NASA’s next moon rocket is coming together, piece by piece. The core stage of NASA’s next Space Launch System (SLS) rocket recently completed integration with the vehicle’s side boosters inside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida. SLS will launch NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to fly four astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft around the moon and back sometime next year. “Technicians joined the core stage March 23 with the stacked solid rocket boosters for the mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC),” NASA officials wrote in a statement Monday (March…
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‘Cosmic tornado’ swirls in breathtaking new James Webb Space Telescope image
A cosmic coincidence has led to one of the most amazing images ever captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The dramatic outflow from a newborn star, known as Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50), just so happened to align perfectly with a distant spiral galaxy, creating this mesmerizing celestial scene. Herbig-Haro objects are glowing clouds of gas and dust shaped by newborn stars or protostars. They form when jets of charged particles, ejected from young stars at immense speeds, slam into surrounding material, creating brilliant, ever-changing patterns in the sky.…
Read MoreNASA says removal of ‘first woman, person of color’ language from Artemis websites ‘does not indicate’ moon mission crew change
NASA websites no longer state that the Artemis 3 lunar mission will aim to land the first person of color and the first woman on the moon — a longstanding goal of the Artemis program that the agency has consistently called upon when discussing lunar plans. The change appeared this weekend as NASA continues to cancel programs dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) as well as purge its websites of any language related to these efforts. These decisions are guided by the Trump administration’s push to end programs…
Read MorePreserving astronomy history: The fight is on to save an iconic Royal Observatory Greenwich site
Near the small town of Herstmonceux in the English county of East Sussex sits the former home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. The Royal Observatory Greenwich was first built in Greenwich, London, in 1675. At this original location, the observatory was set up with the goal of producing star charts and accurate time-keeping devices, to allow the British military and commercial fleets to more effectively navigate during their global travels. Over two centuries later, in 1884, the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s extensive star charts made the site a prime choice for…
Read More‘Star Trek’ icon lives on with new Nichelle Nichols Space Camp to inspire young women to aim for the stars
“Star Trek” royalty Nichelle Nichols passed away in 2022 but her legacy endures. Most well-known for her her memorable portrayal of Communications Officer Lt. Nyota Uhura in “Star Trek: The Original Series” and six final frontier feature films, Nichelle Nichols has now inspired a new educational endeavor fueled to blast off next year via the Nichelle Nichols Foundation. The Nichelle Nichols Space Camp launches from January 17-19, 2026 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with its upcoming class of students ready to take that brave step…
Read MoreChina now has a ‘kill mesh’ in orbit, Space Force vice chief says
The United States is approaching a turning point in space security, and needs to step up its game before Russia and China close the gap in capabilities, a U.S. Space Force general said. Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein spoke at the 16th annual McAleese “Defense Programs” Conference in Arlington, Virginia on Tuesday (March 18), warning the Space Force needs to rethink how it defends the country’s satellites. Space Force should shift its focus from managing spacecraft in support of defense infrastructure on the ground, to growing its…
Read MoreWhen space meets sea, Crew-9 Dragon meets dolphins: Space photo of the day
A pod of bottlenose dolphins circled and surfaced nearby SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom after it splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber) As it turns out, more than humans were interested in the return of SpaceX’s Crew-9 astronauts after an extended mission on board the International Space Station. An unexpected welcome committee arrived soon after the Crew Dragon “Freedom” splashed down on Tuesday, March 18. What is it? SpaceX support team members work around and on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft…
Read MoreSpaceX to set new rocket-reuse record on March 21 launch of US spy satellites
SpaceX will set a new rocket-reuse record early Friday morning (March 21), if all goes according to plan. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday at 2:49 a.m. EDT (0649 GMT; 11:49 p.m. on March 20 local California time), on the NROL-57 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This rocket’s first stage also lofted the SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar probes for NASA on March 11, according to a SpaceX mission description. An on-time liftoff for NROL-57 would…
Read MoreSpaceX launches 23 Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast (video, photos)
SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida this afternoon (March 18). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT). About eight minutes later, the rocket’s first stage touched down on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 19th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description. A…
Read MoreNever-‘stuck’ Starliner astronauts return to Earth at last with Crew-9 duo in SpaceX Dragon splashdown
The first astronauts to fly on board two different commercial spacecraft during a single mission have returned to Earth, splashing down with two of their International Space Station crewmates. Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore did not set out to make history other than being the first crew to launch on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule. After their capsule encountered propulsion issues, though, and NASA, out of an abundance of caution, decided to land it without them on board, Williams and Wilmore were reassigned to SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon to complete…
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