6+ day, 6+ hour ago   (304+ words) How many spaceports does the U.S. need? A new executive order calls for more than 1,000 U.S. rocket launches per year by the end of the decade. Rethinking the nation’s spaceports will be key By Elizabeth Howell edited by Lee Billings Forget boot…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (400+ words) The strangest sky in the galaxy The newfound star S301 orbits the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole so closely that its view of the heavens gets twisted There are a lot of weird stars in the universe, but if I had…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago   (239+ words) In a critical maneuver on Thursday, the mission successfully deployed its two science orbiters—beginning the final phases of its arrival at Mercury By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron An artist’s impression shows the BepiColombo composite spacecraft’s Mercury Transfer…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (436+ words) The strange structure appears to have formed recently, but nobody can explain exactly why By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron Scientists are baffled after discovering a weird decagon-shaped wave in the atmosphere of the planet Saturn. The ten-sided phenomenon…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (718+ words) The world’s biggest dark matter search saw a particle it cannot explain By Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings On June 16, 2023, 39 seconds after 3:22 P.M., one mile beneath the Black Hills of South Dakota, there was a sudden flash of light....

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (337+ words) This quirky spot in space is where NASA’s Roman Telescope will call home The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is headed toward a Lagrange point, a critical position in outer space where gravitational forces behave in specific ways By Mary Randolph…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (626+ words) After a flawless launch, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is on a mission to solve some of the universe’s biggest mysteries By Lee Billings edited by Claire Cameron NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is already exceeding expectations. Lofted…...

2+ week, 7+ hour ago   (434+ words) The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will probe dark matter and dark energy, discover exoplanets and study stars NASA’s newest telescope is officially on its way to deep space after more than a decade of development and high anticipation. The Nancy…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago   (642+ words) Seven Rasmussen, an astrobiologist and author of the new book Cloudy with a Chance of Starships, gives readers a tour of the astonishing science behind modern searches for alien life By Brianne Kane edited by Lee Billings We’ve been looking…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago   (457+ words) Ten cosmic discoveries we’ll get from NASA’s Roman Space Telescope NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will open a whole new window on the cosmos. Here are 10 things it’s likely to show us By Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings After more…...