Space

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.

Space

Alien life could be wiped out by outbursts from violent young stars

Michael Irving October 21, 2018

The majority of stars in our Milky Way aren’t Sun-like – they’re the smaller and cooler red dwarfs. To determine how well these stars might be able to support life, A NASA program is using Hubble to monitor their flare activity, and the first results don’t paint a positive picture.

An artist's rendering of a red dwarf star, which could sterilize exoplanets with its intense radiation ...

Space

BepiColombo's journey to Mercury relies on ion power

David Szondy October 21, 2018

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission is on its way to Mercury, but instead of coasting to the smallest planet in the Solar System, it will be helped along by four state-of-the-art ion thrusters developed by an industrial consortium led by British company QinetiQ.

The T6 ion thruster will help send BepiColombo to Mercury

Space

BepiColombo on its way to Mercury after successful launch

David Szondy October 19, 2018

ESA's first mission to the planet Mercury lifted off today from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. At 10:45 pm GFT (October 20, 01:45 GMT), the BepiColombo spacecraft rose on a tail of fire into the night atop an Ariane 5 booster on the start of a voyage that will take seven years.

Space

Lunar landscape testing ground to be built in Germany

Michael Irving October 18, 2018

To help prepare astronauts for a longer return trip to the Moon, the European Space Agency (ESA) has outlined a new facility that will recreate the lunar surface as accurately as possible.

A virtual reality image shows what the Luna testing facility might look like

Space

Astronomers discover celestial titan from the early universe

Anthony Wood October 17, 2018

Astronomers have discovered and mapped an enormous structure in the early universe with a mass the equivalent to one million billion times that of the Sun. The proto-supercluster, which has been named Hyperion after the Titan of Greek mythology, formed when the cosmos was only 2.3 billion years old.

Visualization of Hyperion constructed from data collected by the VIMOS instrument

Space

A booster a week? Rocket Lab moves towards mass production with "huge" new facility

Nick Lavars October 16, 2018

Rocket Lab is a private space company with some lofty ambitions. It has now moved a little closer to its goals, this week adding the finishing touches to a giant new factory designed to produce its Electron rocket swiftly, and on a mass scale.

Rocket Lab has a new rocket factory that covers 7,500 sq m (80,700 sq ft) in ...

Space

20 new deep-space radio signals detected by Outback telescopes

Michael Irving October 14, 2018

A huge radio telescope array spread across the Australian Outback is helping identify the mysterious fast radio bursts. Astronomers have now announced the discovery of 20 new FRBs in a bit over a year, including the brightest and closest events yet seen.

An artist's rendition of fast radio bursts, being detected by the ASKAP telescope in Western Australia

Space

NASA mulls ISS future as Soyuz abort investigation begins

David Szondy October 13, 2018

In the wake of Thursday's launch abort of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, NASA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, are determining the cause of the malfunction that resulted in the successful ballistic landing and recovery of the crew, as well as considering the future of the ISS.

Russia has set up a commission to investigate Thursday's abort incident

Space

Crewed spacecraft bound for ISS forced to make emergency ballistic descent

Anthony Wood October 11, 2018

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were forced to make an unplanned descent through Earth's atmosphere today following a malfunction of their Soyuz launch vehicle. The crew has now touched down in Kazakhstan, where they are being attended by rescue personnel.

The Expedition 57 Soyuz rocket seen launching today from Baikonur Cosmodrome

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Remembering Apollo 7: Milestones, mutiny and the mission that paved the way for the Moon landing

David Szondy October 11, 2018

On October 11, 1968, America returned to space with its most ambitious manned mission to date. Born in the aftermath of a fiery tragedy, Apollo 7, this first flight not only made possible Neil Armstrong's one small step, it also made history by being the stage for the first mutiny in space.