Space

A rocket lifts off from its launch pad with clouds of smoke billowing around it, set against a blue sky.

The New Space Race

Reusable rockets are real, the internet is in orbit, and we’re heading to Mars. With space manufacturing, asteroid mining, and lunar bases, the new space race has just begun, transforming life on Earth forever.
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T-Minus: 10 milestones in commercial spaceflight
T-Minus looks back at 10 major milestones in the commercial space industry — including several SpaceX triumphs.
T-minus
T-Minus: 10 space startups to watch
Today’s aerospace industry includes hundreds of startups, all vying to be the next SpaceX. Here are 10 that could actually do it.
T-Minus: 10 space stations of the future
The International Space Station may be nearing retirement, but 10 new space stations are just preparing for launch.
T-Minus: Counting down 10 upcoming moon missions
A countdown of 10 upcoming moon missions, all leading up to the one expected to return NASA astronauts to the lunar surface.
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See Mars’ mysterious moon Deimos from just 68 miles away
The UAE’s high-resolution images of Mars’ moon Deimos suggest that the tiny satellite isn’t what we thought it was.
NASA’s next space station will be 1,000 times farther from Earth
While NASA prepares to launch its lunar space station, other groups are working to ensure we still have an off-world home closer to Earth.
Astronomers have directly detected a massive exoplanet. The method could transform the search for life beyond Earth.
There are many techniques to search for planets orbiting other stars. Perhaps the simplest of these is called direct imaging, but it’s not easy.
What do 85,000 volcanoes look like? Check out a comprehensive map of Venus and see.
Using decades-old data, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a comprehensive Venus volcano map.
NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory to finally answer the epic question: “Are we alone?”
The Nancy Roman Telescope is already being built with a goal no smaller than to find inhabited planets beyond Earth.
Watch a rocket-powered spaceplane fly for the first time
After flying for the first time on March 29, Dawn Aerospace’s rocket-powered spaceplane, the Mk-II Aurora, flew again the very next day.
First Starship launch ends with a massive explosion
During SpaceX’s first Starship launch attempt, the massive spacecraft made it off the pad, but exploded before reaching space.
China plans to build moon bases using robot masons and lunar dirt
China plans to start testing an ambitious plan to build moon bases using a robot mason and dirt bricks as soon as 2028.
Jupiter’s moons hide giant subsurface oceans
Three of Jupiter’s moons – Europa, Ganymede and Callisto – are home to large, underground oceans of liquid water that could support life.
See inside NASA’s simulated Mars base for the first time
NASA has unveiled Mars Dune Alpha, a simulated Mars base where volunteers will live like Mars astronauts for a year at a time.
New method could triple the size of space telescope mirrors
A new technique for making super-thin, lightweight space telescope mirrors could dramatically improve our view of space.
Researchers believe genes could crack cancer in space
How does space travel impact human health? Researchers are filling in the gaps in the data with AI.
The next cancer breakthrough could come from space
What do astronauts, AI, and mice have in common? According to research, quite a lot.
You can now explore the highest-res map of Mars ever made
Caltech researchers have created an interactive map of Mars that lets anyone explore the surface of the Red Planet in unprecedented detail.
Space could be a trillion dollar industry by 2040
Now that falling launch costs are making space more accessible, hundreds of groups are looking for ways to make money off-world.
Chinese space startup makes history with first rocket launch
Chinese rocket startup Space Pioneer successfully reached orbit on its first try, something no private company has done before.
NASA’s Mars helicopter breaks two records in a single day
On its 49th flight, NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, soared higher and faster than ever before, setting two records in one day.
Why Earth is the only planet with plate tectonics
Here in our Solar System, of all the known planets, only Earth — not Mercury, not Venus, and not Mars — possesses plate tectonics.
NASA funds first wearable to measure muscle atrophy
The first wearable designed to monitor muscle atrophy could help NASA astronauts stay strong during long space missions.
The strongest evidence for a Universe before the Big Bang
For many decades, people conflated the hot Big Bang, describing the early Universe, with a singularity: that this “Big Bang” was the birth of space and time.
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