Europe's newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether into Earth orbit to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies, Ariane 6's first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher.
BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, has experienced an issue that is preventing the spacecraft's thrusters from operating at full power.
In a quest to study the variety of stars in our galaxy, the Mauve mission has emerged to provide a stronger understanding of the characteristics of stars—including their magnetic activity, flare evolution, and influence on the habitability of neighboring exoplanets. Chuanfei Dong, an assistant professor of astronomy within Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences, is the lead Principal Investigator (PI) at BU for the Mauve mission.
For many NASA scientists, flying aboard a decked-out Douglas DC-8 plane provided them some unique glimpses of Earth: the Moai on Easter Island, Central Park in New York and Mount Vesuvius in Italy.
Need a moment of levity? Try watching videos of astronauts falling on the moon. NASA's outtakes of Apollo astronauts tripping and stumbling as they bounce in slow motion are delightfully relatable.
SpaceX plans to launch 90 rockets into space from a Santa Barbara County military base by 2026, tripling the number of blasts rocking the coastal community—and raising concerns from neighbors and environmental groups about the effects on marine life.
To prepare for exploring the moon during NASA's Artemis campaign, the agency is conducting a week-long field test in the lunar-like landscape of San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, Arizona to practice moonwalk scenarios.
The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spaceship to the International Space Station has been postponed again due to a technical snafu, the company said Tuesday.
In February 2022, SpaceX and entrepreneur/philanthropist Jared Isaacman (commander of the Inspiration4 mission) announced they were launching a new program to "rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities" while supporting important charitable and humanitarian causes here on Earth. It's called the Polaris Program.
The damage to the Orion capsule from the Artemis I mission is already top of mind for NASA as it works to make the Artemis II mission safe for humans. But a new agency report has revealed the extent of the problem, including scores of cracks in Orion's critical heat shield.
An experimental spy satellite that was deemed "lost" after eluding detection for decades has finally been found. "The S73-7 satellite has been rediscovered after being untracked for 25 years," astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said in an April 29 post on X, formerly Twitter. He says it reappeared on April 25, citing Space Force data.
When the Orion spacecraft carries the first Artemis crews to the moon and back, it will rely on the European Service Module contributed by ESA (European Space Agency) to make the journey. The service module provides electrical power generation, propulsion, temperature control, and consumable storage for Orion, up to the moment it separates from the crew module prior to re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spaceship will have to wait until at least Friday to give ground teams time to analyze a malfunctioning rocket valve, pushing back a high-stakes test trip to the International Space Station.
Astronomers have discovered black holes ranging from a few times the sun's mass to tens of billions. Now a group of scientists has predicted that NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could find a class of "featherweight" black holes that has so far eluded detection.
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