space-exploration

China has narrowed the search for Tianwen-3’s Mars landing site to eight candidates as preparations accelerate for a 2028 sample-return mission targeting signs of ancient life.

Giant planets do not have unlimited time to take shape. New JWST observations reveal what is happening around young stars while these massive worlds are still forming.

Andøya, 5 September 2026 – Today, Isar Aerospace became the first commercial space company from Europe to successfully deliver satellites into orbit, on what was only its second flight. Mission ‘Onward and Upward’ lifted off from Isar Aerospace’s dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway at 10:12 pm CEST, deploying payloads in orbit. “Today, Isar Aerospace opened space from Continental E…

[astro-ph.EP] The flux of meteoroids reaching the Earth is continuous, ranging from microscopic grains to occasional metre and decametre scale bodies. The smallest ones fully ablate in the upper atmosphere, […] The post Sample Return Tech: Pre-impact Meteorite Strewn Field Predictions For Imminent Impactors And Meteorite Recovery appeared first on Astrobiology .

Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket will attempt to become the first vehicle to reach orbit from European soil today (Sept. 5), and you can watch the action live.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is in space, taking its first steps to explore the cosmos. Relive Roman’s launch—and the emotion that goes along with the roar of a rocket—with NASA experts who worked on the telescope for years. Plus, learn what happens next and when to expect Roman’s first images. The post Roman Series: Liftoff! appeared first on NASA Science .

Researchers want to explore the idea that microscopic particles shed by alien civilizations have accumulated on the lunar surface, making it an archive of extraterrestrial technology.

"Some of my earliest memories are sitting with my dad in the family room watching Star Trek during the original broadcasts on NBC. I was only 4 or 5, so I don't have much memory of it, but I grew up just knowing all the stories. Star Trek was literally my mythology as a child. For me, Star Trek is about exploration—going into places we've never been. The fact that it placed such a central focus o…

The last two spacecraft of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Cluster mission plunged into Earth’s atmosphere this week, closing out 26 years of research into the planet’s magnetic environment — and handing scientists a front-row seat to their destruction. ESA’s Samba spacecraft reentered the atmosphere on Aug. 31 at 5:39 p.m. EDT, disintegrating over a Continue reading "Scientists watch as two sa…

A spacecraft on a mission to Mercury successfully detached from its British-manufactured propulsion system yesterday, initiating the final phase of arrival following an eight-year voyage through the solar system. The BepiColombo probe, operated jointly by the European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, jettisoned its Mercury Transfer Module on Thursday as it approached the inner…

The newest DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys map covers three-quarters of the sky and catalogs nearly four billion objects. This publicly-available database contains stars, galaxies, supernovae, gravitational lenses, and much more.

NASA highlights the major celestial events arriving in September 2026, from brilliant Venus to the Harvest Moon near Saturn.

The BepiColombo mission, by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is only the third to study our smallest planetary neighbor

Two UMBC undergrads spent their summer at the the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy studying supermassive black holes and colliding galaxies using fresh data from the James Webb Space Telescope and Subaru Observatory. They also hiked on volcanoes, explored Hawaiian cultural history, and grew their scientific networks. The experience sharpened their research skills, opened new career…

Once on the surface, a robotic arm will drill cylindrical tubes into the surface to collect samples. The probe is also equipped with a device first developed by NASA that uses a stream of nitrogen gas to collect fine particles from the very top layer of dust. Whether or not Phobos originated from an impact […]

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s mirror may get the headlines, but its detector chips, photon-counting cameras, and downlink amplifier tell the electronics story.

NASA will host a virtual webinar at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, titled “The RS-25 Engine and the Future of Artemis Missions: An Accessible Webinar for the Blind and Low-Vision Community.” This webinar is open to the public, however it is tailored specifically for a blind and low-vision audience. The webinar will last about two hours and include […]