When the Russian Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft lifted off from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst aboard the ISS captured a time-lapse video of the ascending Soyuz rocket as it began its two-day journey to the station.
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Among the almost-4,000 exoplanets found so far, none really capture the imagination like TRAPPIST-1. Now a team of astronomers led by the University of Washington has simulated the climates that could be found on each TRAPPIST world.
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For both skydivers and astronauts, a spin can be a fatal mistake, so engineering firm Draper is working on an anti-spin device to bring them automatically back to stability. Using a network of sensors and gyroscopes,the new system detects a dangerous rotation and generates a counter-torque.
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From humble beginnings as a single cargo module in 1998, the ISS has gone on to become an expansive and one-of-a-kind research facility. Today marks its 20th birthday, an impressive milestone for any scientific laboratory, let alone one hurtling through space at around 17,000 mph (27,300 km/h).
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Commercial spaceflight looks set to produce tangible products for use on Earth after Space Tango announced that it is developing an autonomous, robotic orbital platform called ST-42 that will take advantage of the microgravity environment to produce items for various industries.
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Scientists have long debated the cause of the distinctive grooves on the surface of Mars' moon Phobos. One leading theory has it that the lines are signs of structural failure. But a competing idea suggests the marks may be superficial, caused simply by rolling stones on Phobos' surface.
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Our Sun may live a pretty lonesome life nowadays, but when it was born it was the middle child in a family of thousands. Now astronomers in Portugal have found not just a solar sibling but a “twin,” more or less identical to the Sun, meaning it’s a great place to look for extraterrestrial life.
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As part of preparations for a highly anticipated asteroid encounter, NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe has successfully carried out an important dress rehearsal starring the robotic arm that will be used to grab samples of dust and rock from the surface.
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After five years, NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission has a landing site penciled in. From a list of 60 candidate sites, the space agency has chosen Jezero Crater as the touchdown point for the nuclear-powered unmanned explorer designed to seek out places where life might once have existed.
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Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic events in the universe, second only to the Big Bang itself. We don’t usually get any warning, but now astronomers have spotted the telltale signs of a star system that could blow its lid any moment – and it’s far too close to Earth for comfort.
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