Space

A NASA spacecraft has observed a pulsing glow coming from Mars. Huge spots of ultraviolet light were seen in the night sky, pulsing with uncanny regularity – exactly three times every night. The find highlights the Red Planet's atmospheric processes.

Development of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft that is hoped to carry humans to Mars continues at the company’s Boca Chica site in Texas, where the team just performed a 150-meter (500-ft) hop test of a full-size prototype.

A team of ESA scientists has developed a way to use lasers, special telescopes, detectors, and light filters tuned to specific wavelengths to increase contrast with the sky and accurately track space debris even in broad daylight.

Geological evidence shows that ancient Mars had flowing water. It’s long been thought that its climate was warm and wet, but a new study has found evidence that the planet was instead covered in ice sheets, and much of its water glacier run-off.

Balloons may seem outdated, but for high-flying scientific instruments they’re making a comeback. NASA has now unveiled ASTHROS, a new infrared telescope that will be carried to the edge of space by a balloon the size of a football stadium.

Rocket Lab experienced a notable hiccup in early July, when one of its Electron boosters was lost on its way to orbit, along with the seven satellites onboard. The company now claims to have pinpointed the source of the problem.

History was made today as two NASA astronauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the privately built and operated SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule. It was the first manned splashdown since July 25, 1975.

NASA has announced that, soon after yesterday’s launch of the Mars Perseverance rover, that mission had experienced minor issues that hindered communication and caused the spacecraft couriering the rover to enter a "safe mode."

The universe likes to play coy about its age, but we have a pretty good idea of the range. Now, a series of new studies has investigated the question using different methods, and have reached different answers, separated by more than a billion years.

NASA's Mars 2020 mission and the Perseverance rover are on their way to Mars. At 4:50 am EDT (11:50 GMT), the spacecraft lifted off on the first leg of its 309-million-mile voyage to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.

A team of astronomers has identified what may be the best spot on Earth to stick a telescope. A high plateau in eastern Antarctica would have an exceptionally clear view of the stars, even outperforming other locations on the polar continent.

We may be a step closer to understanding the mystery of fast radio bursts (FRBs), as astronomers have now detected the first such signal from within our own galaxy. It was traced to a magnetar, which could be key to unlocking the origins of FRBs.