Space exploration news, features and articles

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.

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.

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.

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.

The answer depends on many factors, including the amount of fuel needed, the moon's orbit and the mission's objectives.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit imaged the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds as the International Space Station cruised 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

The next stages of NASA's moon program will be delayed due to technical issues, but officials claim they will still launch in time to beat China to the lunar surface.

On Dec. 5, 2024 the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission sent two spacecraft into orbit around Earth. By aligning the probes, researchers will create 6-hour-long mini eclipses, allowing the sun's atmosphere to be studied like never before.

Russian cosmonauts aboard the ISS were forced to seal a hatch and don protective equipment after the arrival of a cargo vessel brought with it a bizarre smell.

The ISS performed its 39th ever space junk collision avoidance maneuver on Nov. 19. Although it was the first such maneuver in 2024, it may not be the last, experts say.