The exoplanet K2-18b might host a water ocean.
Credits: Illustration: NASA, CSA, ESA, J. Olmsted (STScI), Science: N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)
The results are intriguing, but analysing the atmospheres of exoplanets is no easy task.
Roscosmos State Space Corporation / AP
Space missions are still difficult, dangerous and risky – but it’s still early days in the human journey beyond our planet.
China’s lunar rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit 2, on the Moon, January 2019.
EPA/CNSA via AAP
China has made significant advances in space exploration on its own steam. It doesn’t need a partnership with Russia.
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NASA/Bill Anders
August 22, 2023
Priyanka Dhopade , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau ; Carolle Varughese , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau ; Lena Henry , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau ; Sarah Hendrica Bickerton , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau , and Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Space exploration is often propelled by competition, driven by national pride and with little thought about consequence. It is time to consider space as a commons, not just a resource to exploit.
The Vikram lander should carry the rover to the lunar surface.
ISRO
The Indian spacecraft could lay the ground for future missions with astronauts, and even for lunar bases.
StudioFI / Shutterstock
Solar panels in space could harness more of the Sun’s energy.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is 20 billion kilometres away and has lost track of Earth. A radio dish near Canberra is the only channel for re-establishing communication.
Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction masterpiece was released in 1968.
Collection Christophel/Alamy
If you haven’t seen Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi classic, then it’s likely you will have seen other films influenced by it.
Noah Silliman/Unsplash
One person recently spent 100 days underwater. Another lived 500 days in a cave. What can we learn from such extreme experiences?
NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion capsule attached, launches at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
As signatories, Nigeria and Rwanda are demonstrating their commitment to safe, sustainable use of outer space. This should have multiple benefits.
Jupiter has more than 80 moons, the largest of which were discovered by Galileo. Many will be studied in depth by the scientific instruments of ESA’s JUICE mission.
ESA, NASA, JPL, ATG, DLR, University of Arizona, University of Leicester
One of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, could contain more water than the Earth.
Within the next year or two, people will set foot on the surface of the Moon for the first time in 50 years.
NASA
A US-led coalition and China are both planning to establish bases on the Moon. How the two nations will navigate actions on the Moon and how other countries will be involved is still unclear.
Virgin Orbit is launching satellites using a rocket slung under the wing of an aircraft.
Virgin Orbit
Efforts to launch rockets into space from the UK need to demonstrate reliability.
Growing food in space will rely on innovative agricultural technologies.
(NASA)
Agricultural technologies to grow food on Mars can help address climate change, sustainability and food scarcity challenges.
Artist’s impression of Starship cruising past the Moon.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp./SpaceX Flickr
From space agency missions to private space launches, 2023 will be an exciting year in space.
Going to space requires more than just rocket science.
John Lamb via Getty Images
Spacecraft are just a small part of what it takes for humans to become an interplanetary species. A political science professor explains how there is much more to creating a spacefaring society.
NASA astronaut Winston E. Scott on an EVA in 1996.
NASA JSC
The European Space Agency has recruited the world’s first-ever disabled astronaut. But we’re still a long way from space being accessible to all.
Trail from BlueWalker 3 above Kitt Peak telescope in Arizona.
KPNO/NOIRLab/IAU/SKAO/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks
The stars, planets and Milky Way we see at night are part of a wilderness shared across the globe and across centuries. But does BlueWalker 3 herald a night sky polluted with bright satellites?
A camera mounted on the tip of one of the Orion capsule’s solar array wings captured this footage of the spacecraft and the Moon
NASA
Artemis-1 is on its way back to Earth, successfully completing its maiden flight.
NASA JSC/Meghan McArthur
The days of freeze-fried astronaut ice cream are long behind us. What will humans eat on Moon colonies in the future? Carefully engineered space gardens could be the answer.