space exploration

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory scientists observed a black hole in a distant galaxy repeatedly munching on a Sun-like star. Swift science uses a unique way to analyze data from the satellite’s X-ray Telescope (XRT) and adapt to new…

Many space missions re-use technologies. For example, Voyager probes have been around longer than most of my readers. Launched 46 years ago, the twin probes still send data back to Earth (when someone doesn't tilt its antenna the wrong…

NASA lost contact with Voyager 2 on July 21st after flight commanders sent an order that tilted the probe's antenna away from Earth, making it impossible to send and receive commands and data. Mission control tilted the antenna a mere 2%.…

In the mesmerizing dance of cosmic dust, a groundbreaking revelation has emerged, shedding light on the enigmatic process of planet formation. Microparticle dust aggregates, those tiny building blocks of celestial bodies, have long been…

There may be many more Earth-like exoplanets with liquid water than we thought, potentially increasing the chance of finding life. Dr. Lujendra Ojha of Rutgers University claims that their work shows water can be found in places previously…

Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) scored a first in modular robotics development with an origami robot that can change shape, move around, and interact with objects and people. Inspired by the digital world of…

Saturn has more moons than any other planet in our solar system. With the recent discovery of 62 new spatial bodies in the system, the ringed planet now has a total of 145 moons, beating Jupiter’s 92, which also increased in February with …

Centipedes have no problems negotiating rugged terrain. They do so by wiggling body parts and limbs. When the wiggling stops, so do they. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using centipede movement to develop a…

If you're an AI expert drawn to everything about space, here's a challenge for you. The Ariel Data Challenge 2023 is inviting AI and machine learning experts from industry and academia to help astronomers understand exoplanets. Dr. Ingo…

Scientists studying a nearby protostar discovered gaseous water in the star's circumstellar disk, supporting the theory that water on Earth is older than our Sun. The team used ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in…