Astronomy news

• On this day in space! Oct. 20, 1970: The Soviet Union launches last-ever Zond moon mission

  20-10-2026 22:59 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 20, 1970, the Soviet Union launched the Zond 8 spacecraft on a mission to the moon. This was the last mission in the Zond program.After the first three Zond missions explored Venus and Mars, the next ones were circumlunar missions that flew around the moon before returning to Earth. Although there was no crew on board, the Zond spacecraft was designed with cosmonauts in mind.The Zond missions served as test flights for the Soviet Union's plans to send cosmonauts to the moon. But those pl
  
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• Can’t make it to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for the 'Star Wars' display? This is the companion book set you’re looking for!

  20-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Taschen, purveyors of fine art and design special-edition books, have teamed up with George Lucas and his newly opened Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles to present a masterful two-volume catalog of the museum’s illuminating offerings. Housed in a sturdy slipcase, readers will discover a pair of lavishly illustrated volumes spanning 832 pages and tipping the scales at nearly 14 pounds. At $200 for the pair, it's not cheap, but look on the bright side; hoisting these illustrated t
  
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• Jeff Bezos is playing the long game with Blue Origin (op-ed)

  20-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  Daniel Biedermann is a partner at NewSpace Capital. He contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.Jeff Bezos, the founder and former CEO of Amazon, recently said that Blue Origin, his space technology company, is likely to go public in the coming years. The announcement has (unsurprisingly) attracted considerable attention, not least because Bezos has spent more than two decades financing the company largely from his personal wealth. He has invested billions of d
  
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• A supercomputer is about to launch to the moon for the 1st time, aboard a rover named FLIP

  20-10-2026 19:42 via space.com
  
  HAWTHORNE, Calif. — A moon buggy carrying a history-making supercomputer is ready to launch to the lunar surface. And it's taking some inspiration from Mars. Later this year, Astrolab will launch its uncrewed moon rover FLIP to the lunar south pole as part of the Griffin Mission 1, or Griffin-1. The California company is one of two that NASA has selected to develop a drivable rover for the agency's Artemis program. On board FLIP will be Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) Spaceborne Compute
  
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• A supercomputer is about to launch to the moon aboard a rover named FLIP

  20-10-2026 19:42 via space.com
  
  HAWTHORNE, Calif. — A moon buggy carrying a history-making supercomputer is ready to launch to the lunar surface. And it's taking some inspiration from Mars. Later this year, Astrolab will launch its uncrewed moon rover FLIP to the lunar south pole as part of the Griffin Mission 1, or Griffin-1. The California company is one of two that NASA has selected to develop a drivable rover for the agency's Artemis program. On board FLIP will be Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) Spaceborne Compute
  
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• The view from the edge of a sparkling spiral galaxy | Space photo of the day for Oct. 20, 2026

  20-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The spiral galaxy NGC 1827, as seen from the side by the Hubble Space Telescope.(Image credit: NASA, ESA, Michael Jones (California Institute of Technology); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America))If you were approaching the edge of a spiral galaxy, arriving from afar through the cosmos, it might look something like this. What is it?In this new snapshot by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), we can see the edge of the spiral galaxy NGC 18
  
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• Red light, white light: How to preserve your night vision while using stargazing apps

  20-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The best stargazing apps can take your observation of the night sky to the next level, whether that's using augmented reality (AR mode) to identify stars or looking up the next lunar eclipse. However, the bright light emitted by smartphone screens can prevent your eyes from adjusting to the dark. If you're using one of the best telescopes, you'll want to preserve your night vision even more. Fortunately, there are ways to all but eliminate this problem.Why are bright screens bad for stargazing?T
  
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• Could a $200K bond for satellites paid before launch prevent a space junk disaster in orbit? Here's why some scientists think so

  20-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  The space around Earth is turning into a junkyard. Researchers think a refundable deposit scheme could force satellite operators to clean up their act before a tipping point is reached.For years, space sustainability experts have warned that the growing number of satellites in orbit and the quantity of dead metal left behind threatens to trigger a dangerous cascade of collisions known as the Kessler Syndrome. Predicted in the 1970s by NASA physicist Donald Kessler, this chain of orbital smashups
  
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• SpaceX launches its 'Starfall' return capsule for 2nd time ever (video)

  20-10-2026 13:16 via space.com
  
  SpaceX just launched its mysterious "Starfall" return capsule for the second time ever.Starfall was one of 32 payloads on the company's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, which launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT) today (Oct. 20) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.SpaceX has been relatively quiet about Starfall, which debuted this past June on a Falcon 9 launch from the Cape.The payloads of SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, seen in a prelaunch photo. The
  
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• SpaceX launches its 'Starfall' return capsule for 2nd time ever

  20-10-2026 13:16 via space.com
  
  SpaceX just launched its mysterious "Starfall" return capsule for the second time ever.Starfall was one of 32 payloads on the company's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, which launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT) today (Oct. 20) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.SpaceX has been relatively quiet about Starfall, which debuted this past June on a Falcon 9 launch from the Cape.The payloads of SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, seen in a prelaunch photo. The
  
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• NASA closes the book on epic OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission: 'I am immensely proud of what we did'

  20-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 30, NASA formally concluded OSIRIS-REx, the historic first U.S. mission to pluck a pristine piece of an asteroid and deliver it safely back to Earth.The van-sized OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — whose name is short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer — visited and sampled Bennu, an ancient space rock holding pristine remnants from the dawn of our solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. Among those cosmic relics are raw orga
  
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• New 'Blade Runner 2099' trailer is a space fan's dream with sinister starships and strange exoplanets (video)

  20-10-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  Cue the depressing rain, dark trench coats, and a dire dystopian dirge because the Blade Runner 2099 trailer is here!Cyberpunk is charging back in confident fashion with Prime Video's latest detour into the neon-drenched dystopia of humans and rogue replicants first introduced in director Sir Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" from 1982, then revisited in Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049."Arriving Nov. 25, 2026, "Blade Runner 2099"'s plot turns the tables as resentful artificial beings are now t
  
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