https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. Airbus and US space exploration firm Voyager Space announced Wednesday a joint venture to develop Starlab, a commercial alternative to replace the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-airbus-partners-voyager-space-iss.html Space Exploration Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:19:37 EDT news610193974 The first of two supermoons in August graced the skies on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-photos-supermoon-august-world.html Space Exploration Wed, 02 Aug 2023 03:55:27 EDT news610167320 After days of silence, NASA has heard from Voyager 2 in interstellar space billions of miles away. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nasa-voyager-spacecraft-mistakenly-contact.html Space Exploration Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:16:58 EDT news610114613 The first rocket launch from the surface of another planet will be accomplished using two solid rocket motors. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-mars-ascent-vehicle-sample.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 17:03:27 EDT news610041799 NASA is listening for any peep from Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft billions of miles away. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-voyager-spacecraft-wrong-contact.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:50:41 EDT news610041035 Planes, trains, automobiles… and spacecraft. While all four of these transportation innovations rely on fuel for power, another key component is thermal management. Without controlling the distribution and flow of heat inside a system, such as the International Space Station and other commercial spacecraft, temperatures inside the vessels would not be habitable for astronauts given the extreme hot and cold temperatures of outer space. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-optimizing-exchange-microgravity.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:22:42 EDT news610035759 In capitalist societies, resources are primarily directed at solving problems, and one of the biggest hurdles facing space development is its ability to directly solve the problems of the majority of humanity back on Earth. So far, we've taken some cautious commercial steps, primarily through satellite monitoring and communication technologies. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-aging-wine-major-space-business.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:01:04 EDT news610034462 Euclid's two instruments have captured their first test images. The mesmerizing results indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals that it has been designed for—and possibly much more. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-euclid-images-riches.html Astronomy Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:25:14 EDT news610028708 A mysterious object that washed up on an Australian beach has been identified as debris from an Indian rocket, officials said Monday. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-mystery-australian-beach-indian-rocket.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:55:23 EDT news609994517 A European wind-mapping satellite has returned successfully to Earth following a delicate assisted return designed to minimize damage from flying debris, the European Space Agency said on Saturday. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-european-wind-mapping-satellite-safely-earth.html Space Exploration Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:29:30 EDT news609856170 The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-supermoons-august-stargazing-fun.html Space Exploration Sat, 29 Jul 2023 12:13:57 EDT news609851632 There are so many asteroids. Just in our own backyard, we've found over 30,000 Near Earth asteroids. Exploring them using traditional methods and launching a custom-made mission, like Hayabusa or OSIRIS-REx, would almost certainly be cost-prohibitive. So how can we assess whether they would make good targets for early asteroid mining missions? Ground imaging can help, but there's nothing like being on-site on one of these asteroids to get a sense of what they are made of. Those visits would be much easier if we mass-produced the Asteroid Mobile Imager and Geologic Observer (AMIGO). https://phys.org/news/2023-07-image-asteroid-amigo.html Space Exploration Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:49:02 EDT news609691741 After a remarkable life in orbit, Aeolus is out of fuel and out of time—it's returning to Earth this week. Planned and built before any regulations were put in place on "end-of-life" disposal, the Earth explorer was designed to naturally return through our atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-aeolus-reentry-breakdown.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:40:02 EDT news609691201 If you have ever seen a shooting star on a clear night, surely someone has invited you to make a wish. Nevertheless, this is a natural phenomenon without any magical connotation—beyond its great beauty, of course. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-meteor-showersit-worth-stars-year.html Space Exploration Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:20:01 EDT news609677189 On July 26, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft fired its engines for about 63 seconds to slightly thrust itself onto a course closer to Earth. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-osiris-rex-spacecraft-adjusts-closer.html Space Exploration Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:16:43 EDT news609675399 The spinning, solar-powered spacecraft will take another look of the fiery Jovian moon on July 30. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-juno-closer-jupiter-moon.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:42:06 EDT news609608522 NASA and the US military said Wednesday they had selected defense contractor Lockheed Martin to develop a nuclear powered rocket, with a view to using the technology for missions to Mars. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-lockheed-martin-nuclear-rocket.html Space Exploration Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:04:14 EDT news609606246 Astronaut Frank Rubio aboard the International Space Station collaborated with a small team of robots on Earth to accomplish a complex task—a first test of a new approach to combine human and robotic capabilities for our return to the moon and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-orbiting-astronaut-oversees-robot-team.html Space Exploration Wed, 26 Jul 2023 14:32:30 EDT news609600746 Today's small spacecraft pack sensors, guidance and control, and operating electronics into every available space. Printing electronic circuits on the walls and structures of spacecraft could help future missions do more in smaller packages. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-electronics-space.html Space Exploration Wed, 26 Jul 2023 14:23:03 EDT news609600181 Space is a dangerous place. From micro-meteorites and electromagnetic interference to fires in space and extreme heat and cold, we need to develop new materials to enable the next generation of space travel and intergalactic travel. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-amazing-materials-key-space-discoveries.html Space Exploration Wed, 26 Jul 2023 14:22:03 EDT news609600121 A NASA power outage disrupted communication between Mission Control and the International Space Station on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-power-outage-temporarily-halts.html Space Exploration Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:53:28 EDT news609522805 Kamilla Cziráki, a geophysics student at the Faculty of Science of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), has taken a new approach to researching the navigation systems that can be used on the surface of the moon to plan future journeys. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-year-old-mathematical-lunar.html Astronomy Space Exploration Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:34:03 EDT news609521642 Teams preparing Ariane 6 for its inaugural flight successfully completed for the first time a launcher preparation and countdown sequence, on 18 July at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ariane.html Space Exploration Tue, 25 Jul 2023 12:41:02 EDT news609507661 As a new space race heats up, two researchers from the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas and their colleagues have proposed a new scientific subfield: planetary geoarchaeology, the study of how cultural and natural processes on Earth's moon, on Mars and across the solar system may be altering, preserving or destroying the material record of space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-space-scientists-geoarchaeology-aid-heritage.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 21 Jul 2023 12:58:21 EDT news609163097 A highly technical process began Thursday in Los Angeles to put NASA's retired Space Shuttle Endeavour on permanent display in the vertical launch position complete with external tank and two solid rocket boosters. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-california-science-center-complex-display-1.html Space Exploration Fri, 21 Jul 2023 04:09:17 EDT news609131346 Water is essential for life, but for astrophysicists, it represents something more. Researchers look at water in galaxies, its distribution and in particular its changes of state from ice to vapor, as important markers indicating areas of increased energy, in which black holes and stars are formed. In essence, where there is water vapor, something important is going on. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-galaxy-j1135-reveals.html Astronomy Space Exploration Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:20:04 EDT news609078001 We're only halfway through 2023, and it feels already like the year of alien contact. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-contact-aliens-colonization-genocide-dont.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 20 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609069331 One of the most commonly discussed challenges when starting our species' space exploration journey is how to get the resources necessary for life off of the Earth. Typically this is thought of as two things—water and oxygen, but, luckily, oxygen can be supplied by splitting apart a water molecule, so the most critical resource we could find in space is water. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-large-amounts-moon-sun.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:51:05 EDT news608997062 As of 2019, China began conducting preliminary studies for a crewed lunar mission that would take place by the 2030s. Two years later, the China National Space Agency (CNSA) and Roscosmos announced a partnership to create an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) around the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The proposed timeline for development came down to three phases: Reconnaissance (2021–25), Construction (2025–35), and Utilization (2035–onward). Earlier this year, China announced that its space agency would send the first crewed mission to the lunar surface by 2030. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-china-rockets-humans-moon.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:46:04 EDT news608996762 NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with the first human landing currently scheduled for 2025. This goal is not just technically ambitious, but it's also politically challenging. The Artemis program marks the first time since the Apollo program that an effort to send humans to the moon has been supported by two successive U.S. presidents. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-moon-benefit-commercial-military-political.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 19 Jul 2023 13:50:01 EDT news608989955