Category: Planetary Science
A time capsule of materials bearing witness to its origin and transformation over billions of years
A scanning electron microscope image of a micrometeorite impact crater in a particle of asteroid Bennu material. Credit: NASA Asteroid Bennu—the target of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by…
Secretive mini space shuttle set for Space Coast launch; late-night sonic boom possible
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It won’t have any crew, but the U.S. Space Force is set to send the Boeing-built X-37B spacecraft—which looks like a miniature space shuttle—back for a…
XRISM reveals slow-moving hot gas near black hole during faint X-ray phase
Conceptual illustration of a black hole X-ray binary. The strong gravity of the black hole (shown as a small black dot at the center of the disk on the right)…
Where are the interstellar objects 1I/’Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov and 3I/Atlas headed now?
Artist’s impression of ʻOumuamua. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser In the past decade, astronomers have witnessed three interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system. These include the enigmatic ‘Oumuamua in 2017,…
Rapid-response protocol promises to reveal supernovae only hours after they explode
Example of observations used in the study. Credit: Albany et al, JCAP, 2025 Example of observations used in the study. Credit: Albany et al, JCAP, 2025 Example of observations used…
After repeated explosions, new test for Musk’s megarocket
The massive Starship rocket launches on a test flight from SpaceX’s base in Texas. Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced Friday that its Starship megarocket is scheduled to blast off on a…
Stem cells cryopreserved in space produce healthy offspring
Stem cells from mice cryopreserved on the International Space Station for six months have produced healthy offspring. Credit: KyotoU / Shinohara lab Features of spaceflight such as gravitational changes and…
