Space Exploration, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2021

You can see the International Space Station (and China's Tianhe, too) in the night sky this weekend

If your weather is clear this weekend, step outside and stare upward anytime from one to two hours after sundown. If you're fortunate to be located well away from any bright lights, break out a long lounge or deck-chair and get comfortable. Once your eyes have fully adapted to the...

Apr 30, 2021

Huge Chinese rocket booster falls to Earth over Arabian Peninsula

The Chinese rocket has come down. The 23-ton core stage of a Long March 5B booster crashed back to Earth Saturday night (May 8), ending 10 controversial days aloft that captured the attention of the world and started a wider conversation about orbital debris and responsible spacefaring. The Long March...

Apr 30, 2021

China launches more classified Yaogan satellites into orbit

China conducted two launches of classified Yaogan satellites in the last week while much of the world waited to see where and when the Long March 5B would fall. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 2:11 p.m. EDT Thursday...

Apr 30, 2021

US Space Force blasts missile-warning satellite into orbit around Earth

The U.S. Space Force launched a giant rocket Tuesday (May 18) carrying a satellite that will circle Earth's equator and alert the ground of any incoming missiles, according to news reports. The 191-foot-tall (58 meters) Atlas V rocket, built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), lifted off at 1:37 p.m. EDT...

Mar 31, 2021

Russia wants to build its own space station to replace the ISS, state officials say

The 23-year partnership between the United States and Russia that has kept the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit could soon come to an end, Russian officials suggested this week. Yury Borisov, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, reportedly said in a government meeting that the nation might withdraw from the...

Mar 31, 2021

A piece of space junk zipped by SpaceX's Dragon capsule on its way to the space station

The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission for NASA had a brief moment of suspense after their spectacular launch on Friday (April 23) when a piece of space debris passed unexpectedly close by their Crew Dragon capsule. The space junk encounter, called a conjunction, occurred at 1:43 p.m. EDT (1743 GMT)...

Feb 28, 2021

Watch SpaceX launch and (hopefully) land its giant 10th Starship prototype today

Update, 3:33 p.m. ET, March 3: SpaceX attempted to launch SN10 at 3:14 p.m. ET, but aborted one-tenth of a second before liftoff, just after the rockets fired. After a brief evaluation, the company said at 3:30 p.m. ET that it would make another attempt to launch SN10 about two...

Feb 28, 2021

NASA tested its new moon rocket in Mississippi, and it only caught on fire a little bit

NASA conducted its second major test of its powerful new moon rocket, and this time it only caught on fire a little bit. The Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage test took place late Thursday afternoon (March 18) at NASA's coastal Mississippi test site, in a facility designed to hold...

Feb 28, 2021

Mysterious explosion over Western US was likely SpaceX rocket debris, experts say

Skywatchers in the Pacific Northwest saw an unexpected display of pyrotechnics overhead on Thursday night (March 25). In video footage, a slow-motion meteor shower appears to strafe overhead, with dozens of glowing orbs dragging fiery tails across the sky. In reality, it was likely the death spiral of a SpaceX...

Dec 31, 2020

SpaceX is about to run its final test of Starship SN9 before 1st launch

SpaceX is gearing up to test the ninth prototype of its big, shiny rocket, Starship SN9 Wednesday (Jan. 20), lighting up its engines for what should be the last time before its inaugural flight. The test is expected before 5 p.m. Central Time. The rocket won't go anywhere during this...

Nov 30, 2022

The largest telescope on Earth is coming to hunt radio-waves from the early universe

Construction has started on the largest telescope array on Earth. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will contain hundreds of radio antennae spread across two continents, is now under construction in both South Africa's Karoo region and Western Australia's Murchison Shire. Together, the two sites – named SKA-Mid and SKA-Low,...

Nov 30, 2022

Orion capsule bounces off atmosphere to complete hottest and fastest reentry ever, capping off NASA's Artemis 1 mission

NASA's Orion capsule has survived the hottest and fastest reentry ever performed by a spacecraft by intentionally skipping off the atmosphere before splashing down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. The uncrewed capsule, which launched Nov. 16 atop the 30-story Space Launch System mega moon rocket as part of...

Sep 30, 2022

NASA's asteroid-deflection mission is a smashing success, shortens space rock's orbit by a stunning 32 minutes

A spacecraft that smashed into a small asteroid two weeks ago has redirected the space rock's orbit around its larger partner by a stunning 32 minutes — even better than NASA engineers has predicted. The results are great news for humanity's first test of its planetary defense system. On Sept....

Aug 31, 2022

NASA scrubs second Artemis 1 launch attempt

NASA has called off the maiden launch of its 'mega moon rocket', a brand new spacecraft built for exploration and colonization of the solar system, for the second time this week. A crowd of 400,000 people turned up to watch the Artemis 1 rocket scheduled launch from the Kennedy Space...

Jul 31, 2022

NASA calls off Artemis 1 moon rocket launch over engine cooling issue

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An engine cooling issue on NASA's giant new rocket for deep-space exploration forced the agency to call off the booster's much-anticipated launch debut early Monday (Aug. 29). NASA had mostly fueled its first Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket to launch the Artemis 1 moon mission on...