Various types of astronaut assistant are in development.
Michal Bednarek/shutterstock.com
Artificial intelligence can help us venture further in space.
NASA’s James Webb telescope mirror undergoing cryogenic testing.
Ball Aerospace/Flickr
India may land on the Moon this coming year, while Nasa will launch its new, powerful rocket farther into space than any other human rated spacecraft.
Starship prototype test fight.
SpaceX/EPA
Starship’s groundbreaking design will help it land safely on Mars one day.
The only six sites on the farside of the Moon suitable for telescope arrays of around 200km across.
NASA
Companies and space agencies alike will have to compete for very few useful sites on the Moon.
Artist’s concept of astronauts and human habitats on Mars.
NASA
It is becoming increasingly clear that there is plenty of brine on Mars.
CSIRO
Researchers have spotted millions of galaxies in the most detailed radio survey of the southern sky ever conducted. It has smashed previous records for survey speed.
SpaceX
A change of government in the USA means less risk of ‘space war’ and more hope for peaceful cooperation.
Assembly of the Chang’e 5 orbiter-return capsule.
SHI Xiaodan/wikipedia
Some people are nervous about China’s growing capabilities when it comes to space exploration.
Artist impression of a solar disk in space.
NASA
How solar power stations in orbit could become a reality in the coming decades.
A shooting star during the Perseid meteor shower. Soon, thousands of satellites will crowd the night sky.
(Shutterstock)
SpaceX’s satellites will populate the night sky, affecting how we observe the stars. And this is just the beginning of private satellite mega-constellations.
Mars 2020 Perseverance space mission launches from Kennedy Space Center.
CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EE
With a new president in the White House and NASA’s chief administrator resigning we can expect changes to space policy.
NASA / Tracy Caldwell Dyson
After two decades as a home to astronauts, the International Space Station still has plenty to teach us about how humans can live away from Earth.
Artist’s concept of the OSIRIS REx spacecraft collecting material from Bennu.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Bennu will tell us about our own origins as much as about the origin of asteroid Bennu.
Shutterstock
Considering what we know about the key ingredients for life’s formation on Earth, here are three explanations for how this process may have occurred on our sister planet.
The Apollo 17 lunar lander surrounded by tyre tracks.
NASA
When it comes to managing the tussle for resources on the Moon, we might take lessons from New Zealand environmental law and TikTok ‘witches’.
Illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Perseverance rover onboard Mars
2020 is our best bet for finding life on the red planet.
Crew Dragon, carrying two astronauts, docks with the International Space Station.
NASA TV HANDOUT/EPA
Extreme velocities and temperatures makes the return flight to Earth the most perilous part of a space mission.
The Perseverance Rover (Mars 2020) installed within the upper stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket that will send it to Mars from Florida this week.
Australian scientists have been working on NASA’s latest Mars mission for years.
Shutterstock
Bacteria can become more deadly and antibiotic-resilient in space. And while more research is needed to figure out how severe the risks are, they could be catastrophic.
Rocket carrying the Hope probe.
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES HAND/EPA
In just a few years, the Hope mission has boosted UAE’s economy and science capacity.