Space Exploration

A new analysis of data gathered by the CONSERT (Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio wave Transmission) instrument, a radar onboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft and its Philae lander, confirms that solar radiation has significantly modified the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it travels through space between the orbits of Jupiter …

  SpaceX’s Starship has taken flight once again, although it’s not heading into space quite yet. The latest Starship prototype has completed another 150-meter hop test, proving that its engine works correctly and setting the stage for a promised high-altitude test flight. The Starship started life as the Big Falcon …

  During the height of the space race in the 1960s, the US launched a series of satellites designed to study the planet. The six Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) spacecraft improved our understanding of Earth’s magnetic field, shutting down a few years later. However, one of those forlorn satellites known …

A ferric mineral called hematite (Fe2O3) is present at high latitudes on the Moon, mostly associated with east- and equator-facing sides of topographic highs, and is more prevalent on the lunar nearside than the farside, according to an analysis of data collected by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) onboard India’s …

  If you remember even basic elementary school geography, you know that Earth’s surface is mostly water. Scientists have disagreed about how all that water ended up on Earth. Was it all here when the planet formed, or was Earth a dry husk until asteroids and comets delivered water? A …

A team of astrobiologists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Carnegie Institution for Science has found a wide diversity of amino acids in Asuka 12236, a carbonaceous chondrite meteorite recovered from the Nansen Ice Field in Antarctica by Belgium and Japan researchers in 2012. This SEM image shows …

A type of meteorite called an enstatite chondrite has similar isotopic composition to terrestrial rocks and thus may be representative of the material that formed Earth. A new study published in the journal Science shows that these meteorites contain sufficient hydrogen to have delivered to Earth at least three times …

  Spotting exoplanets isn’t as simple as pointing a telescope at the sky and picking out the planet-shaped things. The worlds orbiting distant stars are too dim and tiny for that, but we can detect them with the help of planet-hunting satellites like TESS and the dearly departed Kepler. These …

  Our old friend FRB 121102 is back, and right on time. Earlier this year, astronomers identified a distinct 157-day cycle in the activity of FRB 121102, one of many so-called “fast radio bursts” emanating from deep space. The mysterious signal has switched back on, potentially confirming the previous findings …

  The Hubble Space Telescope has provided some amazing views of the universe. It’s easy to become complacent after seeing so many remarkable images, but Hubble can still wow us after 30 years. In a recent observation, the aging space telescope captured the expanding edge of a supernova blast wave. …