
OSIRIS-REx’s Asteroid Samples Are Finally Down to Earth
OSIRIS-REx—the first U.S. mission to attempt a sample return from a space rock—has successfully sent materials from asteroid Bennu back to Earth
Leonard David is author of Moon Rush: The New Space Race (National Geographic, 2019) and Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet (National Geographic, 2016). He has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Credit: Nick Higgins
OSIRIS-REx—the first U.S. mission to attempt a sample return from a space rock—has successfully sent materials from asteroid Bennu back to Earth
Scientists are gearing up for a high-stakes finale to OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to snare a sample from an asteroid
More and better data are required to solve the mystery of strange apparitions in the air, the sea and space, according to NASA’s Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study team...
How realistic is it to expect to find enough ice on the moon to support human habitation?
Surging numbers of small research balloons increase the odds of airborne mistaken identity—and harsher regulations
New dedicated observatories and crowdsourced smartphone apps will study strange sightings in the sky. But questionable data quality and a lack of shared research standards remain key challenges...
Around the world, researchers are betting that beamed power from space could be the next big thing for clean energy on Earth
Long considered trivial, the effects of rocket launches and reentering space debris on global warming and ozone loss could soon become too large to ignore
Planetary scientists are eager to bring Red Planet rocks, soil and even air to Earth, but critics fear the risk of contaminating our world’s biosphere
Russia will move forward with lunar exploration without its European partners
Interplanetary voyages are among several space science collaborations delayed or doomed by the ongoing conflict
The concepts include souped-up Mars helicopters and inexpensive orbiters and landers
China’s meteoric rise in space science and exploration—along with its new partnership with Russia—is spurring U.S. experts to reconsider a long-standing prohibition on bilateral collaborations...
The vast majority of examined incidents were not caused by U.S. advanced technology programs, the forthcoming report concludes. So what’s going on?
The Long March 5B rocket’s core stage could plummet to Earth as early as May 9
Despite promising technology demonstrations, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the growing problem of taking out the orbital trash
The car-sized rover is the first step in an ambitious effort to bring pieces of the Red Planet back to Earth, but some crucial details remain undecided
After suffering severe damage from broken cables that cannot be readily repaired, the observatory’s enormous radio telescope is now slated for “controlled decommissioning”...
As private launches increase dramatically, so will emissions of CO2, particulates and other noxious substances
Observations by NASA’s SOFIA telescope and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal signs of water in sun-baked lunar soil, as well as in small, dark craters
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