A loud boom from a meteor caused the ground to shake in southeastern Michigan. The meteor was recorded here as a bright light. The meteor that caused a huge fireball in the skies above southern Michigan Tuesday night (Jan. 16) was only a few feet in size, researchers have said, but its speed was enough […]
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Watch Japan's Epsilon Rocket Launch the ASNARO-2 Radar Earth Satellite
A Japanese Epsilon rocket launched a new Earth-observation satellite into space this week, notching a third successful flight for the solid-fueled booster. The Epsilon rocket lifted off the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Uchinoura Space Center at 6:06 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Jan. 18, JAXA officials said. Just under an hour later, the rocket delivered its […]
No, an Asteroid Is Not Going to Collide with Earth in February
Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT). At closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. In recent days, a few media outlets have reported (in some cases, rather sensationally ) that […]
Atlas V Rocket Launches New Missile-Warning Satellite for US Air Force
The U.S. Air Force has a new missile-tracking sentinel in orbit. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the new missile-warning satellite Friday night (Jan. 19) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 7:48 p.m. EDT (0048 GMT on Jan. 20) after a one-day delay so engineers could address a […]
US Air Force's New Missile-Warning Satellite Launching Tonight: Watch It Live
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the new SBIRS GEO Fight 4 missile- warning satellite stands atop Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida ahead of a scheduled Jan. 18, 2018, launch. The U.S. Air Force’s newest early-warning satellite for missile defense will launch into space from Florida […]
Astronaut Set to be First African American on Space Station Crew Removed from Flight
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, seen here in November 2017 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, has been removed from her scheduled expedition to the International Space Station in June 2018. HOUSTON — A NASA astronaut who was slated to become the first African American to serve as a member of the crew […]
Alpha Centauri: Nearest Star System to the Sun
A photo of Alpha Centauri. The sun’s closest stellar neighbors are three stars in the Alpha Centauri system. The two main stars are Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, which form a binary pair. They are an average of 4.3 light-years from Earth. The third star is Proxima Centauri. It is about 4.22 light-years […]
Sally Ride: First American Woman in Space
Floating freely on the flight deck, Sally Ride communicates with ground controllers in Houston during her STS-7 mission in June 1983. Credit: NASA Sally Ride became the first American woman to go into space when she flew on the space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983. She made two shuttle flights, and later became a […]
Johnson Space Center (JSC): NASA's 'Houston'
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has been the agency’s human spaceflight hub for half a century, though not always under its current name. JSC was established in 1961 as the Manned Spacecraft Center. It was envisioned as a key support facility in NASA’s quest to put a man on the moon by the end […]
Space.com Talks with Astronaut Scott Tingle in Space Today!
Today at 12:20 p.m. EST (1720 GMT), Space.com will get a long-distance connection with NASA astronaut Scott Tingle on the International Space Station, and we want you to join us! You can watch it live here , courtesy of NASA TV. Do you have a question for Tingle in space? Let us know! Space.com associate editor […]
Satellite Images Capture Rare Snowfall in the Sahara Desert
Satellite photos show parts of Africa’s Sahara Desert blanketed in snow following a rare winter storm earlier this month. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite captured stunning views of the snow-covered dunes in northwest Algeria, on the edge of the Sahara Desert — an area known to be one of the hottest places […]
Lunar Fountain? Accessible Ice Could Lurk in Moon's Lava Tubes
New images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) suggest there is an underground network of lava tubes beneath the lunar surface that could offer astronauts easy access to water. The stunning new photos show multiple small pits in a large impact crater known as the Philolaus Crater, which is located near the north pole of […]
Lawmakers Prod SpaceX and NASA on Fate of Secret Zuma Mission
House lawmakers on Wednesday (Jan. 17) pressed SpaceX and NASA officials on what exactly happened to the secret Zuma spacecraft launched into space this month on one of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX representatives, including Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer, have firmly stated that the rocket functioned correctly during the classified […]