Tag

Space Exploration

All articles tagged with #space exploration

space-exploration11 hours ago•59 min saved

NASA maps Moon Base plan with three uncrewed missions and phased timeline

NASA unveiled a phased Moon Base plan to establish a permanent lunar outpost near the South Pole, starting with three uncrewed missions—Moon Base I (instruments testing thruster interactions and surface tracking), Moon Base II (rovers), and Moon Base III (NASA and international payloads)—to lay the groundwork for a semi-permanent infrastructure by 2029–2032 and a sustained presence thereafter. The effort, part of a roughly $20 billion program, includes Blue Origin’s contract to conduct the first mission using its Blue Moon Endurance lander. While NASA touts the initiative as the next era of lunar exploration and a stepping stone to Mars, experts caution that timelines are ambitious amid Artemis challenges and geopolitical competition, particularly from China.

via Live Science|

#artemis #blue-origin #lunar-exploration

space13 hours ago•15 min saved

Venera 13 Outlasted Venus’ Heat—127 Minutes of Groundbreaking Color Photos

Venera 13 exceeded its ~32-minute design life by operating 127 minutes on Venus in 1982, transmitting the first color photographs from a planetary surface via a pre-chilled, thick-walled lander with enhanced insulation; the longer life was due to engineering margins and local conditions, while nearby Venera 14 lasted 57 minutes.

via Space Daily|

#color-photography #planetary-landing #space

space-exploration16 hours ago•72 min saved

FAA grounds SpaceX Starship V3 as mishap probe begins

After SpaceX's Starship V3 debut on May 22, the FAA labeled the flight a mishap and grounded the vehicle pending a SpaceX-led investigation overseen by the agency. Return to flight will depend on corrective actions that do not affect public safety, with no timeline disclosed. Starship V3 is a 408-foot deep-space-capable variant; the May flight saw the upper stage survive reentry while the booster ended with a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

via Space|

#faa #launch #space

space-exploration17 hours ago•71 min saved

Roscosmos cosmonauts set for five-hour ISS spacewalk

Two Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, will conduct a five-hour extravehicular activity outside the ISS to install a solar radiation experiment on the Zvezda module and remove hardware from Poisk and Nauka, with a possible photo of a Kurs antenna on Progress 94 if time allows. Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT), with the EVA planned to begin around 10:15 a.m. EDT. Kud-Sverchkov has flown a spacewalk before, while Mikaev is on his first EVA; this is the second spacewalk of 2026.

via Space|

#eva #international-space-station #kud-sverchkov

space-exploration1 day ago•72 min saved

Satellite Eyes Reveal Subsea Volcano Eruption, but Seafloor Remains a Puzzle

NASA satellites imaged an underwater volcanic eruption in the Bismarck Sea near Papua New Guinea, but scientists lack high‑resolution seafloor maps to pin down the vent or how the eruption reshaped the seafloor; thermal anomalies and a growing plume indicate a shallow source, and a new island might form, though the timeline and exact effects remain uncertain, highlighting how satellite data guide deep‑ocean and future off‑Earth exploration.

via Space|

#bismarcksea #islandformation #satelliteimagery

space2 days ago•11 min saved

Galileo’s 58-Minute Descent Unveils Jupiter’s Hidden Atmosphere

Galileo’s 1995 Jupiter probe descended into the gas giant, transmitting for about 58 minutes before the harsh pressures ended the signal; it provided the first in-situ measurements of a giant planet’s atmosphere—temperatures, pressures, densities, chemistry, and cloud structure—revealing a drier-than-expected hot-spot region and hotter, denser conditions, while highlighting the limitation that a single descent cannot characterize the entire planet.

via Space Daily|

#galileo-mission #jupiter #planetary-science

space-exploration2 days ago•74 min saved

Pillbug robot to shed thousands of tiny wind-powered drones for Martian lava-tube mapping

Scientists are proposing a biomimicry-inspired mission concept in which a pillbug‑like “roly‑poly” robot would crawl into Martian lava tubes and release thousands of micro‑drones (the “dandelion drones”). The drones would be powered by piezoelectric energy and carried into the caves by a parachute, then flown by Mars’ winds to map the tunnel network and collect environmental data. Because sunlight doesn’t reach the caves, the drones would not rely on solar power and would be painted white to travel farther. The plan highlights wind in caves as both a potential aid and a challenge, and includes a high‑powered fan to keep drones aloft if winds are weak. NASA and other groups have explored lava tubes on Mars and in analog sites, and the concept underscores broader interest in using drone swarms to scout difficult terrain (including future targets like Titan’s caves).

via Space|

#biomimicry #dandelion-drones #lava-tubes

space3 days ago•59 min saved

China Sends Lab-Grown Embryos to Space to Study Early Development in Orbit

China’s Tianzhou‑10 cargo mission delivered roughly 7 tons of supplies to the Tiangong space station and carried two types of living stem‑cell–based “artificial embryos” to study early human development in microgravity. Representing 14–21 days after fertilization, the peri‑implantation and peri‑gastrulation embryos will be grown for about five days in orbit, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis to assess how space radiation and zero gravity affect embryo development—an important step for potential off‑Earth reproduction—though the researchers emphasize these are embryo‑like and not viable human embryos.

via Live Science|

#biology #china #embryology

space3 days ago•11 min saved

Earth’s Sub-Pixel Spotlight: Sagan’s Push Turns Voyager 1 Photo into a Timeless Icon

In 1990, after Carl Sagan urged it, Voyager 1 photographed Earth from about 6 billion kilometers away, capturing a sub-pixel Pale Blue Dot; though scientifically minimal, the image gained iconic status through Sagan’s writing and a 2020 processing update, and with Voyager’s cameras long since turned off, it stands as the mission’s last full-family portrait of the solar system.

via Space Daily|

#carl-sagan #pale-blue-dot #solar-system

space3 days ago•11 min saved

Voyager's Golden Record Still Speaks in 55 Languages as Power Fades

NASA's JPL shut down Voyager 1's Low-energy Charged Particles instrument in 2026 due to dwindling plutonium power; both Voyager probes will likely go quiet in coming years, but the Golden Record—carrying greetings in 55 languages from Akkadian to Wu—remains as a timeless, symbolic self-portrait of humanity, a gesture rather than a scientific instrument, designed to convey Earth's diversity to any distant listener.

via Space Daily|

#golden-record #interstellar #nasa

space-exploration3 days ago•72 min saved

Hong Kong’s First Astronaut Joins China’s Shenzhou 23 Crew for a Year in Orbit

China on May 24 will launch the three-person Shenzhou 23 crew—Zhu Yangzhu (commander), Zhang Zhiyuan (pilot) and Lai Ka-ying (payload specialist) from Hong Kong, who becomes Hong Kong’s first astronaut. One crewmember will spend a full year in orbit, a first for China, as the mission docks with the Tiangong space station. The flight, from Jiuquan, sets the stage for Shenzhou 24, which will include a Pakistani astronaut, while Shenzhou 21’s crew remains aboard Tiangong on an extended mission.

via Space|

#astronauts #china #hong-kong

space-exploration4 days ago•72 min saved

China's Shenzhou 23 set for Tiangong launch with Hong Kong's Lai Ka-ying aboard

China is preparing to launch Shenzhou 23 to the Tiangong space station on May 24 with crew Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying for a six‑month stay; Lai will be Hong Kong's first orbiting astronaut, and one crew member is expected to embark on a year‑long orbit later as part of the Shenzhou 24 plan involving a Pakistani visitor (the specific astronaut to take the year‑long seat has not yet been named). The mission follows Shenzhou 21’s end and Shenzhou 22’s lifeboat role, and Tianzhou 10 arrived May 11 with nearly seven tons of supplies.

via Space|

#china #hong-kong #shenzhou-23

space-exploration4 days ago•72 min saved

SpaceX’s Starship V3 debuts on Flight 12 as the most powerful Starship yet

SpaceX’s Starship V3 roared from Starbase on May 22, 2026 for Flight 12—the most powerful Starship yet—marking the first flight of the Version 3 core with upgrades like a new fuel transfer tube, faster PEZ deployment, 39 Raptors across two stages, three grid fins, and a reusable “hot stage ring.” The suborbital test culminated in fiery splashdowns of both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage. The launch advances SpaceX’s long-running Artemis program goals, with NASA eyeing Artemis 4 for a late‑2028 lunar landing and continuing discussions about Artemis 3 in Earth orbit and potential Blue Origin competition.

via Space|

#artemis #nasa #space-exploration

technology5 days ago•8 min saved

US-Sweden Forge Broad Tech Prosperity Pact to Accelerate AI, Quantum, and Space

The United States and Sweden signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to deepen bilateral collaboration across AI, secure connectivity, biomedical research, manufacturing, energy, space, defense, quantum tech, and research-security. A Joint Committee will oversee implementation, with activities to be defined in future agreements and within applicable laws; no funds are committed at this stage, and IP or data-sharing terms will be set in separate arrangements.

via The White House (.gov)|

#artificial-intelligence #bilateral-cooperation #quantum-technology

space5 days ago•11 min saved

Huygens on Titan: the 2005 landing that still stands as humanity’s only outer-solar-system touchdown

ESA’s Huygens lander descended through Titan’s orange haze in January 2005, touched down after about 2.5 hours, and transmitted for roughly 72 minutes from the surface; as the part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, it remains the only landing in the outer solar system to date. Titan’s thick nitrogen-rich atmosphere, frigid surface around -179 C, and the mission’s long, multi-step descent informed future exploration (e.g., NASA’s Dragonfly) and underscored the scale and distance of far-off planetary exploration; the mission cost was about $3.9 billion.

via Space Daily|

#cassini-huygens #huygens #outer-solar-system