Sir Richard Branson’s successful spaceflight marks the beginning of a new chapter for space tourism.
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Articles on Space
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Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are sending spacecrafts – and their billionaire founders – into suborbital flight. But what differentiates a suborbital flight from a trip around Earth?
It wasn’t long after Jeff Bezos announced his plans to go to space that Sir Richard Branson joined in, setting a launch date to beat Bezos by nine days.
The history of UFOs weaves together public fascination, government secrecy and cultural phenomena. Recent news and shifts in the government’s stance on UFOs are giving new life to the mystery.
The discovery of an ancient star in the Milky Way’s halo is providing evidence for another source that would have produced the galaxy’s heavy elements.
NASA hasn’t updated its spacesuits since 1974, when only men were eligible to be astronauts. But when it heads to the Moon in the coming years, its new spacesuits should come in women’s sizes too.
A new nine-page report, requested by Congress, doesn’t say what the 144 UFO sightings from 2004 to 2021 are, but does say that the government wants to learn more.
China’s space culture is unique and deeply rooted in the country’s traditions.
More than 60 images capturing huge expanses of sky are sent to us from Chile. Within them we can see thousands of bright spots. What do we find when we look closer?
Researchers used decades-old radar data and found that some low-lying areas of Venus’ crust are moving and jostling. This evidence is some of the strongest yet of tectonic activity on Venus.
Astronomers know a lot about what’s in outer space – and think it’s possible it never ends.
Two new NASA missions – VERITAS and DAVINCI+ – are headed to Venus. The missions will use radar and a probe to learn about Earth’s hard-to-study and potentially prophetic neighbor.
Fast radio bursts are the focus of a young and fascinating field of astronomy. Researchers just released data on more than 500 new bursts, quadrupling the total number of detected events.
Nasa’s sending its first missions to Earth’s twin since 1990.
Venus wouldn’t attract much attention if it were outside our solar system. Its skies are filled with sulphuric acid, its land abounds with extinct volcanoes and its surface is mostly red hot lava.
In the early morning of May 26, 2021, there will be a super blood-red lunar eclipse. The show will be spectacular and can all be explained by the orbits of the Earth and Moon.
In the coming decades, governments and private companies will set up permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. And at some point, the first galactic baby will be born.
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.
The Tiangong space station is set to become a second long-term habitat for humans in orbit around Earth.
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.
Top contributors
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Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University
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University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
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Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University
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Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland
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Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University
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Emeritus Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University
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Associate Professor in Astronomy, Monash University
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Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
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Sterrenkenner, History & Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne
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Reader in Astrophysics, Keele University
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Andrew Dempster is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW Sydney
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Space Plasma Physicist, Imperial College London
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Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University
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Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
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Professor of Hypersonic Aerodynamics, The University of Queensland
