moon’s orbit, establishing a new distance record.
US Air Force launches 1st operational hypersonic missile
The United States Air Force has successfully tested its first prototype hypersonic missile, the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW.
Webb Completes its First “Deep Field” With Nine Days of Observing Time. What did it Find?
About 13 billion years ago, the stars in the Universe’s earliest galaxies sent photons out into space. Some of those photons ended their epic journey on the James Webb Space Telescope’s gold-plated, beryllium mirrors in the last few months. The JWST gathered these primordial photons over several days to create its first “Deep Field” image.
Supernova algorithm classifies 1,000 dying stars without error
A newly developed algorithm is helping astronomers search through massive amounts of data from Zwicky Transient Facility categorizing powerful cosmic explosions called supernovas.
Pesky 'leap second' will be abolished by 2035
An international group of experts has voted to retire the leap second by 2035.
Black Holes Shouldn’t be Able to Merge, but Dozens of Mergers Have Been Detected. How Do They Do It?
Who knows what lurks in the hearts of some globular clusters? Astronomers using a collection of gravitational wave observatories found evidence of collections of smaller black holes dancing together as binaries in the hearts of globulars. What’s more, they’ve detected an increased number of gravitational wave events when some of these stellar-mass black holes crashed together.
Perhaps a Supervoid Doesn’t Explain the Mysterious CMB Cold Spot
For years cosmologists had thought that a strange feature appearing in the microwave sky, known as the CMB cold spot, was due to the light passing through a giant supervoid. But new research casts that conclusion into doubt.
Elusive intergalactic light from orphaned stars studied for 1st time
Astronomers have for the first time studied the elusive faint glow emanated by stars that have been ripped from their homes and now exist as cosmic orphans between galaxies.
NASA confident in SpaceX after raucous Twitter takeover by Elon Musk: report
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell was reassuring during a recent conversation.
Catch the Geminid Meteor Shower; Plus, Watch RW Cephei Fade
The luminous Geminid meteor shower returns. We also meet a binocular-bright star that may be experiencing Betelgeuse-like convulsions.
First in new generation of European weather satellites ready for launch
The MTG-I1 satellite is integrated with its Ariane 5 rocket at the Guiana Space Center. Credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/P. Baudon
The first in a new generation of European weather satellites is set for launch Tuesday on a mission that promises to improve the timeliness and precision of weather forecasts for Europe and Africa, sharing a ride to space from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket with two Intelsat communications satellites.
Save $61.95 on this Celestron 70AZ telescope kit this holiday
If you're looking to bag a bargain this holiday season, then saving over $60 on this Celestron 70AZ telescope kit could be right for you.
NASA's TV coverage of Artemis I recovery included 'hat tip' to Apollo
There was something familiar about the hat Derrol Nail wore as he described NASA's Orion spacecraft splashing down from the moon. Not by accident, his ballcap evoked images of Apollo astronauts.
A Black Hole has been Burping for 100 Million Years
Black holes are gluttonous behemoths that lurk in the center of galaxies. Almost everybody knows that nothing can escape them, not even light. So when anything made of simple matter gets too close, whether a planet, a star or a gas cloud, it’s doomed.
The Large Hadron Collider reveals how far antimatter can travel through the Milky Way
The antimatter counterparts of light atomic nuclei can travel vast distances through the Milky Way before being absorbed, new findings have revealed.
Nudging a Space Rock
That’s one small change in an asteroid’s orbit, one giant leap for humanity.
Looking back from beyond the moon: How views from space have changed the way we see Earth
How does a stunning photo from Artemis 1 compare to other iconic views of Earth from the outside?
NASA green-lights asteroid-hunting space telescope for 2028 launch
NASA is moving ahead with the development of a spacecraft to hunt for potentially hazardous asteroids and aims to launch by June 2028.
