NASA

December 27, 2024 4:24 PM

NASA confirms Parker Solar Probe safe after record-breaking solar flyby

NASA confirmed on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe is "safe" after becoming the first human-made object in history to fly dangerously close to the Sun. The US space agency stated that the probe, which made its record-setting close approach of just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the solar surface on December 24, transmitted a beacon tone on Friday to confirm its health following the flyby. During its closest approach, known as the perihelion, the spacecraft was not in contact...

December 19, 2024 11:05 AM

Ambassador Kwatra, US Deputy Secy Campbell meet Indian Astronauts, discuss space sector, defence space cooperation

Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Vinay Mohan Kwatra, along with U.S. Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday and met with representatives from NASA and ISRO, including two Indian astronauts undergoing training at the facility. These astronauts are preparing for a proposed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for 2025, which will mark a significant milestone in India-...

October 25, 2024 3:14 PM

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts return safely to Earth

Space X's Crew-8 astronauts returned to Earth on the Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station on Friday (October 25). The spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin splashed down off the Florida coast at approximately 3:29 a.m. ET (07:29 GMT). According to NASA, the astronauts conducted new scientific research to advance human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit human life on Earth. (Reute...

October 23, 2024 4:21 PM

Moon sample talks show space engagement by rivals US and China

NASA and Chinese officials are engaged in talks to let American scientists analyze rocks retrieved by China from the moon's far side, according to the head of the U.S. space agency, as Washington pursues improved communication with Beijing on issues involving space. China in June became the first country to collect rock samples from the permanently dark side of the moon's surface, a demonstration of its growing prowess in space. Chinese officials offered the material to the world's scientists f...

October 16, 2024 8:29 PM

Prada and Axiom Space aim for the moon with new astronaut suit

Italian luxury group Prada and Houston-based startup Axiom Space unveiled on Wednesday the design of a spacesuit that will be used for NASA's Artemis 3 mission to the moon that is planned for 2026. In its outward appearance, the spacesuit does not stray too far from what astronauts have worn in the past. It is the familiar bulky white suit, with added red trim and grey patches on the knees and elbows. The new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), as the suit is known, was showcased at th...

October 14, 2024 3:12 PM

NASA spacecraft to study whether Jupiter’s moon Europa can harbor life

NASA is set to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa, considered one of our solar system's most promising spots to search for life beyond Earth, to learn whether this ice-encased world believed to harbor a vast underground ocean is habitable. The U.S. space agency's robotic solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments. After traveling 1.8 billion miles (2.9 bi...

September 23, 2024 3:02 AM

SpaceX plans to send five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years, Musk says

SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars in two years, CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday in a post on social media platform X. Earlier this month, Musk had said that the first Starships to Mars would launch in two years "when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens." The CEO on Sunday said that the first crewed mission timeline will depend upon the success of the uncrewed flights. If the uncrewed missions land safely, crewed missions will be launched in four years. How...

August 27, 2024 1:44 PM

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s plight piles pressure on Boeing’s space unit

NASA's decision to send Boeing's Starliner capsule home without astronauts follows years of missteps by the planemaker in its space business and raises doubts over the future of the unit, analysts and industry sources said. Taking NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) was to have been a turning point for Starliner after years of delays, technical glitches and supply chain mishaps. Starliner has cost Boeing $1.6 billion in overruns since 2016, a...

August 25, 2024 6:38 PM

Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams to remain in space till February 2025: NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that it is "too risky" to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth at this time, leading to the decision that Boeing's Starliner capsule will return without them. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew and are now scheduled to return in February 2025. This means that what was initially intended to be a week-long test flight will extend to around eight months. "W...

August 5, 2024 2:38 PM

Meteorite impacts identified as driver of moon’s tenuous atmosphere

The NASA astronauts who became the first people to land on the moon's surface in the 1960s and 1970s also discovered a previously unknown lunar characteristic - it has an atmosphere, though quite tenuous. Soil samples they retrieved are now revealing the main physical process driving this atmosphere. By analyzing which forms of two elements - potassium and rubidium - were present in nine tiny soil samples from five Apollo missions, researchers determined that the lunar atmosphere was created an...