https://phys.org/space-news/space-exploration/ en-us Space exploration news and updates. Space missions and science news. Planet exploration and more. It's common to see images of astronauts on the International Space Station exercising, running on special treadmills and pedaling cycles designed for tight quarters. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-space-doesnt-affect-strength-heart.html Space Exploration Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news705759301 To date, close to 30,000 satellites have been launched into Earth's orbit, leading to mounting concerns over the debris created when they collide. In a new analysis posted to the preprint server arXiv, Hugh Lewis of the University of Birmingham shows that satellite constellations can grow so large that they cross a critical size beyond which they generate unstable, runaway amounts of debris. The findings point to an urgent need for tougher rules on which satellites are allowed into orbit in the first place. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-satellite-constellations-spiraling-space-debris.html Space Exploration Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:00:08 EDT news705747610 A new study suggests a protective vest tested on a manikin during NASA's first Artemis moonshot could drastically cut the radiation exposure of lunar astronauts during severe solar storms. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-vest-nasa-moonshot-astronauts-exposure.html Space Exploration Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:35:26 EDT news705764085 An international team of astronomers led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics has identified three actively accreting supermassive black holes in the galaxy J0148-4214. Matter is falling into the black holes from accretion disks surrounding them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-supermassive-black-holes-galaxy.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:40:14 EDT news705743283 In extreme environments, habitats are built for survival. Submarines, Antarctic bases and post-disaster dwellings are designed to prioritize health and safety. This is especially the case for habitats in space, where room is limited, contact with Earth is remote and hazards are numerous. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-space-habitat-residents-mental-health.html Space Exploration Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:00:04 EDT news705673502 Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered that dust and water can form and survive surprisingly close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The observations reveal that the evolved star IRS 3 continues to enrich its surroundings with newly formed material despite the intense radiation environment around Sagittarius A*. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-webb-reveals-oxygen-rich-surviving.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:02 EDT news705665284 The Perseid summer light show is back—and viewing conditions are especially promising for the Northern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-perseid-meteor-shower-summer-dazzle.html Space Exploration Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:52:39 EDT news705505929 From reaching for a cup of coffee to tying your shoelaces, gravity shapes nearly all human movement. So how do our bodies react when that familiar force begins to change? Texas A&M University researchers are exploring the answer through a multiphase project supported by NASA. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-gravity-people-simpler-movement-patterns.html Space Exploration Sat, 08 Aug 2026 09:20:01 EDT news705377293 In March 2026, the Einstein Probe detected a brief flash of soft X-rays emitted from a galaxy about 500 million light-years away. The flash, dubbed EP260321a, immediately triggered a worldwide observing campaign. Within an hour, ground-based telescopes began monitoring the source, revealing a rapidly brightening supernova, later designated SN 2026gzf. Two teams of scientists used several NSF NOIRLab facilities to observe the event and monitor its evolving light profile. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-astronomers-massive-star-death-explosive.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:40:01 EDT news705057700 For the first time in more than a century, a total solar eclipse is coming to mainland Spain with an even longer encore next summer. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-august-total-solar-eclipse-spain.html Space Exploration Mon, 03 Aug 2026 03:12:40 EDT news704945507 Finding water on the moon may only be a matter of detecting the right vibrations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-moonquakes-reveal-ice-beneath-lunar.html Space Exploration Fri, 31 Jul 2026 17:40:03 EDT news704731117 When astronauts travel deeper into space, every drop of fuel becomes critical, and keeping those fuels stable for months or even years is one of the biggest engineering challenges facing future missions. Now, University of Florida researchers have uncovered a surprising behavior in boiling liquids that could help solve that challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-behavior-liquids-advance-future-space.html Space Exploration Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:40:01 EDT news704710081 In 1989, the Voyager 2 mission discovered six new moons orbiting Neptune, including five tiny ones that orbit just outside the planet's main rings. Because of their small sizes and locations, these satellites have been difficult to study from Earth. Now, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of Caltech researchers has observed Neptune's rings and three of those moons—Larissa, Galatea and Proteus—and found that their composition is unique among outer solar system bodies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-neptune-moons-shattered-ancient-icy.html Space Exploration Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news704623381 The spacecraft rushing to the rescue of an aging and sinking NASA telescope has run into its own problem. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-private-mission-nasa-aging-telescope.html Space Exploration Wed, 29 Jul 2026 04:16:38 EDT news704517371 SpaceX's mammoth Starship rocket blasted off Friday on another test flight stretching halfway around the world, this time releasing 20 of the most advanced Starlinks. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spacex-starship-flight-advanced-starlinks.html Space Exploration Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:15:07 EDT news704204084 A two-armed space robot blasted off on a private salvage operation Tuesday to slap life-extending jetpacks on old satellites running low on fuel thousands of miles up. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-private-mission-life-gas-communication.html Space Exploration Wed, 22 Jul 2026 04:10:06 EDT news703911327 On Aug. 5, 2026, an abandoned piece of space junk is predicted to crash into the moon near a spot called Einstein Crater. Astronomers will be watching because the collision and aftermath may be visible from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spacex-rocket-moon-scientists.html Space Exploration Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:50:01 EDT news703856818 Space weather warnings could be received hours before Earth is hit rather than minutes with the help of a miniature UK-built instrument soon to be stationed in deep space. MAGIC (MAGnetometer from Imperial College) is part of the European Space Agency's Heliospheric Pioneer for Solar and Interplanetary Threats Defense (HENON) CubeSat mission, which is scheduled for launch in early 2027. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-deep-space-cubesat-solar-storm.html Space Exploration Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:24:32 EDT news703761842 On July 16, 2024, a daytime meteor shook New York City with a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty. Now, an international team of researchers reports in the journal Science Advances that a short time later, a meteorite weighing more than 2 pounds crashed through the roof of a house in the town of Hillsborough, New Jersey. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-alien-world-chemistry-meteorite-struck.html Space Exploration Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:03 EDT news703263418 The expense of launching cargo into space will plummet over the next few years, with the cost of reaching orbit forecast to more than halve between now and the end of the decade, and fall by around 93% by 2040, according to new Cambridge-led research. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-space-cargo-fall.html Space Exploration Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:35:02 EDT news703233247 A giant mirror to create "sunlight on demand" was just approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), despite opposition from astronomers and the public, and real safety concerns. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-giant-space-mirror-sunlight-demand.html Space Exploration Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:07:02 EDT news703159573 China successfully recaptured the first stage of a rocket after a launch on Friday in a breakthrough for the country's space program, state media said. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-china-page-spacex-recaptures-stage.html Space Exploration Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:30:01 EDT news702908159 In a new study, published in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Warwick researchers led an international effort to uncover some of the faintest debris in geosynchronous orbit ever observed, finding fragments as small as 5 centimeters (2 inches) and obtaining valuable data to characterize their behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-deep-tiny-dangerous-space.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Jul 2026 16:30:01 EDT news702737741 Building material samples from the University of Delaware spent six months mounted outside the International Space Station, where the harsh conditions of low Earth orbit tested their limits. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lab-moon-lunar-cement-alternative.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:00:03 EDT news702724623 Day will briefly turn into night across a swath of northern Spain on Aug. 12, when the moon will completely cover the sun during a rare total solar eclipse. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-total-solar-eclipse-due-august.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Jul 2026 04:30:01 EDT news702702142 Following its longest hibernation period ever of nearly a year, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has emerged in good health and is ready to begin transmitting science data gathered in the distant Kuiper Belt far beyond Pluto. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nasa-horizons-spacecraft-hibernation-good.html Space Exploration Tue, 07 Jul 2026 21:00:02 EDT news702655742 Rare images taken by a Japanese space probe during a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid have revealed that the space rock resembled a snowman, scientists said Monday. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-japan-snowman-asteroid-image-flyby.html Space Exploration Mon, 06 Jul 2026 11:10:11 EDT news702554975 A Japanese space probe performed a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid on Sunday in a test mission for technology that could help protect the planet from space rocks. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-japan-space-probe-skims-asteroid.html Space Exploration Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:30:12 EDT news702466184 A three-armed spacecraft rocketed into orbit Friday to rescue a NASA telescope that's in danger of crashing back to Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mission-nasa-telescope-falling-earth.html Space Exploration Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:43:29 EDT news702283381 A rush rescue mission to save a NASA space telescope remains grounded, this time because of a last-minute launch problem. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-minute-problem-delays-satellite-mission.html Space Exploration Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:38:55 EDT news702211107