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NASA testing advanced capabilities for moon, Mars rovers

On a bleak stretch of the Colorado Desert in Southern California, a compact four-wheeled rover recently trundled 16 miles (26 kilometers) with minimal intervention from the team of engineers trailing it. Called ERNEST (Exploration ...

Desert field test with NASA advanced rover prototype

A prototype four-wheel rover developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory with advanced mobility and robotic autonomy capabilities trundled across the Colorado Desert near Plaster City, California, during a field test in ...

Texas wine grapes launch to space for research mission

Researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife are sending hundreds of grape seeds to the International Space Station, where the seeds will spend approximately six months exposed to cosmic radiation before returning to Earth for planting ...

Mars mission simulations reveal key to teamwork under pressure

Whether it's to the moon or Mars, a NASA mission requires some essential preparations: designing and developing the spacecraft, astronaut training and safety checks, clear goals, and strategies and procedures for maintaining ...

Quantum lab aboard space station gets 'chilly' upgrade

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have switched on NASA's newly upgraded Cold Atom Lab, a one-of-a-kind facility designed to improve how scientists explore the fundamental workings of matter and develop new ...

Future Martian colonists will need a new relativistic clock

We think of atomic clocks as the definitive timekeepers. They are famous for being accurate down to the picosecond. Unfortunately, they are still subject to general relativity, so if you put them on a different planet, they ...

The hidden physics complicating interstellar lightsails

If we're to reach another star, chemical propulsion will not get us there in any reasonable time frame. We're going to need a different propulsion technology, and one of the most promising seems to be a solar sail. These ...

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket minutes ahead of IPO

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket loaded with Starlink satellites Friday less than an hour before Elon Musk's company was set to lift off for what would be the largest IPO in Wall Street history.

SpaceX lifts off in record Wall Street debut

Elon Musk's SpaceX began its first day as a public company on Wall Street on Friday after the biggest initial public offering in history, with the polarizing entrepreneur promising he will take humanity to Mars.

SpaceX IPO set for liftoff in record market debut

Elon Musk's SpaceX was set to begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange Friday, with the biggest initial public offering in history expected to make the polarizing entrepreneur the world's first trillionaire.

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Science fiction? Musk's lofty SpaceX goals unrealistic, skeptics say
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How a shape-shifting tiny rover inspired by Japanese toys autonomously explored the moon
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A look at the SpaceX IPO by the numbers
Space Exploration
NASA head defends Artemis 3 crew of all men
Space Exploration
Private space tourism is taking off—but laws on outer space are from another era
Astronomy
ESA officially adopts ARRAKIHS mission: EU leads the exploration of the low surface brightness universe
Space Exploration
Small optical component could change how telescopes view the sun
Space Exploration
Italian astronaut expects home flavors on Artemis III menu
Space Exploration
SpaceX's hold over orbit matches East India Company's grip on maritime trade
Space Exploration
NASA unveils Artemis III astronauts to test technology for a future moon landing
Space Exploration
Italian Luca Parmitano to be first European to join an Artemis mission: NASA
Space Exploration
How Artemis II livestreamed hi-def videos and images from the moon to Earth
Space Exploration
Plants could be used to grow medicines in space, study shows
Space Exploration
Artemis II moon mission research continues on Earth
Space Exploration
NASA's INCUS mission on road to launch, study storms from space
Space Exploration
Lunar orbiter concept could reveal five key elements across moon in two years
Space Exploration
SpaceX denied fast track to S&P 500 after IPO
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Smart surfaces face zero gravity test in boiling heat experiments
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SpaceX signs pre-IPO deal to provide AI computing to Google
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Astronauts briefly take shelter during repair to fix leak on the International Space Station

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General Physics
Horizon edge states gain finite description in string theory calculation
Earth Sciences
Hidden seismicity patterns before large earthquakes uncovered
Astronomy
Einstein Probe detects mysterious X-ray transient that doesn't fit any known class
Plants & Animals
Local species trends may flag global extinction risk, global study finds
Optics & Photonics
Solid-state material turns visible light into high-energy UV at sunlight intensity, expanding solar energy potential
Superconductivity
Broken time-reversal symmetry phase in kagome metals may establish conditions for superconductivity
Plants & Animals
Newly described Australian ballista spider builds a spring-loaded snare to catch a single ant species
Planetary Sciences
Titan and Pluto exhibit the same mysterious spectral feature—and researchers can't figure out its origin
Mathematics
How languages recycle parts of words to avoid confusion
Astronomy
Corrected Pantheon+ analysis of supernovae challenges accelerating universe claim
Biochemistry
How oxygen sneaks into a corked wine bottle long before the first pour
Plants & Animals
Marmoset monkeys adapt their voices to sound more like their social partners, study finds
Materials Science
Scientists design a clay that can prevent fruits and vegetables from rotting too quickly
General Physics
Poo emoji, earthworm castings and pasta all obey the same coiling theory, physicists find
Earth Sciences
California has lost more than half of its coastal sand dunes, first-ever assessment reveals
Evolution
New findings challenge idea that human bodies simply got bigger and bigger over time in a steady line
Biotechnology
Leaf-based fluorescence test speeds search for plant gene-editing targets
Ecology
Mosquito-borne viruses avoid killing hosts by limiting protein output, study reveals
Social Sciences
Women negotiate as effectively as men—but leave people happier
Nanophysics
Nanotube-based thermoelectrics open a new pathway to waste-heat energy conversion

Spain gears up for August total solar eclipse

Spain, one of the few places in the world where a total solar eclipse will be visible in August, has begun preparations for an event it hopes will shift tourism away from the beaches and toward the countryside.

NASA bets big on nuclear engines to cut journey times to Mars

Nasa is developing ways to use nuclear power to send spacecraft to their destinations. Nuclear propulsion could greatly reduce the journey time to Mars, perhaps cutting a voyage of more than six months to three or four months.

NASA fuel cell tests pave way for energy storage on the moon

With a small blue crane, four researchers hoist a cylindrical fuel cell, which looks like a stack of flattened silver and gold soda cans bundled together, into the air and lower it into a rectangular cart on wheels. A tangle ...

The material science behind a spacecraft's impact armor

Aerospace engineers have to consider numerous factors when designing a spacecraft, but one that comes up more and more often is the need to design against micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD). While most designers understand ...

Katalyst wraps testing at NASA Goddard for Swift boost mission

A daring mission to lift NASA's sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is now one step closer to launch this June. On May 4, Katalyst Space Technologies completed environmental tests of its LINK robotic servicing spacecraft ...