Voyager 2: Nasa fully back in contact with lost space probe

Voyager 2 has restored its communication with Earth months earlier than expected. More »

Mystery of the dimming of massive star Betelgeuse explained

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Astronomers have determined the cause of the dramatic dimming observed last year and earlier this year of one of the brightest stars in the night sky, a colossus called Betelgeuse that appears to be on its way toward a violent death. Bas... More »

Dwarf planet Ceres is ‘ocean world’ with salty water deep underground

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is an “ocean world” with a big reservoir of salty water under its frigid surface, scientists said in findings that raise interest in this dwarf planet as a possible... More »

‘It came alive:’ Astronauts recount wild ride home on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon

(Reuters) – U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, home two days from a landmark mission as NASA’s first crew to fly a privately built vehicle into orbit, recounted on Tuesday the loud, jarring ride they experienced through Earth’s atmosphere before a sa... More »

Virgin Galactic’s Branson to fly into space in early 2021

(Reuters) – Billionaire Richard Branson will fly into space on a Virgin Galactic rocketship early next year, the space tourism company he founded said on Monday, adding that it would raise new funds with a share offering. Branson’s trip to space hinges on the ... More »

NASA astronauts cap historic ‘odyssey’ aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

(Reuters) – U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a two-month voyage that was NASA’s first crewed mission from home soil in nine... More »

NASA astronauts riding SpaceX capsule poised for Sunday return

(Reuters) – The two NASA astronauts who rode to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon are heading home for a Sunday splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, capping a two-month voyage in space that marked NASA’s first crewed mission from hom... More »

NASA launches new rover to search for signs of past Martian life

(This July 30 story refiles to add details on previous NASA rovers, landers) By Joey Roulette (Reuters) – NASA’s next-generation Mars rover Perseverance blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a $2.4 billion mission to s... More »

NASA set to launch robotic rover to seek signs of past Martian life

(Reuters) – NASA is set to launch an ambitious mission to Mars on Thursday with the liftoff of its next-generation Perseverance rover, a six-wheeled robot tasked with deploying a mini helicopter, testing out equipment for future human missions and searching fo... More »

Scientists identify 37 recently active volcanic structures on Venus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to be recently active – and probably still are today – painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world as long thought. The research foc... More »

United Arab Emirates launches mission to Mars

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates launched its first mission to Mars on Monday as it strives to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil. The Hope Probe blasted off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 1... More »

SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts slated for August 2 return

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s first crewed flight in May are expected to return to Earth on Aug. 2 after spending two months in orbit, a NASA spokesman said on Friday. U.S. astronauts Bob... More »

UAE aims to launch Mars mission on July 20: Dubai Media Office

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it would launch its mission to Mars on July 20, depending on weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, Dubai’s media office said on Twitter. The launch of the UAE’s Hope Probe from Japan’s Tanegas... More »

Solar probe reveals sun’s tiny ‘campfires’ in closest-ever photos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A solar probe built by the European Space Agency and NASA has delivered the closest photos ever taken of the sun’s surface, revealing a landscape rife with thousands of tiny solar flares that scientists dubbed “campfires” and offering cl... More »

UAE reschedules Mars mission launch to between July 20 and July 22

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has rescheduled the launch of its mission to Mars to a preliminary window between July 20 and July 22, depending on weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, the government’s communications office said on Thursd... More »

UAE postpones Mars mission again due to weather at Japan launch site

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has postponed the launch of its mission to Mars for a second time due to weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, the government’s communications office said on Wednesday. A new launch date in July will be anno... More »

NASA chief says Russia ties ‘solid’ as Moscow’s space chief rejects U.S.-led moon program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday he still expected support from Russia’s space corporation in its Artemis moon program despite Moscow’s space chief slamming the U.S.-led lunar effort. Bridenstine said in an interview with ... More »

Rocket Lab vehicle fails to reach orbit, loses payload of satellites

(Reuters) – A rocket from small-satellite launch firm Rocket Lab failed to reach orbit minutes after a successful liftoff from New Zealand on Saturday, the company said, losing its payload of seven small satellites it had intended to carry to space. “An issue ... More »

Surviving core of ill-fated Jupiter-like planet spotted near distant star

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A rocky planet 39 times as massive as Earth has been spotted orbiting a distant star at breakneck speed, with astronomers concluding it may be the surviving core of a planet once perhaps larger than Jupiter that was stripped of its gaseo... More »

It is rocket science: EU to speed up space ambitions, Breton says

PARIS (Reuters) – The European Union will plough more money into rocket launches, satellite communication and space exploration to preserve its often unsung successes in space and keep up with US and Chinese ambitions, its space chief said on Sunday. Over the ... More »

Planets around nearby star are intriguing candidates for extraterrestrial life

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Up to three planets – potentially rocky like Earth – have been spotted around a star located relatively near our solar system – a planetary system offering astronomers intriguing possibilities in the search for signs of extraterrestrial ... More »

Subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa deemed potentially ‘habitable’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have figured out how the subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa may have formed and determined that this vast expanse of water may have been able to support microbial life in the past. Europa, with an ocean hidden beneath a... More »

Frigid dwarf planet Pluto may have started out its life as a hothead

(This June 22 story corrects Fahrenheit conversion of surface temperature in parapagrah 6) By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pluto, a frigid little world inhabiting the solar system’s outer reaches, may have been born as a warmer place sheltering a subsurf... More »

Rocket firm Relativity Space inks deal with Iridium for satellite launch

(Reuters) – Relativity Space has signed a contract with Iridium to launch six spare satellites for its communications network, the venture-backed rocket firm’s chief executive said, clinching a key satellite customer for its upcoming 3D-printed rocket. The Iri... More »

China postpones Beidou satellite launch over technical problem

BEIJING (Reuters) – China indefinitely postponed on Tuesday the launch of the final satellite of its Beidou navigation network because of technical problems in the rocket meant to launch it into orbit. The official website for the Beidou network said in a stat... More »

China set to complete Beidou network rivalling GPS in global navigation

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese Beidou navigation network will be complete this month when its final satellite goes into orbit, giving China greater independence from U.S.-owned GPS and heating up competition in a sector long dominated by the United States. Th... More »

Russia’s space chief complains about American jokes

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Americans should show more respect for Russia’s space program after relying on it for nine years as the only way to send U.S. astronauts into orbit, the head of Russia’s space agency said. The United States launched the first astronauts from... More »

‘Star Trek, not Star Wars:’ NASA releases basic principles for moon exploration pact

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA on Friday set the stage for a global debate over the basic principles governing how humans will live and work on the moon, as it released the main tenets of an international pact for moon exploration called the Artemis Accords. The ... More »

Closest black hole to Earth has two partners in surprising celestial marriage

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Astronomers have spotted the closest black hole to Earth ever discovered and are surprised about its living arrangements – residing harmoniously with two stars in a remarkable celestial marriage that may end in a nasty breakup. The black... More »

SpaceX to bring astronauts to short-handed Space Station for longer stay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two NASA astronauts gearing up to ride SpaceX’s new space taxi will now be on a mission planned to last more than a month, instead of a week, to help the short-handed crew aboard the International Space Station, the U.S. space agency sai... More »

Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos’ Blue Origin land contracts to build NASA’s astronaut moon lander

((This April 30 story has been corrected to say Starship can carry more than 100 metric tonnes of cargo, not 100 pounds in paragraph 9. The error occurred in a previous version as well.)) By Joey Rouelette (Reuters) – NASA on Thursday selected space firms Spac... More »

The sun is less active than similar stars. That’s good news

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The sun appears to be far less active than similar stars in terms of brightness variations caused by sunspots and other phenomena – a “boring” personality, according to scientists, that may not be a bad thing for us Earthlings. Researche... More »

China unveils name of first Mars exploration mission

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s space agency on Friday unveiled the name of its first Mars exploration mission, coinciding with China’s annual Space Day and the 50th anniversary of the launch of its first satellite. The Mars mission has been named Tianwen-1, the o... More »

Scientists observe celestial smash-up around nearby star

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have observed what appears to be the aftermath of a violent collision between two planetary building blocks orbiting a large and luminous star, a glimpse of the type of carnage that may have been commonplace early in our solar... More »

NASA sets launch date for SpaceX U.S. manned mission to space station

(Reuters) – NASA on Friday set a launch date of May 27 for its first astronaut mission from U.S. soil in nearly 10 years. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX, will send two NASA astronauts ... More »

Interstellar gatecrasher 2I/Borisov is no ordinary comet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have discovered that a comet called 2I/Borisov – only the second interstellar object ever detected passing through the solar system – is surprisingly different in its composition from comets hailing from our celestial neighbor... More »

Scientists enthralled by biggest star explosion ever observed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have observed the biggest supernova – stellar explosion – ever detected, the violent death of a huge star up to 100 times more massive than our sun in a faraway galaxy. The supernova, releasing twice as much energy as any othe... More »

Space scientists use COVID-19 lockdown as dry run for Mars mission

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) – French space scientists are using the COVID-19 lockdown as a dry run for what it will be like to be cooped up inside a space craft on a mission to Mars. The guinea pigs in the experiment are 60 students who are confined to their do... More »

Cigar-shaped interstellar trespasser may be fragment of wrecked planet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A reddish-colored cigar-shaped interstellar object called ‘Oumuamua that is tumbling through our solar system may be wreckage from a planet ripped apart when it roamed too close to the faraway star it once orbited, according to researche... More »

Russian space agency says Trump paving way to seize other planets

MOSCOW (Reuters) – 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 ... More »

Boeing plans to retest Starliner flight after botched mission

(Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Monday it would send its Starliner astronaut spacecraft on another unmanned mission to the International Space Station, months after its last flight was cut short because of a software bug. During the December test, a series of so... More »

Astronomers spot ‘missing link’ black hole – not too big and not too small

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have detected a mid-size black hole – considered the “missing link” in the understanding of these celestial brutes – eviscerating an unfortunate star that strayed too close. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and two X... More »

Musk’s SpaceX wins NASA award to supply planned lunar space station

(Reuters) – NASA on Friday picked a new space capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to ferry cargo and supplies to the agency’s planned lunar space station, a crucial building block to its plans to build a permanent post on the moon and mount future missions to Mars... More »

Russia’s 2020 satellite launch programme hit by production halt: Roscosmos

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Friday it would have to adjust its 2020 launch programme because of a halt in satellite production in Europe, amid the coronavirus outbreak. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, will hold several mee... More »

Astronauts quarantined ahead of journey to International Space Station

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut were spending their final weeks on Earth in quarantine before they are scheduled to blast off on April 9 for the International Space Station for six months as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps Ea... More »

Chinese rocket fails on maiden launch – Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) – A new Chinese medium-lift rocket, part of a family of launch vehicles meant to support most of China’s launch missions in future, failed on its debut flight, the official news agency Xinhua reported. The Long March 7A, a variant of the Long... More »

Joint Russian-European Mars mission postponed over coronavirus

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A joint Russian-European mission to send a rover to Mars has been postponed by two years because its final phase has been compromised by the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, the European and Russian space agencies said on Thursday. T... More »

On faraway planet, it’s cloudy with a chance of liquid iron rain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have detected an exotic planet in another solar system where the weather forecast is always dire – a 100 percent chance of the most outrageous rain imaginable, with droplets of scaldingly hot liquid iron. The researchers said ... More »

Shake it, baby! NASA robotic lander confirms quakes on Mars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA’s robotic InSight lander has for the first time established that Mars is seismically active, but do not call the shaking, rattling and rolling taking place on the Red Planet earthquakes. The proper term, fittingly, is marsquakes. Sc... More »

Oddly shaped celestial body Arrokoth sheds light on planet formation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A vaguely hourglass-shaped icy object called Arrokoth residing in the far reaches of the solar system – the most distant body ever explored by a spacecraft – is giving scientists intriguing clues about the formation of the planets includ... More »

Solar probe embarks on unprecedented mission to map sun’s polar regions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new probe built by NASA and the European Space Agency set off on a blazing hot journey to the sun on Sunday to take the first close-up look at the star’s polar regions, a mission expected to yield insight into how solar radiant energy ... More »

Latest solar probe to get first close up of the sun’s polar regions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new spacecraft built jointly by U.S. and European space agencies is ready for a blazing journey to the sun to capture an unprecedented view of its two poles, an angle that could help researchers understand how the star’s vast bubble of... More »

OneWeb launches 34 satellites from Kazakh cosmodrome in global internet push

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The UK firm OneWeb launched 34 satellites from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on Friday as part of its effort to provide global high-speed internet access using satellite communications by 2021. The Russian Soyuz rocket left Baikonu... More »

Boeing’s botched Starliner test flirted with ‘catastrophic’ failure: NASA panel

(Reuters) – Boeing narrowly missed a “catastrophic failure” during its December flight test of an unmanned space taxi that was cut short by an unrelated problem, a NASA safety review panel said Thursday, recommending that the agency examine Boeing’s software v... More »

NASA astronaut Koch returns to Earth after record space mission

(Reuters) – A capsule carrying a crew of three from the International Space Station, including record-setting United States astronaut Christina Koch, landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday, a live feed by Russian space agency Roscosmos showed. The touchdown on a sno... More »

SpaceX astronaut capsule splashes down off Florida after rocket failure test

CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX simulated a dramatic emergency landing on Sunday to test a crucial abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, the company’s final milestone test before flying NASA astronauts from U.S. soil.A Crew Dragon astron... More »

Bad weather forces delay of SpaceX simulated rocket failure test

CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) – Bad weather forced Elon Musk’s SpaceX to delay until Sunday a test in which it will destroy one of its own rockets in a trial of a crucial emergency abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule. The test, the company’s final milesto... More »

NASA, Boeing probe software glitch that stopped astronaut capsule from reaching space station

(Reuters) – NASA is opening an independent investigation with Boeing over a software glitch that prevented its unmanned astronaut capsule from reaching the International Space Station in December, the agency said on Tuesday. Boeing Co’s (BA.N) CST-100 Starline... More »

India approves third moon mission, months after landing failure

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India has approved its third lunar mission months after its last one failed to successfully land on the moon, its space agency said on Wednesday, the latest effort in its ambitions to become a low-cost space power. The Chandrayaan-3 missi... More »

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover set to hunt Martian fossils, scout for manned missions

PASADENA, Calif. (Reuters) – A NASA robotic rover is nearing completion ahead of a journey next year to search for evidence of past life on Mars and lay the groundwork for the space agency’s mission to send humans into deep space. The U.S. space agency on Frid... More »

Boeing’s Starliner lands in desert: company

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station. The 7:... More »

NASA, Boeing investigating why Starliner spacecraft missed orbit

(Reuters) – The Boeing Co Starliner spacecraft that failed to hit the right orbit to reach the International Space Station is healthy, in a stable orbit and expected to land in New Mexico on Sunday morning, NASA said. Boeing’s (BA.N) CST-100 Starliner astronau... More »

Boeing’s failed Starliner mission strains ‘reliability’ pitch

SEATTLE/CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s (BA.N) stunted Friday debut of its astronaut capsule threatens to dent the U.S. aerospace incumbent’s self-declared competitive advantage of mission reliability against the price and innovation strengths of “new s... More »

China-Brazil satellite launched into space to monitor Amazon rainforest

BEIJING (Reuters) – An Earth observation satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil was launched into space on Friday under a bilateral programme seen as a template for broader cooperation among BRICS nations. The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite-4A ... More »

Boeing astronaut capsule faces key test on trip to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N) is set to launch its new astronaut capsule on Friday on its first unmanned journey to the International Space Station, a milestone test for the U.S. aerospace firm that is vying with SpaceX to revive NASA’s hum... More »

Emotion-sensing robot launches to assist space station astronauts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An intelligent robot equipped with emotion-sensing voice detectors was headed to the International Space Station after launching from Florida on Thursday, becoming the latest artificial intelligence-powered astronaut workmate in orbit. T... More »

NASA’s probe soaring near sun reveals surprises about solar wind

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Troves of new data from a NASA probe’s close encounters with the sun are giving scientists unique insight about the solar wind and space weather more generally as the spacecraft zooms through the outermost part of the star’s atmosphere. ... More »

Egypt to send its first communication satellite into orbit on Friday

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will launch its first communication satellite into orbit on Friday, a move it says will improve its communications infrastructure and internet services and attract investment. Tiba-1 is due to launch at 2108 GMT on one of Europe’s Arian... More »

‘Possibility of life’: scientists map Saturn’s exotic moon Titan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists on Monday unveiled the first global geological map of Saturn’s moon Titan including vast plains and dunes of frozen organic material and lakes of liquid methane, illuminating an exotic world considered a strong candidate in th... More »

Spacecom’s Amos-17 satellite completes test, reaches final orbit

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Space Communications said on Monday its Amos-17 communication satellite, which was launched into space in August, has completed its in-orbit testing and reached its final position. Spacecom has suffered some major setbacks in rec... More »

Japan space probe on its way back after asteroid mission

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese space probe is heading home from an asteroid 250 million km (155 million miles) from Earth after collecting sub-surface samples that could help scientists seeking the origins of life, Japan’s space agency said on Monday. Asteroids ... More »

Boeing received ‘unnecessary’ contract boost for astronaut capsule, watchdog says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing’s multibillion dollar contract to build U.S. astronaut capsules received an “unnecessary” extension from NASA, a watchdog report said on Thursday, the latest management blunders in the agency’s program to restart domestic human sp... More »

China completes crucial landing test for first Mars mission in 2020

HUAILAI, China (Reuters) – China on Thursday successfully completed a crucial landing test in northern Hebei province ahead of a historic unmanned exploration mission to Mars next year. China is on track to launch its Mars mission, Zhang Kejian, head of the Ch... More »

New Zealand base for methane-measuring satellite mission

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A satellite mission to measure global methane emissions from oil and gas facilities will be based in New Zealand, the government said on Wednesday, in a collaboration with a U.S. environmental group. The MethaneSAT, due to be launched in... More »

NASA probe provides insight on solar system’s border with interstellar space

(The Nov 4 story corrects speed of cosmic rays in paragraph 10.) By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The journey of NASA’s dauntless Voyager 2 spacecraft through our solar system’s farthest reaches has given scientists new insight into a poorly understood ... More »

Boeing tests space taxi, one of three parachutes does not open

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Monday that one of three parachutes failed to deploy during an otherwise successful safety test of its unmanned CST-100 Starliner crew capsule, being developed to ferry astronauts to and from the International S... More »

China launches high-res satellite able to provide stereo imagery – CCTV

BEIJING (Reuters) – China launched a new high-resolution remote sensing satellite capable of providing stereoscopic imagery on Sunday, state-run media said, marking another important step as Beijing seeks to reduce reliance on foreign technology in topographic... More »

Secretive military spaceplane lands in Florida after record-long orbital flight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon’s secretive X-37B spaceplane landed in Florida on Sunday after a record-long orbital flight lasting more than two years, the U.S. Air Force said, capping the latest test mission for an array of military technologies. The unp... More »

NASA plans to send water-hunting robot to moon surface in 2022

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA will send a golf cart-sized robot to the moon in 2022 to search for deposits of water below the surface, an effort to evaluate the vital resource ahead of a planned human return to the moon in 2024 to possibly use it for astronauts ... More »

U.S. tech firm Maxar taps startup’s software for moon mission

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – (This October 22 story has been refiled to correct headline to say software rather than robotics, first paragraph to clarify that the Olis software would run on a Maxar robotic arm, paragraphs 2 and 3 to state that the robotic arm belong... More »

China’s next commercial rockets to make test flights in 2020, 2021: Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will launch test flights for the next two space rockets in its Smart Dragon series meant for commercial use in 2020 and 2021, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, as an expected boom in satellite deployment gathers pace... More »

U.S. astronauts embark on the first all-female spacewalk

(Reuters) – Two NASA astronauts made space history on Friday, completing the first spacewalk by an all-woman team when they stepped outside the International Space Station. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir accomplished the much-anticipated milestone for NASA du... More »

Planetary ‘autopsies’ indicate worlds like Earth common in the cosmos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new way of studying planets in other solar systems – by doing sort of an autopsy on planetary wreckage devoured by a type of star called a white dwarf – is showing that rocky worlds with geochemistry similar to Earth may be quite commo... More »

NASA eyeing inflatable space lodges for moon, Mars and beyond

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – When astronauts orbit the moon or live on its surface in the decade ahead, they will probably be doing so inside inflatable space lodges now in development. Dozens of NASA officials and veteran astronauts are wrapping up a review of five ... More »

NASA unveils new spacesuit prototypes for missions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA on Tuesday showed off two new spacesuits tailored for future moonwalking astronauts, signaling development of a crucial component to the space agency’s accelerated drive to return to the moon by 2024. Two NASA engineers strutted on ... More »

Japan to participate in U.S. moon landing plan: Kyodo

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has decided to participate in a U.S. plan for putting astronauts back on the moon by 2024 and the government will officially inform the United States within this year, the Kyodo News agency reported on Thursday. The decision was made by... More »

Historic all-female spacewalk set for Friday at International Space Station

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will make history on Friday when they conduct the first ever all-female spacewalk to replace the power source on the International Space Station (ISS). The pair will exit the... More »

Interstellar interloper is a comet resembling those in our solar system

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The second interstellar object ever spotted passing through the solar system is a comet that appears quite like those formed in our neighborhood of the cosmos, providing fresh evidence that other planetary systems may be very similar to ... More »

Space firm founded by billionaire Paul Allen sold to new owner

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Stratolaunch Systems Corp, the space company founded by late billionaire and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) co-founder Paul Allen, said on Friday it was continuing operations after transitioning ownership, but did not name the new owner. The compa... More »

Alexei Leonov, first human to walk in space, dies at 85

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alexei Leonov, who became the first human to walk in space in 1965, died on Friday at the age of 85 after a long illness, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. Though less well known internationally than Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, L... More »

NASA aims for first manned SpaceX mission in first-quarter 2020

HAWTHORNE, Calif. (Reuters) – SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon astronaut capsule will be ready for its first manned flight into orbit in the first quarter of next year provided “everything goes according to plan” in upcoming tests, NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said on T... More »

Tiny walking rover bound for the moon

LONDON (Reuters) – A lunar rover which will explore the moon on foot in 2021 was unveiled in London on Thursday. The new concept, with four legs rather than wheels, will send data back to a larger mothership, which will transmit it back to Earth. UK startup Sp... More »

Saturn is the solar system’s ‘moon king,’ with 20 more spotted

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saturn is now being recognized as the “moon king” of our solar system, with astronomers spotting 20 more of them orbiting the giant ringed planet, bringing its total count to 82 – three more than Jupiter. The newly identified small moons... More »

Italian astronaut to watch World Cup match from space

TOKYO (Reuters) – Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano will be cheering on his team from space when they take on South Africa in their pivotal Rugby World Cup clash. Parmitano will be watching Friday’s Pool B match from the International Space Station as it orbits... More »

Elon Musk unveils new Mars rocket prototype, expects missions in months

(Reuters) – Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has unveiled the latest iteration of his space company’s newly assembled Starship, outlining a speedy development timeline for the centerpiece vehicle of SpaceX’s quest to launch humans to the moon and Mars. Musk ... More »

Caught in the act: a black hole rips apart an unfortunate star

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have captured a view of a colossal black hole violently ripping apart a doomed star, illustrating a extraordinary and chaotic cosmic event from beginning to end for the first time using NASA’s planet-hunting telescope. The U.S... More »

Scientists puzzled by really big planet orbiting really little star

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists are expressing surprise after discovering a solar system 30 light-years away from Earth that defies current understanding about planet formation, with a large Jupiter-like planet orbiting a diminutive star known as a red dwarf... More »

Russian spaceship with UAE astronaut blasts off into space

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – A Russian Soyuz spaceship blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan towards the International Space Station on Wednesday carrying a crew of three, including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emira... More »

Newfound comet likely an ‘interstellar visitor,’ scientists say

(Reuters) – A newly discovered comet hurtling toward the orbit of Mars has scientists scurrying to confirm whether it came from outside the solar system, a likely prospect that would make it the second such interstellar object observed in our planetary neighbo... More »

India’s moon mission locates landing craft, no communication yet

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India has located the spacecraft it was trying to land on the moon but has not been able to establish communication with it yet, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Tuesday. The lander was making a “soft” or controlled l... More »

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