China launches new batch of Yaogan reconnaissance satellites
A hypergolic Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 12:13 a.m. Eastern (0413 UTC) Sept. 17, rising into overcast skies above the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China.
Asteroid hit by NASA’s DART spacecraft is behaving unexpectedly, high school class discovers
The asteroid Dimorphos is behaving in unexpected ways after being hit with a NASA rocket last year, new data suggest.
World’s 1st mountaintop impact crater discovered in northeastern China
A nearly mile-wide (1.6 kilometer) divot in a Chinese mountaintop is actually an impact crater from a long-ago meteorite landing.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter breaks altitude record on 59th Mars flight
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter keeps pushing the boundaries of off-Earth flight.
Kayhan raises $7 million and offers autonomous traffic-coordination service
SAN FRANCISCO –Kayhan Space raised $7 million in an extension to the spaceflight safety startup’s seed round and unveiled an autonomous space-traffic coordination framework.
India to launch test of Gaganyaan crew capsule’s emergency escape system this year
After successful robotic missions to study the sun and the moon, India is making progress toward its delayed human spaceflight program, which now aims to send three astronauts to low Earth orbit (LEO) before the end of 2024.
Virgin Galactic to launch next space tourist mission on Oct. 5
There will be three space tourists aboard, one apiece from the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistan. Galactic 04 will therefore break new ground: Nobody from Pakistan has made it to the final frontier before, according to Virgin Galactic
SpaceX to offer mid-inclination smallsat rideshare launches
During a presentation at the 37th Annual Small Satellite Conference Aug. 9, Jarrod McLachlan, director of rideshare sales at SpaceX, said the company will start launching a series of missions dubbed “Bandwagon” that will complement its existing Transporter line of rideshare missions.
BAE Systems to acquire Ball Aerospace for $5.5 billion
WASHINGTON — BAE Systems, a defense and security conglomerate based in the United Kingdom, announced Aug. 17 it intends to acquire Ball Aerospace for $5.5 billion.
Hubble images a museum of galaxies, and some are gravitationally warped (photo)
No matter how often the Hubble Space Telescope provides us with mind-numbing views of our universe, the excitement of seeing a new one always feels fresh. Such is the case for an image released by NASA on August 18, 2023.
Odds of ‘strong’ El Niño now over 95%, with ocean temperatures to ‘substantially exceed’ last big warming event
This year’s El Niño may drive ocean temperatures to “substantially exceed” those recorded during the last strong event in early 2016, scientists have warned.
How many potentially dangerous asteroids narrowly miss Earth each year?
Asteroids are chunks of rock left over from the formation of our Solar System. Approximately half a billion asteroids with sizes greater than four metres in diameter orbit the Sun, travelling through our Solar System at speeds up to about 30 kilometres per second – about the same speed as Earth.
NASA flew a modified U-2 spy plane into thunderstorms to study super-energetic gamma-rays
An international group of researchers captured ‘the most detailed’ data on gamma-rays and thunderclouds ever.
Fountains of diamonds erupt from Earth’s center as supercontinents break up
Diamonds form deep in Earth’s crust, approximately 93 miles (150 kilometers) down. They are brought up to the surface very quickly in eruptions called kimberlites. These kimberlites travel at between 11 and 83 mph (18 to 133 km/h), and some eruptions may have created Mount Vesuvius-like explosions of gases and dust, said Thomas Gernon, a professor of Earth and climate science at the University of Southampton in England.