Tag: Space Exploration

Telescopes capture Jupiter-bound JUICE probe during historic Earth-moon flyby (photos)

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For avid skywatchers around the world, this week begins with trying to get a glimpse of the Jupiter-bound JUICE spacecraft that’s set to swing past both the moon and Earth over the span of just one day — a combination scientists have deemed to be the world’s first. The European Space Agency (ESA) launched JUICE in April last year to explore Jupiter and three of its biggest moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, all of which are thought to contain oceans of liquid water beneath their icy shells. The spacecraft’s…

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Robotic Russian Progress 89 cargo ship docks at ISS with tons of fresh supplies (video)

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An uncrewed Russian cargo ship successfully docked at the International Space Station early Saturday (Aug. 17) to deliver tons of fresh gear, food and other vital supplies.  The automated Progress 89 spacecraft linked up with the International Space Station (ISS) at 1:53 a.m. EDT (0553 GMT) at the station’s Russian-built Zvezda service module as both spacecraft sailed 260 miles (418 km) over the South Pacific Ocean.  “Contact confirmed, docking confirmed,” NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during live commentary as the Progress spacecraft arrived. “Progress has reached the International Space Station.” …

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SpaceX launches 116 satellites on epic Transporter 11 rideshare mission, lands rocket (video)

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SpaceX launched an epic rideshare mission to space today (Aug. 16). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 116 different satellites launched on the company’s Transporter 11 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:56 p.m. EDT (1856 GMT; 11:56 a.m. local time.) The first stage of Falcon 9 landed nearby the launch site roughly eight minutes after liftoff, as seen in the broadcast on X, formerly Twitter. It was the 12th successful flight for the veteran booster. SpaceX is expected to confirm the payload deployments later today. SpaceX Transporter 11 lifts…

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James Webb Space Telescope adds to the confusing drama of Hubble tension

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It would appear that James Webb Space Telescope observations of 10 nearby galaxies suggests the Hubble tension — which is a puzzling discrepancy in measurements regarding the rate of the expansion of the universe — may not be real after all. The James Webb Space Telescope‘s observations put the average value of the Hubble constant (H0), key in determining the rate at which the universe is expanding, at 69.96 kilometers per second per megaparsec. This is indeed consistent with predictions stemming from the standard model of cosmology, which should sound…

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Will Boeing’s Starliner astronauts ride a SpaceX Dragon home in 2025? NASA could decide next week

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Boeing’s two Starliner astronauts may learn their fate in the next two weeks — but, for now, NASA still doesn’t know when the duo is coming home.  So, while the space agency’s best and brightest works with Boeing engineers to continue assessing data from ground tests of Starliner’s systems, the spacecraft’s crew, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, will remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for now. Wilmore and Williams launched to the ISS aboard Starliner for the spacecraft’s Crew Flight Test (CFT) on June 5. Their mission,…

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SpaceX’s Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president. Here’s what it could mean for US space policy (op-ed)

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Svetla Ben-Itzhak is an Assistant Professor of Space and International Relations at  Johns Hopkins University Elon Musk officially endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States on July 13, 2024, shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt. Musk, a billionaire technology entrepreneur, has made groundbreaking contributions in multiple industries, particularly space travel and exploration. Even before Musk’s endorsement, Trump was reportedly considering giving the billionaire an advisory role if elected for a second term. With Musk’s public…

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New ISS images showcase auroras, moon and space station in glorious photos (video)

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The moon’s glow meets a multicolored aurora in a new astronaut image from space. International Space Station (ISS) and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, a veteran photographer of the Expedition 71 crew, captured the moon and auroras from his perch 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. “The aurora have been amazing the past few days. Great timing for trying out a new lens that recently arrived on Cygnus,” Dominick said on X, formerly Twitter, in one of the posts. (Cygnus is a cargo spacecraft from Northrop Grumman that arrived Aug. 6).…

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Axiom Space’s next astronaut mission to the ISS with SpaceX delayed to spring 2025

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Axiom Space’s next astronaut mission to the International Space Station will be delayed by several months, into 2025, due to required interagency approval processes. Ax-4, the name of that private astronaut effort by Axiom Space, had been targeted to launch no earlier than October of this year. It will now lift off no earlier than spring 2025, NASA officials announced on Friday (Aug. 9) via  X. “The Ax-4 crew members are pending approval to fly to the orbiting lab by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel,” NASA officials wrote in the…

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Origami-inspired ‘transformer’ robots could help build habitats in space (photo)

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A newly designed “transformer” robot with the ability to change shape could one day be used to build habitats in space. Engineers from North Carolina State University (NC State) have created a plastic cubed structure that can transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. In theory, their design — which was largely inspired by the paper-folding art of origami — offers a more efficient way to send assembly structures into space, where the robot could then “transform” to serve various purposes, including carrying a load, according…

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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (video, photos)

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SpaceX sent another group of Starlink satellites to space today (Aug. 10) as the company continues to assemble its giant internet constellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink spacecraft to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT), after a one-day weather delay. As is typical for these missions, the first stage of Falcon 9 made a soft landing back on Earth roughly eight minutes after launch, touching down on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the…

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