Ground systems could delay Artemis 2 launch
MILAN — Refurbishment of ground systems like a mobile launch platform could become another factor in the schedule for the Artemis 2 mission that NASA says is still planned for launch next September.
Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Europa Clipper mission
The Falcon Heavy lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. Eastern. After the second of two burns by the upper stage that placed it on an Earth-escape trajectory, the Europa Clipper spacecraft separated from the stage a little more than an hour after liftoff. The spacecraft made contact with ground controllers minutes later, returning telemetry showing it was in good condition.
Japan’s H3 to launch Emirati asteroid mission
WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates will launch a mission to visit several asteroids later this decade on a Japanese H3 rocket.
SpaceX launches fifth Starship, catches Super Heavy booster
The Starship/Super Heavy vehicle lifted off from the company’s Starbase site at Boca Chica, Texas, at 8:25 a.m. Eastern on a mission called Flight 5 by SpaceX.
Europe lifts off from its launcher crisis
On the afternoon of July 9, an Ariane 6 lifted off on a long-delayed inaugural flight from French Guiana. The successful (or, more accurately, mostly successful) launch placed several smallsats into low Earth orbit, but the real payload was European confidence in its launch industry.
Smallsats offer lessons for big science missions
SAN FRANCISCO – As a group, NASA’s low-cost science missions have improved significantly.
China to launch new quantum communications satellites in 2025
HELSINKI — China will launch new quantum satellites into low Earth orbit next year, according to a scientist leading the project.
Dwarf planet Ceres once had a muddy ocean, study suggests
The outer crust of the dwarf planet Ceres, which at 588 miles (946 kilometers) across is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is likely made from a dirty frozen ocean, according to new computer models.
SpaceX rocket launches Europe’s Hera planetary defense probe to visit asteroid smacked by NASA
The European Space Agency’s Hera mission launched today (Oct. 7) at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT), riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in coastal Florida.
James Webb Space Telescope finds ‘puffball’ exoplanet is uniquely lopsided
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered that a “puffy” planet is asymmetric, meaning there is a significant difference between one side of the atmosphere and the other.
Could Earth’s ‘evil twin’ Venus carry a dire warning about climate change?
There is very little doubt that Earth is getting warmer, and that this warming is a result of human-driven gases in the atmosphere that store heat and redirect it toward our planet’s surface. And Earth isn’t the only planet to have experienced this so-called “greenhouse effect.”
SpaceX, NASA stand down from Oct. 10 Europa Clipper launch due to Hurricane Milton
The $5 billion Europa Clipper mission had been scheduled to launch on Thursday (Oct. 10) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. But Hurricane Milton has nixed that plan.
How black-hole-powered quasars killed off neighboring galaxies in the early universe
Astronomers have used the wide-field view of the Dark Energy Camera to confirm that supermassive-black-hole-powered quasars in the early universe were packed into dense neighborhoods. However, it seems these cosmic beasts weren’t exactly the best neighbors.
‘We are close:’ SETI astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol on the search for life
A leading astrobiologist melds her passion with the weighty nature of trying to grasp for answers to two key questions: Are we alone in the universe? How did life on Earth begin in the first place?