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A new plasma thruster design breathes thin air for propellant

Choosing an orbit for a satellite always comes with trade-offs. Very low Earth orbit (VLEO), between 100–450 km (62–280 miles), has distinct advantages. Remote-sensing cameras can take better pictures, communications and ...

Cataract surgery will be needed in space, surgeon predicts

An eye surgeon with a passion for space since childhood predicts that as astronauts start to make journeys to the moon and Mars in the near future, eye surgery in space will eventually become a necessity.

NASA's next great observatory could spot oceans on distant worlds

We've found more than 5,500 exoplanets so far. Dozens of them are in the habitable zones of their parent stars, where, at least in theory, they could host an ocean. But we've never definitively found a liquid ocean on another ...

Scientists want to 3D print houses on Mars with the help of yeast

Mars is a terrible place to build a house. It's bitterly cold, blasted by radiation and a near vacuum. Not to mention that the building materials, even for a modest shelter, could spend months hurtling through space before ...

What to know about Europe's push to compete in space

Key figures from Europe's space industry and other international players have converged on Paris to discuss how to advance the continent's ambitions in a global market dominated by the United States.

A new mission could rendezvous with Halley's Comet in 2061

Halley's Comet captures the imagination in a way that few other astronomical objects do. When it last made its approach toward the sun (admittedly when this author, who is now middle-aged, was 1 year old in 1986), humanity ...

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Space Exploration
Germany's Isar Aerospace launches rocket into orbit from Norway
Space Exploration
Rescue satellite gets close to NASA's doomed telescope, even if it can't save it
Space Exploration
Blue Origin's New Glenn explosion shows infrasound can detect rocket accidents from up to 1,700 kilometers away
Space Exploration
Cluster's final reentry strengthens data for safer, more sustainable satellite design
Space Exploration
A 13-meter rocket hit the Moon: Tasmanian researchers helped track it there
Astronomy
AI tool detects unusual satellite behavior to improve space safety
Space Exploration
ESA JUICE probe targets dark Jovian moon Kallichore in 2031
Space Exploration
SpaceX recovers Starship from the Indian Ocean a month after launch and is shipping it back to Texas
Space Exploration
New clues about how space travel may affect women's health
Space Exploration
NASA Johnson pilots chase moon's shadow for eclipse science
Space Exploration
'Now boarding' … 240,000 miles from Earth, at the moon's first airport
Space Exploration
SpaceX announces plans for $100 billion 'spaceport' in Louisiana
Space Exploration
AI finds six ways to print rocket-grade alloy on commercial 3D printers
Space Exploration
NASA starshade would enable astronomers to directly image rocky exoworlds
Space Exploration
China says unmanned moon mission delayed over 'launch conditions'
Space Exploration
China abruptly postpones ambitious Chang'e-7 lunar mission launch
Space Exploration
Near-total lunar eclipse is coming up with the Americas in prime position
Space Exploration
Interplanetary spacecraft capture a coronal mass ejection component hidden from Earth
Space Exploration
China is launching a moon mission to find water ice
Space Exploration
Rescue mission is called off for NASA's aging Swift space telescope

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Cell & Microbiology
Virtual cells built from 4D AI models and 'digital twins' could speed up drug discovery
Social Sciences
Longitudinal survey finds little evidence that social tech predicts life satisfaction in adults
Condensed Matter
Two-color light steers electrons through graphene's transient topological state
Cell & Microbiology
How the malaria parasite boosts its transmission potential under stress conditions
Plants & Animals
A molecular bridge connects two signaling pathways critical for pollen development
Archaeology
The monsters that weren't: Dinosaur and tusked-beast claims in San rock art unravel
Environment
Global population dataset uses buildings to reveal people's daily movement patterns
Molecular & Computational biology
Loss of Y chromosome in men could be an early warning sign of cancer
Astrobiology
Scientists simulate cosmic crashes to test whether icy moons gain or lose their ability to sustain life
Molecular & Computational biology
Protein map reveals how red blood cells rapidly adjust to low oxygen
General Physics
Physicists extend the search for quantum black holes at the LHC
Earth Sciences
Greenland's Qaanaaq Ice Cap has lost enough ice to produce a layer of water about 8 meters deep
Archaeology
Medieval Chinese skeleton may reveal first evidence of a brutal punishment
Earth Sciences
North Korea's nuclear testing may have triggered hundreds of earthquakes over several years
Evolution
Discovery of CRISPR's long lost ancestor may expand gene-editing toolkit
Condensed Matter
Stacked 2D materials reveal room-temperature multiferroicity and voltage-controlled magnetism
Nanophysics
New thermal insulator outperforms any material found in nature
Astronomy
From the start, the solar system chose fire over ice to build its first bodies
Archaeology
To read 2,000-year-old burned scrolls, scientists burn their own
Ecology
'Plasticorals,' coral rubble fused with plastic, represent a new form of plastic pollution

SpaceX rocket stage believed to have slammed into the moon

A piece of a SpaceX rocket weighing four tonnes (4.4 tons) was believed to have unintentionally crashed into the moon on Wednesday, a collision that posed no danger to Earth but is expected to leave behind a lunar crater.

'Like the end of the world': The eclipse chasers flocking to Spain

Suddenly, the world is plunged into an eerie, violet darkness. The temperature drops. Birds and other animals, bewildered by unforeseen night, start behaving strangely. Stars and planets appear in the sky next to the blotted-out ...

Designing memory-centric chips for future space telescopes

Two proposed computer chip designs could efficiently process data on future space telescopes while they search for Earth–like exoplanets, according to a University of Michigan Engineering study that will be presented at the ...