Ever since the announcement last September that astronomers found evidence of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, the planet has been getting a lot of attention. It’s not surprising. Phosphine is a potential biosignature: On Earth, it is produced by microbial life. Might a similar biological process be taking place in the skies of our sister planet? It’s a tantalizing prospect, and is definitely worth examining closely, but it’s too early to be sure. Microbes aren’t the only way to get phosphine. A new paper published on July 12th in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science suggests that volcanism might instead be to blame for the strange chemistry in the Venusian cloud tops.
Space News & Blog Articles
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See the first photos from the Hubble Space Telescope after a major computer malfunction
After more than a month offline in orbit, the famed Hubble Space Telescope is back in action and snapping photos of the cosmos.
Bezos and excited crewmates eager for blastoff Tuesday
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION
Here's how Blue Origin trained Jeff Bezos and his crew for an 11-minute launch into space
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and three crewmates received 14 hours of training over the last two days for their launch into space on July 20.
Where can we find a fifth force of nature?
We know of four fundamental forces of nature, with no signs of a fifth. But dark matter and dark energy make up over 90% of all the contents of the universe. So the question remains: could there be a fifth force hiding in the “dark sector” of our universe?
Perseid meteor shower 2021: When, where & how to see it
The Perseid meteor shower burst into light this July and will escalate into August as Earth passes through the long trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. This month, though, the moon may interfere with the show. Here's how and when to see the Perseids.
Hubble telescope revived after a grueling month of darkness. Here's what went wrong.
After more than a month in safe mode, the Hubble Space Telescope is back online. A wonky power regulator circuit may be to blame.
The search for alien life
Here's a look at where the hunt for aliens has been and where it's headed.
Boeing crew capsule mounted on Atlas 5 rocket for unpiloted test flight
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft emerges from the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing facility early Saturday. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Boeing second Starliner crew ferry spacecraft rolled out of its factory early Saturday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for mounting on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket set for liftoff July 30 on a redo of a problem-plagued unpiloted test flight in 2019.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos says crew will not wear spacesuits during historic launch
The first Blue Origin crew will not wear spacesuits during their 11-minute journey to space and back Tuesday (July 20), according to founder and flight crew member Jeff Bezos.
Space station cargo ship named after first Asian American astronaut
The first Asian American to reach space, Ellison Onizuka, who made the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of NASA's goals, is the namesake for Northrop Grumman's next cargo spacecraft set to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
Event Horizon Telescope Reveals Curious Jet Structure from Black Hole
Observations of the nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, provide the highest-resolution look at the long jets shooting from the galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
'Mercury 13' pilot Wally Funk will carry 60 years of history to space on Blue Origin flight
When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos offered her a seat on the first crewed flight of his space tourism enterprise Blue Origin, it was an invitation aviator Wally Funk had waited six decades to receive.
A powerful jet emerges from a black hole in unprecedented detail in new images
New images obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) reveal a powerful jet ejected from a supermassive black hole in unprecedented detail.
We Need to Fix Space Junk Before It’s Too Late
As of 2020, there were over 19,000 pieces of individually tracked space junk in orbit above the Earth. Of those, a mere 2,200 were operational satellites. As more and more satellites go up, the risk of collisions increases. And what are governments doing to stop it? Basically, nothing.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Is Back in Action
After a tense month, the Hubble Space Telescope resumed operations this past weekend.
Fantastic Visualization Shows What Would Happen if you Dropped a Ball Across the Solar System
Summertime means it’s time to play ball! But what would it be like to play ball on various locations across our Solar System? Planetary scientist Dr. James O’Donoghue has put together a fun animation of how quickly an object falls on to the surfaces of places like the Sun, Earth, Ceres, Jupiter, the Moon, and Pluto.
A lifelong dream and 20 years of work: How Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos arrived at their 1st astronaut launch
For Blue Origin, this coming moment has been more than two decades in the making.
10 wild theories about the universe
Why is the universe the way it is? Over the years, scientists have explored many ways to explain the cosmos, leading to some crazy-sounding ideas.
With all these planets, why haven't we found any exomoons?
Despite numerous attempts, astronomers have not yet confirmed the detection of an exomoon, a moon orbiting a planet around a distant star.
Astronomers discover a quartet of teenage alien planets far, far away
Astronomers have discovered a quartet of teenage planets, according to data from NASA's TESS telescope.
