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NASA announced Wednesday that cost overruns and delays have forced it to cancel a planned Moon rover it already spent $450 million to develop, marking a significant setback for the agency's lunar exploration program. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) was intended to explore the lunar south pole in search of ice and other resources, paving the way for planned crewed missions by American astronauts under the Artemis program later this decade. "Decisions like this are never easy," said Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator of the science mission directorate. "But in this case, the projected remaining expenses for VIPER...

While the “Epoch of Reionization” sounds like the title of a sci-fi novel destined for a Hugo award, this very real era of the universe featured the first light from the very first stars. Before this epoch, the universe was nothing more than a dark void filled with a fog of primordial hydrogen gas—and then, suddenly, there was light. For decades, scientists have searched for a source of radiation powerful enough to have cleared away this fog and introduced light into the universe. Now, an international team of scientists have analyzed the first faintest galaxies ...

A pair of US astronauts stuck waiting to leave the International Space Station said Wednesday they were confident that the problem-plagued Boeing Starliner they rode up on would soon bring them home, even as significant uncertainties remain. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 aboard the brand new spaceship that NASA is hoping to certify to ferry crews to-and-from the orbital outpost. They docked the following day for what was meant to be roughly a week-long stay, but their return was pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey....

In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope released images of the Pillars of Creation — stunning effervescent clouds of interstellar dust and gas, the place where stars are born. Now, combining data from Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA has released a gorgeous 3D visualization of the cosmic structures in both visible and infrared light... For example, at the top of the central pillar, viewers can see an embedded infant protostar, which is bright red when seen in infrared light. Close to the top of the left pillar is a diagonal jet of material being ejected from a newborn...

The first astronauts to fly Boeing's troubled Starliner are definitely not "stranded" at the International Space Station, NASA insisted Friday despite having no clear timeframe for bringing them home. In an unusually defensive press call, officials attempted to put a positive spin on where things currently stood after weeks of negative headlines due to the spaceship's delayed return. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 following years of delays and safety scares affecting Starliner, as well as two aborted launch attempts that came as astronauts were strapped in and ready to go. They docked the following...

On Tuesday, the WSJ reported that a lunar capsule carrying the first rock samples from the far side of the Moon had touched down on Earth, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. But, unlike the pioneering missions of the space race of decades past, this cutting-edge endeavor wasn’t masterminded by the US or Russia, but by China.Space Race 2.0China's lunar ambitions have been growing steadily since its Chang'e 1 lunar orbit mission in 2007, with NASA data revealing that the country has now made 9 missions to the Moon. But, collecting rocks is just one small step in China’s...

China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme. A re-entry capsule containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe....The mission’s lander spent two days collecting rock and soil from one of the oldest and largest craters on the moon, the 1,600-mile-wide South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin...

India's Space Research Organization has signalled its intention to build a reusable launch vehicle after a third test of an unpowered experimental precursor again nailed its landing. The precursor is called the RLV-LEX – the Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing EXperiment – and resembles NASA's retired space shuttle, Russia's Buran reusable vehicle, and the US Air Force's X-37B autonomous spaceplane. The vehicle first flew in April 2023, then again in March 2024. For its third flight, the craft was again dropped from a helicopter. This time, however, winds were stronger than on previous flights. The lander also made a 500-meter course...

Starliner's return to Earth is now delayed to June 22 or later, NASA announced Friday. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who embarked on the long-awaited Boeing Starliner mission June 5 and docked at the International Space Station the following day, will have to spend a little more time in orbit than originally planned. Both astronauts were originally set to complete a full assessment of the Starliner on board the ISS in just under a week, but the mission was lengthened due to a need to collect more information about the spacecraft. "We are continuing to understand the capabilities...

Starliner teams detected a helium leak before launch, two more after liftoff, and now a fourth and fifth leak with the vehicle docked at the ISS. Oh my. The Starliner spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Photo: NASA ************************************************************** Following an iffy docking at the International Space Station last week, Boeing managed to deliver a pair of NASA astronauts to the orbital lab. The stressful Starliner saga continues as the crew capsule developed more leaks in its service module. NASA is currently evaluating its ability to return the duo back to Earth. In an update shared on Monday, NASA revealed...

When astronomers turn our radio telescopes out towards space, we sometimes detect sporadic bursts of radio waves originating from across the vast expanse of the universe. We call them “radio transients”: some erupt only once, never to be seen again, and others flicker on and off in predictable patterns. We think most radio transients come from rotating neutron stars known as pulsars, which emit regular flashes of radio waves, like cosmic lighthouses. Typically, these neutron stars spin at incredible speeds, taking mere seconds or even a fraction of a second to complete each rotation. Recently, we discovered a radio transient...

spaceship was dramatically aborted Saturday with just minutes left on the countdown clock, yet another setback for a program that has faced years of delays. With the astronauts strapped in and ready for liftoff, the test mission to the International Space Station was unexpectedly halted due to reasons that aren't yet clear. United Launch Alliance, responsible for the Atlas V rocket that Starliner sits atop, is now investigating why an "automatic hold" was triggered by its computer with three minutes and 50 seconds to go. ULA CEO Tory Bruno told reporters that engineers were currently de-fueling the rocket to enable...

Voyager 1 is once again returning data from two of four science instruments onboard. Things are looking better for one of NASA’s longest running deep space missions. After a several-month period of problems, engineers have announced that the Voyager 1 spacecraft is not only back online but also transmitting useful data from two of four science instruments. Work is now underway to bring the remaining two instruments up to operational status. Problems began last November, when Voyager 1 suddenly began sending a repeating gibberish signal instead of the science and engineering data it typically sends. Troubleshooting on the 46-year-old spacecraft...

China’s top-secret spaceplane has released a mysterious object into Earth’s orbit just 372 miles above the surface. The US Space Force is monitoring the situation, but the purpose of the object ejected on May 24 is unknown. A Harvard astrophysicist first spotted the object, speculating it could be a subsatellite deployment, or a piece of hardware ejected before the spaceplane ends its mission and deorbits.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)on Monday launched the Neo Space Group to work on the kingdom's nascent satellite and space industry, its first investment in the sector. One of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, the PIF has already invested heavily in sports, gaming and so-called Saudi giga-projects including Neom, a $500-billion futuristic megacity under construction in the desert. ... Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, Saudi Arabia has sought both to open up and diversify its oil-reliant economy. ...

Boeing is set to launch its first crewed space mission in June without fixing a small helium gas leak on its troubled Starliner spaceship, officials said Friday. The vessel, under development since 2010, has been plagued by technical problems and has yet to fulfill its purpose of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station, allowing Boeing's rival SpaceX to zoom ahead with its Crew Dragon capsule. Starliner was supposed to finally fly astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the orbital outpost on May 6, but the mission was scrubbed hours before lift-off after a faulty valve was discovered on...

Boeing's Starliner flight to the International Space Station was delayed again due to a helium leak. NASA, Boeing and the United Launch Alliance said in a statemen Tuesday that the launch date will now come no earlier than Tuesday at 4:43 p.m. EDT. "Starliner teams are working to resolve a small helium leak detected in the spacecraft's service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster. Helium is used in spacecraft thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire and is not combustible or toxic," they said. Boeing's statement said that it is working with NASA...

"This was a powerful blast - More info to come on what sort of impact we should expect here on earth! This marks the 4th X-flare since May 3rd (X1.6, X1.2, X1.2, X4.5), making AR3663 the most active sunspot of Solar Cycle 25 so far."

The first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spaceship was dramatically called off just two hours before launch after a new safety issue was identified, officials said Monday, pushing back a high-stakes test mission to the International Space Station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped into their seats preparing for liftoff when the call for a "scrub" came, because engineers noticed audible buzzing from a liquid oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket meant to propel the capsule into orbit. In a late night press conference, Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) that built...

Scientists have calculated the rotational speed of asteroid 2024 BX1, which exploded over Berlin earlier this year, by letting it trail in images of the sky. It turns out, 2024 BX1 was spinning faster than any other near-Earth object ever seen...The space rock, dubbed 2024 BX1, turned into a fireball and exploded over Berlin in the early hours of Jan. 21. Although small asteroids on collision courses with Earth are typically detected only when they crash into the atmosphere, scientists spotted this one roughly three hours before impact.That's not the only way 2024 BX1 was unusual, according to a paper...