Tag Archives: NASA

Nasa has announced that next month it will launch its first crewed mission from US soil in almost 10 years. The rocket and the spacecraft it is carrying are due to take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 27 May, taking two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). …

Iraqi-American NASA Astronaut, Jessica Meir, has sent an empowering message of support to kids on the Hope Buses in Baghdad, all the way from the International Space Station! In light of the current global crisis, this message reminds us that our family is so important and also bigger than we …

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, accused Donald Trump on Tuesday of creating a basis to take over other planets by signing an executive order outlining U.S. policy on commercial mining in space. The executive order, which Roscosmos said damaged the scope for international cooperation in space, was signed on Monday. …

With so many pieces of high-tech hardware at its disposal, it’s easy to forget that some of NASA’s most impressive machines are rapidly aging. The Spitzer Space Telescope is one of those machines, and after over 16 long years in space, the trusty spacecraft is now finally being retired. NASA …

Planets orbiting binary systems are an exciting curiosity and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has found its first one. What’s even more exciting is that the discovery was made by teenager Wolf Cukier on his third day of a NASA internship last summer. The planet’s new name is TOI …

NASA’s planet-hunting mission TESS has found its first potentially habitable exoplanet the size of Earth orbiting a star about 100 light-years from Earth, according to the agency. The findings were announced during the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on Monday in Honolulu. The planet is part of a …

Boeing launched its Starliner capsule Friday on a crewless eight-day journey to the International Space Station and back, but the mission ran into early trouble with its orbit procedure. The test flight is a key part of NASA’s plans to end US dependence on Russia for space rides, with the …

Meteorites that crashed into Earth billions of years contain sugars, researchers say, lending support to the idea that asteroids may hold some of the ingredients to live. An international team of scientists found “bio-essential” sugars in meteorites, which also contain other biologically important compounds, according to a press release from …

NASA, most prominent for its many Florida-launched exploits into space, showcased an early version of its first all-electric experimental aircraft, the X-57 “Maxwell,” on Friday at its lesser-known aeronautics lab in the California desert. Adapted from an Italian-made Tecnam P2006T twin-engine propeller plane, the X-57 has been under development since …

India lost contact with a spacecraft it was trying to land on the moon on Saturday, its space agency said, in a setback for the nation’s ambitious plans to become the first country to probe the unexplored lunar south pole. The lander of the Chandrayaan-2 moon mission was attempting a …

US space agency NASA is investigating what may be the first crime committed in outer space, The New York Times reported Saturday. Astronaut Anne McClain is accused of identity theft and improperly accessing her estranged wife’s private financial records while on a sixth-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), …

A Nasa facility in Alabama that developed the giant rocket for the Apollo program in the 1960s will play a key role in sending astronauts down to the Moon’s surface in 2024. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville will lead the development of a vehicle that will land astronauts …

A South African man who won the chance to be the first black African in space has died in a motorbike crash before turning his dream into reality, his family announced Sunday. Mandla Maseko, a part-time DJ, and candidate officer with the South African Air Force, was nicknamed “Afronaut” after …

Nasa will fly a drone helicopter mission to cost $1bn (£800m) on Saturn’s moon, Titan, in the 2030s. The rotorcraft will visit dozens of promising locations on Titan to investigate the chemistry that could lead to life. Titan plays host to many of the chemical processes that could have sparked …

The planet is currently at its closest to Earth, meaning that it can be spotted in the sky without any special equipment. And while it looks beautiful enough already looked at with the naked eye, peering through binoculars or a small telescope could offer a detailed look at the planet. …

Nasa is to allow tourists to visit the International Space Station from 2020. The US space agency said it would open the orbiting station to tourism and other business ventures. There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, the deputy director of the …

Over the last decade, scientists have established that as the inside of the Moon cooled, it shriveled up a like a raisin. That left it riven with cliffs called “thrust faults”, marked all over its surface. Now a new analysis, using data from Nasa missions, suggests that the Moon could …

Pakistan’s minister for science and technology has been mocked on Twitter after claiming that it was Pakistani space agency SUPARCO, not NASA, that launched the iconic Hubble telescope. Mistakes are an unavoidable part of life but this particular gaffe from Fawad Chaudhry left many people open-mouthed and totally bewildered. Speaking …

The Hubble telescope has captured a spectacular photograph of one of the universe’s most majestic sights, a spiral galaxy in all its twirling glory. The powerful orbital telescope explored the NGC 2903 galaxy and the European Space Agency (ESA) released the dazzling image this week. The stunning spiral is located …

Nasa is going to pretend a deadly asteroid is on its way, to practice for a real one. The “tabletop exercise” will allow the space agency and the other government organizations that will be tasked with responding to such an event to simulate their response, ahead of the possibility of …