Astronomy news

• China on track to launch Mars sample-return mission in 2028: 'If accurate, this represents a Sputnik moment'

  09-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  China is making progress on its Tianwen 3 Mars sample return mission, which aims to bring back to Earth roughly 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of Red Planet collectibles in 2031. According to the China National Space Administration, the Tianwen 3 mission will have a lander, an ascender, a service capsule, an orbiter and an Earth reentry module. If all goes to plan, Tianwen 3 will launch in 2028 on two Long March 5 heavy-lift rockets from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan, China's s
  
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• The original 'Star Wars' is coming to IMAX for the first time ever in 2027

  14-09-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Unless you’ve been living in a galaxy far, far away, you probably already know that 2027 marks the 50th anniversary of "Star Wars", as George Lucas’s sprawling space opera first struck theaters back on May 25, 1977.To celebrate this milestone occasion, Disney and Lucasfilm are bringing the original Star Wars theatrical release to IMAX screens for the first time. We don't have an exact date yet, but it'll likely be just before the anniversary date in early 2027. "Star Wars: Starfighte
  
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• No cities on the moon — there isn't enough water, scientists say (op-ed)

  14-09-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  The discovery of water at the poles of the moon has inspired speculation about whether we can build there – cities, industrial neighborhoods, places where people work and live. But is there enough water, and can we use it efficiently enough? In their new article in Frontiers in Space Technologies, Dr. Martin Elvis and Dr. Jonathan McDowell do the math. Even at the most generous estimates of the available water and recycling efficiency, a city of one million people would only last 100 years
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 14, 1966: NASA's Gemini 11 astronauts set altitude record for Earth orbit that went unbroken for 58 years

  14-09-2026 16:55 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 14, 1966, NASA's Gemini 11 mission set an spaceflight altitude record that lasted for nearly six decades when two astronauts reached an orbit of 850 miles above the Earth. It remained the highest altitude ever achieved by a crewed, non-lunar mission until 2024. Gemini 11 command pilot Pete Conrad and pilot Dick Gordon spent three days orbiting the Earth in their cramped Gemini spacecraft. After launch, they performed the first-ever direct-ascent rendezvous with an Agena target vehicle.
  
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• Cygnus the swan lifts up the International Space Station | Space photo of the day for Sept. 14, 2026

  14-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The engines fire on Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to lift up the International Space Station's orbit.(Image credit: NASA)Everyone needs a helping hand from their friends now and again  — even space stations. Recently, the International Space Station got an orbital boost from the docked Cygnus XL spacecraft, helping the station get to the correct altitude. What is it?On Aug. 27, while attached to the International Space Station's Unity module, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus
  
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• Pre-order the Unistellar Envision AR binoculars and learn about the night sky in real-time

  14-09-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  When had an early preview of the Unistellar Envisions earlier this year, our editor-in-chief Tariq Malik said they felt like something out of Star Trek. I have been very excited about getting my hands on these for a long time and I can't wait to use them to identify stars and constellations in the night sky. You can preorder the Unistellar Envision AR smart binoculars right now, available for $1499 exclusively from Unistellar.Unistellar announced that pre-orders were opening for the highly-antic
  
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• Is there a hidden 'Planet 9' in our solar system?

  14-09-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  For more than a century, astronomers have been captivated by the idea that an undiscovered planet could be lurking in the furthest reaches of our solar system.The search for this elusive, hypothetical planet has taken many forms over the decades. The discovery of Neptune in 1846 demonstrated that an unseen planet might be inferred from its gravitational effects on other worlds. Based on this, the search for a ninth planet began in earnest, seemingly culminating with the discovery of Pluto by ast
  
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• James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble discover 27 puzzling new objects orbiting the sun far beyond Neptune

  14-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have teamed up to target some of the smallest, most distant objects in the solar system, discovering that the history of these tiny objects is more puzzling than we'd realized.The two orbiting observatories collectively discovered 27 new Trans-Neptunian Objects, or TNOs, all less than 25 miles (40 kilometers) across, with the smallest being only 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter. As their name suggests, TNOs orbit the sun from far beyond Neptune. Some
  
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• SpaceX launches 3 telecom satellites to orbit on 700th Falcon mission of all time (video)

  13-09-2026 23:41 via space.com
  
  SpaceX lofted three telecom satellites to orbit today (Sept. 13) on a milestone mission for the company.A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT), carrying the final three satellites for Luxembourg-based SES' O3b mPOWER constellation.It was the 700th mission to date for SpaceX's Falcon rocket family, according to the company. That family first spread its wings in March 2006 when the Falcon 1 debuted. The Falcon 1 flew a total
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 13, 2007: Japan launches Kaguya spacecraft to the moon to map the lunar surface in HD

  13-09-2026 19:45 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 13, 2007, Japan launched the Kaguya spacecraft on a mission to the moon. Formally known as SELENE, which is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, it was Japan's second moon mission. Kaguya launched from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-IIA rocket and looped around the Earth twice before heading to the moon. NOTE: While the launch occurred on Sept. 13 in the evening Eastern Time, it was actually 10:31 a.m. on Sept. 14 at the launch site. The spacecraft carried 14 scie
  
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• The 10 best underground sci-fi movies to dig into now that 'Silo' season 3 has ended

  13-09-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Unless you’re a naked mole rat or a worm-lizard, you were never meant to live your life out underground like the poor doomsday denizens of Apple TV's "Silo." Season 3 has revealed how a trillionaire industrialist named Per Stenson (Colin Hanks) funded the insane project to build 50 subterranean bunkers in Georgia, housing 10,000 people each, as a bold failsafe effort against humanity’s inevitable extinction in the face of global nanotech warfare.Hollywood has mined the sci-fi subgenr
  
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• NASA astronaut Jessica Meir shares zero-G curly hair tips from the ISS (video)

  13-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  NASA astronaut Jessica Meir just shared some tips for controlling curls in the tough environment of microgravity — and it was a big deal for curly-haired people like me.Meir's hair-care advice came Wednesday (Sept. 9) in a 5.5-minute video she posted to X from the International Space Station (ISS), where everything floats and "where curls are even more free to be what they want to be," the Expedition 75 astronaut wrote.And if you think all this talk about hair care sounds frivolous, take i
  
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• James Webb Space Telescope discovers the rings of tiny solar system body Chariklo are changing

  13-09-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered that the ring system of a tiny solar system body is even more interesting than they knew.The object in question is Chariklo, which orbits the sun between Saturn and Uranus, at around 17 times the distance between Earth and the sun. Despite only being around 155 miles (250 kilometers) wide, Chariklo, part of the Centaur family of asteroids, possesses two thick rings.
  Though Saturn is the solar system body most famous for its
  
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• Don't miss Venus shine beside the crescent moon at sunset tonight

  13-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Look west at sunset on Sept. 13 to see brilliant Venus shining close to the delicate arc of the crescent moon. The encounter is a prelude to an even closer meeting the following day, when the moon will pass directly in front of Venus for observers across parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. Tonight (Sept. 13), Venus will appear as a bright "Evening Star," a little over 5 degrees from the 9%-illuminated waxing moon — roughly the width of your three middle fingers held at arm's length against t
  
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• Trump is proposing a US Space Academy — if created, it could blur the lines between NASA and the military (op-ed)

  12-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. During a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 28, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a United States Space AcademyThe proposal, which would establish a NASA-led institution set up along the lines of a military academy, is a new one. As a space policy expert, I see several open questions and po
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 12, 1992: NASA astronaut Mae Jemison makes history as the 1st Black woman in space

  12-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 12, 1992, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to go to space.In NASA's early days, women and people of color were never selected to go to space. NASA didn't send a woman to space until the seventh space shuttle mission in 1983. NASA launched the first Black man in space, astronaut Guion Bluford, on the following mission that same year.Women in Space: A Gallery of FirstsBut it would take another nine years for NASA to finally select a Black woman to fly on
  
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• On this day in space! NASA astronaut Mae Jemison makes history as the 1st Black woman in space

  12-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 12, 1992, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to go to space.In NASA's early days, women and people of color were never selected to go to space. NASA didn't send a woman to space until the seventh space shuttle mission in 1983. NASA launched the first Black man in space, astronaut Guion Bluford, on the following mission that same year.Women in Space: A Gallery of FirstsBut it would take another nine years for NASA to finally select a Black woman to fly on
  
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• This Week In Space podcast: Episode 227 — Trekmania

  12-09-2026 15:04 via space.com
  
  On Episode 227 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by Michael Okuda, who with wife and others have been central to the look, feel, and substance of the Star Trek universe.Hold onto your phasers, but it's been 60 years since Star Trek's debut, and the franchise is still going strong.From the LCARS computer graphical system to alien languages to the designs and color schemes, and even the digital effects remastering of the original series, Mike has been the Cardinal of Canon
  
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• The best 'Star Trek' spaceships: 14 classic vessels from the Federation and beyond

  12-09-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Raise shields and charge phasers, because we're running down the best "Star Trek" spaceships from across the galaxy.When Matt Jefferies started designing the original USS Enterprise, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry told him he didn't want to see rockets or jets propelling the ship. "I bought whatever I could find on 'Buck Rogers' and 'Flash Gordon' and pinned it up on the wall," Jefferies explained. "I said, 'That we will not do.'"It's fair to say the artist came up with a truly brilliant s
  
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• Perseid meteors meet mesmerizing star trails over Egypt's Western Desert

  12-09-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Astrophotographer Osama Fathi created this incredible view of Perseid meteors streaking through circling star trails above Egypt's Western Desert on Aug. 13-14, the night following the shower's peak under dark new-moon skies.Fathi imaged the star trails in 240 consecutive 25-second exposures, which captured the apparent motion of the stars in Earth's sky as they seemed to circle the celestial north pole and the North Star Polaris.The length of each trail reveals how far the stars appeared to mov
  
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• NASA, IBM launch new AI model for studying the moon

  12-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  We've been studying the moon for a long time. NASA has gathered mountains of data over decades of lunar missions and studies. The data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) alone, for example, exceeds that of all NASA's other planetary missions combined. Analyzing all this information takes lots of time and effort from researchers. So, NASA and IBM have developed an AI model to help sift through the moon data — an advance the agency announced on Thursday (Sept. 10). The open-
  
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• Rocket Lab protests NASA's decision to award Blue Origin $700 million Mars orbiter contract

  12-09-2026 00:06 via space.com
  
  Rocket Lab still holds out hope that it can build NASA's next Mars orbiter.The agency picked Blue Origin for that job earlier this month, awarding Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company $700 million to develop, launch and operate the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN).Today (Sept. 11), however, Rocket Lab announced that it has challenged that decision, filing a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).Rocket Lab has filed a formal protest with the Government Accountability Offi
  
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• I've chased the 'false dawn' for years — this is the week to find and photograph it

  11-09-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Some stargazing feels like you know exactly what you are looking for, but you're still slightly unsure whether you are actually seeing it. Zodiacal light — meaning "light from the circle of animals" — is often like that.I have chased this so-called "false dawn" for years, and the first few minutes are always the same. I stare toward the horizon and wonder whether the sky is genuinely brighter there, or whether I am simply seeing distant light pollution, the first hint of morning twil
  
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• A star is exploding 45 million light-years away — here's how you can see it

  11-09-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  An extraordinary exploding star has been spotted in a distant galaxy, and astrophotographers are racing to capture it before it fades from view.The supernova, called SN 2026aaiv, was first seen by the ATLAS survey on Sept. 1 in NGC 7331 (also known as Caldwell 30), a spiral galaxy about 45 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus, visible in the Northern Hemisphere and at mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.That makes this supernova a prime target for amateur astrophotographers
  
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• Rocket Lab launches mystery satellite to orbit for secret customer (photo)

  11-09-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  Rocket Lab just launched a mystery mission to orbit.An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site on Thursday (Sept. 10) at 11:28 p.m. EDT (0328 GMT and 3:28 p.m. local New Zealand time on Sept. 11).The launched kicked off a mission the company called "Happily Ever Faster," which we know little about.'Happily Ever Faster' to orbit 🌌✨ Today we launched our 95th Electron at 3:28 pm NZST and deployed a single Earth observation satellite to a 500km LEO for a confide
  
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• Stream every single Star Trek show from anywhere, and save up to 75% with this VPN deal

  11-09-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  The Star Trek franchise has hit the ripe old age of 60 this week. September 8 is the official 'Star Trek Day' and marks the anniversary of the 'Original Series', which first broadcast in 1966. For fans of all things Star Trek, Paramount+ is the place to be with all seasons of the 'Original Series', plus the new series 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds', which is currently in Season 4 and hits its exciting finale on September 24.If you travel regularly, a regional lock can cut off your Paramount+ su
  
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• The sun may once have swallowed a super-Earth planet and could still be hiding the evidence

  11-09-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Our star and primary energy source that makes life on this planet possible may also be a cosmic cannibal. That's according to new research that suggests the sun may have swallowed a super-Earth planet billions of years ago in its early history. And our star may still be hiding the evidence.The scientists behind this research think that the fingerprints of this violent consumption of a planet may still exist within the solar interior. Super-Earths are common occupants of other planetary systems,
  
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• 60 years of Star Trek uniforms: Looking back at the everchanging wardrobe of Starfleet

  11-09-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  To boldly dress as no one has dressed before… In another universe, that could have been the "Star Trek" mission statement. Sure, the veteran franchise has spent much of its 60-year lifetime seeking out new life and new civilisations, but it's also been preoccupied with keeping crews fashionable as they explore the final frontier. It seems that nobody wants to make first contact sporting last year's jumpsuit. The sheer volume of uniforms worn on Federation duty is mind-boggling, as Starfle
  
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• Wavy alien dune fields stretch across Mars | Space photo of the day for Sept. 11, 2026

  11-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  A dune field on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)Are those purple, wavy, alien thumbprints? Or perhaps an otherworldly ocean? Nope! It's actually a dune field on Mars, colored purple.What is it?Across the Martian surface are all sorts of unique features in the rocky, dusty surface material. In this false-color image, snapped by the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 11, 1985: The International Cometary Explorer makes 1st comet flyby in history for NASA and Europe

  11-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 11, 1985, the International Cometary Explorer, or "ICE," became the first spacecraft to fly by a comet. Originally launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 in 1978, ICE was one of three spacecraft built for the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) program, a joint effort by NASA, the European Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency. The program's purpose was to study space weather, or the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. A
  
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