Astronomy (Page 13)

Latest in Astronomy

Instead of taking extra years to develop and test a new rocket, China's space program may modify existing, flight-tested rockets for a crewed Moon mission.

Chinese Official Says Rocket For Human Moon Landing Already Built

By Dan Robitzski

China's National Space Science Center (CNNSC) has shown off a prototype for a "Mars cruise drone" that looks extremely familiar.

China Appears to Be Working on a Clone of NASA’s Mars Helicopter

By Victor Tangermann

To celebrate 100 days on Mars, China's national space agency released a number of photos showing the path its Mars rover took.

China Releases Beautiful New Photos from the Surface of Mars

By Victor Tangermann

NASA's SLS rocket and Orion are still undergoing tests that were supposed to finish earlier this Summer. Now the agency is blaming the pandemic.

NASA Source: No Way Artemis Moon Mission Is Launching This Year

By Dan Robitzski

After NASA's Mars rover Perseverance messed up trying to collect rock samples, the agency is trying again somewhere else.

NASA Has a New Plan After Mars Rover Fumbles Rock Collection

By Dan Robitzski

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has confirmed that Blue Origin's lawsuit against the agency will result in "further delay" for NASA's return to the Moon.

NASA Head Confirms Blue Origin Lawsuit Will Delay Moon Program

By Victor Tangermann

Watch the Rare “Triple Transit” From Jupiter’s Moons

Watch the Rare “Triple Transit” From Jupiter’s Moons

By Tony Ho Tran

The Zhurong rover has officially finished its 90-sol mission to explore Utopia Planitia on the martian surface — but it's going to keep working.

China Declares “Mission Complete” for Mars Rover Zhurong

By Tony Ho Tran

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has peered into the sky for an epic time lapse — and caught the Red Planet's tiny moon Deimos.

NASA Rover’s New, Gorgeous Time Lapse Spots Tiny Martian Moon

By Victor Tangermann

SpaceX just got its first round of funds from NASA to develop a lunar lander capable of sending the first astronauts to the surface of the Moon.

SpaceX Gets Huge Check From NASA for Moon Mission

By Victor Tangermann

SpaceX founder Elon Musk hinted that Starship will likely be ready to land astronauts on the Moon before the projected 2024 launch date.

Elon Musk Says SpaceX Will “Probably” Land Humans on Moon Before 2024

By Tony Ho Tran

Elon Musk boasted about Starship's reusability via tweet, saying that it’ll help drive more cost-effective missions to the Moon and Mars.

Elon Musk: Each Starship Could Travel to Mars a Dozen Times

By Tony Ho Tran

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has embarked on its 11th flight on the Red Planet's surface, flying to record heights, reaching altitues of almost 40 feet.

NASA Mars Helicopter Flies Super High, Spots Rover Way Down on Ground

By Victor Tangermann

After Perseverance tried and failed to collect rock samples on Mars, NASA insists that the blame lies squarely on the rocks' shoulders.

After Mars Rover Fails to Collect Rock, NASA Blames Rock

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists suspect that there could be past or present microbial life beneath the surface of Mars that survives thanks to radioactivity.

NASA Scientists Suggest Nuclear-Powered Life Under Mars Surface

By Dan Robitzski

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, it will take about eight Starship and Super Heavy booster launches to fill up one lunar variant for a trip to the Moon.

Elon Musk Says It Could Take Eight Starship Launches to Fuel Up a Single Moon Trip

By Victor Tangermann

Juno has created a gorgeous infrared map of Jupiter's moon Ganymede during a flyby last month, including the first-ever glimpse of its north polar region.

NASA’s Juno Probe Creates Stunning Map of Jupiter’s Largest Moon

By Victor Tangermann

An international team of scientists argue that once upon a time, the Gale crater on Mars was a mere series of ponds, according to Curiosity data.

Scientists Say NASA’s Mars Rover Is on the Site of Ancient Ponds, Not a Huge Lake

By Victor Tangermann

NASA’s Perseverance rover failed to collect its first ever rock samples from Mars to send back to Earth on Friday. Researchers believe the rock's to blame.

Mars Rover Tries to Collect Rock to Send Back to Earth, Fails Miserably

By Tony Ho Tran

The Moon naturally churns rocks from deep within its mantle back to the surface, and NASA wants to grab some for analysis.

NASA Scientists Want to Obtain “Fragments” From Deep Inside Moon

By Dan Robitzski

Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has put together a workgroup called "The Galileo Project" to investigate evidence of alien civilizations.

New Harvard Project Will Investigate Alien Technology

By Victor Tangermann

Using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, scientists found the first ever evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede.

NASA’s Hubble Finds Evidence of Water Vapor on One of Jupiter’s Moons

By Victor Tangermann

A Tesla's Autopilot system got confused as it cruised down the highway and mistook the Moon for an endless string of yellow traffic lights.

Tesla Autopilot Mistakes Moon for Yellow Traffic Light

By Dan Robitzski

A wobble in the Moon's orbit, coupled with rising sea levels, is about to make coastal flooding a whole lot worse for coastal cities.

NASA Says a Change in the Moon’s Orbit Will Make Flooding on Earth Worse

By Dan Robitzski

Amateur astronomer Kai Ly pored over years of data to find and confirm a previously-undiscovered moon that's orbiting around Jupiter.

Jupiter Officially Has Yet Another Moon

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover has made its next big discovery: a patch of rock that "is probably exposed bedrock," according to an update.

NASA Mars Rover Found Bedrock That Looks Like Flagstones

By Victor Tangermann

NASA's groundbreaking Mars Helicopter has sent back some stunning color pictures it took on July 5 while flying over the Red Planet's rocky landscape.

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Sends Back Stunning Color Photos

By Victor Tangermann

NASA engineers are already dreaming up bigger and better ideas for Mars helicopters based on the surprising success of Ingenuity.

NASA Is Already Working on a Bigger, Better Mars Helicopter

By Dan Robitzski

A subsidiary of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency is proposing to send a nuclear power station to Mars to power a future Russian base.

Russia Proposes Nuclear Power Plant on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

Clay samples from Mars suggest that the Red Planet once experienced a long-lasting era of temperate, habitable conditions.

Clay Dug Up by NASA Mars Rover Makes It Seem Like Red Planet Could’ve Supported Life

By Dan Robitzski

Cassini's observations that found Enceladus is expelling plumes of methane gas suggests the moon's oceans may be habitable to Earthlike microorganisms.

Scientists Intrigued by Possible Signs of Life on Saturn’s Moon

By Victor Tangermann

A probe sent by the United Arab Emirates to study the Martian atmosphere has caught beautiful and fleeting auroras on camera.

Amazing New Images Show Auroras on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover is making another pit stop on its exciting journey to probe the surrounding Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life.

NASA’s Mars Rover Just Reached a New Area and It’s Beautiful

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists have uncovered dozens more subterranean lakes near Mars' south pole, but some of their locations defy explanation.

NASA Research Identifies Dozens of Underground Lakes on Mars

By Dan Robitzski

The Chinese rover Zhurong sent footage of its descent along with a video of its drive off of the Tianwen-1 landing platform on Sunday.

Chinese Rover Sends Video, Audio Back From Mars

By Tony Ho Tran

A new report by the Air Force Research Laboratory suggests that the Space Force should prepare to treat the Moon and cislunar space as a military domain.

Military Report Says Space Force Must Prepare for Moon Warfare

By Dan Robitzski

China's state-owned Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology has announced some ambitious plans to establish a permanent crewed base on the surface of Mars.

China Releases Plans for Permanent Mars Base

By Victor Tangermann

An ambitious mission to map out the entire global ocean floor is only 20 percent complete after a year of pandemic-related slowdowns.

We’re Planning Moon Missions But We’ve Only Mapped 20 Percent of the Ocean Floor

By Dan Robitzski

NASA engineers have finished assembling the Space Launch System that will take astronauts back to the Moon. The rocket is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

NASA Has Assembled a Megarocket to Take Humans to the Moon

By Tony Ho Tran

This afternoon, the New York Times published an article making a surprising claim about exobiology: that watermelons had been discovered on Mars.

New York Times Publishes Then Deletes Article Claiming Watermelons Were Found on Mars

By Jon Christian

After spending over two and a half years on the surface of Mars, NASA's Insight Mars Lander is looking a little worse for wear.

NASA’s Mars Lander Is Dying

By Victor Tangermann

China's space program is finally preparing to loan out its newly-retrieved lunar samples to scientists for their research.

China Is Now Letting Scientists Study the Rocks It Took From the Moon Last Year

By Dan Robitzski

Engineers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the Max Planck Institute in Germany built a small quadrupedal robot meant to tackle the steep hills of Mars.

Scientists Built a Walking Mars Rover That Can Climb Steep Hills

By Victor Tangermann

Help Name NASA’s Moon-Bound Manikin

Help Name NASA’s Moon-Bound Manikin

By Dan Robitzski

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is well aware of a potentially fatal flaw in the company's plan to use a Moon base as a refueling station.

NASA Is Planning to Land on Far Side of the Moon for the First Time

By Tony Ho Tran

In the new photos from China's Mars lander, there's an interesting detail with profound implications for the future of Mars exploration: a huge hole.

Check Out This Huge Hole That China’s Mars Rover Blasted Into the Ground While Landing

By Jon Christian

China released a series of new photos of the surface of Mars from its Zhurong rover this morning -- and took a victory lap in state media.

China Releases New Photos From the Surface of Mars

By Jon Christian

Congressman Louie Gohmert suggested in a bad-faith argument against climate change legislation, that the government should try to adjust the Moon's orbit.

Congressman Asks If Changing the Moon’s Orbit Could Fight Climate Change

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter nailed its seventh flight without facing any of the glitches that forced an emergency landing during its previous journey.

After Past Glitches, Mars Helicopter Nails Flight Number Seven

By Dan Robitzski

NASA' Juno spacecraft took two stunning images of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede during a June 7 flyby.

NASA Spacecraft Takes Gorgeous Pictures of Jupiter’s Largest Moon

By Victor Tangermann

NASA finally managed to shake some of the dust off of the InSight lander's solar panels, buying it at least a few more months of life.

NASA Saves Dying Mars Lander With Ingenious Hack

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has taken a series of photographs of gorgeous multicolored clouds, shimmering in the evening Sun on Mars.

Mars Rover Snaps Photo of Shimmering Multicolored Clouds

By Victor Tangermann

NASA's recent discovery of what seems to be organic salts on Mars suggests the planet may have hosted life in the ancient past.

Why NASA Scientists Are So Excited by New Hints of Organic Compounds on Mars

By Dan Robitzski

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has announced it is sending a tiny transforming rover to the Moon some time next year to collect data on lunar dust.

Japan Is Sending a Robot to the Moon and It’s a Transformer

By Victor Tangermann

During its sixth flight across the desolate Martian surface, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter experienced a bit of a software glitch.

Mars Helicopter Suffered Glitch During Flight, Forced Emergency Landing

By Victor Tangermann

NASA planetary scientist Ravi Kopparapu argues that rather what UFOs are, we should first find out how to find out what they are.

NASA Scientist: We Should Take UFOs as Seriously as Mars Research

By Victor Tangermann

Lockheed Martin and General Motors are partnering to build a car meant to allow astronauts to travel across the surface of the Moon.

General Motors Is Working on a Self-Driving Electric Car for Moon Astronauts

By Victor Tangermann

The Canadian Space Agency wants to send its own rover to the surface of the Moon with the help of NASA within the next five years.

Canada Wants to Land Its Own Rover on the Moon by 2026

By Victor Tangermann

Homeowners in Bend, Oregon, made a fascinating discovery lurking below their house: a massive lava tube, big enough to stand in.

Couple Buys House, Discovers Huge, Mars-Like Lava Cave Underneath

By Victor Tangermann

NASA scientists may have found organic salts — remnants of older organic compounds that could have sustained life — on Mars, but they can't yet be certain.

NASA Rover Finds Likely Remnants of Organic Compounds on Mars

By Dan Robitzski

NASA is preparing to begin final tests and maneuvers before its Perseverance Mars rover starts to gather and examine more samples for signs of ancient life.

NASA’s New Mars Rover Is Preparing to Gather Samples That May Reveal Ancient Life

By Dan Robitzski

During its sixth flight, NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter will be examining nearby rock features before touching down on a different airfield.

The Mars Helicopter Has Survived Longer Than NASA Planned

By Victor Tangermann

China has shared the first pictures taken by its Zhurong Mars rover after touching down on the Red Planet's surface over the weekend.

Chinese Rover Sends Back First Photos From Surface of Mars

By Victor Tangermann

A team of researchers believes it has found ample evidence of a variety of fungus-like creatures on Mars by looking at NASA rover and orbiter images.

Extremely Dubious Research Claims to Spot Fungus Growing on Mars

By Victor Tangermann