The launch of a new rocket is always an exciting event. SpaceX’s ‘go fast and fail’ approach means that even though the test ended with engineers blowing up the rocket, it was a valuable first flight.
Both the U.S. and China have plans to establish bases on the Moon in the near future.
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China has invested massively in its space capabilities in recent years and is now a major competitor with the US. But according to a space policy expert, the US still dominates space by most measures.
The surface of Europa – one of Jupiter’s moons – is a thick layer of solid ice.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and Europa Clipper missions will arrive at Jupiter in the 2030s and provide researchers with unprecedented access to the icy moons orbiting the gas giant.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites launches on Aug. 19, 2022. The Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket and its re-entry is controlled after launch, reducing debris.
(Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)
Rockets used to launch satellites fall back to Earth, and as their number grows, the risk faced by people living on the ground — or flying in airplanes — increases.
Three taikonauts rode aboard the Shenzhou 15 mission on their way to China’s new Tiangong space station.
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China has completed construction of the Tiangong space station, and science projects are now underway. The station is an important piece of China’s ambitious plans for space activity in coming years.
NASA astronaut Winston E. Scott on an EVA in 1996.
NASA JSC
NASA has only mapped 40% of the potentially dangerous asteroids that could crash into Earth. New projects will boost that number, and upcoming missions will test tech that could prevent collisions.
It only takes light about eight minutes to go from the Sun to Earth.
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The fastest things ever made by humans are spacecraft, and the fastest spacecraft reached 330,000 mph – only 0.05% the speed of light. But there are ways to go faster.
A telescope in the outer solar system would be able to do unique science that is impossible closer to the Sun.
Michael Zemcov
Such a mission could be developed soon, allowing astrophysicists to take selfies of the solar system and use the Sun’s gravity as a lens to peer deep into space.
Thousands of the satellites orbiting Earth are small – like this cubical satellite seen here being released from the International Space Station.
NASA
In the past decade, the number of satellites in orbit has skyrocketed thanks to tiny electronics and cheap launches. The crowded night sky is posing problems for astronomers and astronauts.
Four people – none of them trained astronauts – launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, 2021.
NASA Johnson/Flickr
The Inspiration4 mission sent four civilians to space for three days. Though still funded by a billionaire, the mission is a step forward in the nascent space tourism industry.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson launches Virgin Galactic.
Terry Caws/Alamy Stock Photo
Improved rocket technology and tactics have made the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict different from the one in 2014. Israel’s defences have been stressed.
It’s unlikely falling space junk will destroy property or kill a person.
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Chances are small that space junk will destroy property or harm a person, and existing space law could deal with such an event. But current law doesn’t address the bigger problem of space pollution.
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on the International Space Station with a view many more are likely to see soon.
NASA/Tracy Caldwell Dyson/WIkimediaCommons
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are offering trips to the stars for those who can pay.
Space tourism has been slow to get off the ground.
Nadia Bormotova/iStock via Getty Images Plus
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies are on the cusp of offering trips off Earth for those who can pay.
The Perseverance Rover’s first image sent back to NASA from Mars shows the surface of the Jezero crater.
NASA/JPL
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission has arrived and landed the Perseverance Rover on the red planet. The rover’s goal is to collect rock and soil samples to be brought back to Earth in the future.