Washington DC (UPI) Aug 7, 2025
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the solar system closest to Earth, the administration announced Thursday. The Alpha Centauri triple star system, four light-years from Earth, has long been at the center of scientists' search for life on other planets. This discovery was an important step forward in that search, they said.

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 8, 2025
Astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, died Thursday in Illinois, his family announced. He was 97. Lovell also flew on three other missions: Gemini 7, Gemini 12 and Apollo 8 in the 1960s, and was the first astronaut to go into space that many times. He died in Lake Forest, a northern Chicago suburb. "We are saddened to announce the passing of

Paris, France (SPX) Aug 08, 2025
In a new release from the European Space Agency, Mars Express has revisited the western end of Acheron Fossae, a striking system of deep fissures on Mars shaped by ancient geological upheaval and later sculpted by ice-rich flows. The orbiter's High Resolution Stereo Camera first captured this area in April 2004, just months into its mission. These latest images reveal the faulted terrain's

Washington (AFP) Aug 8, 2025
US astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 Moon mission which nearly ended in disaster in 1970 after a mid-flight explosion, has died at the age of 97, NASA announced Friday. The former Navy pilot, who was portrayed by actor Tom Hanks in the 1995 movie "Apollo 13," died in a Chicago suburb on Thursday, the US space agency said in a statement. The astronaut's "life and work

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 08, 2025
NASA's Perseverance rover has produced one of its clearest panoramas to date, revealing a striking view of the Martian landscape from a site known as Falbreen. The mosaic, built from 96 images taken on May 26, 2025, during the rover's 1,516th Martian day, features distant hills up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) away, sand ripples, and the distinct boundary between two geologic units. An enhanced-co

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 08, 2025
NASA has chosen Impulse Space to prepare two orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) service studies aimed at identifying more affordable ways to deliver spacecraft to challenging orbital destinations. The work, awarded under NASA's VADR contract through the Launch Services Program, will inform the agency about commercial OTV capabilities for future mission planning. The studies will examine how Im

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 08, 2025
Northrop Grumman has completed its second full-scale static firing of a new solid rocket motor under the Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator (SMART Demo) program, achieving the milestone in under 12 months of development. The company-funded initiative tests advanced materials, manufacturing methods and propulsion innovations. The latest SMART Demo motor incorporated additive

Washington (AFP) Aug 9, 2025
After nearly five months onboard the International Space Station, an international crew of five astronauts began their descent back down to Earth on a SpaceX capsule Friday. US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov are expected to spend more than 17 hours in the capsule before splashing down off California's coast at 1533 GMT on

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 8, 2025
Members of the Crew-10 on Friday night undocked from the International Space Station aboard the Dragon 9 spacecraft. The undocking was scheduled for 6:05 p.m. EDT and it was confirmed at 6:30 p.m. The hatch was closed at 4:20 p.m. Dragon then executed a series of departure burns as the spacecraft moved away from the ISS, which orbits the Earth approximately 250 miles away.