Fly Slowly Through Enceladus’ Plumes to Detect Life

Enceladus is blasting water into space from the jets at its southern pole. This makes it…

OSIRIS-REx Failed to Deploy its Drogue Chute Properly. Now NASA has Figured out Why

On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned a precious sample of rocky material from asteroid…

In 1872, a Solar Storm Hit the Earth Generating Auroras from the Tropics to the Poles

Imagine a solar storm generating auroral displays across the entire sky. No, we haven’t quite seen…

For its Final Trick, Chandrayaan-3 Brings its Propulsion Module to Earth Orbit

On August 23, ISRO’s Vikram lander detached from its propulsion module and made a soft landing…

ESA’s Ariel Mission is Approved to Begin Construction

We’re about to learn a lot more about exoplanets. The ESA has just approved the construction…

Astronomers Calculate Which Exoplanets Are Most Likely to Have Water

Astronomers know of about 60 rocky exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars. When…

Communicating With a Relativistic Spacecraft Gets Pretty Weird

Someday, in the not-too-distant future, humans may send robotic probes to explore nearby star systems. These…

99% of Space Junk is Undetectable. That Could Change Soon

Private and military organizations are tracking some of the 170 million pieces of space junk orbiting…

Famed Halley’s Comet Passes Aphelion This Weekend

Famous Halley’s Comet reaches a distant milestone this coming weekend. It’s lonely out there in the…

Asteroid 2023 XJ1 to fly past Earth at 0.27 LD

A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 XJ1 will fly past Earth at a distance of 0.27 LD…