Space
Artemis II nears its finale
After looping around the moon, the Artemis II crew — and their capsule’s heat shield — are preparing for the mission’s final major test: coming home.
Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Space
- Space
The first-ever ‘Earthset’ image marks another Artemis II milestone
As NASA’s Orion spacecraft slipped behind the farside of the moon, the astronauts captured the crescent of Earth setting over the moon’s horizon.
- Space
Artemis II: NASA’s Orion heads home after a historic loop around the moon
The record-setting astronauts had a front-row view of the farside of the moon, an eclipse and perhaps a re-creation of the famous Earthrise.
- Space
Artemis II sends humans around the moon for first time since Apollo
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are on their way to the moon, testing the Orion spacecraft for future lunar landings and a planned moon base.
- Planetary Science
A comet may have flipped its spin and entered into a death spiral
Gases jetting out of Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák may have caused it to reverse its spin in 2017, possibly leading to its eventual destruction.
- Astronomy
A rare star in a tiny galaxy preserves a record of the early universe
Found in an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy, the ancient star’s unusual chemistry indicates it formed from gas enriched by a single early supernova.
- Space
NASA races to have the first moon base and nuclear-propulsion spacecraft
A $20 billion plan for a moon base by 2030 and the launch nuclear-propulsion space exploration raises hopes, but caution given deep government cuts.
- Planetary Science
A private moon lander challenges ideas about lunar volcanism
New measurements from the Blue Ghost lander suggest that thin crust, not just radioactive heating, shaped the moon’s dark lava plains.
- Space
In a rare event, the moon got a massive new crater
A crater as wide as two American football fields formed in spring 2024, a size expected roughly once a century. A NASA orbiter got to watch.
- Space
How realistic is Project Hail Mary?
Ryan Gosling is on a mission to save the sun — and Earth — from star-killing microbes. Science News dissects the science behind the sci-fi movie.
