A CubeSat is flying to the moon to make sure Lunar Gateway"s orbit is stable
Before this decade is over, NASA will send astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo Era. As part of the Artemis Program, NASA also plans to establish the infrastructure that will allow for a "sustained program of lunar exploration.".....»»
NASA gives green light to mission to send car-sized drone to Saturn moon
NASA’s Mars helicopter mission is now officially over, but following it is an even more complex flying machine destined to explore Saturn’s largest moon......»»
NASA green-lights mission to send car-sized drone to Saturn moon
NASA’s Mars helicopter mission is now officially over, but following it is an even more complex flying machine destined to explore Saturn’s largest moon......»»
Astronauts to patch up NASA"s NICER telescope
NASA is planning to repair NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, during a spacewalk later this year. It will be the fourth science observatory in orbit serviced by astronauts......»»
NASA"s Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn"s moon Titan confirmed
NASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn's organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to the completion of the final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science.....»»
Saturn"s ocean moon Enceladus could support life—researchers are working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells there
Saturn has 146 confirmed moons—more than any other planet in the solar system—but one called Enceladus stands out. It appears to have the ingredients for life......»»
NASA Goddard to build quake detector for Artemis III moon landing
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will build a moonquake detector for astronauts to deploy on the moon in 2026 during the Artemis III mission, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than.....»»
Birds of a feather flocking together: Research shows storks prefer to fly with conspecifics during migration
With long legs and large wings, the white stork is a prominent star of the pageant that is animal migration. Flying from Europe towards Africa in autumn, and then back again in spring, birds can be seen taking to the sky in conspicuous flocks that he.....»»
Starliner spacecraft just took a major step toward first crewed flight
Boeing has stacked the Starliner spacecraft atop an Atlas V rocket ahead of the capsule's first crewed flight to orbit next month......»»
Second-biggest black hole in the Milky Way found
May help explain why we see so many of these monsters colliding. Enlarge / The star's orbit, shown here in light, is influenced by the far more massive black hole, indicated by the red orbit. (credit: ESO/L. Calçada) As.....»»
NASA"s VIPER moon rover gets its head and neck
In this image from Feb. 12, 2024, engineers lift a mast into place on NASA's VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) robotic moon rover. VIPER's mast and the suite of instruments affixed to it look a lot like the rover's "neck" and "h.....»»
The history of the young cold traps of the asteroid Ceres
Ceres, the largest asteroid in our solar system, harbors a dark secret: extremely young ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters near its poles. If that sounds vaguely familiar, it's because our moon and planet Mercury also have such polar ice de.....»»
Orbital eccentricity may have led to young underground ocean on Saturn"s moon Mimas
Saturn's moon Mimas could have grown a huge underground ocean as its orbital eccentricity decreased to its present value and caused its icy shell to melt and thin......»»
Formation-flying spacecraft could probe the solar system for new physics
It's an exciting time for the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Thanks to cutting-edge observatories, instruments, and new techniques, scientists are getting closer to experimentally verifying theories that remain largely untested. Th.....»»
There"s a library on the moon now. It might last billions of years.
NASA's Odysseus Lunar Lander may have tipped over, but it still delivered an important payload of art, music, books ... and Bitcoin. Until 2024, our lunar neighbor didn't offer much in the way of reading material. Just four sentences were.....»»
This is the new spaceship that will take humans back to the moon
The completed Orion spacecraft, built by NASA and ESA, is seen fully stacked in a newly released photo. This craft will fly around the moon on the Artemis II mission. Next year, NASA will blast astronauts back to the moon. This is their 21st-ce.....»»
Watch NASA begin testing its Orion capsule for lunar flyby
NASA has started testing the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts on a voyage around the moon in the Artemis II mission scheduled for 2025......»»
Space Force Is Planning a Military Exercise in Orbit
Two satellites will engage in a “realistic threat response scenario” when Victus Haze gets underway......»»
Words are flowing out like endless rain: Recapping a busy week of LLM news
Gemini 1.5 Pro launch, new version of GPT-4 Turbo, new Mistral model, and more. Enlarge / An image of a boy amazed by flying letters. (credit: Getty Images) Some weeks in AI news are eerily quiet, but during others, gett.....»»
Researchers reveal complex response of microbial communities to wastewater fluctuations
Microbial communities in constructed wetland (CW) sediments are often disturbed by wastewater. It is necessary for the microbial community to maintain a relatively stable composition or biomass in order to continue to remove pollutants from wastewate.....»»
A new type of seismic sensor to detect moonquakes
During the Apollo missions of the 1970s, several seismometers were flown to the moon, where they collected data on lunar seismic trembling for eight years. The data showed some lunar quakes were as powerful as a magnitude 5......»»