Space
Learn about the latest astronomy news and discoveries around humanity’s endeavor beyond the final frontier.
European Space Agency is engineering its first reusable spacecraft
The European Space Agency (ESA) is building a new spacecraft, but this one will have a special sustainable twist. The Space Rider craft is expected to be the agency’s first reusable spacecraft and is expected to be able to venture into orbit multiple times with safe returns to Earth. The Read More...
Discovery of solar system ‘superhighway’ could speed up space travel
For all our space geeks, we have some fascinating news from the cosmos. Scientists have discovered what is being called a Solar System “superhighway” network of routes that could allow spacecraft to travel much faster during future deep space missions. In essence, this could help humanity Read More...
NASA announces 18 astronauts training for Artemis moon landing
NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions will send American astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1969. The men and women that will take part in these historic missions were announced last week at a meeting at the Kennedy Space Center. The team includes nine men and nine women, two of Read More...
Jupiter and Saturn will appear to collide this winter solstice
During this year's winter solstice on December 21st, two of our solar system’s largest planets will appear to collide for the first time since the Middle Ages. This event, featuring Jupiter and Saturn, will show the two planets at one super bright spot of light in our skies. Although the Read More...
Scientists figure out how to turn briny water on Mars into oxygen and fuel
Figuring out ways for astronauts to source as many basic necessities as possible on Mars — or the Moon — is essential for future interplanetary space missions. With that in mind, engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new electrolysis device that may be able to Read More...
SpaceX has successfully launched 4 astronauts into space
SpaceX launched four astronauts on their journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. As it departed from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the company’s Falcon 9 rocket became the first privately owned and operated spacecraft to be certified by NASA for a flight into space. SpaceX Read More...
Do fireflies glow in space? These 2nd graders launched a rocket to find out
In 2015, a second grade class in Indiana curiously asked whether fireflies would still glow if sent into space. After doing some research, their teacher, Maggie Samudio, figured out that for just half the cost of the school’s football uniforms, they could actually send a rocket to space and find Read More...
NASA: There is water on the moon hiding in lunar soil
Scientists have long argued as to whether there is water on the moon or not. Now, after decades of debate, NASA has solved the mystery: Water has been confirmed on the sunlit surface of the moon, and it’s not just in the form of ice limited to the shadowed surfaces of larger craters as previously Read More...
NASA collects samples from a space asteroid for the first time
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has spent nearly two years in space circling Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid. Now, it has successfully helped NASA gather samples from an asteroid in space for the very first time. In a momentous milestone for space exploration, the spacecraft’s robotic arm was Read More...
Get lost in these incredible x-ray images of the universe
You would only need to be subscribed to the Optimist Daily for a little while to know we are geeks for outer space. That’s why we were over the moon when NASA released a gallery of jaw-dropping imagery of the universe captured by telescopes from around the world. The gallery is a “treasure Read More...