Two Private U.S. Moon Landers Prepare for Historic Launches
The first vehicles to fly under NASA’s new lunar delivery initiative will aim to be the first commercial spacecraft to land softly on another celestial body
The Rings of Uranus Glow in Epic JWST Photo
The James Webb Space Telescope caught its second glimpse of the year of Uranus and its bright-shining rings
Sun Unleashes Most Powerful Solar Flare Since 2017
The flare may have been accompanied by a plasma eruption now headed toward Earth
How to See Halos, Sun Dogs and Other Delights of the Daytime Sky
Ice crystals suspended in the air put on a gorgeous show if you know when and where to look
New Evidence Discovered That Saturn’s Moon Could Support Life
Molecules in Enceladus’s icy plumes suggest that alien life could exist in our solar system
The Mars Sample Return Mission Is at a Dangerous Crossroads
Mars Sample Return has always been an expensive, high-risk, high-reward project. But now, with realization of the mission’s actual cost and expanding timeline, Congress must commit to fully supporting the effort or risk tanking the rest of NASA’s planetary science program
NASA Lab’s Workforce Woes Threaten Major Space Missions
A brain drain from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory could pose problems for the space agency’s ambitious science plans
Mars Can Wait. Questions Surround Settlements on Other Worlds
Establishing a permanent Mars settlement in the foreseeable future makes little sense. The weakest reason for doing it is also the strongest—and not in a good way
‘Cannibal’ Solar Eruption Headed to Earth May Trigger Auroras
A strong geomagnetic storm is expected to hit Earth after several outbursts from the sun merged into one large blob of plasma
Six-Planet System in Perfect Harmony Shocks Scientists
Six “sub-Neptune” worlds locked in a delicate dance around a nearby star offer fresh insights for the orbital evolution of planetary systems
China Delays Launch of Its Xuntian Space Telescope
The Xuntian Space Telescope is China’s entry in a global race to unlock the secrets of dark energy, and it will now lift off no earlier than mid-2025
NASA May Pay $1 Billion to Destroy the International Space Station. Here’s Why
The International Space Station—larger than a football field and weighing almost 450 tons—must eventually fall to Earth. It’s a delicate, dangerous process