NASA is shooting for the moon. A guide to the Artemis II mission
It's humanity's first flight to the moon since 1972.
Space Exploration
Mar 31, 2026
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Page 2: Research news on Gravitational interaction
Gravitational interaction as a research area encompasses the theoretical, computational, and experimental study of how mass-energy curves spacetime and governs the dynamics of astrophysical and cosmological systems. It includes general relativity, tests of the equivalence principle, post-Newtonian approximations, and numerical relativity for compact-object binaries and gravitational-wave sources. The field also investigates modifications of gravity, dark matter and dark energy phenomenology from a gravitational perspective, strong- and weak-field regimes, gravitational lensing, and structure formation. Research involves precision experiments, multi-messenger astronomy, and the development of effective field theories and quantum-gravity–motivated models to probe deviations from classical gravitational dynamics.
Hera aces a massive engine burn on its way to Didymos
In September 2022, humanity crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid—on purpose. The objective of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was to see if we could intentionally modify the orbit of Dimorphos, the small moonlet ...
Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2026
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Apollo vs. Artemis: What to know about NASA's return to the moon
NASA's Apollo moonshots are a tough act to follow, even after all this time.
Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2026
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Astronomers search for 'exotrojans' hiding in extreme pulsar systems
Greek mythology has given a name to a great many objects in our solar system. But perhaps one of the least well understood are the Trojans, named after the people of Troy featured in "The Iliad." When astronomers refer to ...
Astronomy
Mar 18, 2026
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How to weigh a killer asteroid at 22 kilometers per second
Estimating a mass for a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) is perhaps the single most important thing to understand about it, after its trajectory. Actually doing so isn't easy though, as the mass for objects in the tens ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 2, 2026
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A new concept for catching up with 3I/ATLAS
The arrival of 3I/ATLAS in our solar system spawned multiple proposals for a rendezvous mission to study it up close. As the third interstellar object (ISO) ever detected, the wealth of information direct studies could provide ...
Space Exploration
Feb 16, 2026
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Jupiter-family comet 41P/TGK slows down and reverses spin after perihelion
New analysis on 2017 Hubble images of the Jupiter-family comet, 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresak (41P/TGK), indicates that the comet underwent a spin reversal between April and December 2017. While this behavior is not unheard ...
Saturn's moon Titan could have formed in a merger of two old moons
Recent research suggests that Saturn's bright rings and its largest moon, Titan, may have both originated in collisions among its moons. While Cassini's 13-year mission expanded our understanding of Saturn, the discoveries ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 11, 2026
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138
Can life begin on a moon without a sun?
Free-floating planets, or as they are more commonly known, rogue planets, wander interstellar space completely alone. Saying there might be a lot of them is a bit of an understatement. Recent estimates put the number of rogue ...
Astrobiology
Feb 11, 2026
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Simulations and supercomputing calculate one million cislunar orbits
Satellites and spacecraft in the vast region between Earth and the moon and just beyond—called cislunar space—are crucial for space exploration, scientific advancement and national security. But figuring out where exactly ...
Space Exploration
Feb 4, 2026
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