File – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands in the vertical launch position at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the Starlink 17-5 mission on Aug. 18, 2025. This was the ninth flight for Falcon 9 booster, tail number B1088. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is kicking off the month of February with a Monday morning Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
A full moon rises behind NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. If a practice countdown and fueling test Monday go well, NASA is expected to press ahead with launch of the Artemis 2 mission on Feb. 8, sending four astronauts on a flight around the moon. Image: NASA/Sam Lott
Braving rare sub-freezing temperatures, Kennedy Space Center workers pressed ahead with a dress-rehearsal countdown Sunday, readying NASA’s huge SLS rocket for a critical fueling test Monday to clear the way for launch on a flight to send four astronauts on a flight around the moon.
While the world awaits the first crewed moon mission in more than 50 years, Time magazine is celebrating the momentous event with a special Artemis 2 cover issue that hit newsstands on Jan. 30.
We show how this "cosmic clock" uncovers the evolution of rivers, coasts and habitats.
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026: Follow NASA's last major test of SLS before the launch of Artemis 2 and a crew of astronauts around the moon.
The Pelican Nebula is located in the constellation Cygnus, the swan.
West's work on modeling the Earth's shape assisted with the development of GPS, today used by an estimated 4 billion people.
The 'Snow Moon' is named for the inclement weather that is common in January.
In this month’s episode, go on a tour of the stars and planets that you’ll see overhead during February. First we’ll keep tabs on the Moon; say good-bye to Saturn; trace out the Winter Milky Way; and explore some lesser-known constellations near Orion.
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026: Follow NASA's last major test of SLS before the launch of Artemis 2 and a crew of astronauts around the moon.
InterstellOr is already taking bookings for its planned suborbital flights and says it has attracted its first celebrity passenger, highlighting China's growing commercial space ambitions.
On Episode 195 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Gerry Griffin, former Apollo Flight Director and Director of the Johnson Space Center, about NASA's spaceflight tragedies.
Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.
Coming from one of the world's largest astrophysical research institutes, I can tell you, the anticipation across the global space science community is electric.
How space dogfighting games evolved from vector lines to virtual cockpits.
What actually happens to a spacecraft during its fiery last moments? That's the key question for the European Space Agency's Draco mission, planned for 2027.
The Peak Design 25L Outdoor Backpack provides versatility and quality for a variety of outdoor uses.
The chemical is known as thiepine, or 2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione (C₆H₆S), a ring-shaped sulfur-bearing hydrocarbon produced in biochemical reactions. When examining the molecular cloud G+0.693–0.027, a star-forming region about 27,000 light-years from Earth near the center of the Milky Way, astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and the CSIC-INTA Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) detected this complex molecule in space for the first time. This detection represents the largest sulfur-bearing molecule ever detected beyond Earth, with significant implications for the study of the cosmic origins of life.
The search for life-supporting worlds in the Solar System includes the Jovian moon Europa. Yes, it's an iceberg of a world, but underneath its frozen exterior lies a deep, salty ocean and a nickel-iron core. It's heated by tidal flexing, and that puts pressure on the interior ocean, sending water and salts to the surface. As things turn out, there's also evidence of ammonia-bearing compounds on the surface. All these things combine to provide a fascinating look at Europa's geology and potential as a haven for life.
SpaceX launch date of Crew-12 astronauts to the International Space Station will depend on the outcome of the Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal and launch attempts.
We see stars as the main constituent of galaxies. They're the visible part, and they're what announce a galaxy's presence. But a galaxy's gas supply is its lifeblood, and tracing the gas as it flows in and through a galaxy reveals its inner workings.
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