Space exploration news, features and articles
Latest about Space Exploration
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China plans to build enormous solar array in space — and it could collect more energy in a year than 'all the oil on Earth'
By Ben Turner published
China has announced plans to build a giant solar power space station, which will be lifted into orbit piece by piece using the nation's brand-new heavy lift rockets.
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New NASA robot with X-ray vision will watch Earth 'breathing' from the moon
By Ben Turner published
NASA's LEXI instrument is set to land on the moon's surface sometime this month. Using X-ray sensors, the device will watch Earth's atmosphere "breathing out and breathing in" to uncover key space weather mysteries.
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NASA and Japan launch world's 1st wooden satellite into orbit. Here's why it could help solve a huge problem for our planet.
By Ben Turner last updated
NASA and Japan's space agency (JAXA) have officially launched the world's first wooden satellite into Earth orbit. The magnolia wood LignoSat is an attempt to make space junk biodegradable, potentially solving the growing problem of orbital debris.
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James Webb Space Telescope quiz: How well do you know the world's most powerful telescope?
By Ian Stokes published
The James Webb Space Telescope can look deeper (and earlier) into the cosmos than any telescope before it. How much do you know about this wonder of technology and its incredible findings?
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Coolest space missions coming in 2025
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
From a death swirl into Jupiter to "Ghost Riders in the Sky," here are some of the most exciting space missions coming in 2025.
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10 times space missions went very wrong in 2024
By Harry Baker published
From astronauts getting stranded on a leaking ISS and faceplanting moon landers to injured Mars robots and a tumbling solar sail, here are 10 of the biggest space exploration mishaps in 2024.
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Parker Solar Probe survives historic closest-ever flyby of the sun, NASA confirms
By Sharmila Kuthunur last updated
On Christmas Eve, NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever — a stunning technological feat that scientists liken to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969. Now, we know it survived.
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe will reach its closest-ever point to the sun on Christmas Eve
By Harry Baker published
NASA's record-breaking Parker Solar Probe will smash its own personal bests for proximity to the sun and fastest speed by a human-made object when it whizzes past our star on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24). It is unlikely to get significantly closer to the sun before the end of its mission.
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Boeing Starliner astronauts could spend nearly 300 days stuck in space — is that a new record?
By Brandon Specktor last updated
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will spend at least nine consecutive months aboard the International Space Station after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth empty. Is their extended spaceflight record-setting?
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NASA astronauts' return to Earth delayed until at least 'late March' 2025
By Stephanie Pappas published
Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were meant to spend 10 days in space in June 2024, will now not return to Earth until late March 2025 at the earliest, NASA announced.
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