On December 25, 2004, the Huygens probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft and landed on Titan’s sandy surface. The probe survived for 72 hours on Saturn’s largest moon, revealing a world that is chemically complex and more Earth-like than expected. For years, scientists have been intrigued by Titan as an alien world that might have […]
Boeing’s Starliner Won’t Get to Fly This Year, but the Wonky Spacecraft Is Far From Dead
It’s been more than a year since Starliner’s failed test flight left a crew stranded in space, and Boeing’s spacecraft still isn’t ready to fly. In a recent update, NASA officials said they are working toward launching a mission aboard Starliner in 2026, and there probably won’t be any astronauts involved. During a press briefing […]
Iconic NASA Probe That Visited Pluto Could Go Dark Thanks to Trump Cuts
On July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, revealing unprecedented close-up views of the complex icy world. The iconic mission is still returning data from the far reaches of the solar system, but a lack of funding now threatens to end the mission prematurely. As NASA celebrates the 10th anniversary of the […]
As Trump Scrubs Climate Reports, NASA Breaks Its Promise to Save Them
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has launched a major effort to limit public access to information about climate change. After the president canned the official government site that hosted the national climate assessments earlier this month, NASA has broken its promise to publish them on its own site. On Monday, July 14, […]
Uranus Leaks More Heat Than We Thought
When Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, the spacecraft detected a surprisingly low level of internal heat from the planet. Since then, scientists believed Uranus to be the odd one out in our solar system’s family of giant planets—the others being Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune—who all tend to emit more heat than they absorb […]
A Solar System Internet? Space Laser Test Moves Us Closer
Scientists at the European Space Agency used a laser to communicate with a spacecraft 165 million miles (265 million kilometers) away in deep space for the first time, marking a major step forward in their efforts to build optical communication systems for future missions to the Moon and beyond. Scientists at the Kryoneri Observatory near […]
Deflecting a Killer Asteroid Is More Complicated Than NASA Thought
In 2022, NASA rammed a spacecraft into an asteroid to see if it could alter its orbital period around its parent asteroid. The mission, dubbed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), aimed to determine whether humanity could theoretically save itself from a catastrophic asteroid impact. DART collided with Dimorphos, a small moonlet orbiting a larger […]
Of Course Trump Picked Sean Duffy as Interim Head of NASA
President Donald Trump tapped Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to serve as the interim administrator of NASA on Wednesday, July 9. The role has been vacant since Trump withdrew his initial nominee, billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, at the end of May. This decision came as a surprise to many. Duffy has no aerospace background and […]
Rocket Engines That Flew 22 Space Shuttle Missions Are Ready for NASA’s Next Moon Mission
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is ready to fly with its four shuttle-era engines. The rocket, outfitted with the RS-25 engines, recently passed a critical milestone that put the integrated system to the test, using a decades-old design on a new launch vehicle. NASA teams successfully completed the RS-25 engine checkout tests at the Kennedy […]
Rubin Observatory’s Stunning Result Proves It’s a ‘Game Changer’ for Spotting Dangerous Asteroids
Astronomers usually keep their eyes on the sky, but on Monday, June 23, the community turned its attention toward Washington, D.C., as scientists from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory unveiled the telescope’s first images. Many have waited more than 20 years to see Rubin in action, and its initial findings did not disappoint. Rubin, a […]