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SpaceX caught its Super Heavy booster in mid-air using a pair of metal “wandstick” arms, the first time such a maneuver has been successfully completed. Credit: SpaceX The sixth test flight of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly, will launch no earlier than 5 pm EST on Monday, Nov. 18, SpaceX […]

A ‘selfie’ taken by China’s Zhurong Mars rover during the Tianwen-1 mission. (Image credit: China News Service) Happy Martian New Year! Today marks the start of a new year on the Red Planet, the 38th since humans began counting in 1956. The Martian new year begins with data from a now-defunct rover spotting what appears

A photo-illustration of the optical illusion known as Mach bands, seen on Saturn. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly according to Ethan Chappel About every 15 years, Earth passes through the plane of Saturn’s rings, causing them to nearly disappear from view, not to mention generating a host of other interesting phenomena. The next such apparition will

This artist’s image shows an ocean of liquid water on Mars, as the planet may have appeared about 4 billion years ago. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser Mars is strikingly similar to Earth in many ways, but especially in its surface features, which often resemble Earth’s deserts uncannily. Both Earth and Mars share features such as valleys;

Don’t believe the tabloids: NASA astronaut Suni Williams says she’s doing just fine aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Last week, media outlets such as The Daily Mail and The New York Post published stories speculating that Williams’ health may be deteriorating in Earth orbit, citing an outside doctor’s opinion that she looks “gaunt” in

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is a research and development lab federally funded by NASA and managed by Caltech. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) NASA’s chief center for robotic planetary exploration is conducting another round of layoffs. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California — which manages many of NASA’s high-profile robotic missions, such

A stargazing feast at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah. Credit: NPS Star struck Wisconsin Historical Society PressMadison, WI In Chasing the Stars, authors Kelly Tyrell and James Lattis discuss astronomical findings from the Washburn Observatory at the University of Wisconsin. The book’s 256 pages contain many images and details about the early days of

The Full Moon in July 2016. Credit: Michael Seeley (Flickr, CC BY 2.0) The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth,

Credits: ESO/VPHAS+ team Inside the bright but unassuming Gum 55 nebula lies a dark nebula – a rift of dust grains that absorb visible light – creating a sample of darkness against the glow of bright gas. Named for its shape, the Dark Wolf Nebula is no mere pup: it spans an area about four