https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. The world's first wooden satellite has blasted off on a SpaceX rocket, its Japanese developers said Tuesday, part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-world-wooden-satellite-space.html Space Exploration Tue, 05 Nov 2024 03:54:22 EST news650001252 Over the span of two projects, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated using a propulsion concept known as multimode propulsion to get spacecraft to the moon and developed a technique to design optimal multimode transfers. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-multimode-propulsion-efficient-space.html Space Exploration Tue, 29 Oct 2024 11:28:03 EDT news649420081 A team of space researchers with the IAU Center for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies from Satellite Constellation Interference, working with a colleague from Belgian Working Group Satellites, has found that the satellites making up China's "Thousand Sails" project exceed brightness limits that have been proposed by astronomical groups wanting to prevent satellites from blocking the view to space. The paper describing their findings is posted to the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-satellites-china-thousand-exceeding-brightness.html Astronomy Space Exploration Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:20:01 EDT news649415379 NASA's Europa Clipper probe blasted off from Florida on Monday, bound for an icy moon of Jupiter to discover whether it has the ingredients to support life. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nasa-probe-europa-clipper-jupiter.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 14 Oct 2024 14:44:52 EDT news648135884 Is there anywhere else in our solar system that could support life? An imposing NASA probe is due to lift off on Monday on a five-and-a-half-year journey to Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, to take the first detailed step toward finding out. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-life-jupiter-moon-nasa.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 14 Oct 2024 04:22:25 EDT news648098536 SpaceX on Sunday successfully flew the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket back to the launch pad after a test flight, a technical tour de force that furthers the company's quest for rapid reusability. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-starship-megarocket-booster-caught-spacex.html Space Exploration Sun, 13 Oct 2024 09:34:32 EDT news648030862 Scientist Jim Wild has traveled to the Arctic Circle numerous times to study the northern lights, but on Thursday night he only needed to look out of his bedroom window in the English city of Lancaster. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-party-atmosphere-skygazers-aurora.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 11 Oct 2024 11:17:43 EDT news647864257 Prepare to spot a rare, bright comet. The space rock is slinging toward Earth from the outer reaches of the solar system and will make its closest pass on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, clear skies permitting. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-tsuchinshan-atlas-comet-visible-naked.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:20:46 EDT news647695236 A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space rock threatens Earth. It's the second part of a planetary defense test that could one day help save the planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-hera-spacecraft-asteroid-collision-site.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:24:39 EDT news647526274 Stormy weather has threatened to delay the launch of Europe's Hera spacecraft, which is scheduled to blast off on Monday, SpaceX has said. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-weather-delay-mission-deflected-asteroid.html Space Exploration Mon, 07 Oct 2024 07:32:29 EDT news647505143 NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade—but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nuclear-rockets-mars-reactors-power.html Space Exploration Sat, 05 Oct 2024 12:20:01 EDT news647263026 Solar storms may cause faint northern lights across fringes of the northern United States over the weekend as forecasters monitor for possible disruptions to power and communications. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-solar-flares-faint-auroras-northern.html Space Exploration Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:45:30 EDT news647264722 Europe's Hera probe is tentatively scheduled to launch Monday on a mission to inspect the damage a NASA spacecraft made when it smashed into an asteroid during the first test of Earth's planetary defenses. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-esa-hera-spacecraft-asteroid-crime.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 04 Oct 2024 10:55:41 EDT news647258132 A team of engineers and planetary scientists at Western University's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, in Canada, has found that it might be possible to produce food for space travelers by feeding bacteria asteroid material, resulting in the growth of an edible biomass. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-possibility-asteroid-material-edible-biomass.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Fri, 04 Oct 2024 08:47:14 EDT news647250372 The Deep Space Optical Communications tech demo has completed several key milestones, culminating in sending a signal to Mars' farthest distance from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nasa-laser-comms-demo-deep.html Space Exploration Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:15:57 EDT news647183745 As BepiColombo sped past Mercury during its June 2023 flyby, it encountered a variety of features in the tiny planet's magnetic field. These measurements provide a tantalizing taste of the mysteries that the mission is set to investigate when it arrives in orbit around the solar system's innermost planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-mercury-magnetic-landscape-minutes.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:31:04 EDT news647173861 Professional and amateur astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery with the help of artificial intelligence, identifying a unique triple star system named TIC 290061484. This stellar trio was uncovered through cosmic "strobe lights" observed by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). https://phys.org/news/2024-10-triple-star-shortest-orbital-period.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 02 Oct 2024 12:58:57 EDT news647092721 The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-stuck-nasa-astronauts-spacex-capsule.html Space Exploration Mon, 30 Sep 2024 04:37:17 EDT news646889829 A SpaceX rocket soared into the sky Saturday with two passengers on board, leaving two seats empty to return American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station, NASA said. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-spacex-mission-stranded-astronauts.html Space Exploration Sat, 28 Sep 2024 15:48:23 EDT news646757290 A comet is expected to risk having its tail clipped on Friday by flying perilously close to the sun, promising fireworks next month should it survive the fraught flypast. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-fireworks-comet-survives-risky-sun.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Sat, 28 Sep 2024 05:28:05 EDT news646720065 Earth will capture a miniature, "second moon" this week, according to NASA scientists. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-earth-capture-moon-weekend-nasa.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 27 Sep 2024 07:43:39 EDT news646641816 Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid". https://phys.org/news/2024-09-nuking-huge-asteroid-earth-lab.html Space Exploration Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:31:05 EDT news646486256 A large, ordinary-looking warehouse in the German city of Cologne is the closest you can get to walking on the moon—without leaving Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-moon-cologne-europe-lunar-life.html Space Exploration Wed, 25 Sep 2024 10:39:52 EDT news646479585 Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists who arranged for 48 human bioengineered heart tissue samples to spend 30 days at the International Space Station report evidence that the low gravity conditions in space weakened the tissues and disrupted their normal rhythmic beats when compared to Earth-bound samples from the same source. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gravity-space-weaken-disrupt-rhythm.html Space Exploration Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:01:33 EDT news646326088 According to a large team of technical and health specialists, astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will be well protected from radiation when the Artemis II mission travels to the moon and back next year. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-artemis-mission-astronauts-moon-aboard.html Space Exploration Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:57:09 EDT news645962224 A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA's moonwalkers. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tech-billionaire-earth-private-spacewalk.html Space Exploration Sun, 15 Sep 2024 04:32:57 EDT news645593570 A tech billionaire popped out from a SpaceX capsule hundreds of miles above Earth and performed the first private spacewalk Thursday, a high-risk endeavor once reserved for professional astronauts. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-billionaire-spacex-capsule-private-spacewalk.html Space Exploration Thu, 12 Sep 2024 07:55:06 EDT news645346496 Mold can survive the harshest of environments, so to stop harmful spores from growing on future space stations, a new study suggests a novel way to prevent its spread. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mold-future-space-stations.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:02:48 EDT news645278563 Engineers working on NASA's Voyager 1 probe have successfully mitigated an issue with the spacecraft's thrusters, which keep the distant explorer pointed at Earth so that it can receive commands, send engineering data, and provide the unique science data it is gathering. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-voyager-team-tricky-thruster-swap.html Space Exploration Wed, 11 Sep 2024 03:39:15 EDT news645244744 A daredevil billionaire rocketed back into orbit Tuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture farther than anyone since NASA's Apollo moonshots. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-spacex-billionaire-private-spacewalk.html Space Exploration Tue, 10 Sep 2024 09:24:59 EDT news645179093