Nearly three months after surviving its launch to space and a tumultuous trial at sea, the first Starship spacecraft to survive its ocean splashdown has returned to Starbase. SpaceX shared new photos and video of Ship 40, the Starship upper stage that launched on the developing vehicle’s 13th flight test, as it completed the final stretch of its journey back to the company’s South Texas facility. Now, the towering spacecraft is upright inside Starbase’s Megabay hangar alongside a trio of its successor spacecraft, themselves bound for space, but not before…
Read MoreFour years ago, NASA punched an asteroid. Europe’s Hera probe arrives this month to inspect the wreckage
NASA’s DART mission made a cosmic mess four years ago — and now a new spacecraft is ready to scout out exactly what the first-of-its-kind collision accomplished. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft slammed into a small space rock called Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, in humanity’s first test of planetary defense. That’s the field dedicated to protecting Earth from the possibility of a calamitous asteroid impact, and DART mimicked how humans could change the orbit of a threatening space rock, taking it off its collision course. The mission…
Read MoreScientists discover that some of the universe’s biggest explosions may have never happened at all
Now you see them, now you don’t. Scientists have discovered that some of the universe’s most powerful explosions, hypernovas, may not happen at all. These explosions, known as hypernovas, were first proposed to explain unusual stars in the halo of our galaxy, the Milky Way, and in a neighboring dwarf galaxy. It was suggested that these stars could only form from the debris of an explosion 10 times more powerful than the ‘average’ supernovas. The team behind these new findings suggests that ordinary supernovas could actually account for these stars…
Read MoreAPOD: 2026 October 14 – Mars and the Beehive Under an Aurora
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 14 – Mars… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Mars and the Beehive Under an Aurora Explanation: What a cosmic coincidence! In today’s image, Mars joins the Beehive cluster (M44 or Praesepe) below an auroral curtain and above a horizon of happy little trees near Lansjärv,…
Read MoreHurricane Simon Lurks Off the Mexican Coast
Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Hurricane Simon Lurks Off the… Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search Hurricane Simon churns off Mexico’s Pacific coast in this image acquired with the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite)…
Read MoreNASA Names Astronaut Christina Koch Acting Deputy Chief Engineer
NASA astronaut Christina Koch stands inside Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building on July 14, 2021, in front of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that ultimately powered the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission. Koch later served as a crew member on the Artemis II mission in 2026, and on Oct. 13, 2026, NASA announced she will serve next as the agency’s acting deputy chief engineer. NASA/Glenn Benson NASA engineer and astronaut Christina Koch will serve as the agency’s acting deputy chief engineer beginning on Sunday, Nov.…
Read MoreTransporter-18 SmallSats Encapsulation
Three NASA-supported small spacecraft, shown along with many commercial payloads, before being encapsulated in a SpaceX Falcon 9. The rocket launched the payloads into low-Earth orbit at 11:32 a.m. PDT Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as part of the company’s Transporter-18 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Read MoreNASA Science, Cargo Launch on 35th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launched on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of the company’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station for NASA. Credit: NASA NASA’s SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware, bound for the International…
Read MoreAPOD: 2026 October 13 – Desert Stairway to Heaven
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 13 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. OriginalAnnotated Desert Stairway to Heaven Explanation: This stairway in Chile brings you only a little bit closer to heaven. But ooh, the sky above it makes you wonder. For example, you may wonder about the dark lane of…
Read MoreAn Impact Structure With Legs
Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory An Impact Structure With Legs Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth Human Dimensions Natural Events Oceans Remote Sensing Technology Snow & Ice Water More Content Collections Global Maps World of Change Articles Earth Matters Blog Blue Marble: Next Generation EO Kids Mission: Biomes About About Us Subscribe 🛜 RSS Contact Us Search Editor’s Note: Today’s story is the answer to the October Puzzler. From above, the mere appearance of a…
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