https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration/ en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. From planetary rovers and asteroid sample return missions to the recent Artemis II flight above the far side of the moon, we are seemingly good at doing space. But our achievements still do not match many of our space dreams, science fiction or otherwise. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-solar-edge-closer-reality-interstellar.html Space Exploration Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:20:02 EDT news699698513 MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-satellites-small-briefcase-space-lot.html Space Exploration Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news699610981 When the double boom rang out in New England over the weekend, shaking homes and sending pets fleeing, questions started flooding social media. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-meteor-heavy-elephant-widespread-speculation.html Space Exploration Tue, 02 Jun 2026 04:15:31 EDT news699592490 Get set for a rare blue micromoon this weekend—a blue moon that's also the most distant and smallest-looking full moon of the year. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-rare-blue-micromoon-weekend.html Space Exploration Thu, 28 May 2026 09:54:21 EDT news699180800 Researchers have developed a novel virtual model for simulating how astronauts in future moon base operations might interact with each other and with their environment, with preliminary simulations revealing potential opportunities to boost the chances of a successful mission. Raymond Vera and colleagues at George Mason University in Virginia, U.S., present these findings in PLOS One. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-moon-base-missions-unseen-threat.html Space Exploration Wed, 27 May 2026 14:00:04 EDT news699025896 NASA is already ordering landers, rovers and drones for a sprawling moon base, less than two months after the Artemis II's record-breaking lunar flyaround. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nasa-lays-moon-base-landers.html Space Exploration Wed, 27 May 2026 04:32:28 EDT news699075019 SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-spacex-biggest-beefed-starship-flight.html Space Exploration Sat, 23 May 2026 05:19:32 EDT news698732322 Elon Musk's SpaceX postponed the highly anticipated launch of its upgraded Starship megarocket, calling off Thursday's test after multiple countdown stops-and-starts. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-countdown-glitch-delays-starship-12th.html Space Exploration Fri, 22 May 2026 04:40:03 EDT news698642529 SpaceX's blockbuster IPO filing included some out-of-this-world details, including a provision that founder Elon Musk's massive bonus only kicks in if one million humans settle on Mars. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-musk-spacex-bonus-unique-condition.html Space Exploration Thu, 21 May 2026 14:05:13 EDT news698591039 If humans one day settle Mars, they will need tools and parts to build structures on the planet. Carrying heavy, bulky supplies 34 million miles from Earth would be impractical. A better plan, says Zane Mebruer, a recent graduate of the U of A, would be 3D printing items on the Red Planet. His new research, completed while he was an honors undergraduate in mechanical engineering at the U of A, suggests it may be possible. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-future-mars-settlers-tools.html Space Exploration Wed, 20 May 2026 07:20:03 EDT news698479794 As space missions travel farther from Earth, spacecraft must increasingly be able to process and store their own data. Soon, artificial intelligence (AI) could be the primary tool for handling this growing volume of information. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nand-storage-deep-space-missions.html Space Exploration Tue, 19 May 2026 12:20:01 EDT news698408281 After the success of Artemis II, longer space journeys are expected, raising new health and nutritional challenges for astronauts. Current space foods rely on dried, shelf-stable items. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-customizable-essential-nutrients-space-missions.html Space Exploration Fri, 15 May 2026 08:58:50 EDT news698054281 Researchers have developed a mathematical method that enables more precise calculations of the most economical travel routes between the orbits of celestial bodies. To demonstrate this method, they calculated a more efficient path between Earth's and the moon's orbits than any previously described in the scientific literature. The study is published in the journal Astrodynamics. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mathematical-method-efficient-earth-moon.html Space Exploration Fri, 15 May 2026 05:30:01 EDT news698037277 From navigation to solar weather forecasting, many different areas of research require space-based sensors to measure Earth's magnetic field as accurately as possible at any given moment. So far, however, existing sensors have consistently struggled with effects including drift, interference from the spacecraft itself, and the harsh conditions of orbit. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-resilient-quantum-sensor-earth-magnetic.html Space Exploration Mon, 11 May 2026 14:00:05 EDT news697711981 A new study, published in Science Advances, has refined some important details about the moon's largest and oldest impact crater, which stretches more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) on the far side of the moon. The new details can help guide some of the planning for NASA's upcoming Artemis mission to the moon, which is planned for 2028. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-moon-largest-impact-crater-priceless.html Space Exploration Fri, 08 May 2026 13:50:01 EDT news697463270 Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across the solar cycle reaches approximately 67% of its peak. This result, which is expected to hold for station-keeping satellites too, is important for better planning of space missions that avoid collisions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-space-junk-falls-earth-faster.html Space Exploration Wed, 06 May 2026 01:00:01 EDT news696781021 The new focus on manned missions to the moon and Mars presents countless pressing challenges, including keeping humans alive in hostile environments. What happens when an astronaut or space tourist has a cardiac emergency millions of miles from the nearest hospital? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cpr-simulator-space-tracks-differences.html Space Exploration Tue, 05 May 2026 19:40:01 EDT news697204081 A new publication from Bielefeld University sets a benchmark in optimization research. Together with an international team, Professor Michael Römer from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics has developed a mathematical framework that solves a complex problem from space logistics exactly for the first time: the optimal planning of a route to visit several asteroids under conditions that are as close to reality as possible. The study is published in the INFORMS Journal on Computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mathematical-framework-asteroid-route.html Space Exploration Mon, 04 May 2026 12:40:04 EDT news697112882 The Eta Aquarid meteor shower soon will light the sky with debris from Halley's comet. But a bright moon will spoil the fun this year, making the display harder to glimpse. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bright-moon-dim-eta-aquarid.html Space Exploration Sun, 03 May 2026 06:40:22 EDT news697009166 Expose an animal to extreme physical stress, and the expectation is simple: It will break down. But when UC Riverside scientists subjected fruit flies to forces many times stronger than Earth's gravity—a condition called hypergravity—the insects did something unexpected. They survived. They even mated and reproduced. Their movements and behaviors changed dramatically and then, over time, they recovered. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hypergravity-fruit-flies-recover.html Space Exploration Fri, 01 May 2026 09:40:03 EDT news696845581 Shielding materials are essential in key modern industrial settings—such as spacecraft, nuclear power plants, semiconductor equipment, and advanced medical devices—to protect both equipment and personnel from electromagnetic waves and radiation. In particular, as space exploration gains momentum—such as with the successful launch of Artemis 2 on the 2nd—the importance of next-generation shielding technology capable of withstanding extreme environments is growing. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-thinner-hair-stretchable-rubber-shield.html Space Exploration Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:00:05 EDT news696613921 Whether it's robotic rovers heading to Mars or, one day, a crew of astronauts, a round-trip journey is an incredibly long one. But there may be a way to find a shortcut. A new study published in the journal Acta Astronautica suggests that hundreds of days could be shaved off a return trip to the Red Planet by using the early orbital data of asteroids. This could bring the total mission time down to as low as 153 days. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-interplanetary-shortcut-mars.html Space Exploration Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:00:06 EDT news696502416 As space agencies and private companies look toward a sustained human presence on the moon, a fundamental challenge centers on how to build strong, durable infrastructure without hauling every material from Earth. New research from Rice University points to an unexpected solution—transforming one of the moon's most stubborn obstacles, its abrasive dust, into a valuable building resource. The study demonstrates that lunar regolith simulant, a terrestrial stand-in for the moon's fine, abrasive dust, can be used to strengthen advanced composite materials. The work, published in Advanced Engineering Materials, was also selected for the cover of the journal's latest issue. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-moon-nuisance-reshaping-humans-earth.html Space Exploration Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:50:03 EDT news696182702 An origami-inspired reflectarray antenna developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo enables CubeSats to achieve high antenna gain while fitting within the tight size constraints of small satellites. Weighing just 64 grams, it folds compactly inside a 3U CubeSat for launch and expands in space. Such designs could support higher data-rate communications, expanding the capabilities of future CubeSat missions, including deep-space and lunar exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tiny-satellites-big-limits-foldable.html Space Exploration Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news696081783 Reaching the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, would take hundreds of thousands of years using current rocket propulsion technology. Researchers in the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University have demonstrated a new approach to light-driven motion, showing that lasers can be used to lift and steer objects in multiple directions without physical contact. This breakthrough may one day enable travel to Alpha Centauri within roughly 20 years. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-powered-propulsion-space-exploration-possibilities.html Space Exploration Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:20:09 EDT news696076861 Blue Origin, the U.S. space company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, on Sunday successfully reused and recovered a booster for its New Glenn rocket, confirming its mastery of a technical feat that could boost its launch cadence and expand its rivalry with SpaceX. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-blue-reuses-glenn-booster-florida.html Space Exploration Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:10:45 EDT news695812183 British scientists have launched a crew of microscopic worms to the International Space Station in a pioneering experiment that could help unlock the secrets of long-duration space travel—and support ambitions to reach the moon and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-space-worms-microscopic-crew-orbit.html Space Exploration Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:40:06 EDT news695294943 With Artemis II successfully completing its historic lunar mission on Friday, NASA is banking on billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for the next step: landing astronauts on the moon. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-nasa-spacex-blue.html Space Exploration Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:00:02 EDT news695091177 Artemis II's astronauts closed out humanity's first lunar voyage in more than half a century with a Pacific splashdown on Friday, blazing new records near the moon with grace and joy. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-journey-moon-splashdown.html Space Exploration Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:50:57 EDT news695090992 As the Orion spacecraft hurtles home, friction caused by reentry into Earth's atmosphere will drastically decrease its speed from a potential 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kilometers per hour). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-parachutes-vital-artemis-ii-home.html Space Exploration Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:10:01 EDT news695047959