Space exploration, astronomy & astrophotography news
In the darkness between galaxies, astronomers have long searched for a living fossil — a galaxy so chemically primitive that its stars must be among the first that ever formed. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, an international team led by Kimihiko Nakajima at Kanazawa University has found one. […]
SpaceX Starfall: FAA Documents Reveal Plans for Reentry Vehicles to Enable Orbital Manufacturing The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has published a Final Environmental Assessment and Record of Decision clearing SpaceX to test a new class of reentry vehicles under a closely guarded program called Starfall — a project that could unlock the long-promised commercial potential […]
China Surprise-Launches Reusable Long March 12B Rocket, Debuts with Qianfan Constellation Satellites China conducted the surprise maiden launch of its new reusable Long March 12B rocket on Monday, delivering operational broadband satellites to orbit with no advance warning — a move that underscores the rapid acceleration of China’s commercial space capabilities. The rocket lifted off […]
China’s Shenzhou 21 Crew Returns to Earth After Record-Breaking 210-Day Mission Three astronauts — including the most spacewalked Chinese astronaut ever — touched down in Inner Mongolia on May 29 in a dramatic end to a mission that involved spacecraft swaps, orbital emergency response, and a raft of pioneering science experiments aboard the China Space […]
The eye of the new cosmos: A retrospective on the James Webb Space Telescope’s record-breaking five years On Christmas Day 2021, a rocket rose from Kourou in French Guiana carrying a folded-up observatory on a journey to the edge of the Earth-Sun system. Five years and roughly $10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope […]
SpaceX Starship V3 debuts with mixed results: Ship splashes down, booster lost SpaceX’s highly anticipated Starship Version 3 — the most powerful iteration of the world’s largest rocket — completed its debut flight on May 22, delivering a split verdict: the upper stage successfully reached space and splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned, […]
