A particular emphasis was on the Mars Sample Return program, which is facing major cuts despite the fact that the scientific community and public are rallying in support of the multi-phased mission to return samples collected by the Perseverance rover. …
JWST has found methane and carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere. K2-18 b is an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth that lies about 120 light-years away, orbiting in its star’s habitable zone where surface liquid water could be possible. JWST’s new …
Lunar eclipse: A celestial event that occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, causing the Earth's shadow to be cast on the Moon, resulting in a darkening or reddening of the Moon. Total lunar eclipse: When the entire Moon is fully …
You can also see the Moon’s shadow by making a pinhole projector, holding up a colander, or by looking at the dappled shade from a tree. The quality of light As more and more of the Sun gets eclipsed, you’ll notice some strange lighting effects. Normally, …
The Hera spacecraft is fully assembled. The European Space Agency’s mission will visit Didymos and Dimorphos to study the after-effects of the DART mission’s impact on Dimorphos in 2022, which modified the asteroid moonlet’s orbit around its parent …
Aside from being sure they come from a reputable source, there are ways to check that your solar eclipse glasses are safe and in good condition. Make sure that the lenses aren’t scratched, torn, or punctured, and that they aren’t coming loose from the …
Comet Nishimura will reach perihelion (the closest point to the Sun in its orbit) on Sept. 18 and, if it isn’t broken up by the Sun’s energy, will then swing back around and head back out into the Solar System. In that case, it will be visible to observers …
As soon as the capsule touches down, OSIRIS-REx personnel will spring into action from a nearby hangar, riding four helicopters to the landing site. The first person to approach the sample capsule will be a military representative who will make sure the …
Do you want to see a brighter future for space? Anyone who lives in the United States can join The Planetary Society’s annual Day of Action in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 17 and 18, 2023. We’ll train and equip you to advocate for the importance of space …
The 5 days of Asteroid Week #AsteroidDay took place on June 30, but a single day was not enough for us! We spent a week celebrating the mysteries and missions related to understanding these tiny worlds, through social media, the web, our podcast, and video …
The English word “month,” for example, comes from the Old English “mōnath,” related to “mōna,” meaning moon — no great surprise considering the length of a month is about the length of a lunar cycle. The words “lunatic” and “lunacy” come from the Latin …
Although we aren’t treated to such exciting sights when we look up at the Moon today, we do see the aftermath of its volcanic era. The familiar face of the Moon has dark areas all over it, which scientists call plains, seas, or maria. These are made of …
CASEY DREIER: Thank you for joining me, Dr. Pace. To start with, what do you think the Artemis program has provided to the U.S. in terms of its national interests that was lacking when the Moon wasn’t the central focus of human space exploration? SCOTT …
Where exactly will Chang'e-6 land? Chang'e-6 will target a southern portion of Apollo crater, according to a paper published in Nature Astronomy in July 2023. The site was rumored to be a candidate for the Chang'e-4 mission, which landed in Von …
Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon. The Indian Space Research Organization's mission successfully landed on the Moon’s southern polar region on Wednesday, making India the fourth country ever to land on the Moon. Next, a lander named Vikram …
What would a lunar impact look like from Earth? From our point of view on Earth, a large impact on the Moon would most likely be a fascinating and wondrous thing. Our spacecraft might observe and record the impact itself, and depending on the time of day …
Animals may think it’s time for bed Throughout recorded history, citizens and scientists have noticed strange animal behavior during total solar eclipses. During the 2017 total solar eclipse in Columbia, South Carolina, scientists monitored the behavior of …
Megastorms on Saturn are churning up its atmosphere. Researchers in the United States used data from the Very Large Array to look at radio emissions coming from the ringed planet and found evidence of huge storms that seem to persist for centuries. These …
Perseverance and Ingenuity are still hard at work on Mars. The Ingenuity helicopter took its 54th flight this week, snapping this image of the Perseverance rover from the air. Although Ingenuity usually takes to the air to act as a scout for the rover, …
For a terminator zone to be potentially habitable, it needs to be in orbit around the right size of star. Planets only develop tidal locking when they orbit close to their host star. Mercury is the closest thing to a tidally locked planet that we see in …
