NASA formally retires Mars InSight lander after four-year mission
Los Angeles, USReuters NASA has formally retired its Mars InSight lander, the first robotic probe specially designed to study the deep interior of a distant world, four years after it arrived on the surface of the red planet, the US space agency announced on Wednesday. Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles […]
Essay: Why Artemis may be the last mission for NASA astronauts
In an article first published on The Conversation, MARTIN REES, emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, spells out why Artemis is “ultimately more likely to be a swansong than the launch of a new Apollo era”…
Space politics: NASA game planned contingencies for space station as Russian alliance continued-sources
JOEY ROULETTE, of Reuters, reports on how contingency plans have been drawn up amid escalating tensions between the US and Russia…
China closely tracking debris of its most powerful rocket
Beijing, ChinaReuters Remnants of a large, newly launched Chinese rocket are expected to streak back through the atmosphere this coming weekend in an uncontrolled re-entry the Beijing government said on Wednesday would be closely tracked but poses little risk to anyone on the ground. The Long March 5B rocket blasted off Sunday to deliver a […]
Essay: James Webb telescope – a scientist explains what its first, amazing images show, and how it will change astronomy
Following the release of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope this week, MARTIN BARSTOW, professor of astrophyics and space science at the University of Leicester, explains – in an article first published on The Conversation – what they show…
NASA draws back curtain on Webb space telescope’s first full-colour images
Greenbelt, Maryland, US Reuters NASA on Tuesday drew back the curtain on billions of years of cosmic evolution with the inaugural batch of photos from the largest, most powerful observatory ever launched to space, saying the luminous imagery showed the telescope exceeds expectations. The first full-colour, high-resolution pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope, designed […]
Essay: Say hello to Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy
Among the international team that captured the first image of the black hole at the Milky Way’s centre, CHRIS IMPEY, professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – how they did it and why it’s such a big deal…
Essay: Space Blocs – the future of international cooperation in space is splitting along lines of power on Earth
SVETLA BEN-ITZHAK, of Air University in the US, looks at how cooperation between nations in space is changing, spurred on by the conflict in Ukraine…
StrangeSights: The first kebab in space?; woodpecker attacks world’s largest hockey stick; and honouring Waldi…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
North Korea says tested most powerful missile since 2017, took pictures from space
Seoul, South KoreaReuters North Korea confirmed on Monday it had tested a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, state media reported, as US and South Korean officials warned Sunday’s launch could lead to resumed testing of long-range weapons and nuclear bombs. It was the seventh conducted by North Korea this month and the first time a nuclear-capable […]