Nations around the world are shoring up their military capabilities in space.
Dec 1, 2020 - ScienceNASA might get to stay the course, but would have to compete with other spending priorities.
Oct 27, 2020 - ScienceSpace junk could threaten humanity's future in the stars.
Oct 20, 2020 - ScienceCompanies are also hoping to launch missions to far-off destinations like Venus and Mars.
Sep 23, 2020 - ScienceThousands participated in calling attention to barriers that keep black people out of science.
Jun 16, 2020 - ScienceIngenuity on the surface of Mars. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's little Ingenuity helicopter on Mars will have to wait a bit longer to take to the Martian skies for the first time after a problem was detected during a test last week.
Why it matters: If the eventual flight is successful, this will mark the first time an aircraft has flown on a world other than Earth, opening the door to a new type of planetary exploration.
Artist's illustration of a brown dwarf. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Scientists have discovered the three fastest spinning "failed stars" yet found, suggesting there might be a speed limit to how fast they can rotate.
The big picture: These objects — called brown dwarfs — are thought to be "failed stars" that didn't collect enough mass to ignite fusion in their cores needed to be considered a star and too large to be a gas giant planet like Jupiter.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
As humanity stretches into orbit and beyond, experts are still grappling with how rights afforded to workers on Earth apply to those living in space.
Why it matters: In order to create businesses and perhaps societies in space — where the biological necessities for sustaining human life, like air and water, aren't readily available — there will need to be fundamental rights agreements to guarantee laborers aren't exploited.
Ingenuity (left) with Perseverance on Mars. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA announced Saturday it rescheduled its Ingenuity Mars helicopter's first experimental flight, originally planned for Sunday.
The latest: "During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a 'watchdog' timer expiration," NASA said in a statement. "This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode."
InSight on Mars. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's InSight lander on Mars felt two relatively large quakes shake the Red Planet last month.
Why it matters: InSight uses these shakes on Mars — caused by volcanic activity — to learn more about the interior of the planet.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The developers of the reality TV show "Space Hero" want to make space cool.
Why it matters: As spaceflight opportunities open up to more people who aren't professional astronauts, the space industry — which is largely insular and elite — will need to find ways to make space travel appealing to the public.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Russia is staging shows of military might in orbit as its civil and commercial space sector loses its longstanding edge.
Why it matters: These demonstrations threaten to undermine responsible behavior in space, and could put U.S. military — and possibly commercial — assets in orbit at risk.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Companies are rapidly designing private space stations that could one day dominate operations in orbit around Earth.
Why it matters: NASA is hoping private industry will start to take over operations in low-Earth orbit once the International Space Station comes to an end, creating a robust commercial market in that part of space.
Photo: NASA
The private weather company ClimaCell has raised more than $185 million in part to help finance its ambitions to build a fleet of satellites designed to monitor and forecast the weather.
Why it matters: The company — which announced a $77 million Series D capital raise today — is aiming to do something different than most space-faring weather firms. Instead of gathering data to sell it to others, it plans to use it to improve its own analytical offerings.
The "Ever Given" ship. Photo: AFP via Getty Images
Rescuers who dislodged the massive "Ever Given" ship from the Suez Canal on Monday got the aid of a supermoon, which raised water levels about 19 inches above normal tides and made it easier to pull the vessel, The Wall Street Journal reports.
How it works: Tides are usually higher during a full or new moon. But that effect was boosted by the year's first supermoon — which occurs when a full moon orbits closest to the Earth.