When you walk across your lawn or down the street, you move on the surface of a surprisingly layered world. Some of those layers are rock, others are molten. A surprising amount of water is mixed into those layers, as well. It turns out that most planets have more of it “deep down” than we imagined.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Why Did Copernicus Reject Geocentrism?
Popular science history paints a picture of the Greek geocentric model dominating astronomical thought beginning around the 3rd century BCE, and being the favored model for ~1,500 years. Then, suddenly (it suggests), astronomical thought was overhauled at the birth of the Renaissance by brilliant astronomers such as Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, all of whom rejected placing the Earth at the center of the cosmos.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 127 —Space Stations Inc.
On Episode 127 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq talk with Max Haot of VAST about his company's first space station.
China Will Launch its Mars Sample Return Mission in 2028
While NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission has experienced a setback, China is still moving forward with their plans to bring home a piece of the Red Planet. This week, officials from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced their sample return mission, called Tianwen-3, will blast off for Mars in 2028. It will land on the surface, retrieve a sample, and then take off again, docking with a return vehicle in orbit. They also announced another mission, Tianwen-4 will head off to Jupiter in 2030 as well as unveiling a conceptual plan for China’s first mission to test defenses against a near-Earth asteroid.
Boeing's Starliner capsule just landed with no crew aboard. What's next for this astronaut taxi?
Starliner's recently completed Crew Flight Test mission faced several technical problems in space. Will NASA certify the spacecraft for long-duration astronaut flights?
See Saturn at its biggest and brightest tonight before its rings 'disappear' in 2025
Saturn reaches opposition Sept. 8, appearing bigger and brighter in the night sky. Viewers can also catch a glimpse of the planet's rings before they turn edge on and "disappear" from view in March 2025.
Starliner lands safely in New Mexico
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing
Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing test flight with an on-target and apparently problem-free New Mexico touchdown.
Artemis III Landing Sites Identified Using Mapping and Algorithm Techniques
Where would be the most ideal landing site for the Artemis III crew in SpaceX’s Human Landing System (HLS)? This is what a recent study submitted to Acta Astronautica hopes to address as an international team of scientists investigated plausible landing sites within the lunar south pole region, which comes after NASA selected 13 candidate landing regions in August 2022 and holds the potential to enable new methods in determining landing sites for future missions, as well.
Boeing Starliner capsule lands back on Earth, without astronauts, to end troubled test flight (video)
Boeing's Starliner capsule returned to Earth early this morning (Sept. 7), wrapping up its first-ever crewed mission. But it came home without any astronauts on board.
Mars leaks faster when closer to the sun
NASA's MAVEN mission and the Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to reveal new insights into how Mars' water is leaking into space.
James Webb Space Telescope zooms in on giant question mark in space (image)
James Webb Space Telescope finds clues about a pair of faraway, interacting galaxies that trace a distinct question mark in deep space.
As it happened: Boeing’s Starliner returned to Earth, marking the end of the Crew Flight Test mission
The summer-long saga of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test is set to come to an end on Friday. Landing at the White Sands Space Harbor shortly after midnight on Saturday. Starliner will make its final journey without crew onboard. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams will remain onboard the International Space Station as members of Expedition 71/72 before their return onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than February 2025.
One Step Closer to Solving the Mystery of Mars’ Lost Water
Few scientists doubt that Mars was once warm and wet. The evidence for a warm, watery past keeps accumulating, and even healthy skepticism can’t dismiss it. All this evidence begs the next question: what happened to it?
NASA delays ESCAPADE Mars launch on Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket to 2025 to avoid potential cost overruns
The ESCAPADE Mars mission, previously scheduled to launch atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on Oct. 13, will now lift off in spring 2025 at the earliest.
Boeing's Starliner ready to head home to Earth today
Boeing's Starliner capsule is all packed up and ready to depart the International Space Station today (Sept. 6) at 6:04 p.m. EDT (2204 GMT).
The best 60s sci-fi movies
Aside from being the Swinging Sixties, here's why the decade was also the Sci-Fi Sixties.
'Slingshot' exclusive: Director Mikael Håfström discusses his haunting new sci-fi thriller
An exclusive interview with Swedish director Mikael Håfström about his new space thriller, "Slingshot."
An annular solar eclipse will put a 'ring of fire' above one of the most isolated spots on Earth: Easter Island
Thousands of skywatchers will gather for a view of the ringed sun from perhaps one of the most isolated and remote spots on the face of the Earth: the legendary and mystical Easter Island.
Netflix's 'Apollo 13: Survival' is a superb examination of NASA's finest hour (review)
A review of the new Netflix documentary, "Apollo 13: Survival" now streaming.
JWST Reveals Star Formation at Cosmic Noon
Understanding the star formation rate (SFR) in a galaxy is critical to understanding the galaxy itself. Some galaxies are starburst galaxies with extremely high SFRs, some are quenched or quiescent galaxies with very low SFRs, and some are in the middle. Researchers used the JWST to observe a pair of galaxies at Cosmic Noon that are just beginning to merge to see how SFRs vary in different regions of both galaxies.
'We're confident in it': Boeing Starliner's parachute team readies for Crew Flight Test landing without astronauts on Sept. 7
Boeing Starliner's parachutes will be tested once more during an uncrewed test on Sept. 7. It was originally supposed to host astronauts, but NASA changed the plan mid-mission.
