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Space News

This illustration shows the SWOT spacecraft with its antenna mast and solar arrays fully deployed.

See NASA’s newest Earth-monitoring satellite unfurl in space

This month, NASA launched a new satellite which has now unfurled in space ready to begin science operations, with a video showing the unfolding process.

Observe a comet, and other skywatching tips for January

NASA's skywatching tips for January feature some real crackers, including a parade of planets, a winter dazzle of stars, and a recently discovered comet.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on May 30, for the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon capsule. flight

SpaceX smashes its own record for rocket launches in a year

The commercial spaceflight company led by Elon Musk increased its rocket launch frequency significantly over the last 12 months.
Russia's Soyuz spacecraft leaking coolant at the space station.

NASA could use SpaceX ship to rescue 3 crewmembers stuck on ISS

NASA is speaking to SpaceX about using a Crew Dragon spacecraft to bring home three space station astronauts who currently have no ride back to Earth.
NASA astronaut Kayla Barron checks plants growing inside the space station's Veggie facility.

Enjoy NASA’s ‘best images’ of science on space station in 2022

NASA has shared its favorite images of science research taking place aboard the International Space Station over the past year.
Falcon 9 launches SXM-8 to orbit on SpaceX’s 125th successful mission, Sunday, Jun 6 2021.

Watch highlights of SpaceX’s 60th rocket launch of 2022

SpaceX launched its 60th mission of the year on Wednesday, deploying another 54 Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit.
The space station and Earth.

Space station crew to celebrate New Year, but at what time?

The astronauts aboard the space station are getting ready to see in 2023, but how do they know what time to shout Happy New Year!?
NASA's Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon.

These missions are heading to the moon in 2023

NASA's recent Artemis I mission has put the spotlight back on lunar exploration, so let's take a look at the moon missions set for 2023.
As Earthrise as seen from the Orion spacecraft in 2022.

NASA shares Orion moon video on anniversary of iconic Earthrise image

Fifty-four years after Apollo 8 captured the iconic Earthrise image, NASA has shared some amazing footage from the Orion's recent lunar mission.
This festive NASA Hubble Space Telescope image resembles a holiday wreath made of sparkling lights. The bright southern hemisphere star RS Puppis, at the center of the image, is swaddled in a gossamer cocoon of reflective dust illuminated by the glittering star. The super star is ten times more massive than our Sun and 200 times larger.

Listen to the festive sounds of space with new NASA sonification

NASA has released a new festive sonification based on an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope showing the enormous star RS Puppis.
The HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured these images of sand dunes covered by frost just after winter solstice. The frost here is a mixture of carbon dioxide (dry) ice and water ice and will disappear in a few months when spring arrives.

See the otherworldly sights of Mars in the wintertime

While the northern hemisphere of Earth experiences the winter solstice this week, there are also snowy winter scenes to be found on Mars.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the space station.

NASA and Roscosmos still investigating cause of space station leak

Space agencies are investigating the cause of a leak on the space station and are working on a plan to safely return three crew members to Earth.
This image is dominated by NGC 7469, a luminous, face-on spiral galaxy approximately 90 000 light-years in diameter that lies roughly 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Its companion galaxy IC 5283 is partly visible in the lower left portion of this image.

James Webb image shows the bright glowing heart of a galaxy

Astronomers recently shared a stunning new image of space from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing a galaxy with an unusually bright heart.
Google Nest Doorbell (battery) camera lens.

Doorbell camera captures much more than just a house visitor

While most Alaskans slept early on Wednesday, a number of doorbell cameras captured a natural phenomenon that would otherwise have gone largely unnoticed.
A spacewalk at the ISS in December 2022.

NASA shares video clips from Thursday’s successful spacewalk

NASA has shared several video clips of a successful spacewalk that took place at the International Space Station on Thursday.
The first Mars rock sample left at a collection site by NASA's Perseverance rover.

NASA’s Mars rover makes ‘one small drop for humankind’

A special operation performed this week by the Perseverance rover takes NASA another step closer to bringing the first Mars rock samples to Earth.
This illustration shows NASA's InSight spacecraft with its instruments deployed on the Martian surface.

NASA declares Mars InSight lander mission officially over

Just over four years after reaching the martian surface, NASA has officially announced the end of its InSight lander mission.
A view from NASA's InSight lander showing its wind and thermal shield covering some of its science instruments.

Final messages from NASA’s Mars lander will bring a tear to your eye

After four years of service, and with its power almost entirely gone, NASA's InSight lander has sent its final image from Mars.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket on the launchpad.

Rocket Lab pushes its first U.S. rocket launch to 2023

Rocket Lab’s debut mission from U.S. soil has been pushed to next year after strong winds forced the team to call off another launch attempt.
Expedition 65 flight engineer and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, pictured during a spacewalk to perform work on the Pirs docking compartment.

How to watch two U.S. astronauts on a spacewalk on Thursday

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio are gearing up for their third spacewalk at the International Space Station. Here's how to watch it.
A portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 appears as a roiling wall of smoke studded with stars in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 6530 is a collection of several thousand stars lying around 4,350 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.

See a close-up of the stunning Lagoon Nebula in new Hubble image

Hubble has imaged a cluster of thousands of stars shrouded in dust, which makes up a small part of the huge and beautiful Lagoon Nebula.
A swath of sky measuring 2% of the area covered by the full moon was imaged with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) in eight filters, and with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in three filters that together span the 0.25 to 5 micron wavelength range. This image represents a portion of the full PEARLS field, which will be about four times larger.

James Webb survey image shows a field of shining galaxies

Researchers from a Webb survey called PEARLS recently released their first results showing an area of the sky called the North Ecliptic Pole.
NASA’s Juno mission captured this infrared view of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io on July 5, 2022, when the spacecraft was about 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) away. This infrared image was derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard Juno. In this image, the brighter the color the higher the temperature recorded by JIRAM.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft to investigate Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io

Juno will begin an investigation of the intriguing volcanic moon Io, performing a series of nine flybys.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket on the launchpad.

How to watch Rocket Lab’s first U.S. launch today

In a major step forward for Rocket Lab, the 16-year-old spaceflight company is about to perform its first-ever launch from U.S. soil.
This sparkling new image depicts a small section of the Carina Nebula, one of the NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s most-imaged objects. The Carina Nebula, NGC 3372, is an enormous cloud of gas and dust home to several massive and bright stars, including at least a dozen that are 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun.

See Hubble’s take on the famous and beautiful Carina Nebula

The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a scene made famous by its sibling, the James Webb Space Telescope.
In this illustration super-Earth Kepler-138 d is in the foreground. To the left, the planet Kepler-138 c, and in the background the planet Kepler 138 b, seen in silhouette transiting its central star. Kepler 138 is a red dwarf star located 218 light-years away. The low density of Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d — which are nearly identical in size — means that they must be composed largely of water.

Hubble and Spitzer spot two far-off watery worlds

Hubble and Spitzer have identified two planets which seem to be water worlds, with oceans which are 500 times deeper than those on Earth.
nasa swot launch

NASA launches fresh water observation satellite

NASA has launched its first mission to survey fresh water systems from a global perspective.
The location where NASA’s Perseverance will begin depositing its first cache of samples is shown in this image taken by the Mars rover on Dec. 14, 2022, the 646th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

The Perseverance rover is building a sample cache on Mars

Perseverance will soon begin stashing Martian sample tubes in a depot which will eventually hold 10 tubes deposited over around one month.
The Soyuz MS-22 crew ship is pictured docked to the Rassvet module. In the background, the Prichal docking module is attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Coolant leak in Soyuz docked to ISS is causing temperatures to rise

A leak in a Soyuz craft docked to the International Space Station is causing temperatures to rise but is not putting the crew in danger, according to Roscosmos.
SpaceX testing an engine on its Starship spacecraft.

Watch this incredible video of a SpaceX rocket test

SpaceX has offered its most dramatic view yet of a space vehicle's engine test, placing a camera directly above the blast.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the space station.

Video: ISS spacecraft experiences significant leak

Russia's space agency is continuing to investigate a leak of what seems to be coolant from its Soyuz spacecraft, which is currently docked at the ISS.
The Pillars of Creation, imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope

Watch NASA’s video celebrating 2022’s amazing achievements

Check out NASA's video featuring its top moments from the last 12 months, accompanied by a rousing speech by Bill Nelson, the space agency's chief.
SpaceX's Starbase facility as seen from the ISS.

ISS astronaut spots SpaceX’s Starbase facility from space

An astronaut has shared a photo from the ISS showing SpaceX’s Starbase rocket facility in Texas, from where it’ll launch the most powerful rocket ever to fly.
NASA's Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon.

Watch 25-day Orion mission squeezed into just 60 seconds

The European Space Agency has just shared a cinematic video showing the recently completed Artemis I mission in a mere 60 seconds.