Space missions have long exemplified humankind's indomitable spirit and boundless ambition. Once the reserve of nations, space is fact opening up to commercial enterprises and could soon be the must-go destination for tourists – provided the accumulation of debris doesn't turn Earth's orbit into a no-go zone. All this comes as missions beyond the Moon provide greater insights into our solar system and more powerful telescopes give us a glimpse at exoplanets light years away.
New Atlas keeps you up to date with the latest space news and fantastic images from all corners of the Universe.
The global dust storm the has enveloped Mars since last May is beginning to die down and the question is, what's happened with the Opportunity rover? The solar-powered robotic explorer has been silent since June 10 and NASA is looking at whether the rover will be able to wake up again.
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An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a stroll around the Earth by proxy, thanks to a new robotics system. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst on the station took remote command of the humanoid robot Rollin' Justin for a two-hour test.
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The ASTERIA satellite has claimed the first exoplanet to be detected by a CubeSat. It was able to accurately measure the transit light curve of 55 Cancri e as it passed in front of its parent star.
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The results of a new study suggest that a number of small satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way are actually some of the first to come into existence following the creation of the universe.
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With surface temperatures of up to 4,327° C (7,820° F), exoplanet KELT-9b is hotter than many stars – and, according to a new discovery, hot enough to vaporize heavy metals. Researchers have now detected iron and titanium vapor in KELT-9b’s atmosphere.
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An experimental exoplanet-huntingCubeSat called the Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA) mission has received the Small Satellite Mission of the Year award for "demonstrat[ing] a significant improvement in the capability of small satellites."
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The origin’s of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission can be traced back to a paper published 60 years ago by astrophysicist Eugene Parker, describing high speed matter emanating from the center of our solar system. Today the spacecraft carrying his name lifted off and is now en route to the Sun.
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If you're building a spacecraft that's going to be landing on a planet that has an atmosphere, then you'd better give it a heat shield. Although some approaches to such shields can be heavy or complex, a University of Manchester PhD student has developed one that's simple, cheap and lightweight.
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NASA's Juno orbiter found that Jupiter's colored bands extend thousands of kilometers below the surface, but why do they stop where they do? A new study has put forward an explanation, describing a complex magnetic field that essentially stops these globe-circling jet streams in their tracks.
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NASA is giving commercial spaceflight a boost by awarding six American companies ten contracts worth a total of US$44 million to develop what the space agency calls "tipping point" technologies.
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