NASA’s 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope falls from orbit in fiery finale

November 5, 2026 10:34 AM

NASA’s 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope falls from orbit in fiery finale

NASA's Swift satellite telescope, which spent two decades studying the most powerful known blasts of energy in the cosmos, tumbled out of orbit as expected on Wednesday and burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia, the space agency reported. The fiery demise of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds (1,452 kg), came less than three months after a rescue spacecraft failed its mission to boost the satellite to higher orbit and extend its life. The US Space Force ...

NASA’s Swift satellite telescope heads for fiery re-entry 22 years after launch

November 4, 2026 12:25 PM

NASA’s Swift satellite telescope heads for fiery re-entry 22 years after launch

An aging NASA satellite telescope that a robotic spacecraft was sent to retrieve on a failed rescue mission this summer was headed for a fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, nearly 22 years after it was launched into orbit. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds (1,452 kg), was set to tumble out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere somewhere over the tropics, with fragments surviving re-entry unlikely to threaten populated areas, according to NASA. ...

Crew from NASA’s simulated Mars mission emerges after 378 days in isolation

November 2, 2026 12:17 PM

Crew from NASA’s simulated Mars mission emerges after 378 days in isolation

The four members of a crew who took part in a simulated mission to Mars have emerged after 378 days in isolation at the US space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, an endeavor designed to help prepare for a possible future excursion by NASA astronauts to Earth's planetary neighbor. "It's been a hell of a year - analog astronauts living in captivity of our own free will," Ellen Ellis, the medical officer on the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, mission, said in re...

Manohar Lal celebrates Hindi Diwas with Indian diaspora in Houston, visits NASA’s Johnson Space Center

September 14, 2026 3:13 PM

Manohar Lal celebrates Hindi Diwas with Indian diaspora in Houston, visits NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Union Minister for Power and Housing & Urban Affairs Manohar Lal engaged with the Indian diaspora and explored opportunities to deepen India-US cooperation in the space sector during a series of engagements in Houston on September 13, ahead of his participation in the G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial Meeting. The Minister is in Houston to participate in the three-day G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial Meeting from September 14 to 16, where Ministers and senior representatives of G20 members a...

NASA launches powerful Roman Space Telescope, a spy satellite turned to the stars

August 31, 2026 12:15 PM

NASA launches powerful Roman Space Telescope, a spy satellite turned to the stars

NASA began a new mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology with the launch on Sunday of the U.S. space agency's new flagship astronomical observatory, a repurposed spy satellite that will capture panoramic views of the cosmos. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion project, was carried aloft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX  Falcon Heavy rocket through blue skies just after sunrise. Its mission ...

Trump presents Medal of Honor to Artemis II crew

August 29, 2026 12:20 AM

Trump presents Medal of Honor to Artemis II crew

U.S. President Donald Trump presents the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston on August 28. After the ceremony, Trump speaks to crew members on the space station and signs a commemorative plaque. -Reuters...

NASA invites ISRO to join its ambitious Moon Base programme

August 11, 2026 4:37 PM

NASA invites ISRO to join its ambitious Moon Base programme

India and the United States are set to strengthen their cooperation in space exploration, with NASA inviting ISRO to join its ambitious Moon Base program, building on the two countries’ partnership under the Artemis Accords. During the 9th meeting of the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group (CSJWG), hosted by India on 5-6 August 2026 at the headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, the two sides also agreed to advance discussions for cooperation on open s...

NASA to wear Prada as luxury group pushes into space industry

June 8, 2026 1:13 PM

NASA to wear Prada as luxury group pushes into space industry

Italian fashion house Prada unveiled on Sunday the inner-layer garment set to be worn by NASA astronauts heading to the moon, underscoring the brand's push to be the first major luxury player to make inroads in the space industry. The body-hugging suit, created in collaboration with Houston-based space infrastructure developer Axiom Space, features ventilation tubes knitted into the garment. "We have really a broad spectrum of capability and know-how," Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada's chief marketing...

NASA outlines vision for lunar ‘city’ amid renewed moon race

May 27, 2026 1:21 PM

NASA outlines vision for lunar ‘city’ amid renewed moon race

NASA has outlined an ambitious long-term vision for establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon, signalling a shift from the short-duration Apollo-era missions toward the development of a permanent lunar settlement. During a presentation at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday, agency officials described plans for a “Moon Base” that could eventually include roads, robotic vehicles, drones, communication systems, power infrastructure and astronauts living and working across large areas of th...

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is ready to complete a Martian marathon

May 21, 2026 11:09 AM

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is ready to complete a Martian marathon

For NASA's Perseverance Rover, life on Mars has been a marathon, not a sprint. For more than five years, the six-wheeled robotic explorer has been steadily traversing the Martian surface seeking signs of ancient life, studying its geology and climate, and collecting rock samples for possible return to Earth. The rover has now traveled 26.09 miles (41.99 km), just shy of the official marathon distance of 26.22 miles (42.2 km), and, according to Perseverance mission manager Robert Hogg, it will e...