September 2026

Cornell Lightsail Experiment Paves the Way for Interstellar Missions

Students in Cornell’s Space Systems Design Studio have published results from two lightsail experiments (Alpha CubeSat and Sailing…

Diving into an Out-of-sync Galaxy

Galaxies are like snowflakes, no two exactly alike, even the spirals.

Hydrogen's distant glow opens new way to investigate dark energy

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) has shown for the first time that it can detect the…

October’s Night Sky Notes: Spooky Stargazing

The Ghoul Located within the constellation Perseus lies a star called Algol, also known as ‘Demon Star’ or…

Boeing "incredibly excited" to serve as nation's only astronaut transportation

"We couldn't provide detailed pricing to the CLD suppliers."

NASA, Boeing outline Starliner’s return path to ISS crew rotations

NASA and Boeing have laid out a revised path for Starliner that puts an uncrewed… The post NASA…

Meteor hit Oklahoma 100 million years later than previously thought

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have rewritten a small part of Oklahoma's geologic history with…

Starliner Targets Uncrewed Flight NET December, Crewed Follow Up in 2028

NASA and Boeing officials announced Monday that they have upgraded and redesigned Starliner following a dicey crewed test…

Starship returns to Earth; rocket splashes down north of Hawaii after three-hour flight

The Super Heavy first stage booster, generating some 16 million pounds of thrust — twice the power of…

SpaceX's Starship Rocket Does Its Job During First Orbital Flight

SpaceX sent its Starship super-rocket on its first orbital flight — a shorter-than-planned test mission that put operational…

NASA, Boeing Share Update on Commercial Starliner Development Plans

On Monday, NASA and Boeing provided an update on the company’s Starliner spacecraft, including adding additional crew missions…

NASA Armstrong Celebrates 80 Years of Flight Innovation

On Sept. 30, 1946, five National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) engineers arrived at Muroc Army Airfield in…

Testing tiny telescope robots reveals design changes that could improve galaxy maps

Astronomers have cataloged billions of stars and hundreds of billions of galaxies.

Mars Has a Warm Region Inside

Something deep inside Mars has scientists looking for clues to its internal evolution.

Advanced Health Research Begins Week as Station Awaits Crew-13 Mission

Expedition 75 began the week scanning veins, checking out space workout gear, and testing specialized suits to ease…

Starship Achieves Orbit for the First Time

The flight did not go exactly as planned, but SpaceX’s Starship Integrated Flight Test-14 did make it into…

NASA Highlights Lessons Learned From Swift Boost Mission

A commercial mission to boost NASA’s Swift observatory concluded without raising the spacecraft’s orbit, but the agency and…

Scientists find lunar 'magnetic fossil' in Chang'e-6 samples

The moon no longer has a global magnetic field, but lunar rocks and soils still contain records of…

When It Comes To Burping Jets, Supermassive Black Holes and Stellar-Mass Black Holes Have The Same Table Manners

Both stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes can produce ionized jets streaming from their poles.

NASA Celebrates as Artemis Accords Surpasses 75 Signatories

Marking a significant expansion in the number of signatories to the Artemis Accords, NASA welcomed Albania, Croatia, Côte…

Meet NASA’s Artemis II Crew During Houston Public Event

Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated on Sept. 28, 2026, with ticketing information for the public.

How the Infant Universe Got Its First Heavy Elements

Way back in the earliest epochs of the Universe, the Big Bang was followed by a period called…

What You Need to Know About NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission

Four crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13…

The large robotic arm on the International Space Station has stopped working

NASA isn't saying much. The problem may be temporary.

NASA, for the time being, is unable to move the space station's large robotic arm

NASA isn't saying much. The problem may be temporary.

Piercing Through the Haze: Characterizing Titan-Like Terrestrial Exoplanets with JWST

L. C. Mayorga et al 2026 AJ 172 87 Analysis of Cassini spectra of Titan suggests that JWST…

Researchers See Gas Swirling Around a Growing Baby Planet

New radio observations provide the best view yet of the WISPIT 2 planetary system, revealing spiral wakes driven…

Space Station View of Earth at Night

This nighttime view of the United States, dotted with city lights looking toward New York City (center), was…

Successful Earth flyby improves Juice’s course to Jupiter

The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ( Juice ) skimmed the very outer edge of Earth’s…

Space is everyone’s business: Economist Enterprise’s 4th annual Space Economy Summit returns to Orlando

ORLANDO, FL — September 28th, 2026 — Space is rapidly becoming a practical business tool for industries far…

NASA ORBIT Challenge 2027

The NASA ORBIT (Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology for the Workforce) Challenge invites university and community…

Jill Tarter 100th

Tarter: To figure out how to find life beyond Earth, we need to put life on Earth into…

NASA tests dual mode propulsion CubeSat ahead of launch

Spacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission rolled out to the launch…

Starship Reaches Orbit on 14th Test Flight

After reaching orbit, Starship deployed 26 V3 Starlink sats over about 30 minutes using its ‘Pez dispenser’ system.

Did space weather delay a train in 1841?

It would have been the earliest example of space weather impacting human technology, but an international team of…

A tiny stellar system may be a 'satellite of a satellite'

Astronomers using data from the Euclid space telescope have discovered an exceptionally faint stellar system near the Fornax…

2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases

The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and…

UK Creates Space Effects Squadron to Protect Its Satellites

The United Kingdom has established a new specialised unit within the Royal Air Force to counter hostile threats…

SpaceX's supersized Starship launches toward orbit for the first time

SpaceX launched its enormous Starship toward orbit for the first time Monday, aiming for six full laps around…

History of the Scale of the Universe Debate

Contractor to Civil Servant: NASA Welcomes Kristie Foster

Kristie Foster paved her road to becoming a NASA civil servant with literal miles of dedication.

Sept. 28, 1969: The Murchison Meteorite explodes over Australia

At 10:58 AM on Sept. 28, 1969, residents of the small Australian farming community of Murchison, Victoria, heard…

Exclusive: Meridian Space Spins Out from SpinLaunch

“Meridian will carry forward the satcom infrastructure business… SpinLaunch will continue to build on its vision for a…

ESA And JAXA's Planetary Defense Mission Powers On For The First Time

There’s a once-in-a-millennia astronomical opportunity coming up in about three years, and space agencies are rushing to make…

Blood tests reveal why astronauts get constipated in space

Spaceflight may dramatically change the gut within weeks, causing bacteria to break down more protein as food moves…

Star Catcher’s Orbital Power-Beaming Demo is Ready for Launch

Star Catcher announced today that its prototype power node is prepped and ready for launch NET Oct. 1.

One geology step closer to the Moon

As we prepare to return to the Moon, Europe’s leading geology training for astronauts PANGAEA celebrates its 10th…

James Webb reveals why planet formation is a race against time

JWST has revealed that young planetary systems lose their planet-building gas through a changing mix of powerful jets…

Agile Space Industries Expands Leadership Structure to Support Next Phase of Growth

DURANGO, Colo., Sept. 28, 2026 – Agile Space Industries today announced that Jason Wright will join the company…

The Komodo dragon is the world’s largest living lizard

The Komodo dragon is the world’s largest lizard. It's a venomous predator that can hunt, swim between islands…

Why the World’s Biggest Radio Telescope Had to Tweak Nature’s Perfect Sunflower Spiral

Scientists love taking inspiration from nature. The evolutionary processes that have created such a diverse panoply of life…

APOD: 2026 September 28 – Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 28 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Harlow Shapley Project

AI/ML STIG Lecture Series, 28 Sept 2026

Hands-On Session II: Agentic Coding and Research Tools. Speaker: Serat Saad, The Ohio State University

IR STIG PRIMA Seminar, 28 Sept 2026

Time Domain in the Thermal Infrared: NEOWISE, NEO Surveyor, and the Hunt for Hazardous Asteroids.

Galaxies SIG Seminar, 6 Oct 2026

A Galaxy Doesn’t Forget: Why You Should Trust Your Resolved SFHs from Photometric Observations.

TDAMM SIG Seminar, 22 October 2026

The UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX). Speakers: Dan Weisz (UCB) and Suvi Gezari (UMD)

Astronomy’s Great Remembrance

Visible planets and night sky guide late September and October

Visible planets and night sky guide. Tonight, look for the bright waning gibbous moon near planet Saturn and…

Reliable Robots: Meet Johnson’s Dexterous Robotics Team

The idea of humans and robots working side-by-side in space was once the stuff of science fiction, but…

PhysPAG Community Meeting, 28 Sept 2026

Join us for a PhysPAG Town Hall to discuss the results of the Ad ASTRA workshop.

A 1,000°C Lunar Microreactor Could Power the Next Era of Moon Bases

As humanity continues to move towards a permanent settlement on the Moon, we still have at least one…

Sun news: Fast solar wind fades, quiet sun returns

Sun news September 28, 2026: The coronal hole stream has faded, and the sun stayed quiet with only…

The Sky Today on Monday, September 28: Open cluster M39 shines

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

Uncovering the Valleys Hidden Below Greenland’s Ice

A new map of the terrain beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet links hundreds of valleys that previous maps…

Is the universe infinite? The answer gets weird fast

Measurements of ancient light from the cosmic microwave background suggest that the universe is remarkably flat.

Astronomy Picture of the Day in the Classroom

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is being used as an educational resource in classrooms from elementary school…

100th Anniversary of the Shapley – Curtis Great Debate

1920: Scale of the Universe Debate History & brief summaries: About the 1920 Greate Debate | Wikipedia |…

RJN’s More Digits of Irrational Numbers Page

All digits accessible here were computed by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell on a VMS Alpha.

Astronomy Picture of the Day’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What does APOD stand for? A1: APOD stands for the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Glossary of Commonly Used Terms and Abbreviations in the 100th Anniversary Debate

biosignature: A biological marker of life. For example, DNA. Drake Equation: A simple equation used to estimate the…

Jessie Christiansen

Charles Cockell

Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ

Astronomers Couldn't Explain This Ancient Star's Chemistry. A Lab Experiment Just Did.

Everything from the gold in your smart phone to the calcium in your bones was originally created in…

The Solar System’s First Planets Were Made of Fire, Not Ice

The early stages of the solar system remain shrouded in mystery.

Launch preview: SpaceX to launch first Starlink V3 satellites to orbit on Starship

The first planned orbital flight of a Starship-Super Heavy rocket aims to send 26 Starlink Version 3 into…

What’s Happening in Space Policy September 27-October 3, 2026

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 27-October 3, 2026 and any…

Starship Flight 14: SpaceX Attempts Orbit

After more than a decade of development in many forms, SpaceX’s Starship is slated to… The post Starship…

Astronomers discover a radio galaxy with evidence of four separate jet outbursts

Astronomers have identified what may be the first example of a new class of radio galaxy, one whose…

Sept. 27, 1918: The birth of Martin Ryle

Born Sept. 27, 1918, and educated at Bradfield College and Oxford University in the U.K.

JUICE mission to fly by Earth Monday: Details here

The JUICE mission will perform a flyby of Earth next week on September 28.

A black hole jet is aimed at us … and it’s in our galaxy

For the first time, scientists have discovered a microblazar, a black hole system in our own galaxy with…

Watch for the daytime moon after sunrise this week

Watch for the beautiful daytime moon this week, a pale orb floating against a blue sky in the…

The Sky Today on Sunday, September 27: Catch Saturn’s satellites

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

JWST Finds Dynamic Structural Evolution in Chariklo’s Rings

When we think of asteroids, we often think of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that…

APOD: 2026 September 27 – Andromeda Before and After Photoshop

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 27 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

ELISA MABL

AVATAR-Org1

MVP-Plant-02

Carbon Rocks Deep Underground Could Hold the Evidence of Mars' Watery Past.

A new geochemical modeling study led by researchers at JAXA and the University of Tokyo addresses Mars' "missing"…

Black hole jets reach far beyond galaxies' visible edges, potentially deciding their fate

Galaxies are enormous and hold hundreds of billions of stars. These stars form from cold, dense gas.

The September full Moon is the Harvest Moon near Saturn

The September full moon - the Super Harvest Moon - happens overnight on September 26, 2026.

Next crew bound for the space station arrive in Florida

The three astronauts and one cosmonaut will spend roughly six months onboard the International Space Station.

Engineers teach spacecraft to 'dream' their way to the space station

Docking with the ISS may seem simple. However, actually doing so shows how difficult orbital mechanics can be.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Lands at NASA Kennedy

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey…

KMT-2023-BLG-1118L

TOI-426

KMT-2023-BLG-1810L

KMT-2023-BLG-0084L

A real-time look inside spacecraft heat shields during extreme heat conditions

When a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic velocities, its protective heat shield faces extreme conditions, including temperatures…

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 On Way to Kennedy

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 crew members are on their way to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare…

Two astronauts who flew farther than anyone before are taking new NASA roles

Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning to emeritus status at NASA after their historic…

Sept. 26, 2005: Cassini visits Saturn’s weirdest moon

Resembling a lumpy chunk of coral floating through space, Hyperion is one of the weirdest moons not just…

The Sky Today on Saturday, September 26: The Harvest Moon

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

APOD: 2026 September 26 – Mirrored Meteor and Milky Way

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 26 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Flight 14 approaches as a near-term manifest sketches Starship’s next steps

With Flight 14 being Starship’s first intended orbital mission, a near-term manifest is already pointing… The post Flight…

The secret to growing food on Mars could be fungi

Scientists think beneficial fungi could help transform nutrient-poor lunar and Martian regolith into a material capable of supporting…

Circling the Black Hole at the Photon Sphere

You currently sit at the black hole’s photon sphere, where light can travel endlessly in a circle due…

NASA, Boeing to Provide Update on Starliner Development

During a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28, NASA and Boeing leadership will discuss…

Approaching the Photon Sphere

As before, from this orientation, the black hole’s enormous gravity bends light to make two discernible images of…

Looking Up at the Photon Sphere

The first frame is dark as you peer into the black hole itself.

Circling the Black Hole

The first frame shows a background sky highly distorted by the black hole in the center.

Two More NASA Balloons Remain for Fall Campaign

NASA’s Balloon Program is past the halfway point for the fall campaign in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Approaching the Black Hole

The first frame depicts the observer in empty space looking toward the constellation Orion.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Set for Saturday Arrival at NASA Kennedy

The crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew‑13 mission are set to touch down at the agency’s Kennedy Space…

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches classified mission for U.S. Space Force from West Coast

Liftoff of the USSF-385 mission atop a Falcon 9 is scheduled for 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m.

The Nature of the Universe Great Debate in 1998: Program

The Nature of the Universe Debate:Cosmology Solved? Peebles – Turner Baird AuditoriumThe Smithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of Natural History…

NASA’s Swift Powers On Third Instrument, Restarts Automated Slewing

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has resumed use of its third science instrument and automatically repointing to examine…

The Nature of the Universe Great Debate in 1998

Debate Proceedings Six published papers from the 1998 debate appeared in the 1999 March issue of the Publications…

NASA Welcomes San Marino Signing the Artemis Accords

The Republic of San Marino became the 76th signatory to the Artemis Accords during a ceremony in the…

Edwin Powell Hubble, Biographical Memoirs

EDWIN POWELL HUBBLE November 20, 1889-September 28, 1953 from an article by N.U.

NASA Tests Dual Mode Propulsion CubeSat Ahead of Launch

Spacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space.

Edwin Hubble 1889-1953

THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA JOURNAL DE LA SOCIÉTÉ ROYALE D ASTRONOMIE DU CANADA…

THE LARGE RADIAL VELOCITY OF NGC 7619

From the Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVolume 15 : March 15, 1929 : Number 3 THE…

KMT-2023-BLG-1118L b

KMT-2023-BLG-1118L b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a -type star. Its mass is 0.

An overlooked era of cosmology is stealing the show in the quest to understand the cosmos

Could you imagine if pagers made a comeback? Sure, your smartphone would still be your notepad-flashlight-camera-personal assistant-MP3 player-wallet-social…

NASA, SpaceX Proceed Toward Crew-13 Launch

NASA, SpaceX, and international partners polled “go” to continue preparing for the agency’s Crew‑13 launch to the International…

Astronomers Find a Sub-Neptune Orbiting Completely Backward Around a Red Dwarf

In our own solar system, all eight planets orbit our Sun in a nice, orderly fashion.

Station Gets Ready for SpaceX Crew Swap During Health Research

Four Expedition 75 crew members are nearing the end of their stay aboard the International Space Station and…

Great news from Saturn's moon Enceladus in the search for life in space

What are the chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system? Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary…

Stellar Pulsations Suggest Habitable-Zone Planet Around a Massive Star

Researchers use stellar pulsations to detect substellar companions around A-type stars — including what could be a first-of-its-kind…

2026-2027 DWU: Middle School Design Challenge

2026-2027 DWU: Middle School Design Challenge Overview The 2026-2027 challenge theme is, “Fueling Flight Design Challenge: New Energy…

Testing an antenna layout for the SKA-Low telescope

SKA-Low is a radio telescope under construction in Western Australia. It will operate across a wide frequency range…

2026-2027 DWU: High School Engineering Challenge

2026-2027 DWU: High School Engineering Challenge Challenge Materials Overview The 2026-2027 challenge theme is, “Fueling Flight Design Challenge…

Webb detects ammonia and unexpected chill on a distant giant planet

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of astronomers led by the University of Maryland identified…

Private spacecraft falls back to Earth after failing to rescue aging NASA telescope

The robotic spacecraft that failed to rescue an aging NASA telescope plunged back to Earth on Friday less…

NASA, Northrop Grumman Complete Cygnus XL Space Station Reboost

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft today fired its thrusters for XX mins, XX seconds boosting the International Space…

JADES: A Prominent Galaxy Overdensity Candidate Within the First 500 Myr

Zihao Wu et al 2026 ApJ 1006 18 A concentration of galaxies four times denser than expected provides…

The Scale of the Universe Great Debate in 1996: Program

Tammann – van den Bergth Baird AuditoriumThe Smithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of Natural History 21 April 1996 Debate Program…

Hubble Spots Chaotic Secret in Galaxy

A chaotic secret hides within this seemingly serene image of spiral galaxy NGC 4698 taken by NASA’s Hubble…

‘Diamond Jubilee’ Short Bibliography

‘Diamond Jubilee’ Short Bibliography This is a extremely short, very subjective list of papers on gamma-ray bursts, including…

After seven years, a spacecraft company is releasing its Otters into the wild

"There is always a tension that comes with seeing the first of anything fly."

Diamond Jubilee Debate Glossary

Glossary BATSE: Acronym for Burst and Transient Source Experiment on board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory.

NASA’s Roman Team Confirms Ground Stations Receiving Data

NASA has now confirmed all ground stations supporting the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope are ready to…

A Brief History of the Discovery of Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts

Draft April 17, 1995 – J.Bonnell In October of 1963 the US Air Force launched the first in…

TB 26-07 Aluminum Alloy 2219 Material Guidance

For more information, contact Donald S. Parker, Kennedy Space Center, donald.s.parker@nasa.

Amoebas and anniversaries

A new crater on the Moon, super-hot amoebas, and Hubble marks an orbital milestone as well as one…

What is the Harvest Moon effect?

The Full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox hides an added bonus: more moonlight for your money.

Week in images: 21-25 Sep 2026

Week in images: 21-25 Sep 2026

Sept. 25, 1644: The birth of Ole Roemer

On Sept. 25, 1644, Ole Roemer was born in Aarhus, Denmark. Beginning in 1662, he studied at the…

Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice Predicts More M&A Deals on the Horizon

Iridium shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the company’s acquisition by Rocket Lab.

FUSE Grows Its Space Portfolio

When FUSE was founded in 2020, the goal was to bring the Bay Area VC experience to software…

Three Earth Explorer candidates go forward

Hurricane Nolo strengthening near Hawaii

Hurricane Nolo is strengthening south of Hawaii, and could bring potentially catastrophic flooding to the Big Island through…

The Artemis Accords are rules for a new moon era

The Artemis Accords are a set of guidelines for peaceful space exploration.

Cosmic Origins Second Early Career Workshop, Oct 2026

Cosmic Origins Second Early Career Workshop. 20-22 October 2026

Neptune at opposition on September 26, 2026

Neptune at opposition -- when it's opposite the sun on the sky's dome -- comes on September 26…

TDAMM SIG Seminar, 22 Oct 2026

The UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX). Speakers: Dan Weisz (UCB) and Suvi Gezari (UMD)

Is there enough water on the moon for future cities?

Is there enough water on the moon for future cities? New estimates say there could be enough for…

Rocket Report: Era of cheap launch is over? Astra sets early 2027. target for return

"The customer got comfortable with a high reliability and a low price."

Seeing Saturn’s rings: Top tips for beginners

If you want to see Saturn's rings, late September and early October 2026 is a great time to…

ESA and the EU partner with Museo Galileo on new exhibition

The European Space Agency (ESA), Italy’s Museo Galileo - Institute and Museum of the History of Science, and…

Earth from Space: Venetian Lagoon

Image: This image of the Venetian Lagoon in northern Italy was acquired by the IRIDE satellites on 17…

MIRROR robot reflects future of in-orbit assembly

Like a climber, selecting and adjusting its grip on the next hold and slowly moving across a rockface…

Callisto Reusable Rocket Demonstrator Takes Shape Ahead of 2027 Hop Test

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has completed final testing of the nose cone for the Callisto reusable rocket…

Isaacman Doubles Down on New NASA Model for International Partnerships

Isaacman is less than a year on the job, but he’s already upended the way the agency interacts…

APOD: 2026 September 25 – Globular Star Cluster Omega Centauri

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 25 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Explosive Intensification for Hurricane Polo

Several ingredients came together off the Pacific coast of Mexico to generate one of the strongest storms the…

“We found something never seen before” – A dead star is producing a shock wave that shouldn’t exist

A dead white dwarf with no detectable disk has somehow produced a powerful shock wave that appears to…

Ancient meteorites reveal a powerful force that helped build the Solar System

Ancient grains inside one of the oldest known meteorites reveal that a surprisingly strong magnetic field existed during…

US-India satellite captures time-lapse video of volcanic eruption

Like tendrils on a vine, lava spreads out from the northern crater of Krasheninnikov, a volcano pair on…

NASA announces new space telescope ‘PRIMA’ to launch in 2033

Once it goes through a confirmation review, the observatory can proceed into construction. The 5.

Coolest lava world yet with signs of an atmosphere offers clues to early Earth

In the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes sense to first look for rocky planets with an atmosphere…

Expedition 75 astronauts continue science work as Crew-13 readies for launch

AS the International Space Station continues to orbit Earth as it has for over a… The post Expedition…

Perseverance Reveals How Complex Water Systems Shaped the Jezero Crater on Early Mars

A new study reveals that Jezero Crater’s enigmatic ‘Margin Unit’ was shaped by a complex sequence of ancient…

NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-14 Assignments for Space Station Mission

Four crew members from three space agencies will launch to the International Space Station no earlier than spring…

NASA Welcomes Côte d’Ivoire as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

Côte d’Ivoire signed the Artemis Accords on Thursday as the 75th signatory during a signing ceremony in the…

NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-14 Assignments for Space Station Mission

Four crew members from three space agencies will launch to the International Space Station no earlier than spring…

NASA Small Business Subcontracting Program – Blue Origin

Blue Origin Small Business Subcontracting Program Blue Origin is building the infrastructure for sustained human presence on the…

AI/ML News

Update on NASA Foundation Model Progress: To the Moon and Beyond September 2026 – NASA’s foundation model (FM)…

NASA to study human health and performance during Crew-13 mission

During NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission aboard the International Space Station, astronauts will support a series of biomedical and…

‘Great Debate’ Glossary

Glossary Cepheid: A type of variable star used to determine distance.

Jill Tarter

Director: Center for SETI ResearchSETI Institute, 1984 – 2012Emeritus Chair for SETI Research How will humanity first discover…

Scientists spot a new crater on the Moon

Sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, a comet or asteroid roughly the height of a three…

‘Great Debate’ Lesson Plan for Undergraduates

by Robert J. Nemiroff and Jerry T. Bonnell This lesson plan is meant to be used for undergraduates…

Engineers just designed a better 'shock absorber' for spacecraft

Rocket launches are among the most violent ways humans have devised to travel.

Peter D. Ward

Professor: Biology, Earth & Space Sciences, U. WashingtonAuthor: Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe(w/D.

‘Great Debate’ Bibliographies

‘Great Debate’ Short Bibliography This is a subjective list of 5 excellent refernce works about the Great Debate…

The ‘Great Debate’: What Really Happened

by Michael A. Hoskin, Editor, Journal for the History of AstronomyFirst appeared in J. Hist. Astron.

Travel

The NSSC provides travel reimbursement services for all authorized Agency travel including: domestic, foreign, local, ETDY, and Change…

NASA Unveils Winning Designs for Mars Space Food Systems Challenge

NASA announced the winners of the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table Thursday, with the top $300,000…

Is the universe twisted? A new check on a possible twist in the universe's oldest light

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the universe's oldest light, leftover thermal radiation from about 380,000 years after…

Advanced Health Tech Research Continues to Protect Astronaut Health

Advanced health research, including ultrasound scans, blood tests, and exercise studies, using the latest technology in microgravity was…

NASA’s Machines for Mars Make Beer Bubbly

Carbon-capture technology repurposed for breweries spreads and finds new applications

Virtual Trips to Black Holes and Neutron Stars

by Robert Nemiroff (Michigan Technological University) Ever wonder what it would look like to travel to a black…

Practicing for Safe Landings on the Moon and Beyond

In this Aug. 27, 2026, image, an Alta-X drone flies an advanced guidance and navigation system known as…

Supernova or black hole: Neutrino 'flavor' may determine the fate of dying stars

As a star nears the end of its life, it faces two very different fates: It can explode…

Solar-Like Oscillations of Main-Sequence and Subgiant Stars in the TESS Field

Mengjie Li et al 2026 ApJS 285 26 Using light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)…

True or false on space industry trends with Pacôme Révillon

In this episode, SpaceNews’ Mike Gruss and Novaspace CEO Pacôme Révillon look at what to expect from the…

US-India Satellite Captures Time-lapse Video of Volcanic Eruption

Like tendrils on a vine, lava spreads out from the northern crater of Krasheninnikov, a volcano pair on…

NASA’s DAVINCI Beats Heat in Preparation for Blistering Venus Descent

An engineering model of NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) descent probe…

Astronomers capture an unprecedented view of gas giant formation in action

In recent decades, astronomers have reconstructed a fairly complete scenario for planet formation, from minute dust motes clumping…

Moog Completes ISO Class 8 Clean Room at Niagara Falls Facility to Expand Thruster Production

East Aurora, NY — Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B) announced the completion and commissioning of a new…

Swiss Engineers Just Designed a Better 'Shock Absorber' for Spacecraft

Rocket launches are some of the most violent travel methods man has ever created.

NASA chief concerned China may deny access to parts of South Pole

"If you come up short with who comes down the ladder first, the impact is felt around the…

NASA to Study Human Health, Performance During Crew-13 Mission

During NASA’s SpaceX Crew‑13 mission aboard the International Space Station, astronauts will support a series of biomedical and…

European Lunar Rover Secures Spot Aboard Blue Origin Blue Moon Mission

Belgium’s Space Applications Services has secured a ride for its LUVMI-M rover aboard a Blue Origin Blue Moon…

Starfish Space’s first Otter servicing vehicle slated for Transporter-18

Starfish Space has confirmed that its first full-scale Otter satellite servicing vehicle is complete and… The post Starfish…

Faint young stars reveal spiral galaxy Messier 74 may be twice as large as thought

Astronomers have discovered a faint population of young stars extending far beyond the known edge of the nearby…

Win a trip to ESA to witness BepiColombo arrive at Mercury

Get ready to celebrate BepiColombo ’s arrival at Mercury. Craft a welcoming message that could be a drawing…

Starfish’s First Operational Otter Heading to Orbit Next Month

During the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability, aka SSPICY, mission, Otter will approach and inspect multiple US…

New tests for rendezvous and docking interoperability

Currently, space missions are one-shot affairs: satellites are sent to orbit to do their mission until they run…

Sept. 24, 1970: Luna 16 brings back regolith

On Sept. 24, 1970, Luna 16 blazed a new trail in lunar sample collection – one traversed by…

Hubble Network Raises $200M Series C at $1.6B Valuation

The round follows a $70M Series B in September 2025, and brings Hubble’s total financing to $300M to…

Isaacman Promises ‘Artemis Acceleration’ Update Next Month

“There’s a lot of ingredients—so many ingredients—that need to come together for that landing, and we owe everybody…

The Space Solar Report

Solar has become one of the space industry’s most consequential procurement decisions.

The red planet shows strange swirls of purple and pink

Mars Express captured this view of the red planet showing it in less familiar purple, pink and blue…

“We just need to go back” – Uranus’ moon Ariel may have hidden a 100-mile-deep ocean

Ariel, one of Uranus’ moons, may once have contained a subsurface ocean more than 100 miles deep beneath…

Curiosity rover insights after 5000+ sols on Mars

Curiosity rover has now spent 5,000 sols — the equivalent to 5,000 Martian days, or more than 14…

Would a Yellowstone supervolcano eruption end humanity now?

Yellowstone has undergone 3 massive super-eruptions in the past. If the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted today, would humanity survive?…

These massive stars could explain Webb’s strangest galaxies

Hubble observations of massive stars in metal-poor dwarf galaxies are revealing clues to why the early universe looks…

Stanford Engineers Teach Spacecraft to "Dream" Their Way to the Space Station

Docking with the ISS may seem simple. However, actually doing so is a showcase in how difficult orbital…

JWST finds early galaxies were already seeding the universe with heavy elements

When the universe was still in its infancy—only 500 million years after the Big Bang, or about 3%…

Full moon names by the month and by the season

Lists of common full moon names — both by month and by season — for North America.

The Sky Today on Thursday, September 24: Blue Neptune, yellow star

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

Record participation in ESA’s Industry Space Days 2026

On 16–17 September, the European Space Agency (ESA) hosted a record 3100 visitors from Europe’s space industry for…

Why can’t I find the Big Dipper in September?

On northern autumn evenings, the famous Big Dipper lies low on - or even below - the northern…

ESA Awards RFA €2.7 Million in New Funding for SaxaVord Operations

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) a contract amendment that will provide the…

APOD: 2026 September 24 – The Ghosts of Five Supernovas

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 24 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Cloudy Cloak Over the Northwest

A low-lying cloud layer brought autumn ambience to western Washington and Oregon, while mountainous areas near the coast…

Strange Galaxies in the Early Universe Were Shaped by Weird Stars

Galaxies and their stars in the early Universe look a lot weirder than those we see today, and…

New Lunar Crater Offers Keys To Moon’s Shallow Subsurface

Asteroids which strike the Moon and create new craters offer lunar scientists a window onto the workings of…

Swift Rescue Mission May Not Have Succeeded, But No Regrets

The bold mission to extend the lifetime of NASA’s Swift observatory is coming to an end in the…

Astrophysicists use wave simulations to open a new window on dark matter

Astrophysicists from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), working with a research team led by Beijing Normal University…

Bennu asteroid samples point to a surprising origin involving Jupiter

The asteroid Bennu orbits the sun once every 1.2 years and approaches Earth every six years, passing within…

NASA Modernizes Commercial Airline Systems

NASA’s researchers know that when you settle into your seat on a commercial flight, you expect a smooth…

SpaceX stack Starship and Super Heavy for first orbital flight

The inclusion of the upper stage, tail number Ship 41, comes ahead of a probable fueling demonstration planned…

Aiming at number 9: CASPAR targets fluorine in new science run

The Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research (CASPAR) recreates conditions inside stars to study how elements are…

Ship 41 and Booster 21 complete key pre-flight test

With Booster 21 and Ship 41 stacked at the launch site as of early morning… The post Ship…

JUICE Mission to Swing by Earth on September 28

The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will return to Earth on 28 September, with flight…

NASA Welcomes Croatia as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

The Republic of Croatia became the 74th signatory to the Artemis Accords on Wednesday during a ceremony in…

Visualization as a Foundational Act of Placemaking: Future Places and Alien Worlds

Visualization research has long focused on representing places people already inhabit.

NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class

NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission…

Crew Studies Advanced Health Tech and Gears Up for Next Crew Swap

Ultrasound scans using augmented reality and artificial intelligence topped the health research schedule aboard the International Space Station…

NASA Aircraft to Make Low-Altitude Research Flights Over Colorado

Agricultural emissions represent an important and understudied part of Earth’s land and atmosphere systems.

Habitable Worlds Observatory Precursor Science Investigations (ROSES D.8)

We are seeking virtual panelists and external reviewers for Habitable Worlds Observatory Precursor Science Investigations (ROSES D.8).

NASA's Hubble seeks lensed supernova, marks 200,000 orbits

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept.

A wind-blown crescent

Aloke Palsikar, taken from Pie Town, New Mexico The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is an emission nebula about…

American Geophysical Union’s 2026 Eugene Shoemaker Lecture

Award: The American Geophysical Union’s Eugene Shoemaker Lecture is presented annually and recognizes excellence in planetary exploration.

NASA’s Hubble Telescope Reaches Milestone, Looks for Elusive Supernova

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of massive galaxy cluster MACS J0417 (left of center) on Sept.

Walking Trails

Walking Trail at the Gilruth Center Access to this trail does not require a Starport fitness membership or…

The far side of the moon provides clues to a past magnetic field

Unlike Earth, the moon no longer has a core-generated magnetic field.

Exercise keeps astronauts' hearts strong enough for flight to Mars

Intense exercise during long spaceflights helps maintain heart structure and function within a range needed to tolerate the…

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2026 Annual Minimum Extent

Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent on Sept. 12, according to NASA and the National Snow…

Former NASA chief sounds alarm on China's lunar "exploration" plans

"Beijing's intended strategy is to dominate the high ground of the twenty-first century."

Roaming black holes may tell the hidden history of galaxies

If you want to understand the origins of black holes, Yale astronomers say, you need to look beyond…

SKA may detect magnetic fields on distant exoplanets

Studying exoplanets has given astronomers insights into the characteristics that could help them find life beyond Earth.

Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN D.4 of ROSES)

We are seeking virtual panelists and external reviewers for Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN D.4 of ROSES).

Shannon Lucid’s Record-Setting Mission Aboard Mir

Shannon Lucid’s Record-Setting Mission Aboard Mir Three days before returning to Earth, Shannon W.

Sunrise III: Instrument, Mission, Data, and First Results

Sami K. Solanki et al 2026 ApJL 1005 L64 Sunrise III, a stratospheric balloon-borne solar observatory, took a…

A New Look at a Centuries-Old Solar Eclipse

Handwritten eclipse observations and sketches of solar prominences from 1733 offer researchers a rare window into a data-poor…

Ethereal Space Awarded NOAA SBEM Task Order 1

DENVER, Colorado – September 2026 – Ethereal Space, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded Task Order…

Finding light’s true nature

Light exhibits some of the strangest properties in our cosmos.

Finding light’s true nature

Light exhibits some of the strangest properties in our cosmos.

Thirty Meter Telescope rejects La Palma as alternative host site

€1bn funding package has been turned down by the Thirty Meter Telescope International Organization

FFA 2026 Hyperwall Schedule

FFA 2026 Hyperwall Schedule

Earth may have gained optimal conditions for life's chemistry 4.33 billion years ago

Conditions on early Earth may have become stable enough to sustain the chemistry associated with the origins of…

Artemis I Splashdown

Risk of Hydrazine Use Following Freeze–Thaw Exposure

For more information, contact Jonathan E. Jones, Langley Research Center, jonathan.e.jones@nasa.

Silicon solar cells could cut satellite power costs by up to 90%

Switching to modern silicon solar cells could cut the cost of powering satellites by as much as 90%…

NASA’s Hubble Seeks Lensed Supernova, Marks 200,000 Orbits

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept.

Following Neptune Through Opposition 2026

Never seen Neptune for yourself? Late September 2026 presents an ideal opportunity to cross the outermost ice giant…

Space explorers in the land of volcanoes

Image: Space explorers in the land of volcanoes

How the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will turn the sky into a dataset

Richard de Grijs looks at how the Roman Space Telescope will change astronomy forever

Vast Announces New Lunar Programs Division

Vast announced a Lunar Programs division, building on its commercial space station and satellite development work to support…

Sept. 23, 1846: Johann Galle discovers Neptune

For decades following the discovery of Uranus in 1781, astronomers were puzzled by the irregularities in the planet’s…

Exclusive: Outpost Launches In-Space Manufacturing Service

Outpost will be the first user of the Space Factory platform.

Exclusive: Astrolab, Interstellar Mapping Hunt Lunar Water

A new partnership between Astrolab and Interstellar Mapping is one giant leap for mapkind.

Apply to be a Flight Director: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions What is a flight director? Flight directors lead teams of flight controllers, astronauts, and commercial…

First stellar stream beyond the Milky Way could reveal dark matter

Astronomers have discovered the first globular cluster stellar stream beyond the Milky Way, opening a new way to…

Baby exoplanet: Astronomers find the youngest world yet

Astronomers have discovered the youngest-known exoplanet so far, Elias 2-24 b.

First switch on for ESA-JAXA Ramses asteroid mission

The European Space Agency’s and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Ramses planetary defence spacecraft has been turned on for…

Astronomers Directly Image the Youngest Exoplanet Ever

Most exoplanets we find have been around a long time. They’ve cleared out their orbital path (one of…

There are now 17,000 satellites in orbit—and growing. Should we be concerned?

"I think we are going to lose the ability to use certain orbits."

DGCE SIG Seminar, 24 Sept 2026

How the Faint Radio Sky is Changing Our Understanding of Star Formation and Galactic Outflows. Speaker: Allison Matthews

How Diffractive Solar Sails Could Stop a Killer Asteroid at 100 km/s

Asteroids don’t come with a warning label that they might one day hit Earth.

UK to launch new military space squadron to protect satellites

Britain announced Wednesday that it will launch a new military space squadron to defend the country's satellites, the…

Hurricane Polo will come ashore next week

Hurricane Polo has been churning off the coast of Mexico. But forecasters say it will come ashore early…

Neptune discovered on this date 180 years ago

Read the fascinating story of the discovery of Neptune - 180 years ago - on September 23, 1846.

Earth images from space: 13 incredible photos of our planet

Look at these Earth images from space. How does it make you feel about the planet you live…

A hitchhiker’s guide to Hera’s target asteroids

Currently speeding through deep space at 12 km/s relative to Earth, ESA’s Hera spacecraft is due to reach…

The Andromeda Galaxy: All you need to know

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest large galaxy to our Milky Way. At 2.

Rocket Factory Augsburg ‘Boost!’ extension in run-up to first launch

The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 23: Around Reiner Gamma

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

Italy to Spend Over $5 Billion to Send Two Astronauts to the Moon

According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, Italy has committed more than $5 billion to the development of a…

SKA May Detect Magnetic Fields on Distant Exoplanets

Studying exoplanets has provided astronomers with a plethora of insights regarding what characteristics need to be searched to…

APOD: 2026 September 23 – A New Lunar Crater: McGetchin

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 23 – A… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education…

Boom Year for Desert Blooms

Carpets of wildflowers burst from arid, ochre-colored land in Western Australia following winter rains.

First Diagnostic X-Rays in Space Mark New Era for Astronaut Health

A team of researchers acquired the first diagnostic X-ray images during a commercial spaceflight, demonstrating that X-ray medicine…

The Solar System chose fire over ice from the very beginning

Ancient iron meteorites reveal that some of the Solar System’s first solid bodies were built mostly from tiny…

Ship 41 rolls to Pad 2 carrying two flown tiles from Ship 40

SpaceX rolled Ship 41 to the launch site for stacking with Booster 21, and the… The post Ship…

Curiosity Blog, Sols 5010-5015: Checking out the Bands

Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, APXS Strategic Planner and Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead, University New Brunswick, NB, Canada Earth planning date: Friday…

NASA, SpaceX Move to Final Crew-13 Prelaunch Prep for Oct. 1 Liftoff

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 1, as the earliest launch opportunity for the…

Artemis I In-Flight

Between its Nov. 16 launch and Dec. 11, 2022 splashdown, the Orion spacecraft traveled from Earth to the…

SAGE III/ISS Science Team Meeting Highlights Advancements in Aerosol Products and Strong Global Partnerships in Atmospheric Research

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III on the International Space Station (ISS) ninth annual science team…

Is a nearby advanced alien civilization out there waiting to pounce on Earth? Unlikely, says new study

Science fiction suggests that life on other planets, if it exists, is likely far more advanced than life…

Risks of Decompression Sickness and Venous Thromboembolism during Spaceflight and Patent Foramen Ovale Implications

NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer formed a working group in August 2026 to review…

Earth's chorus waves show limited link to rapid electron loss from radiation belts

The Van Allen radiation belts are huge, doughnut-shaped regions of highly energetic charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetosphere.

Station Nears Upcoming Crew Swap During Biomedicine, Cargo Duties

Four Expedition 75 crewmates are preparing for their return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon next month as…

Largest dataset of its kind could clarify how massive stars shaped early galaxies

The more astronomers learn about the universe's earliest galaxies, the stranger they seem.

NASA-Funded Research Finds Complex Life Defying Record Heat

Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA-supported scientists have discovered an organism that lives at extreme temperatures previously…

NASA-Funded Research Finds Complex Life Defying Record Heat

NASA-supported scientists have discovered an organism that lives at extreme temperatures previously thought impossible for complex life.

LEGS

Lunar Exploration Ground Sites

Amendment 75: Corrections to several program elements regarding SciENcv and other topics

Information about the required SciENcv format for biographical sketch and current and pending support was expanded/improved in A.

Astronomers detect radio signals coming from an exoplanet for the first time

Exoplanets are exotic worlds orbiting distant stars far beyond our solar system.

Dynamical Implications of the Recently Detected Feature Around Quaoar and Constraints on the Presence of Additional Satellites

Gustavo Madeira et al 2026 Planet. Sci. J. 7 168 A recently identified opaque feature around the dwarf…

A Sneak Peek into Early-Universe Star Formation with Boötes I

Astrobites reports on a hunt for evidence of a universal initial mass function using JWST observations of local…

FCC to Vote on Waiving NEPA Review for Space Ops

The FCC will vote Sept. 30 on whether to narrow which commission activities face environmental review, and streamline…

How to become a variable star observer

As an astrophotographer, you might feel that you will eventually run out of targets.

NASA’s Chandra Finds Unusual Objects in Pinwheel Galaxy

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers found mysterious objects that give off unusually low-energy X-rays but intense levels…

Milky Way's first microblazar may produce fastest particles in the galaxy

An international team of astronomers from ASTRON, JIVE, the University of Amsterdam and other institutions has found the…

The tilt in Earth's axis makes the apparent position of continents shift with the seasons

Most kids learn in elementary school that the seasons are caused by Earth rotating on a tilted axis…

Massive star clusters drive galaxy evolution

Astronomers understand the basics of star formation. It starts in giant molecular clouds when an event — perhaps…

Have astronomers discovered the first moon outside of our solar system?

In a new study, astronomers detail observations of what could be the first known exosatellite — a natural…

NASA Astronaut to Answer Questions from New Hampshire Students

Students in New Hampshire will hear from NASA astronaut Anil Menon as he answers prerecorded STEM questions while…

Heliophysics Science Objectives

Heliophysics Research Strategy: Bold Science in Action NASA’s heliophysics strategic objective is to understand the Sun and its…

Cosmic Origins Community Meeting, 22 Sept 2026

Post-Ad ASTRA Community Science Workshop Update. 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET

HAPPENING TODAY: COPAG Post-ASTRA Community Meeting, 22 Sept 2026

Please join us for a post- Ad ASTRA Community Science workshop update hosted by the COPAG leadership September…

Encore: Welcome to the Dark Side

Normal matter—the kind that makes up our home planet and everything we can see—adds up to just five…

Overlap Zoo

Confirm and describe overlapping galaxy pairs to reveal interstellar dust. For anyone with an internet-connected computer.

Sept. 22, 1791: The birth of Michael Faraday

Although he was primarily known as a chemist, Michael Faraday’s research into electricity and magnetism underpin much of…

3I/ATLAS Has An Extreme Taste For Heavy Water

More and more details about 3I/ATLAS are filtering through the scientific process as time goes on.

SaxaVord Scrapped Launch Rail Plans, Forcing HyImpulse to Bring Its Own

UK-based launch facility SaxaVord Spaceport has confirmed that it abandoned plans to develop a shared suborbital launch rail…

HEO Raises $25M Series B to Fuel GEO Expansion

HEO, the Australian non-Earth-imaging startup, announced Monday it closed a $25M Series B to expand its imaging network…

TRL11 Will Build Imaging Tech for SR-1 Freedom

TRL11 has received a NASA contract to provide imaging systems for the Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom mission to…

A bubble adrift

Riccardo Maffioli from Albizzate, Varese, Italy The Soap Bubble Nebula (PN G75.5+1.

Space Rocks Carry Hundreds of Thousands of Complex Organic Molecules—and We Just Photographed Them

Scientists have known for a while that meteorites contain the “building blocks” of life - complex organic molecules…

A call to boost European space exploration

The Call sets out a shared vision for strengthening Europe's role in human and robotic space exploration and…

Third Early Career Workshop, Sept 2026

Physics of the Cosmos Third Early Career Workshop. 22-24 September 2026

AGN SIG Spotlight Series, 22 Sept 2026

Unveiling the Role of Multi-Phase AGN Outflows with MIRACLE. Speaker: Dr.

Fat Bear Week 2026: Here’s how to participate!

It's time for Fat Bear Week 2026! Vote for your favorite corpulent cutie as the brown bears of…

Are day and night equal on the equinox? Not exactly

Are day and night equal at an equinox? No. There's slightly more day than night on the day…

A strange circle on satellite maps turned out to be a 390-million-year-old impact crater

An amateur astronomer searching satellite maps for a Quebec camping spot accidentally discovered a massive ancient impact crater.

The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 22: The autumnal equinox

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

A 42-light-year X-ray tail links a pulsar to previously 'orphan' gamma rays

Understanding the origin, acceleration and propagation of high-energy cosmic rays has been a century-old mystery in astrophysics.

The LHC just ruled out another hiding place for quantum black holes

Physicists searching through Large Hadron Collider data found no evidence that the machine has been producing microscopic quantum…

APOD: 2026 September 22 – Chance Triple Alignment: Plane, Space Station, Sun

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 22 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

An Epic View of the Seasons

The tilt in Earth’s axis of rotation makes the apparent position of continents shift with the seasons in…

A Rare, Distant Clump of Early Galaxies Reveals Ancient Cosmic Secrets

The discovery of a very early and rare proto-supercluster of infant galaxies may help give clues to the…

Smashed Icy Moons Cool Too Rapidly to Retain Oceans

There are more than 450 confirmed moons orbiting the eight major planets, but only a handful of them…

Jupiter uses a surprisingly complex system to fend off particles from the sun

A University of Iowa-led research team has reported in a new study the most detailed observations to date…

Embracing the Equinox

Depending on your locale, equinoxes can be seen as harbingers of longer nights and gloomy weather, or promising…

NASA Welcomes Albania as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

The Republic of Albania signed the Artemis Accords Monday during a ceremony hosted by NASA at the agency’s…

Ways of Knowing: Heliophysics Poster Series

Poster | Grades 6-12+ | This three-poster series teaches foundational heliophysics: from solar cycles to space weather, integrated…

Student-led missions deploy free-flying light sails from CubeSats in low Earth orbit

Students in Cornell's Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS) have released mission results for two unique light-sail experiments.

Ways of Knowing: Sun, Earth, and Life Relationships Poster

Poster | Grades 6-12+ | This poster examines how solar radiation drives Earth's climate, weather systems, and the…

Hubble’s Solar System

The Hubble Space Telescope's view of the planets and other objects orbiting our Sun.

NASA Kicks Off Nationwide Effort to Prepare Tomorrow’s Space Workforce

NASA kicked off its State Hubs for Skilled Technical Workforce initiative Sept.

Launch Preview: Electron, Falcon 9, and Starship set for launches

A total of five orbital launches are scheduled this week. SpaceX will launch its Falcon… The post Launch…

Post-Ad ASTRA Workshop PhysPAG Community Meeting 28 Sept 2026

Join us for a PhysPAG community meeting to discuss the results of the Ad ASTRA workshop held 1-3…

Reminder: Third Early Career Workshop, 22-24 Sept 2026

The Third Early Career Workshop organized by the PhysCOS Program and its associated Program Analysis Group (PhysPAG) Executive…

Early Mars rocks reveal at least three separate water episodes

When NASA's Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars' Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were…

Earth's center of mass drifts less than we thought

Where is Earth's center of mass? The answer seems trivially obvious.

Perseverance’s View of ‘Turquoise Bay’

Description NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of “Turquoise Bay,” a…

Crew Biology Research, Spacecraft Cargo Jobs Kick Off Week on Station

A variety of human research encompassing body measurements, exercise monitoring, and breath rate recording kicked off the week…

Solar Orbiter catches the sun's missing high-speed vibrations

The sun's magnetic fields are a twisty, curvy, ever-changing mess. In particular, our star's polar regions host areas…

China targets two launches as SpaceX takes It easy

Rocket launches this week On Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, the China Aerospace Science and Technology…

National Academies CAA Fall Meeting, 22-24 Sept 2026

The National Academies Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA) will be holding its fall meeting virtually, on 22-24…

NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman Attends Ravens vs. Saints Game

NASA astronaut and commander of the agency’s Artemis II mission, Reid Wiseman, a Baltimore native, takes a selfie…

SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster arrives at pad ahead of first orbital Starship launch

The first planned orbital Starship mission is scheduled for launch from Starbase in Texas as soon as Sept.

Exolaunch, Space Cargo book Starship Starfall missions

SpaceX’s disk-shaped Starfall reentry capsule, first flown on Falcon 9 in June, now has two… The post Exolaunch…

NASA Discovery Reveals Complex Water Systems on Early Mars

When NASA’s Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were…

About CSDA

About the CSDA Program NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) established the Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program to…

Nexus Core Computing

Nexus Compute provides cutting-edge supercomputing capabilities to power Earth system modeling innovation and accelerate scientific discovery.

Superdense neutron star caught feeding on a blue hypergiant's stellar wind

Using data from the Japan–led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory, astronomers have directly observed a giant…

Featured Image: Evolution of a Cosmic Crab

See the famous Crab Nebula in a whole new way: researchers have mapped the 3D kinematic structure of…

Dust Grain Chemistry in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium Toward the Black Hole Transient GX 339–4

I. Psaradaki et al 2026 ApJ 1005 53 X-ray absorption observations toward a black hole transient reveal the…

By any other name: NGC 1269 or NGC 1291?

The galaxy you see here has an identity crisis. Scottish astronomer James Dunlop discovered it in 1826, and…

Scientists Release Details About Moon's New Massive Crater

It's easy to think of the Moon as the static constant companion in the night sky.

A 'rebellious' exoplanet orbits in the opposite direction of its star

A star and its planets form when a cloud of gas and dust collapses in on itself somewhere…

Commercial Space Federation (CSF) Welcomes Two New Members

September 21, 2026— Washington, D.C.—The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is pleased to welcome ORBITInsure and Renaissance Strategic Advisors…

Earth's Center of Mass Drifts Less Than We Thought

Earth's center of mass isn't stationary. It drifts seasonally and over the course of years.

Solar Orbiter Catches the Sun’s Missing High-Speed Vibrations

The Sun’s magnetic fields are a twisty, curvy, ever changing mess. In particular, our star’s polar regions host…

The Red Planet has a purple side

Oxidized iron dominates the Martian color palette. The dusty reds, ochers, browns and tans give the planet its…

Pikachu in the Cupola

Image: Pikachu in the Cupola

ESA x TPCI - Pikachu in the Cupola

From the ESA Blogs.

Juice to fly past Earth for third gravity assist

The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ( Juice ) will return to Earth on 28 September…

Announcing our new STEP Grant winners: A Solar System shadow-tracker, a new telescope tool, and an asteroid database

Three groups of scientists will receive crowdfunded support to further the scientific exploration of space.

Researchers measure the environment where the first supermassive black holes formed

When the James Webb Space Telescope pointed its powerful instruments toward the early universe, scientists were surprised by…

Black holes of every size follow the same surprising rule

Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the…

Einstein’s equivalence principle put to two new tests

The theory of general relativity still holds, according to new space-based and laboratory experiments

Sept. 21, 1974: Mariner 10 flies by Mercury

On Sept. 21, 1974, the Mariner 10 spacecraft made its second flyby of Mercury, passing by the surface…

Could aliens spot Earth with the same planet-hunting techniques we use?

Using the same planet-hunting techniques as Earth astronomers, would inhabitants of a planet hundreds of light-years away be…

Widely Attended Gatherings (WAGs) Determinations

2026 NAHF Enshrinement Ceremony 9.24.26.pdf An Evening with the Stars EWTS 9.16.26.pdf Maryland Space Business Roundtable 9.9.

InnerPlant’s Glowing Soy Demos Hyperspectral Use Case

InnerPlant, which was founded in 2018, has enabled plants to let humans know when they’re under stress.

Exclusive: Exolaunch Books its first Starfall Mission

Exolaunch signed an agreement to support customer payloads on a SpaceX Starfall reentry mission scheduled to launch on…

NASA just powered up Roman’s massive 300-megapixel camera

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has successfully activated its 300-megapixel infrared camera, which will capture enormous stretches of the…

The Lunar Economy Could Be Worth $566B by 2050. First, We Have to Build It.

The return to the Moon is an infrastructure story, and Deloitte has created numbers to back it up.

Johnson Space Center Sparks Curiosity at Houston’s 33rd Annual Japan Festival

On Sept. 12-13, NASA’s Johnson Space Center employees brought the excitement and wonder of space exploration to Houston’s…

Astronomers Uncover "Hypersoft" X-ray Sources

X-rays showcase some of the most unique astronomical objects in the universe.

ESA brings public and private capital together to accelerate Europe’s space economy

Paris, 18 September 2026 – Access to appropriate finance is becoming a strategic enabler of Europe’s space ambitions.

ESA and ISRO extend and broaden cooperation agreement

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have signed an exchange of letters…

ESA Acknowledges Ariane 6 Delays Following Reports of Turbopump Issue

The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed that it is aware of delays affecting the Ariane 6 launch…

The Sky Today on Monday, September 21: Saturn passes a field star

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

Proton–oxygen collisions put cosmic-ray models to the test

CERN’s ATLAS experiment probes the extreme universe

APOD: 2026 September 21 – Cocoon Nebula Wide Field

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 21 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Arctic Melt Season Length Levels Off

While the sea ice melt season has lengthened dramatically in most of the satellite era, the trend unexpectedly…

DIU and SSC Announce Joint GHOST-R Mission

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We have long known that the Sun is active. It “flares” quite often, sending huge amounts of energy…

LRO discovers large new lunar crater, finds interesting thermal emission phenomenon

Using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a team of scientists has discovered the largest, newly formed… The post LRO…

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 20-26, 2026 and any insight…

Venus ate its moon: How Earth's 'twin' could have swallowed a rocky satellite

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To understand the solar cycle, notice how the sun sleeps

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Sept. 20, 2016: Spotting a supernova shock breakout

On Sept. 20, 2016, Victor Buso was testing a new camera in his rooftop observatory.

6th batch of Pentagon UAP files: Air Force talk and more

The 6th batch of the Pentagon UAP files has just been released. Read about a U.S.

Scientists opened a sealed envelope after 10 years. Gravity still didn’t make sense

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The Sky Today on Sunday, September 20: Juno’s movement

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The equinox sun rises due east and sets due west

The 2026 September equinox occurs at 00:05 UTC on September 23, 2026.

APOD: 2026 September 20 – Analemma over the Callanish Stones

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 20 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

MIT Research Could Lead to Refueling Depots on Mars

MIT PhD candidate Lanie McKinney is developing technology to convert the chemicals in the Martian atmosphere into propellant…

Researchers Measure the Environment Where the First Supermassive Black Holes Formed

Scientists theorize that the rapid emergence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early Universe can be explained…

Russian Progress cargo ship arrives at International Space Station

The Progress M-25 docked at the space-facing port of Russia’s Poisk module at 9:44 a.m.

SpaceX launches 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 6:47 p.m. PDT (9:47 p.m.

Progress 96 Cargo Spacecraft Docks to Station to Resupply Crew

The Roscosmos Progress 96 spacecraft docked to the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Poisk module at…

Progress 96 Cargo Spacecraft Approaching Station for Docking

NASA is streaming live rendezvous and docking coverage as the Roscosmos Progress 96 cargo spacecraft makes its way…

Sept. 19, 1959: A SETI kickstart

On Sept. 19, 1959, the paper “Searching for Interstellar Communications” was published.

Scientists discover a new tiger cat hiding in plain sight

Scientists studying the tiger cat have found 5 distinct species, revealing more diversity among these familiar-looking wild cats…

A giant crater may reveal the origin of Mars’ doomed moon

A massive crater on Mars’ moon Phobos may hide a dense region of compressed material that could reveal…

International Observe the Moon Night 2026 is tonight

International Observe the Moon Night is September 19, 2026. It's a global event for celebrating the moon.

Scientists simulate cosmic crashes to test whether icy moons gain or lose their ability to sustain life

Many of the moons orbiting Saturn, Uranus and Neptune likely conceal oceans of liquid water beneath miles of…

The Sky Today on Saturday, September 19: Mars meets Pollux

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DLR’s Suborbital MAPHEUS-17 Mission to Launch as Early as 1 October

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APOD: 2026 September 19 – A Zodiacal Night

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 19 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

BepiColombo Makes Up-Close Measurement of Mercury's Solar Bombardment

BepiColombo's measurements of particle bombardment at Mercury will help assess the impact of space storms on Mercury's surface…

ESA and The Pokémon Company International reveal Europe-wide exhibition and astronaut Pikachu experience

The European Space Agency (ESA) and The Pokémon Company International (TPCI) have launched an official collaboration to celebrate…

China progresses plans for Mars sample return, asteroid flyby and more launch sites

As China integrates crewed and robotic missions to further its lunar exploration program, it is… The post China…

NASA Invites Media to Albania Artemis Accords Signing Ceremony

The Republic of Albania will sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at 12 p.m.

The Red Planet Has a Purple Side

Mars appears red because of iron oxides in the regolith. But it's not uniformly red.

NASA-JAXA XRISM Mission Sees Pulsar Gathering Companion’s ‘Wind’

Using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory, astronomers have directly observed a giant…

Planets Scattering Planets in Warm Jupiter Systems

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Week Ends With Soldering, Lunar Simulations, and Cargo Mission Preps

Expedition 75 wrapped up its week completing a lead-free soldering experiment, simulating a lunar landing, and exercising for…

Paris, France

Image: Paris, the capital of the French Republic, stretches across this photograph captured by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot…

NASA Awards SpaceX Three Crew Flights to Space Station

To continue regular crew transportation to the International Space Station, NASA has awarded SpaceX three additional missions through…

JWST’s First View of the Most Vigorously Star-Forming Cloud in the Galactic Center: Sagittarius B2

Nazar Budaiev et al 2026 AJ 172 51 JWST has detected more than a dozen new candidate H…

COSI Telescope Comes Together

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Shannon W. Lucid Oral History

Excerpt from an interview with Shannon Lucid Houston, Texas19 August 2021 Lucid: Norm [Norman E.

Shannon W. Lucid Oral History

Excerpt from an interview with Shannon Lucid Houston, Texas19 August 2021 Lucid: Norm [Norman E.

To Understand The Solar Cycle, Notice How The Sun Sleeps

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Time is running out to catch a giant planet's strange orbit

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Terran Orbital Promotes Margherita Cardi to Vice President of European Operations & Head of Strategic Programs

IRVINE, Calif. and TORINO, Italy – Sept. 17, 2026 – Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company and a…

Newborns and old-timers

While Roman doubles its lifetime and Artemis astronauts retire, a new discovery may be the youngest exoplanet ever.

Still going strong: Hubble’s 36th anniversary image

Life in space is hard. Most orbiting observatories retire well before their 20th birthday.

Closing the space gap: A more precise way to measure distance between quasar pairs

A new way to accurately measure the distance between quasar pairs—the blazing, black-hole-powered centers of distant galaxies that…

McNaught lights up Taurus

Gerald Rhemann, taken from Farm Tivoli, Namibia Comet 220P/McNaught, a Jupiter-family comet on a 5.

NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy

Though the spiral galaxy in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope seems serene, it hides…

European Space Startups Steal the Show in Paris

European space startups have long wondered when big institutional buyers would stop handing large contracts exclusively to legacy…

Week in images: 14-18 Sep 2026

Week in images: 14-18 Sep 2026

Sept. 18, 1965: Discovery of Comet Ikeya-Seki

On Sept. 18, 1965, amateur astronomer Kaoru Ikeya and professional astronomer Tsutomu Seki each independently discovered what became…

States Campaign to Host the US Space Academy

Ever since President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 28 establishing a US Space Academy, states…

Exclusive: Space Cargo Unlimited Booked a Third of its Starfall Capacity

Demand appears to be skyrocketing, thanks to a new wave of pharmaceutical companies and researchers realizing that microgravity…

Microbes may survive at the Moon’s south pole

Crewed missions to the lunar polar regions must limit the unintended transfer of Earth life forms, say scientists

Newly formed moon crater is once-in-a-century discovery

In 2024, a space rock slammed into the moon, creating a new crater in the surface.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope could last more than twice as long as planned

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope may now have enough fuel for at least 22 years of science, more than…

Scientists are about to test Einstein’s gravity with exotic matter

Scientists have found a new way to create a controlled beam of muonium, an exotic atom containing a…

Rocket Report: ULA flies into uncertain future; Falcon 9 family hits 700 launches

“I can tell you SpaceX has already gone captive."

NASA’s Moon orbiter finds a 728-foot crater that wasn’t there before

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed a 728-foot-wide crater that formed on the Moon in 2024, making it…

Forms of aurora: Arcs, curtains, coronas and more

Here are some of the forms of aurora that you might see.

Yes, there’s an aurora season, and it’s here

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A galaxy spinning out of sync

Image: Though the spiral galaxy in this new image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope seems serene, it…

Earth from Space: Laguna Colorada

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The Sky Today on Friday, September 18: The Lizard’s brightest cluster

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Astronomy’s Decades-Long Quest To Understand Cosmic Topology

Cosmic topology is as esoteric as cosmology can get. But a growing number of astrophysicists think it holds…

ESA Awards €20M in Contracts to Study Future IRIS2 Services

The European Space Agency has awarded 18 contracts worth a combined €20 million to study potential future evolutions…

The Sky This Week from September 18 to 25: Autumn begins

Friday, September 18First Quarter Moon occurs at 4:44 P.M. EDT. The Moon then reaches apogee, the farthest point…

APOD: 2026 September 18 – Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 18 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Lake Powell Drops to Record-Low Levels

Snow drought and unusually warm temperatures in the Colorado Basin in 2026 helped drive down reservoir water storage…

Starship’s upcoming missions: Waiting on Orbit, Building toward the Cape

SpaceX is now targeting Starship Flight 14 no earlier than Monday, September 28, pending regulatory… The post Starship’s…

Researchers Develop a Way to Check the Weather on a Exoplanet

Scientists from Trinity have developed a powerful way to unravel the changing weather patterns on distant worlds.

New krypton-88 data narrow a key gap in stellar strontium models

An international research team has reported the first experimental investigation of a nuclear physics reaction essential for understanding…

Ad ASTRA Post-Workshop Debrief & Next Steps

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Ad ASTRA Community Science Workshop in Pasadena, CA!

NASA, SpaceX Continue Crew‑13 Prep as Crew Enters Quarantine

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission entered quarantine late Thursday at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in…

FORTE

Studying the remote ecosystems of Alaska’s North Slope, a critical region for energy, transportation, security, biodiversity and local…

FarmFlux

Designed to study agricultural emissions that contribute to greenhouse gases, as well as ground-level and stratospheric ozone.

HAMAQ

HAMAQ will improve how scientists observe and forecast air quality in major metropolitan regions.

INSPYRE

Designed to investigate how extreme wildfires can generate powerful thunderstorm-like clouds that inject smoke high into the atmosphere.

LACCE

The Landslide Change Characterization Experiment (LACCE) will investigate landslides as they occur in real time across California and…

Snow4Flow

Investigating snow accumulation and ice flow of glaciers across the Arctic to better project what they will look…

EVS-4

From ice in Greenland to rivers in Alaska’s North Slope to fires and farmland in the U.S.

NASA Awards Launch Services for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to…

A Zombie White Dwarf Star is Born Again. Hallelujah!

30 years ago, an amateur astronomer noticed a white dwarf star suddenly getting brighter.

Crew Works Soldering, Cardiac Research, Virtual Reality and Prepares for Cargo Mission

Circuit board soldering, spacesuit maintenance, and cargo mission operations topped the schedule for the Expedition 75 crew aboard…

A glimpse of the solar system's origins: Striking details on the molecules inside a meteorite

Researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have teamed up to get a…

NASA Invites Media to SpaceX’s 35th Resupply Launch to Space Station

Media accreditation is open for the next cargo launch that will deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment…

Spectacular image of the Shark Nebula wins Royal Observatory Greenwich prize

The picture – The Quiet Predator– was taken by Kuwaiti photographer Ali Alobaidly

What ancient Mars rocks reveal about its buried carbonate stores

Carbonate minerals are among the best records of past liquid water on Mars: They form when water carrying…

Space Weather Living History Podcast Series Directory

The Space Weather Living History project captures, documents and preserves the living history of space weather, and aims…

Catching 2026 Jovian Moon Mutual Eclipse Season

It’s that time of the decade again. Late 2026 going into early 2027 is a special time for…

An Unusual Short Gamma-Ray Burst with Properties Intermediate Between SGRB and Magnetar Giant Flare Populations

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Japanese supercomputer simulations may explain Webb's Little Red Dots

Of all the discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope, the multitude of Little Red Dots it has…

Helio and You Series Directory

Helio and You This article series for educators aims to engage learners of all ages with the exciting…

CASCADES: A Journey Along Greenland’s Coast Where Ocean Meets Ice

CASCADES is an international, multidisciplinary expedition bringing together glaciologists, marine-mammal observers, microbiologists, geologists, and biogeochemists.

Black holes from stellar to supermassive size may follow one jet-launching rule

An early-career Western Australian astrophysicist has helped uncover a universal rule behind one of the most powerful behaviors…

NASA Unveils Enterprise, the First Space Shuttle

Fifty years ago, on Sept. 17, 1976—Constitution Day of America’s bicentennial year—NASA unveiled its first space shuttle orbiter…

Little Red Dots Are The Seeds of Quasars and Supermassive Black Holes

Computer simulations find that overmassive black holes form readily in the early universe.

Satrec Initiative to build 10-centimeter-class optical satellites for Hanwha constellation

PARIS — South Korean company Satrec Initiative is working with parent company Hanwha Aerospace to provide high-resolution Earth…

Simera Sense and IDOM partner to develop and produce xScape350 optical system as demand for high-resolution EO imagery surges

LEUVEN, BELGIUM and BILBAO, SPAIN – 17 September 2026—Simera Sense, a leading European provider of optical payload solutions…

NASA to order more Starliner missions and help certify a new rocket to keep it flying

"They should fly their capsule. The government paid a lot of money for that."

Inside Europe’s push for space autonomy with Josef Aschbacher

In this episode of the podcast, SpaceNews’ Mike Gruss interviews Josef Aschbacher, the director-general of the European Space…

Helio and You: A Fresh Perspective on the Sun

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission was launched to help us see the Sun from a new…

A $100 detector can see invisible particles raining down from space

A pocket-sized, roughly $100 detector can reveal the invisible stream of cosmic particles constantly passing through Earth and…

Astronomers just found the youngest known planet ever

Astronomers have confirmed a Jupiter-size planet less than a million years old, making Elias 2-24 b the youngest…

Icarus Robotics tests Joy in Canada ahead of ISS flight

PARIS — Icarus Robotics, the New York startup developing dexterous mobile robots for space missions, conducted tests of…

Icarus Robotics Completes Parabolic Flight Test Ahead of ISS Mission

Icarus Robotics completed a four-flight parabolic test campaign of its free-flying robot—named Joy—in preparation for its first ISS…

Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation, in partnership with the BMC3I TAP Lab, Selects Focus Area Cohort Teams for Cohort 26.A

Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation, in partnership with the BMC3I TAP Lab, has selected the Focus Area…

Sept. 17, 1789: William Herschel discovers Mimas

With 293 confirmed moons as of August of 2026, Saturn is the solar system planet with the most…

JWST’s mysterious little red dots may be black holes growing at incredible speeds

New supercomputer simulations suggest JWST’s puzzling Little Red Dots are rapidly growing black holes from the early Universe.

Impulse Space Raises $308M Series D Extension

Impulse Space announced a $308M extension to its Series D round yesterday—bringing the round’s total to $808M.

Diamond in the sky

Dave Doctor from Las Cruces, New Mexico The diamond ring at third contact during the Aug.

Genetically Engineered Yeast Could Build the First Martian Outposts

If we are ever to have a permanent presence on Mars, we will have to learn to build…

ESA awards contracts for Europe’s EOGS blueprint

The European Space Agency has awarded two contracts, one to ICEYE and one to Leonardo, to carry out…

EnduroSat Raises $205M, Notches Vantor Sat Win

It was the third nine-figure fundraise announced by a European company during the past two weeks, following Open…

Huge new Webb image is chock-full of space delights

ESA has unveiled a spectacular new Webb image. One of the largest shots yet, it features protostars, jets…

1st adult T. rex trackway found by high school teacher

A high school teacher discovered 4 footprints that make up the 1st-ever known T. rex trackway.

Uncertainty and the random universe: a slide puzzle

Can you reconstruct the astrophysics illustration in our interactive slide puzzle?

See the year’s fastest sunsets and sunrises around equinoxes

The year's fastest sunsets and sunrises happen around the equinoxes, and the slowest sunsets and sunrises happen around…

MTG-I2 timelapse: from arrival at Europe’s Spaceport to launch

Video: 00:03:09 The Meteosat Third Generation -Imager2 (MTG-I2) satellite was launched on an Ariane 6 from Europe’s Spaceport…

EnduroSat Raise Pushes European NewSpace Funding Above €1 Billion for September

Bulgarian satellite manufacturer EnduroSat has secured $205 million (€178 million) in new funding, pushing the total raised by…

NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon

Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum and is the result…

ESA starts next phase of IRIS² evolution through Low-LEO activities

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed 18 consolidation contracts bringing together nearly 80 companies to study new…

Equinox fun: Track the sun’s shift now until the solstice

On this equinox, start tracking the sunset point on your western horizon.

The Sky Today on Thursday, September 17: The Moon and the Scorpion

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

2026 September equinox: All you need to know

The September equinox is almost here! Autumn for the Northern Hemisphere. Spring for the Southern Hemisphere.

Three space companies win ESA awards for excellence and innovation

On 16 September at its Industry Space Days 2026 event at ESA–ESTEC in the Netherlands, the European Space…

Galileo's first civil authenticated position fix under spoofing conditions

For two hours on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 September, five operational Galileo satellites broadcasting over Europe transmitted…

Galileo's first civil authenticated position fix in spoofing conditions

For two hours on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 September, five operational Galileo satellites broadcasting over Europe transmitted…

APOD: 2026 September 17 – A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 17 – A… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education…

NASA’s New Horizons spots signs of liquid nitrogen flowing on Pluto

Scientists have found the first evidence that liquid may have flowed across Pluto’s surface in the recent past.

Summer Goes Out With a Heat Dome

Temperature records toppled across the central and southern U.S. as the autumnal equinox approached.

The Sun May Have Swallowed a Planet

New research suggests that some unusual characteristics of the Sun may be explained if it swallowed a large…

Mercury is Shrinking, But Faster Than Previously Thought

The rough, impact-debris-covered surface of Mercury has hidden the true rate at which Mercury has been shrinking, which…

When Stars Engulf Rocky Planets, Beryllium Gives It Away

Astronomers know that stars can engulf planets when they stray too close.

Passion Meets Precision at NASA’s Flight Research Lab

Long before they helped shape NASA’s future aerospace breakthroughs, Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Justin Link were in…

Snow, monsoons and oceans shift Earth's center of mass each year, satellite tracking shows

Seasonal changes redistribute enough water around Earth to shift the planet's center of mass back and forth by…

Amendment 74: A.14 Atmosphere Research Program Due Date Delay and Clarification Regarding the use of Generative AI

Through ROSES-25 A.14 Atmosphere NASA is soliciting proposals for data analysis and modeling of NASA supported airborne campaign…

Autumn observing targets for large telescopes

Today I’ll be telling you about 10 of my favorite autumn deep-sky objects, with suggestions for viewing them.

IRIS Stories

Newfound 'baby' planet smashes record for youngest known world

Astronomers have confirmed a world less than a million years old as the youngest known planet, using data…

Muon rings enable precise calibration of telescopes at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

Research initiated as part of a bachelor's thesis in physics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has…

Cargo Mission and Crew-13 Updates; Station Research, Maintenance Continue

New supplies are on their way to the International Space Station after launching aboard a Progress 96 cargo…

Webb Searches for Brown Dwarfs in a Stunning Star-Forming Region

How small can brown dwarfs be before the definition breaks down? That question is at the heart of…

Educator’s Guide – Exploring Magnetism

In this teacher’s magnetism activity guide, “Exploring Magnetism,” students are given the opportunity to act as scientists discovering…

NASA’s Moon Orbiter Spots New, ‘Once-in-Century’ Moon Crater

It started as a routine data-quality check. But as Robert Wagner, a scientist with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter…

Why we need in-orbit refueling to return to the Moon

When the Artemis 2 crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, the excitement was palpable…

From 10 to 22 years: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's mission has just been extended

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope hasn't yet reached its Sun–Earth L2 orbit, and it already has some…

For Trans-Neptunian Objects, The Past Is Written On Their Surface

Some Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) formed closer to the Sun and migrated to the outer solar system, while others…

SAVE THE DATE: 2026 Cosmic Origins Early Career Workshop, Oct 2026

NASA’s Cosmic Origins Program is excited to invite you to the second Early Career Workshop. 20-22 Oct 2026

REMINDER: 2027A NASA IRTF Call for Proposals

The call for NASA Infrared Telescope Facility observing proposals for semester 2027A (February 1 to July 31, 2027)…

AGN SIG Spotlight Series, 22 Sept 2026

Our Spotlight Series highlights recent advances in AGN science, with a strong emphasis on participation from early-career researchers…

COPAG Post-ASTRA Community Meeting, 22 Sept 2026

SAVE THE DATE: COPAG Post-ASTRA Community Meeting

AI/ML STIG Seminar, 21 Sept 2026

Hands-On Session I: Agentic Coding and Research Tools. Speaker: Christopher Stubbs, Harvard University

NASA Celebrates Restoration of Guam Station Damaged by Typhoon Mawar

NASA celebrated the full restoration of its Guam Remote Station with a ribbon-cutting on Sept.

NASA Watches Earth’s Weight, Finds Center of Mass

Seasonal changes redistribute enough water around Earth to shift the planet’s center of mass back and forth by…

Extragalactic Planetary Nebula with Massive Progenitor Sheds Light on Stellar Evolution

Researchers investigate a planetary nebula in a star cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy — one of just a…

Upper Limits on Planet-Induced Gigahertz Radio Emission from Inactive M Dwarfs

Jackie Villadsen et al 2026 ApJ 1005 51 No bursty radio emission characteristic of star–planet interaction was detected…

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau

Anak Krakatau erupts ash and volcanic gases in this Sept. 5, 2026, image acquired with the OLI (Operational…

Curiosity Postcard Celebrates Rover’s 5,000th Day on Mars

Description While parked at a sand ridge nicknamed “Chocolatal,” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras…

NASA Visits Schools Strengthening Florida’s Skilled Workforce

NASA recently awarded $10.5 million to seven organizations nationwide through its new State Hubs initiative.

NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman to Join NFL Fans in Baltimore

As part of NASA’s new Inspiration Tour, Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut and commander of the agency’s Artemis II…

NASA’s Integrated Medical Model (IMM)

Planning crewed missions to the Moon and Mars involves preparing for the medical realities of long-duration space travel.

Newfound ‘Baby’ Planet Smashes Record for Youngest Known World

Astronomers have confirmed a world that’s less than a million years old as the youngest known planet, using…

Curiosity Blog, Sols 5002-5009: Tough Planning To Learn More About Wind-Blown Sediments

Written by Benjamin Tutolo, Professor, University of Calgary Earth planning date: Friday, Sept.

Curiosity Blog, Sols 5002-5009: Tough Planning To Learn More About Wind-Blown Sediments

Written by Benjamin Tutolo, Professor, University of Calgary Earth planning date: Friday, Sept.

Progress 96 Cargo Spacecraft Lifts off to Resupply Station on Saturday

The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 96 spacecraft is safely in orbit and on its way to the International Space…

Progress 96 Cargo Spacecraft Counts Down to Launch from Kazakhstan

NASA is streaming live coverage of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft launch carrying about three tons of food, fuel…

A 16-minute train delay shows how a solar storm disrupted Victorian technology

A 178-year-old mystery surrounding one of the earliest recorded examples of space weather affecting technology has been solved…

Hydrosat Unveils Osiris Constellation Ahead of 2027 Launch

Very rarely can someone offer you the best of both worlds, but Hydrosat’s newest constellation claims to do…

Sept. 16, 1925: Death of Alexander Friedmann

On June 16, 1888, Alexander Friedmann was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.

SEOPS Books Five Launches on Isar’s Spectrum Rocket

Isar Aerospace became the first European launch startup to reach orbit less than two weeks ago, and already…

Viasat and Space42 Commit Up to $1B to Equatys Joint Venture

Space42 and Viasat agreed to formally establish Equatys, a shared satellite-and-ground-infrastructure company for D2D connectivity and advanced mobile…

Avio CEO Reports Influx of Customers Turned Away by SpaceX

Italian launch services provider Avio has seen an influx of customers who were unable to secure launch opportunities…

Nearly 50 'ghost galaxies' emerge around three hosts, challenging dwarf galaxy counts

Dwarf galaxies—with a mass equal to about a billion suns, but often considerably less—are the most abundant in…

NSF NRAO Helps Lead Radio Astronomy’s New Golden Age

In a new article from the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nation’s agency for digital technologies, the U.S.

Webb measures extreme gas outflows from distant 'dead' galaxies

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have measured the most powerful gas outflow ever recorded from a…

Venus may have swallowed its own moon

Venus may have once had a moon, but new research suggests the planet’s incredibly slow rotation could have…

Wildfires near the South Pole burned 90 million years ago

Researchers have found evidence in a sediment core in Antarctica that wildfires near the South Pole were a…

The rings of Chariklo are unexpectedly dynamic and changing

New observations by the James Webb Space Telescope show that the rings of Chariklo, a Centaur in the…

Scientists “truly astonished” by discovery that challenges Earth’s origin story

A new study suggests Earth formed almost entirely from material in the inner Solar System, challenging the idea…

'Born-again' star offers rare chance to watch stellar evolution in real time

Astronomers have confirmed that one of the fastest-changing stars ever observed has entered a new stage of its…

Purple swirls on the Red Planet

This image shows a prominent ice cliff near Mars’s south pole. With striking swirls of purple, pink and…

Faster-flowing glaciers fuel decades of polar ice loss

The longest satellite data record of ice-sheet change ever assembled has revealed that Greenland and Antarctica have lost…

Saturn's South Pole Features Newly Formed Atmospheric Decagon

The planet Saturn is arguably the most recognizable planetary object in the entire solar system because of its…

SpaceX prepares for first orbital flight of Starship rocket

SpaceX announced Tuesday that it was planning to send its flagship rocket, Starship, into orbit, a key step…

US acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space

The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, a remarkable…

The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 16: Triangle in the sky

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

Why is planet Venus so bright in Earth’s sky?

You can't miss dazzling Venus after sunset! It's the 3rd brightest object in the sky, after the sun…

A world 20 light-years away reveals surprisingly organized, Jupiter-like weather

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have developed a way to unravel changing weather patterns on distant worlds.

APOD: 2026 September 16 – Webb’s View of M64

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 16 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About…

Purple Haze Aurora

'Scuse me while some charged particles kiss the sky.

James Webb reveals Chariklo’s mysterious rings are changing faster than expected

The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed surprising changes in the rings around Chariklo, a small object orbiting…

Progress MS-35 poised to launch cargo to ISS from Kazakhstan

Following the departure of the Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station on… The post Progress…

Starship to Attempt First Orbital Flight Next Week

SpaceX will attempt to put Starship into orbit for the first time next week pending regulatory approval.

NASA Ames Stars of the Month: September 2026

NASA Ames Science Stars of the Month: September 2026 The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions…

NASA’s New X-59 Test Pilot Gets Behind Controls for Ground Test

This summer, NASA test pilot Mike Lippert powered up the X‑59 cockpit for the first time, running the…

If Venus Had An Ancient Moon, It Was Doomed

Earth has a big beautiful Moon, while Venus, its 'sister planet', doesn't.

SpaceX launches national security payload for U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg

The rocket carried an unspecified number of satellites to orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force…

U.S. confirms it has weapons in orbit

In a groundbreaking announcement, the U.S. Space Force stated publicly on Monday, Sept.

NASA Field-Tests AI Fleet Capability for Science, Exploration

In this field test, a fleet of three robots worked together, and researchers assessed the fleet’s ability to…

Open Cosmos Raises €300 Million as Investors Back Europe’s Space Push

UK-based satellite maker Open Cosmos announced on 14 September that it had closed a €300 million funding round.

Bioprinting, Space Manufacturing Top Research Schedule Aboard Station

Cartilage bioprinting and lead-free soldering topped the advanced microgravity research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday.

NASA Invites Media to International Observe the Moon Night

NASA will host an International Observe the Moon Night celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

SpaceX sets launch date for first Starship orbital flight

Reaching orbit would mark a significant milestone.

From 10 to 22 years: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Mission Has Just Been Extended.

More good news for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The telescope's first mid-course correction was extremely efficient…

Launch Preview: Nine orbital launches scheduled from sites around the world

Nine orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. Two Falcon 9s are expected to deliver… The post Launch…

CubeSat instrument extends solar storm warnings 10x

The sun is the reason life exists on our small, blue planet. It provides solar radiation that warms…

Your backyard telescope is just the beginning

Telescope Live gives astrophotographers access to world-class imaging data.

If Black Holes Have Hair, We Will See It in the Ringdown of Their Mergers

Researchers have found that if black holes have certain features, known as "hair," then we could prove it…

State Department Launches New Space-Diplomacy Effort

Alongside the announcement, Rubio also unveiled the SCP’s first project—a two-year, $6.

AbSciCon Poster Competition Winners

AbSciCon Poster Competition Winners

NASA Planetary Research Programs Community Newsletter

Browse current and past issues of NASA’s Planetary Research Programs newsletter.

ALMA is Watching a Massive Binary Star System Form

Astronomers used 8 years of observations to create a 3D image of a very young, very massive binary…

Celebrate International Observe the Moon Night with NASA

In April, the world watched as four humans circled the Moon for the first time in over 50…

Artemis III Crew Visits NASA Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik (left) and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano view progress on the solid…

Dust Deal with It

Astrobites reports on why we might need a cosmic feather duster to see life on other worlds.

The Nineteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

SDSS Collaboration et al 2026 ApJS 285 9 For nearly three decades, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has…

More satellites watch the battlefield, putting a premium on making sense of the data

Space Force programs are tapping satellite data and AI to get intelligence to military commanders faster

Laser altimeter BELA ready to explore Mercury's surface

Launched on Oct. 20, 2018, the joint ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has traveled for almost eight years, using a…

SWAP, PEPSSI, and the secrets of the Solar System

NASA's New Horizons is poised to make discoveries about the farthest reaches of our Solar System, but two…

Webb reveals stunning panorama of star formation

This starry view of the nearby star-forming region IC 348 is one of the largest images from the…

CSDA Vendor – Muon Space

Muon Space operates a constellation of high-performance Global Navigation Satellite System–Reflectometry (GNSS-R) satellites.

CSDA Vendor – Hydrosat

Hydrosat operates a two-satellite (VanZyl-1 and VanZyl-2) constellation outfitted with two Earth-sensing instruments, a Longwave Infrared Imager (LIRI)…

CSDA Vendor – ImageSat

ImageSat operates a constellation of four optical satellites: EROS‑C2, EROS‑C3, EROS‑B, and Runner.

A feathery spiral in Sagittarius

Mike Selby/Warren Keller, taken from El Sauce Observatory, Chile NGC 6902 is a rarely-imaged face-on spiral galaxy about…

Sept. 15, 2017, Cassini’s Grand Finale

After over 7,000 days in space, the Cassini mission ended on Sept. 15, 2017. Since its Oct.

This is by far the most peaceful Atlantic hurricane season we've ever seen

But there may be a price to pay for a quiet Atlantic hurricane season.

Supermassive black hole winds are 100 times more powerful than scientists thought

Astronomers have discovered that winds from a supermassive black hole are about 100 times more powerful than previously…

Maverick Books 10 Kepler Sats to Fill Excess Capacity On Portal’s Dedicated Launch

Everybody’s looking for launch capacity these days, and for those who have it, the phones are ringing off…

Did Venus have a moon for nearly 2 billion years?

Venus had a moon a long time ago, scientists in the US and France say.

Mercury is shrinking up to 30% more than expected

A new study shows Mercury is shrinking more than scientists first thought.

Kuva Space Spots Illegal Poppy Farms from Orbit

Kuva Space released data today from a pilot program that demonstrated its ability to monitor illegal crop farming…

A famous galaxy's black hole has been hiding its most violent behavior

Astronomers have found that a nearby galaxy's black hole is blasting out a far more powerful and hidden…

Could the clues to ancient alien civilizations be hiding in moon dust?

Most of our experience with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has focused on capturing radio signals that…

Avio Launches Second Successful Vega C Flight of 2026

Italian launch services provider Avio has successfully completed its second Vega-C flight of 2026, deploying the European Commission’s…

The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 15: View the false dawn

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

FLEX and Sentinel-3C launch highlights

Video: 00:03:22 ESA’s state-of-the-art FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite have been launched together aboard…

Iceye’s global presence expands to address sovereign demand

Since raising more than $1 billion in a Series F funding round, Iceye has moved rapidly to address…

APOD: 2026 September 15 – A Daytime Eclipse: Moon Occults Venus

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 15 – A… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education…

An Accidental Impact Crater Discovery

An amateur astronomer scouting online satellite maps for campsites in Quebec found an impact crater instead.

Avio launches pair of climate monitoring European spacecraft to study plants, oceans and atmospheric changes

The mission, with the shorthand VV30, is the second launch of a Vega-C rocket managed solely by Avio…

FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched

The European Space Agency’s FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite have been launched together aboard…

CubeSat Instrument Extends Solar Storm Warnings 10x

Our Sun is the very reason life exists on our small, blue planet.

State Department Launches Space Catalyst Partnership

During Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Peru last week, the State Department announced a new Space…

Dense galaxies are carving out a bubble in the early universe

When JWST's first science results started rolling in, it was a triumph for scientific vision and persistence.

A new plasma thruster design breathes thin air for propellant

Choosing an orbit for a satellite always comes with trade-offs. Very low Earth orbit (VLEO), between 100–450 km…

SOAR

SOAR This research focused on how to support air traffic controllers in safely and efficiently managing arriving and…

Launch preview: Avio to launch spacecraft to monitor plant health and ocean conditions

The mission, with the shorthand VV30, is the second launch of a Vega-C rocket managed solely by Avio…

Operational Airspace Sectorization Integrated System

Operational Airspace Sectorization Integrated System (OASIS) The Operational Airspace Sectorization Integrated System (OASIS) tool assisted Area Supervisors in…

Fuel Savings Double Potential Lifetime for NASA’s Roman Mission

The results are in: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s very accurate first mid-course correction, along with other…

Rocket Lab is seeing red about NASA's decision on a Mars spacecraft

"NASA’s award decision appears to be inconsistent with the eligibility criteria."

Meink: U.S. Has Orbiting Space Control Weapons

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed today that the United States has orbiting space control weapons.

Active black holes reveal star-forming rings and shock waves in nine nearby galaxies

A new study of nine nearby galaxies has shown that actively growing supermassive black holes may contribute to…

Europe launches two Earth-observation satellites amidst a busy week for China

Rocket launches this week On Monday, Sept. 14 at 9:21 p.m. EST, Avio — a publicly traded Italian…

Don't Get Your Hopes Up for a City on the Moon

Bezos said we should move heavy industry to the Moon. Musk says we'll have sustainable lunar cities.

CSDA Vendor – Satlantis

Satlantis’s GEISAT constellation, comprising the GEISAT‑P and HORACIO satellites, provides high–spatio‑temporal methane (CH₄) observations with simultaneous emitter geolocation.

New York Operational Improvements

New York Operational Improvements (NY Ops) The New York area airspace is notoriously complex and demanding, and is…

NASA Langley Research Center PolCube Mission Information Site

PolCube is a compact 12-unit (12U) CubeSat and multi-angle, multi-wavelength polarimeter instrument developed through an international collaboration …

New Crops, Health Research Proposals to Help NASA Advance Exploration

NASA has selected 12 new investigations to help support human explorers in space.

Ames Science Directorate Mission and Vision Statement

Ames Science Directorate Mission and Vision Statement Strategies Alignment • Shape, and align with, opportunities emerging from NASA’s…

Research for Space Manufacturing, Crew Health Begins Week Aboard Station

Lead-free soldering, space science hardware, and human research were the main science focus aboard the International Space Station…

Dynamic Airspace Configurator

Dynamic Airspace Configurator (DAC) Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) is a new operational paradigm that proposes to migrate from…

Tens of Thousands of Fast Radio Bursts Could Help Solve the Greatest Cosmic Mysteries

A new study led by researchers from Caltech demonstrates the effectiveness of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) as a…

Series of reactions reveals how complex carbon chemistry can begin in frigid space

Before there was Earth, there was chemistry. In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are…

SkyFall Landing Site Workshop

First Landing Site Workshop for the SkyFall Mission February 9-10, 2027, Virtual The First Landing Site Workshop (LSW)…

Ship 42 wraps chopsticks tests, Flight 14 moves to NET Sept. 22

SpaceX has completed multi-day catch-related testing with unflown Ship 42 at Pad 2, then rolled… The post Ship…

What Comes Next for On-Orbit Servicing? (Replay)

A conversation about the tech, policies and business models required to build a functioning in-orbit logistics ecosystem

NASA Welcomes Djibouti as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

The Republic of Djibouti became the 72nd nation and eighth African country to sign the Artemis Accords during…

Welcome and Farewell to Our AAS Media Fellows

We're excited to welcome Alexia Kubas and Lucas Brown to the team as AAS Media Fellows for 2026–2027!

How the 2024 solar superstorm drained Earth's radiation belt

In May 2024, Earth experienced its most intense geomagnetic storm since the Halloween storms of 2003.

NASA Kicks Off Inspiration Tour with Steelers vs. Falcons Game

Fans pose for a photo with an astronaut in the NASA Experience Zone at an NFL game between…

A Comparison of Lunar AI-Based Crater Databases Using Uniform Criteria

Stuart J. Robbins and Rachael H. Hoover 2026 Planet. Sci. J.

Commercial Rockets Bring New Life to Stennis

Sixty years since its first test firings began, NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi is welcoming Blue Origin…

Space’s growing billion-dollar club

Download our new mapping of every private space company valued at $1 billion or more.

Physicists zoom into the birth of cosmic rainstorms with new CERN study

Every second, particles zip through your body at nearly the speed of light.

Summer Training: Catching Up With NASA’s Astronaut Candidates

Did you spend part of your summer camping, hiking, at the pool, or in an aircraft? So did…

Moon’s water reserves insufficient to sustain a lunar city, astronomers find

While energy usage could be met, water would cause some issues

Questions? Ask our Hera Space Companion!

Meet a key member of our Hera asteroid mission team: the Hera Space Companion, not just an AI…

Open Cosmos Raises €300M Funding Round

“We deliberately wanted strong European representation because we’re building strategic infrastructure in Europe, while also bringing in investors…

Why do bars form in some spiral galaxies, but not in others?

Why do bars form in some spiral galaxies, but not in others? Joe RuszHerndon, VA We believe that…

Sept. 14, 1915: The birth of John Dobson

On Sept. 14, 1915, John Dobson was born in Bejing. His family moved to San Francisco to avoid…

Bizarre galactic radio source remains active for two decades with no detectable X-rays

Astronomers have identified a peculiar radio transient in the Milky Way that has remained active for more than…

Satellogic Expands DoD Work As it Preps for Next Launch

Satellogic is gearing up to launch its latest batch of satellites next month, potentially including the company’s first…

Could quantum information theory explain universe evolution?

Gravity from entropy theory offer hints of why low-entropy regions persist in the universe

ESA’s FLEX mission reveals the secret glow of plants

Video: 00:06:30 Plants may look still and silent, but every leaf is constantly responding to its environment.

The Sky Today on Monday, September 14: Connect four

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

FLEX and Sentinel-3C ready for liftoff on Vega-C

Two Earth observation satellites – ESA’s Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite, and the third satellite for the Copernicus Sentinel-3…

CORE 2.0 Report

CORE 2.0 Report The CORE 2.0 Report, which stands for Challenges and Opportunities for Research in ESI (Earth…

APOD: 2026 September 14 – Where Your Elements Came From

APODScienceAPODAPOD: 2026 September 14 –…Today’s APODArchiveSubmissionsIndexSearchCalendarRSSEducationAboutDiscuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a…

Sophia Space, SLI Set Terms for $300M Satellite Leasing Deal

Orbital compute startup Sophia Space and space asset leasing company SLI have set terms for a $300M asset-financing…

No cities on the moon—there isn't enough water, scientists say

The discovery of water in dark craters at the moon's poles has sparked a "moon rush" to establish…

The Commercial-First Shift in National Security Space

For decades, the model for building national security space systems was relatively straightforward.

An Early Look at Fall Color in Canada

Reds, yellows, and oranges are already sweeping across tundra landscapes in Nunavut.

Vega C set to launch the ESA Sentinel-3C and FLEX missions from Kourou

Avio S.p.A., the Italian prime contractor, launch service provider, and launch operator for the Vega… The post Vega…

JWST ruled out finding tiny moons around an exoplanet—that's great news

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has opened many wonders of the cosmos to scientists since it began…

What’s Happening in Space Policy September 13-19, 2026

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 13-19, 2026 and any insight…

Astronomers unmask a supernova impostor

A distant star has captured astronomers' attention over the past decade, teasing them with indications that it will…

Fourth Balloon of NASA Scientific Balloon Campaign Launches

The BOOP! mission was launched on a scientific balloon from NASA’s launch facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico…

Masked tectonic structures suggest Mercury contracted 40% more than its visible scars alone indicate

The surface of Mercury is filled with craters, ridges and steep cliffs.

SpaceX launches 700th Falcon rocket, carries final 3 O3b mPOWER satellites to orbit for SES

The launch marks the 400th orbital flight from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Gravitational-wave analysis narrows the search for black hole impostors

Black holes are regions of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.

Cataract surgery will be needed in space, surgeon predicts

An eye surgeon with a passion for space since childhood predicts that as astronauts start to make journeys…

Physicists can’t agree on how the Universe works

A massive worldwide survey of physicists has revealed surprisingly little agreement about some of the universe’s biggest mysteries.

Could the Clues to Ancient Alien Civilizations Be Hiding in a Bucket of Moon Dust?

Most of our experience with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been focused on capturing radio signals…

NASA's next great observatory could spot oceans on distant worlds

We've found more than 5,500 exoplanets so far. Dozens of them are in the habitable zones of their…

Sept. 13, 1994: Ulysses at the Sun’s south pole

A joint NASA-ESA mission, the Ulysses solar probe launched Oct. 6, 1990, from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Venus brightest in the evening sky this week

See Venus brightest in the evening sky this week, with greatest brilliancy coming around September 18, 2026.

Researchers pinpoint key early-universe measurement with record precision

An international team, including researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, has reached a major milestone in…

NASA-backed scientists turn plastic waste into edible cookies

Scientists have engineered yeast to turn PET plastic and agricultural waste into ingredients for protein-rich, 3D-printed cookies called…

Alien tech on the moon? Scientists propose search for microscopic debris

Could there be alien tech on the moon? Scientists propose a new search for microscopic particles shed by…

See Venus in the daytime: Here are 3 tips

You can spot Venus in the daytime. One of the best ways is when its near the moon.

Sirius Space Fires Complete STAR-1 Rocket Engine for the First Time

French launch startup Sirius Space Services has successfully test-fired a complete prototype of its STAR-1 rocket engine for…

Crepuscular rays are sunrays in twilight skies

Crepuscular rays form around twilight when particles in the atmosphere reflect the sun's light beams toward our eyes.

The Sky Today on Sunday, September 13: Venus, the Moon, and Spica

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.

APOD: 2026 September 13 – Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea

Venus’s pale yellow clouds may hide something surprisingly dark

A century-old mystery in Venus’s clouds just became more intriguing, as scientists calculated how strongly the unidentified material…

A New Catalog of Close to 3,000 Supernova Challenges Theories on Dark Energy

The most comprehensive catalogue of exploding white dwarf stars ever assembled has revealed new clues about dark energy…

Europe’s commercial launch sector picking up the pace

The European space sector is enjoying a run of advances in September, highlighted by Isar… The post Europe’s…

Japan's Hayabusa2 achieves first-ever laser ranging experiment with an asteroid

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft reached another milestone this summer, a first for space agencies.

KMT-2025-BLG-0026L b

KMT-2025-BLG-0026L b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a Unknown-type star. Its mass is 2.

OGLE-2016-BLG-0261L

KMT-2025-BLG-0030L

KMT-2025-BLG-2272L

Sept. 12, 1959: Luna 2 launches

Less than two years after the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the Soviet Union put a spacecraft on…