Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Bombardment of planets in the early solar system

Studies of the asteroid Vesta provide new findings on the formation of Earth-like planets.

September 30, 2021 Read more

Are pulsars the source of galactic cosmic rays?

A new project is investigating the role pulsars play in creating galactic, high-energy cosmic rays.

September 29, 2021 Read more

This is what it looks like when a black hole snacks on a star

Astronomers documented a fatal encounter between an unlucky star and an intermediate-mass black hole.

September 28, 2021 Read more

Hubble finds early, massive galaxies running on empty

When the universe was about 3 billion years old, just 20% of its current age, it experienced the most prolific period of star birth in its history. But when astronomers gazed toward cosmic objects in this period, they found something odd: six early, massive, 'dead' galaxies that had run out of the cold hydrogen gas needed to make stars.

September 22, 2021 Read more

How many satellites are orbiting Earth?

The idea that 'space is getting crowded' has been around for a few years now, but just how crowded is it? And how crowded is it going to get?

September 17, 2021 Read more

Burning space mystery solved as researchers confirm origins of 'empty sky' gamma-rays

Star-forming galaxies are responsible for creating gamma-rays that until now had not been associated with a known origin. Gamma rays are one of the most energetic forms of light in the universe, and Aussie researchers say they have been able to pinpoint how they form.

September 16, 2021 Read more

Scientists say it's possible we've detected dark energy

Dark energy, the mysterious force that causes the universe to accelerate, may have been responsible for unexpected results from the XENON1T experiment, deep below Italy's Apennine Mountains.

September 15, 2021 Read more

ALMA reveals carbon-rich, organic birth environments of planets

Scientists connect the dots between where planets form and what they're made of.

September 15, 2021 Read more

Affordable housing in outer space: Scientists develop cosmic concrete from space dust and astronaut blood

Transporting a single brick to Mars can cost more than a million dollars - making the future construction of a Martian colony seem prohibitively expensive. Scientists have now developed a way to potentially overcome this problem, by creating a concrete-like material made of extra-terrestrial dust along with the blood, sweat and tears of astronauts.

September 14, 2021 Read more

Researchers enlist robot swarms to mine lunar resources

Aerospace and mining engineers are mapping out a plan for harvesting the moon's resources using autonomous robot swarms and new excavation techniques.

September 10, 2021 Read more

Largest virtual universe free for anyone to explore

An international team of researchers has generated an entire virtual universe, and made it freely available on the cloud to everyone. Uchuu (meaning 'Outer Space' in Japanese) is the largest and most realistic simulation of the Universe to date.

September 10, 2021 Read more

Physicists point out window of opportunity for manned Mars mission

Is the best date for a manned mission to Mars the earliest date when we are ready? Not necessarily, suggests a new study.

September 7, 2021 Read more

Astronomers nail down the origins of rare loner dwarf galaxies

The results provide a blueprint for finding such systems in the universe's quieter, emptier regions.

September 6, 2021 Read more

'X-ray magnifying glass' enhances view of distant black holes

By taking advantage of a natural lens in space, astronomers have captured an unprecedented look at X-rays from a black hole system in the early universe.

August 31, 2021 Read more

Galaxies pump out contaminated exhausts

Research reveals how star-making pollutes the cosmos.

August 30, 2021 Read more

Cold planets exist throughout our galaxy, even in the galactic bulge

Scientists have used a combination of observations and modeling to determine how the planet-hosting probability varies with the distance from the galactic center.

August 30, 2021 Read more

How disorderly young galaxies grow up and mature

Using a supercomputer simulation, a research team has succeeded in following the development of a galaxy over a span of 13.8 billion years. The study shows how, due to interstellar frontal collisions, young and chaotic galaxies over time mature into spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way.

August 27, 2021 Read more

Will it be safe for humans to fly to Mars?

A human space mission would be viable if it doesn't exceed four years, an international research team concludes in new research.

August 26, 2021 Read more