Space Exploration
Will NASA Save Europe’s Beleaguered Mars Rover?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended hopes of launching the ExoMars rover in 2022. Now the mission may never lift off at all
Stories by Jonathan O'Callaghan
Planetary Science
NASA Spacecraft Will Visit Apophis, Once Earth’s Deadliest Asteroid Threat
After delivering extraterrestrial samples to Earth in 2023, OSIRIS-REx will embark on an extended mission to a potentially planet-threatening space rock
Space Exploration
SpaceX’s Starship and NASA’s SLS Could Supercharge Space Science
Scientists are beginning to dream of how a new generation of super-heavy-lift rockets might enable revolutionary space telescopes and bigger, bolder interplanetary missions
Space Exploration
The First Rocket Launch from Mars Will Start in Midair
NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle will attempt a wildly unconventional liftoff to bring Red Planet samples back to Earth
Black Holes
Astronomers Find First Ever Rogue Black Hole Adrift in the Milky Way
Weighing in at seven times the mass of our sun, the dark object is by far the best-yet candidate for a free-floating stellar-mass black hole
Astronomy
Astronomers Have Found Another Possible ‘Exomoon’ beyond Our Solar System
Kepler-1708 b-i appears to be a giant moon orbiting a Jupiter-sized planet thousands of light-years from Earth
Space Exploration
U.S. and Chinese Scientists Propose Bold New Missions beyond the Solar System
Independent concepts from each nation envision launching high-speed spacecraft on aspirational multigenerational voyages into the great unknown of interstellar space
Planetary Science
Heavy Metal Exoplanet Found Orbiting Nearby Star
With a density close to that of pure iron, GJ 367b may be the remnant metal-rich core of an evaporated giant world
Astronomy
Scientists Plan Private Mission to Hunt for Earths around Alpha Centauri
A privately funded telescope called Toliman will seek habitable worlds in our nearest neighboring star system, potentially sparking a new wave of exoplanetary exploration
Extraterrestrial Life
How Scientists Could Tell the World if They Find Alien Life
Sparked by major advances in their field, astrobiologists are grappling with how best to discuss possible breakthrough discoveries with the public
Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds Signs of Epic Ancient Floods on Mars
New results from the mission reveal that its landing site of Jezero Crater has a surprisingly dynamic and complex hydrologic history
Planetary Science
Solar ‘Superflares’ Rocked Earth Less Than 10,000 Years Ago—and Could Strike Again
Although our sun is considered a quiet star, it is now thought to have repeatedly pelted our planet with enormous eruptions in the not too distant past. Could another occur in the near future?...
Space Exploration
InSight Lander Makes Best-Yet Maps of Martian Depths
The NASA mission used seismic waves from marsquakes to perform a core-to-crust survey of the planet’s subsurface
Astronomy
Astronomers Thrill at Giant Comet Flying into Our Solar System
The huge object may be the biggest comet ever seen. And it is already showing signs of activity as it approaches the orbit of Saturn
Space & Physics
SpaceX Starlink Mega Constellation Faces Fresh Legal Challenge
The company’s ongoing launches of thousands of satellites for global high-speed Internet service may clash with preexisting environmental regulations
Space & Physics
China Lands Tianwen-1 Rover on Mars in a Major First for the Country
Second only to the U.S. in a fully successful Mars landing, China is now set to explore the Utopia Planitia region of the Red Planet’s surface
Space Exploration
First in Flight: NASA Just Proved Flying on Mars Is Possible—Next Up Is the Solar System
With Ingenuity’s five successful flights on the Red Planet, aviation may find unexpected footing in the future of space exploration
Space & Physics
The James Webb Space Telescope’s First Year of Extraordinary Science Has Been Revealed
From more than 1,000 proposals, the scientists that hoped to perform the observatory’s historic first studies now know their fate
Space & Physics
Water on Mars May Be Trapped in the Planet’s Crust, Not Lost to Space
Understanding the fate of Mars’s moisture could unlock deep secrets of the planet’s past habitability
Space & Physics
The First 100 Days on Mars: How NASA’s Perseverance Rover Will Begin Its Mission
With the space agency’s latest rover set to touch down on February 18, here is the agenda for its initial months
