https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration/ en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. Permanent structures on the moon could start with something already there: lunar dust. New research from the University of Arkansas shows that pure regolith, the loose material that covers the moon, could be 3D-printed into LEGO-like bricks. Using it for construction could reduce what NASA needs to send from Earth as it works toward future lunar settlements. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-simulated-moon-lego-blocks-settlements.html Space Exploration Tue, 10 Nov 2026 12:40:14 EST news713529363 Want to fly to the moon and help build a permanent lunar base? NASA is accepting applications for a new astronaut class that will help grow the Artemis program. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-fly-moon-nasa-astronauts-artemis.html Space Exploration Sun, 08 Nov 2026 06:45:12 EST news713342673 A robotic truss builder that was conceived, designed and built by Caltech researchers has successfully built a structure in space—without the help of astronauts—for the first time. The truss builder, part of DARPA's Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program, consists of an autonomous manipulator that picks up struts and joints held in nearby dispensers to repeatedly assemble identical sections, or bays, of a perimeter truss. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-robot-successfully-space-autonomous-demo.html Space Exploration Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:20:04 EST news713184737 One of NASA's premier space telescopes plunged to Earth on Wednesday, ending its 22-year investigation of the universe's biggest explosions. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-nasa-space-telescope-plunges-earth.html Space Exploration Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:40:11 EST news713027373 Even the world's most powerful telescopes have their blind spots. Although NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can peer billions of years into the past, it still struggles to photograph planets orbiting nearby stars. Stars shine with such extraordinary brightness that their glare overwhelms nearby planets' faint glow. https://phys.org/news/2026-11-giant-planet-emerges-year-jwst.html Space Exploration Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:00:01 EST news712917421 Tucked away among its sensors, cameras and navigation tools, NASA's Mars rover Perseverance is wearing small swatches of spacesuit material. A rover doesn't need a spacesuit, but the swatches—each less than a square inch (6.5 square centimeters) in size—serve an important purpose: They're helping scientists assess the potential damage caused by ubiquitous Martian dust. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mars-abrasive-lunar-spacesuit-samples.html Space Exploration Sun, 01 Nov 2026 15:00:01 EST news712512186 NASA's Voyager team is celebrating two recent developments with the Voyager 1 spacecraft: In September, they successfully completed a months-long effort to stretch the spacecraft's diminishing power supply. Then, on Oct. 20, an unexpected loss of communication with the spacecraft resolved itself after 48 hours, before the team sent commands to the spacecraft to troubleshoot the issue. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-voyager-power-communications.html Space Exploration Fri, 30 Oct 2026 10:20:10 EDT news712564880 Planning a successful trip can be challenging, especially when your destination is in outer space. Even before liftoff, space missions require extraordinary amounts of scientific preparation and data analysis to succeed, which can take years to complete. However, as space agencies race to establish a permanent presence on the moon, using artificial intelligence to combine such information into a single system could make mission planning much more efficient. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gen-artificial-intelligence-future-space.html Space Exploration Wed, 28 Oct 2026 17:30:01 EDT news712425961 There is a problem in low Earth orbit, and it's growing. According to the European Space Agency, there are about 19,440 satellites on orbit, 3,540 of which are nonfunctioning and/or not emitting a signal to warn other spacecraft of their location. The need to service these sleepwalking satellites in space will only increase as more are launched. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-autonomous-rendezvous-simulated-spacecraft-failures.html Space Exploration Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:00:03 EDT news712333651 Over 1,645 Martian days, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover measured the fine and ultrafine Martian dust particles found clinging to samples of spacesuit materials that are carried aboard the rover, including particles small enough to penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and could inform spacesuit and habitat design, dust-removal procedures and crew health standards for future NASA missions to Mars. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-perseverance-clues-crews-ultrafine-mars.html Space Exploration Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news712314844 Establishing a long-term presence on the moon will require solving challenges that are easy to overlook on Earth. Lunar temperatures, for instance, can vary from hundreds of degrees below zero to boiling, making effective insulation essential for lunar habitats. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-everyday-mylar-insulator-lunar-habitats.html Space Exploration Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news711979621 Do cosmic radiation doses near the moon differ significantly from those received by astronauts in low Earth orbit? Experimental lithium fluoride detectors, installed aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I mission, have now made it possible to obtain preliminary estimates. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-artemis-crystals-experimental-detectors-doses.html Space Exploration Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news711967966 Applying eyedrops is difficult in space, where there is almost no gravity. A KAIST research team has developed a wearable patch that delivers eyedrops to the eye without relying on gravity. The research team was led by Professor Ki-Hun Jeong from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Se Joon Woo from Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. The paper is published in the journal Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-eyedrops-space-wearable-patch-approach.html Space Exploration Tue, 20 Oct 2026 17:00:04 EDT news711719304 The Orionids—one of two major meteor showers caused by remnants from Halley's Comet—will peak this week, though a large moon will dim visibility until after it sets late at night. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-orionid-meteor-shower.html Space Exploration Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:30:01 EDT news711722869 NASA researchers are developing the future of flight on Mars, laying the groundwork for helicopters with the ability to fly higher and farther while conducting science on the Red Planet. Using high-fidelity computer simulations and wind tunnel tests, engineers are reimagining the rotorcraft blades that could carry the next generation of Mars flyers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-experimental-mars-helicopter-blade.html Space Exploration Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:50:01 EDT news711720660 A Japanese spacecraft rocketed toward Mars on Tuesday on a quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-spacecraft-mysterious-moons-mars.html Space Exploration Tue, 20 Oct 2026 05:40:13 EDT news711693525 Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-japan-historic-mission-mars-moon.html Space Exploration Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:20:01 EDT news711555681 Plants begin responding to spaceflight almost immediately after leaving Earth, according to a new University of Florida study that captured the earliest stages of biological adaptation during a commercial suborbital mission. Published in the journal npj Microgravity, the study reports the results of an experiment conducted by a UF astronaut during Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-26 flight on Aug. 29, 2024. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-shift-gene-minutes-spaceflight-reveals.html Space Exploration Fri, 16 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news711376001 On May 10, 2025, a spacecraft built in the Soviet Union to land on Venus came home. Launched in 1972, Cosmos-482 was stranded by a failed upper stage of its rocket and circled Earth for 53 years. In its last days, several space agencies and research groups forecasted when it would fall, and therefore where. Roscosmos later reported that it came down in the Indian Ocean, west of Jakarta. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-air-deep-uncontrolled-satellites-rocket.html Space Exploration Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:40:12 EDT news711280994 If you've ever had your car start sluggishly, or not at all, on a particularly frigid winter morning, you know standard batteries do not like extreme cold. That's why NASA researchers are working to develop a battery that could function in the brutal cold of the moon's south pole, where nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 200 degrees Celsius). https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-batteries-power-humanity-moon.html Space Exploration Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:40:02 EDT news711213681 For many years, the simplest view of dark energy has been that it remains unchanged. Throughout cosmic history, the mysterious ingredient believed to drive the universe's accelerated expansion is thought to have behaved in the same way at every epoch. However, an increasing number of observations are challenging this idea. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-alternative-gravity-theory-explanation-dark.html Astronomy Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:40:14 EDT news711029618 Using data from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, with help from artificial intelligence, an international team of scientists has discovered 70 new gravitational lenses—rare cosmic alignments that act as natural magnifying glasses. The new lenses further expand one of the largest collections of confirmed lenses to date and will allow scientists to study dark matter, galaxy evolution and the structure of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-largest-2d-universe-scientists-gravitational.html Astronomy Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:40:12 EDT news710669701 Transporting material from Earth to the moon is an expensive proposition: By some estimates, moving a single kilogram (2.2 pounds) can cost more than $1 million. Any plan to build a permanent human habitat up there will depend on bringing that sky-high cost down. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simulated-moon-soil-recyclable-thermoplastics.html Space Exploration Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:40:01 EDT news710509742 In early 2024, laboratory-grown neurospheres (i.e. clusters of neural stem cells) were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to be exposed to microgravity. The return trip was delayed several times due to bad weather in the landing zone. As a result, the cells were outside controlled culture conditions for longer than anticipated—beyond the limit of what they were expected to survive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stem-cells-survive-unexpectedly-rough.html Space Exploration Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:40:10 EDT news710500141 New research has found that the rate of hip fractures among astronauts after spaceflights lasting more than 90 days was higher than after shorter spaceflights or among people who were not astronauts. The findings of the study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, underscore the need for expanded assessment of astronauts' long-term skeletal health. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-day-spaceflights-linked-higher-hip.html Space Exploration Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:10:01 EDT news709985522 Astronomers have cataloged billions of stars and hundreds of billions of galaxies. We have found thousands of planets orbiting stars. We can also map where galaxies sit and trace how the universe changes over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-telescope-robots-reveals-galaxy.html Astronomy Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:20:02 EDT news709820886 SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlink satellites yet, but cut the flight short to ensure safety. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-spacex-supersized-starship-orbit.html Space Exploration Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:07:51 EDT news709805242 When a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic velocities, its protective heat shield faces extreme conditions, including temperatures beyond 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius). To survive, the shield relies on specialized materials that absorb heat as they degrade in a controlled process called ablation, sacrificing the shield's outer layers to protect the vehicle and crew within. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-real-spacecraft-shields-extreme-conditions.html Space Exploration Sat, 26 Sep 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709471452 The robotic spacecraft that failed to rescue an aging NASA telescope plunged back to Earth on Friday less than three months after launching on the bold mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-private-spacecraft-falls-earth-aging.html Space Exploration Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:30:01 EDT news709556168 Switching to modern silicon solar cells could cut the cost of powering satellites by as much as 90% based on beginning-of-life (BOL) performance, according to a review led by the University of Surrey. The switch to silicon cells could also halve the weight of the solar cells needed on a spacecraft, freeing mass for fuel or instruments or cutting launch costs. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-silicon-solar-cells-satellite-power.html Space Exploration Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news709372404