SPACE
- NASA, Industry Advance High Performance Spaceflight Computing
by Loura Hall on 08/05/2026For decades, NASA has advanced on-board spacecraft computer processors that coordinate and execute the functions needed to support mission success. Space computing originated in the 1960s with the Apollo Guidance Computers, which were pivotal for guidance, navigation, and control computations […]
- NASA Fuel Cell Tests Pave Way for Energy Storage on Moon
by Ellen Bausback on 08/05/2026With a small blue crane, four researchers hoist a cylindrical fuel cell, which looks like a stack of flattened silver and gold soda cans bundled together, into the air and lower it into a rectangular cart on wheels. A tangle of tubes and wires spiral away from the system, where nearly 270 sensors […]
- NASA-Supported Small Spacecraft Launches to Study Solar Particles
by Loura Hall on 07/05/2026Through NASA, a university-designed small spacecraft is paving the way to studying particles, known as neutrinos, that move through the universe at near-light speeds. The Solar Neutrino Astro-Particle PhYsics CubeSat, known as SNAPPY, launched at 12 a.m. PDT on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 […]
- New NASA Technology Mimics Extreme Cold of the Lunar Night
by Heather Roe on 06/05/2026As NASA looks to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond, researchers must develop materials capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures found in space and on other planets and their moons. In frigid conditions, rubber can shatter like glass, circuit boards may fail, and electrical connections can […]
- NASA Fosters Development of Lunar Resource-Seeking Technologies
by Loura Hall on 04/05/2026To support long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA and industry are developing technologies that can extract resources such as hydrogen and helium-3 from lunar soil, known as regolith. This capability, known as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), allows explorers to use what is already […]
- NASA Fires Up Powerful Lithium-Fed Thruster for Trips to Mars
by Naomi Hartono on 28/04/2026A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the United […]
- NASA Laser Terminal Enhances Views During Artemis II Mission
by Kendall Murphy on 28/04/2026Millions of people watched the historic launch of Artemis II and were captivated by the mission’s 10-day journey around the Moon as NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen ventured farther into space than any human […]
- I Am Artemis: Peter Rossoni
by Kendall Murphy on 24/04/2026Listen to this audio excerpt from Peter Rossoni, Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System flight manager: As a child, Peter Rossoni watched the Apollo missions launch with his family. In April 2026, he became a part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, helping enable communications as astronauts […]
- Liquid Lifeline: NASA Tech Could Create IV Fluid In Space
by Heather Roe on 23/04/2026On every crewed mission, NASA packs pouches of a potentially life-saving liquid in its cargo, known as IV (or intravenous) fluid. A simple mix of sodium chloride and purified water, it can treat up to 30% of medical conditions in flight, resolving things like dehydration, burns, and more. Crewed […]
- NASA Releases Powerful LAVA Software to US Aerospace Industry
by Tara Friesen on 23/04/2026For years, NASA engineers have turned to a tool called the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) framework to solve airflow challenges that could mean the difference between mission success or failure. When engineers need to know how a spacecraft will navigate re-entry or whether a new […]
- NASA’s Psyche Mission Captures Mars During Gravity Assist Approach
by Rafael Alanis on 08/05/2026Description This colorized image of Mars was captured by NASA’s Psyche mission on May 3, 2026, about 3 million miles (4.8 million kilometers) from the planet. The spacecraft is approaching the planet for a gravity assist on May 15 that will give it a boost in speed and adjust its trajectory […]
- NASA Sends Mars Helicopter Blades Beyond Mach 1
by Rafael Alanis on 07/05/2026Description Engineer Fernando Mier-Hicks inspects a test stand used to investigate the performance of next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blades at high speeds inside the 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in November 2025. Data from the tests […]
- NASA’s Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotors Are Moving Fast
by Rafael Alanis on 07/05/2026Description Engineer Jaakko Karras inspects a next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blade prior to supersonic speed testing in the 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in November 2025. The three-bladed rotor hanging horizontally in the foreground is […]
- NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Surveys ‘Crocodile Bridge’
by Rafael Alanis on 05/05/2026Description NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera system to capture this 360-degree panorama of a region nicknamed “Crocodile Bridge” on Jezero Crater’s rim. The panorama is made up of 980 images, 971 of which were taken on Dec. 18, 2025, the 1,717th Martian day, or sol, […]
- NASA’s Curiosity Rover Frees Its Drill From a Rock
by Rafael Alanis on 05/05/2026Description This series of images shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover as it got a rock stuck to the drill on the end of its robotic arm and, after waving the arm and running the drill a few times, finally detached the rock. The imagery showing the entire process was captured by the black-and-white […]
- NASA’S Juno Misson Captures Jupiter Moon Thebe
by Rafael Alanis on 05/05/2026Description NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of Thebe, the second largest of Jupiter’s inner moons, during a close pass on May 1, 2026. The spacecraft’s Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) captured this image from a distance of approximately 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) at a resolution of […]
- Odyssey Team Celebrates on a Global Map of Mars
by Rafael Alanis on 30/04/2026Description Team members past and present from NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter mission gathered on April 15, 2026, to celebrate 25 years since the spacecraft’s launch, which took place April 7, 2001. For the occasion, the team rolled out a giant global map of Mars created using imagery from […]
- US-Indian Spacecraft Captures Mexico City Subsidence
by Rafael Alanis on 29/04/2026Description A scientist produced this map of land subsidence (sinking) in Mexico City using data from the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission captured between Oct. 25, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2026. The region has been a well-known hot spot of subsidence for decades, and images like this […]
- Curiosity Captures a 360-Degree View at ‘Nevado Sajama’
by Rafael Alanis on 28/04/2026Description NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this 360-degree view of a region filled with low ridges called boxwork formations between Nov. 9 and Dec. 7, 2025 (the 4,714th to 4,741st Martian days, or sols, of the mission). At 1.5 billion pixels, this is one of the largest panoramas Curiosity […]
- Six Years of Curiosity’s Wheels on the Move
by Rafael Alanis on 28/04/2026Description NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its right navigation camera — one of two on the rover’s mast, or head — to capture the images in this timelapse, which spans six years of driving. The images were snapped between Jan. 2, 2020, and March 8, 2026 (the 2,633rd and 4,830th Martian […]
- Pluto-Like World's Thin Atmosphere Poses a Mystery for Astronomers
by Alan Boyle (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/cosmiclog) on 09/05/2026Astronomers are puzzling over another oddball on the edge of the solar system: This time, it's an icy object less than a quarter of Pluto's size with a thin atmosphere – a layer of gas that's not typically found around objects so small.
- Pentagon Releases UFO Files That Go Back to the Apollo Moon Missions
by Alan Boyle (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/cosmiclog) on 08/05/2026The Department of Defense has released a fresh batch of images and transcripts relating to reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, formerly known as UFOs, including pictures and descriptions from NASA's Apollo missions to the moon.
- Black Holes Don't Live Forever, But They Might Live Long Enough To Look Like White Holes
by Brian Koberlein (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/brian) on 08/05/2026Black holes evaporate through Hawking radiation, meaning their days are numbered. But a new study finds they could enter a metastable stage where they look similar to white holes.
- The Material Science Behind A Spacecraft's Impact Armor
by Andy Tomaswick (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/andy-tomaswick) on 08/05/2026Aerospace engineers have to consider numerous factors when designing a spacecraft, but one that comes up more and more often is the need to design against Micro-Meteoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD). While most designers understand the threat, designing structural solutions capable of withstanding […]
- “Simplified Proteins” Reveal the Biochemical Dawn of Early Earth
by Andy Tomaswick (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/andy-tomaswick) on 08/05/2026When researchers look up at the sky and wonder if we’re not alone, they also realize the origins of life here on Earth might hold the key to finding out. The chaotic chemical soup of our early world eventually led to the staggering complexity of modern life, but how exactly did it start? Proteins […]
- A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part I: "Where is Everybody?"
by Matthew Williams (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/houseofwilliams) on 07/05/2026The history of SETI is long and varied, with countless contributions made by some of the most brilliant minds humanity has ever produced. In this series, we will look into the milestones and principles that have led the field to where it is today.
- The Asteroid Hunter
by Mark Thompson (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/mark) on 07/05/2026Somewhere out there, hurtling through space in the darkness, is an asteroid with our name on it. We just don't know which one yet. NASA's answer to that uncomfortable truth is NEO Surveyor, a purpose built infrared space telescope currently taking shape in laboratories across America, and scheduled […]
- How Massive Star Clusters Shape Galaxy Evolution
by Evan Gough (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/ion23drive) on 07/05/2026A team of researchers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope together with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe almost 9,000 star clusters in four nearby galaxies. They studied younger clusters that were still embedded in their natal gas clouds, and older ones that had […]
- Ringing the GONG: New Details About the Sun's Far-side Activities
by Carolyn Collins Petersen (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/cc-petersen) on 07/05/2026For years, when something happened on the far side of the Sun, we didn't know much, if anything about it. Sunspots could form there, flares could lash out and the corona could send masses of material out to space. However, we didn't know about any of this until those active regions rotated around […]
- Astronomers Witness the Awesome Power of a Black Hole's "Dancing Jets"
by Matthew Williams (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/houseofwilliams) on 06/05/2026New Curtin University-led research has used a radio telescope that spans the Earth to snap images that measure the immense power of jets from black holes, confirming scientists’ theories of how black holes help shape the structure of the Universe.
- Rescue mission for NASA’s $500 million space telescope passes key testing milestone
by Will Robinson-Smith on 08/05/2026Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft is set to head to orbit in June 2026 onboard Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL air-launched rocket. NASA awarded Katalyst a $30 million contract for the mission in September 2025.
- Rocket Lab announces five-launch Neutron deal as it continues aiming for late 2026 debut
by Will Robinson-Smith on 07/05/2026The company pivoted to a Neutron rocket launch debut no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2026 following a first stage tank test failure earlier this year. The first flight of Neutron won’t be reusable, but aims to recover the first stage during its second flight with a landing barge.
- SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
by Will Robinson-Smith on 05/05/2026The Starlink 17-29 mission was the 44th dedicated flight supporting the broadband internet constellation so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 8:59:19 p.m. PDT (11:59:19 p.m. EDT / 0359:19 UTC).
- Lockheed Martin joins collaboration with Firefly Aerospace and Seagate for off-shore launches
by Will Robinson-Smith on 04/05/2026The announcement comes ahead of Firefly Aerospace’s first quarter earnings call for investors. A timeline for the first ocean-based Alpha rocket launches wasn't announced.
- SpaceX launches South Korean Earth observation satellite, plus 44 more payloads on midnight Falcon 9 rideshare mission
by Will Robinson-Smith on 02/05/2026The CAS500-2 mission lifted off from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12 a.m. PDT (3 a.m. EDT / 0700 UTC). The Korea Aerospace Industries’ Compact Advanced Satellite 500 (CAS500) satellite was the first to deploy about an hour after liftoff.
- SpaceX marks May Day, National Space Day with Starlink mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
by Will Robinson-Smith on 01/05/2026The Starlink 10-38 mission saw SpaceX deploy 29 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 2:06:10 p.m. EDT (1806:10 UTC).
- SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
by Will Robinson-Smith on 29/04/2026The Starlink 17-36 mission was SpaceX’s 51st Falcon 9 launch of 2026. Liftoff from pad 4E happened at 7:42:49 pm PDT (10:42:49 pm EDT / 0242:49 UTC).
- SpaceX launches 6-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite on Falcon Heavy rocket
by Will Robinson-Smith on 29/04/2026The mission was the 12th launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket to date. The rocket lifted off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC) on Wednesday, April 29.
- Launch preview: SpaceX seeks second attempt at Falcon Heavy launch following weather scrub on Monday
by Will Robinson-Smith on 28/04/2026The mission will send the ViaSat-3 F3 satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC), at the opening of an 85-minute window.
- ULA launches 29 Amazon Leo satellites on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral
by Will Robinson-Smith on 27/04/2026The mission, dubbed Amazon Leo 6 by United Launch Alliance and Leo Atlas 6 (LA-06) by Amazon Leo, is the 10th batch of production satellites launched to orbit. Liftoff from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 8:53:30 p.m. EDT (0053:30 UTC).