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.
SpaceX showed some tongue in cheek humility as it released a "blooper" video of the series of crashes and explosions leading up to the first successful landing of the Falcon 9 first stage booster. The compilation shows the many ways that things can go wrong during a landing.
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Exoplanets are a constant source of surprise and wonder, and now astronomers have noticed something strange about a gas giant called WASP-19b. In the upper atmosphere of this “hot Jupiter” sits a layer of titanium oxide, which has flipped the usual atmospheric temperature structure on its head.
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NASA has confirmed that the Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its final flyby of the moon Titan and is now on course for its fatal encounter with Saturn on September 15. After 13 years, the unmanned, nuclear-powered probe will be incinerated as it plunges into Saturn's upper atmosphere.
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The Sun is currently in the quietest phase of its 11-year cycle, but it has blasted forth some of the largest solar flares on record. Several X-class flares have erupted over the past week, one of which is the largest in over a decade and one of the top 10 since records began.
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The Cassini probe has bid farewell to Titan and is now on its way to a fatal encounter with Saturn. At 12:04 pm PDT (3:04 pm EDT), the unmanned orbiter flew by Saturn's largest moon, altering Cassini's trajectory so it will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15.
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Thousands of exoplanets have been spotted by looking for “transits” as light from the host star dips when a planet passes in front of it. Now scientists have examined whether Earth could be detected by other civilizations using the same technique, and 68 known exoplanets are in prime positions.
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In an Instagram post, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk released the full-view image of company's starkly futuristic spacesuit standing next to the Crew Dragon capsule with the comment, "Astronaut spacesuit next to Crew Dragon."
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Assembly of a new giant Canadian radio telescope that has no moving parts yet is capable of scanning half the sky in a single day has been completed. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment is composed of four 100-m-long metal troughs covering an area the size of five NHL hockey rinks.
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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named 14 features on Pluto's surface. The various mountains, ridges and valleys have all been given titles that honor influential astronomers and spacecraft, or continue the underworld theme that began with Pluto’s naming in 1930.
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SpaceX entered the world of classified space flights this Thursday, as it launched the Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5) mission at 10:00 am EDT atop a Falcon 9 booster from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying the secret US Air Force X-37B spaceplane.
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