Solar sails are space's ultimate free ride, they get their propulsion from the Sun, so they don't need to carry propellant, but they come with their own challenges. A sail has a large surface area but...

Earlier this week, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) announced the science objectives for the fourth cycle of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) General Observations program - aka. Cy...

Solar Power Satellite (SPS) advocates have been dreaming of using space resources to build massive constructions for decades. In-space Resource Utilization (ISRU) advocates would love to oblige them, ...

There are several well-documented health risks that come from spending extended periods in microgravity, including muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and changes to organ function and health. In addition, astronauts have reported symptoms of immune dysfunction, including skin rashes and other inflammatory conditions. According to a new study, these issues could be due to the … Continue reading "For the Sake of Astronaut Health, Should we Make the ISS Dirtier?"

On December 27th, 2024, the Chilean station of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) detected 2024 YR4. This Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) belongs to the Apollo group, which orbits the Sun with a period of approximately four years. For most of its orbit, 2024 YR4 orbits far from Earth, but sometimes, it crosses Earth’s orbit. … Continue reading "Good News! The Subaru Telescope Confirms that Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Not Hit Earth."

Astronomers used a huge number of Hubble observations to study Andromeda's dwarf galaxies. They're very different from the Milky Way's.

Astronomers are finding more and more rogue planets, but their origins are unclear. This research says they form in dense, open clusters.

The effects of Climate Change on Earth’s living systems have led to a shift in biological studies, with attention now being focused on the boundaries within which life can survive. Studying life forms that can thrive in extreme environments (extremophiles) is also fundamental to predicting if humans can live and work in space for extended … Continue reading "How Brine Shrimp Adapted to Mars-like Conditions"

Our Milky Way Galaxy is rich in dark matter. The problem is, we can’t see where it’s distributed because, well, it’s dark. We also don’t completely understand how it’s distributed—in clumps or what? A team at the University of Alabama-Huntsville has figured out a way to use solitary pulsars to map this stuff and unveil … Continue reading "A New Way to Measure Where the Milky Way’s Dark Matter Is"

Neutrinos generated through solar fusion reactions travel effortlessly through the Sun’s dense core. Each specific fusion process creates neutrinos with distinctive signatures, potentially providing a method to examine the Sun’s internal structure. Multiple neutrino detection observatories on Earth are now capturing these solar particles, which can be analysed alongside reactor-produced neutrinos with the data eventually … Continue reading "Could Neutrinos Tell Us About the Inside of the Sun?"

Innovation is a history of someone trying to build a better mouse trap – or at least that’s how it’s described in business school. But what happens if someone tries to build a better version of something that isn’t even commonly used yet? Maybe we will soon find out, as NASA recently supported an effort … Continue reading "A Giant Ribbon Can Pull Payloads Along"

Chemical rockets are loud, noisy and can only get us so far. If we want to reach another star system, we’ll need something better—either super energy-dense fuel to improve the efficiency of chemical rockets or a way to push spacecraft using beams of energy, like a photonic lightsail. A new paper looks at the pros … Continue reading "Photonic Lightsails are our Best Shot at Reaching Another Star"

Any satellite sent to space must be able to deal with the battle with Earth’s gravitational pull, withstanding the harsh conditions of launch before reaching the zero-gravity environment it was designed for. But what if we could send raw materials into orbit and build the satellite there instead? DARPA (the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) … Continue reading "DARPA Wants to Build Structures in Orbit, Without Needing a Launch from Earth"

Lucy has its next target in its sights: asteroid Donaldjohanson. It'll remain a tiny dot for weeks, until the day of the flyby.

Analysis of Mars's north polar cap reveals its youth and that it's still depressing the surface underneath, revealing info about the mantle.

During the Miocene Epoch, the Earth cooled and glaciers and ice sheets expanded. Is our movement through the galaxy responsible?

Late is better than never for the ‘Blaze Star’ T Coronae Borealis.

The Perseverance Rover is examining ancient uplifted rock on the rim of Jezero Crater. It's taking its time and studying some spots twice.

Data from China's Zhurong rover on Mars shows buried shorelines on the Red Planet that suggest the existence of ancient oceans.

The threat posed by asteroid 2024 YR4 has diminished with more observations. It's now down to a 0.001% chance of impacting Earth.

Magnetars are a type of neutron star with the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe. They're formed by the death of massive stars, like pulsars and other neutron stars. So, what creates such intense magnetic fields? Thanks to a new simulation, astronomers have discovered that a magnetar probably forms when material ejected by the supernova explosion falls back down onto the star's surface, amplifying its dynamo effect.

Well that’s ruined all my lectures! I’ve spent years talking about space and a go to fact is the red colour of Mars. It’s been long believed that it was caused by the same chemical process that creates rust on Earth, a new paper suggests this is not the case! The team of researchers simulated … Continue reading "A New Explanation for Why Mars is Red"

Researchers are developing a new method to search for microbial fossils on Mars based on laser technology.

The habitable zone is where planets could have liquid water on their surfaces, but not if they're actually habitable. In a new paper, astronomers propose a new way to map the inner edge of habitable zones by searching for sulfur dioxide (SO?) in the atmospheres of exoplanets. If there's SO?, this indicates that the planet doesn't have liquid water on its surface. Telescopes like Webb could scan planets for SO?, creating a more accurate map of habitable zones.

Air travel produces around 2.5% of all global CO2 emissions, and despite decades of effort in developing alternative fuels or more efficient aircraft designs, that number hasn’t budged much. However, NASA, also the US’s Aeronautics administration, has kept plugging away at trying to build a more sustainable future for air travel. Recently, they supported another … Continue reading "A Hybrid Hydrogen Drive Train Could Eliminate Aircraft Emissions"

Researchers study enigmatic asteroid Kamo'oalewa, as China’s first asteroid sample return mission moves toward launch.

In 2007, astronomers discovered the Cosmic Horseshoe, a gravitationally lensed system of galaxies about five-and-a-half billion light-years away. The foreground galaxy’s mass magnifies and distorts the image of a distant background galaxy whose light has travelled for billions of years before reaching us. The foreground and background galaxies are in such perfect alignment that they … Continue reading "One of the Most Massive Black Holes in the Universe Lurks at the Center of the Cosmic Horsehoe"

Venus differs from Earth in many ways including a lack of internal dynamo driving global magnetosphere to shield potential life from solar and cosmic radiation. However, Venus possesses a dense atmosphere and, in a recent study, planetary scientists conducted simulations of the Venusian atmosphere to determine radiation penetration to the lower cloud layers. Their calculations … Continue reading "Although it Lacks a Magnetic Field, Venus Can Still Protect With in its Atmosphere"

The journey to Mars will subject astronauts to extended periods of exposure to radiation during their months-long travel through space. While NASA’s Artemis 1 mission lasted only a matter of weeks, it provided valuable radiation exposure data that scientists can use to predict the radiation risks for future Mars crews. The measurements not only validated … Continue reading "We Know How Much Radiation Astronauts Will Receive, But We Don’t Know How to Prevent it"

Anthropogenic climate change is creating a vicious circle where rising temperatures are causing glaciers to melt at an increasing rate. In addition to contributing to rising sea levels, coastal flooding, and extreme weather, the loss of polar ice and glaciers is causing Earth’s oceans to absorb more solar radiation. The loss of glaciers is also … Continue reading "Glaciers Worldwide are Melting Faster Causing Sea Levels to Rise More"

Satellites often face a disappointing end: despite having fully working systems, they are often de-orbited after their propellant runs out. However, a breakthrough is on the cards with the launch of China’s Shijian-25 satellite which has been launched into orbit to test orbital refuelling operations. The plan; docking with satellite Beidou-3 G7 and transferring 142 … Continue reading "A Chinese Satellite Tests Orbital Refuelling"

Astronomers have known for some time that nearby supernovae have had a profound effect on Earth’s evolution. For starters, Earth’s deposits of gold, platinum, and other heavy metals are believed to have been distributed to Earth by ancient supernovae. The blasts of gamma rays released in the process can also significantly affect life, depleting nitrogen … Continue reading "New Study Proposes that Cosmic Radiation Altered Virus Evolution in Africa"

How can we explore Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, to include its surface and subsurface ocean, with the goal of potentially discovering life as we know it? This is what a recent study presented at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 Fall Meeting hopes to address as a team of students and researchers proposed the Thermal Investigation … Continue reading "Sampling Enceladus’ Subsurface Ocean with TIGRE Mission Concept"

Have you ever wondered how astronomers manage to map out the Milky Way when it's so incredibly vast?

NASA astronomers have been continuing to monitor the trajectory of asteroid 2024 YR4. The initial calculations suggested a 1.3% probability of an Earth impact event, which temporarily increased to 3.1% as more data came in. However, and with a sigh of relief, recent analysis brings encouraging news: the Earth impact probability has decreased significantly to … Continue reading "NASA Downgrades the Risk of 2024 YR4 to Below 1%"

Astronomers using the Very Large Telescopes have created the first 3D model of an exoplanet atmosphere. Strange winds blow there.

Did stars form differently in the early Universe? Astronomers observed the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud for clues.

Let’s dive into one of those cosmic curiosities that's bound to blow your mind: how we might chat with aliens.

The majority of the universe remains unmapped, but we have a potential window into it through a peculiar light emitted by nothing other than neutral hydrogen.

NASA engineers are pressing ahead with preparations for the Artemis II mission unless someone tells them otherwise. The ambitious flight will send four astronauts on a trajectory similar to Apollo 8’s historic lunar journey, with the crew traveling around the Moon in an Orion Capsule before returning to Earth. A crucial milestone in the mission … Continue reading "The Artemis II Boosters are Stacked"

It’s not uncommon for space missions to be tested here on planet Earth. With the plethora of missions that have been sent to Mars it  is becoming increasingly likely that the red planet was once warmer, wetter and more habitable than it is today. To find evidence of this, a new paper proposes that Deception … Continue reading "Antarctica’s Deception Island is the Perfect Place to Practice Exploring Mars"

The latest attempt at understanding Callisto says it most likely has a subsurface ocean tens of kilometers thick.

Gateway’s HALO module heads to the U.S., on its long path to orbiting the Moon.

What if I told you there was a secret window, and if you looked through this window you could see the entire history of the universe unfold before your very eyes? It sounds too good to be true. But this is science, and if we’ve learned anything in our four centuries of scientific exploration of … Continue reading "How Humble Hydrogen Lights Up the Universe"