Category: Space Stations

Space stations in orbit or planned

Could Mars volcanoes have supported ancient life on the Red Planet? Well, maybe

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While most people searching for signs of alien life these days might have their eyes on the exoplanet K2-18b, one team of researchers is keeping their sights a little closer to home. Texas A&M researcher Michael Tice and a team of international scientists have revealed new clues about Mars’ potential to have supported life, thanks to data collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover. Since 2021, Perseverance has been exploring Mars’ Jezero Crater, using its mobile laboratory to support the work of scientists around the world. Tice and his team, in particular,…

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Bahamas puts SpaceX rocket landings on hold pending review: report

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Just months after SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 rocket in the Bahamas for the first time, the country has hit pause on future landings pending an environmental review, according to news wire reports. A top Bahamas government official announced on Tuesday (April 15) that the country was suspending future SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket landings until a “full environmental assessment” is complete, Reuters reported. “No further clearances will be granted until a full environmental assessment is reviewed,” Reuters quoted Bahamian Director of Communications Latrae Rahming as writing on the social media…

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Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong’s gold Omega moonwatch sells for record $2.2M at auction

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A new record has been set for the most paid at auction for an astronaut’s timepiece. The 18-karat gold Omega Speedmaster that was presented to Neil Armstrong four months after he became the first person to walk on the moon in 1969, sold for a hammer price of $1.7 million on Thursday (April 17). With the auction house’s fees included, the total price for the chronograph was $2,187,500 — $280,546.25 more than the previous record set in 2022 by a nearly-identical gold Speedmaster gifted to Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut…

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NASA developing 1st-ever space-based quantum sensor for gravity measurements

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Scientists are developing an advanced quantum sensor for low Earth orbit that can detect the tiniest tremors in Earth’s gravity. These barely perceptible shifts — caused by moving water, tectonic activity or shifting rock — offer clues about what lies beneath the planet’s surface. The new device could allow the mapping of underground features like aquifers and mineral deposits — crucial data for navigation, resource management and national security, its developers say. You may like “We could determine the mass of the Himalayas using atoms,” Jason Hyon, chief technologist for…

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Haircut on high: Getting a trim in space | Space picture of the day for April 17, 2025

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NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers gave Takuya Onishi, her JAXA crewmate, a haircut on board the International Space Station on April 13, 2025. (Image credit: JAXA/Takuya Onishi) What is it? A month into his second long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 73 commander Takuya Onishi received a haircut from his crewmate Nichole Ayers. Onishi shared this photo on social media, commenting on how this haircut by a NASA astronaut was different from his experience with a Russian cosmonaut during his first stay on the station in 2016. “A different…

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Science Meets Art: NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Turns the Camera on Science

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4 Min Read Science Meets Art: NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Turns the Camera on Science NASA astronaut Don Pettit is scheduled to return home in mid-April after a seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72. Throughout his stay, Pettit contributed to research that benefits humanity and future space missions. Pettit also shared what he calls “science of opportunity” to demonstrate how experimenting with our surroundings can help gain a better understanding of how things work. This understanding is perhaps enhanced when art, science, and microgravity…

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NICER Status Updates

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April 17, 2025 Following Repair, NASA’s NICER Improves Daytime Measurements A NASA X-ray telescope on the International Space Station called NICER, or Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, has regained additional daytime observation capabilities thanks to repairs completed during a spacewalk and a reconfiguration of its detectors. In May 2023, NICER developed a light leak in which unwanted sunlight began entering the instrument. Photos taken from inside the space station revealed several small areas of damage to the telescope’s thin thermal shields, which block sunlight while allowing X-rays through to the…

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Vast swarms of hidden galaxies may be secretly bathing the universe in a soft glow

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A secret population of hidden galaxies suffusing the universe in a soft glow of far-infrared light have been strongly suggested to exist, based on careful detective work into some of the most unique data to come from Europe’s Herschel Space Observatory. The galaxies, if they are real, are not necessarily a surprise. The cosmos is filled with light across all wavelengths — it’s just that the far-infrared component seems to be stronger than can be accounted for by all the galaxies we can see in visible light. In other words,…

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US and UK militaries pick Rocket Lab’s HASTE launcher to help test hypersonic tech

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Rocket Lab is becoming an even bigger player in the world of hypersonic technology. The militaries of the United States and the United Kingdom have both picked the California-based company as a potential partner for their multibillion-dollar programs dedicated to building hypersonic technology. Rocket Lab can now compete for contracts via the two programs, offering the services of its HASTE suborbital rocket as a hypersonic testbed. You may like “The ability to contribute toward the collective security of the United States and the United Kingdom across both of these important…

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Rocket repurposed from intercontinental ballistic missile launches secret US spy satellites to orbit from California

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For the first time in nearly a decade and a half, a Minotaur has streaked through Californian skies. A Minotaur IV rocket lifted off from the Golden State’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today (April 16) at 3:33 p.m. EDT (1633 GMT; 12:33 p.m. local California time), kicking off the NROL-174 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). It was the first launch of a Minotaur from the site since 2011, the NRO said via X. The NROL-174 mission patch. (Image credit: NRO) The Minotaur rocket family, built by aerospace…

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