Way up in the sky and sprinkled across the seas, two of the littlest yet most influential things in the world have stubbornly guarded their secrets: aerosols and phytoplankton. Today, NASA launched its Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem mission, or PACE, to unravel their mysteries. The mission’s findings could be a key to understanding how … Read more
Hundreds of employees at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be affected by budget constraints looming over the space agency for the current year, with Congress still behind on issuing the final budget for 2024 and its final decision regarding Mars Sample Return (MSR). ‘More People Need to Know About This History’: A Black Astronaut … Read more
After months of frustration, NASA finally got the Bennu asteroid sample container open in January, revealing the large amounts of asteroid scooped up by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Now, a top member of the mission says the distant hunk of space rock may be a planetesimal—a planet’s building block—that once belonged to an ocean world. ‘More … Read more
Behold the volcano-blanketed moon, Io. After swooping by Jupiter’s tortured moon on Feb. 3, NASA’s Juno spacecraft beamed back some of the closest-ever images of this unique world. The agency’s deep space probe came within just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Io, following a similar pass just over a month ago. Planetary scientists hope these … Read more
NASA’s current batch of ISS spacesuits are getting long in the tooth, having been in service for over four decades. The space agency is keen to acquire spacesuits fit for the 21st century, and recent zero-gravity tests performed by Collins Aerospace are a step in the right direction. Better Mobility & Cameras: NASA & Axiom’s … Read more
NASA’s eye in the Martian sky has spotted evidence of dried-up, primordial rivers on Mars. The space agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a snapshot of another time, billions of years ago, when water flowed on the surface of a temperate Mars. NASA recently posted the image on its “Planetary Photojournal.” “This image of ridges in … Read more
Asteroid 99942 Apophis is fast approaching our home planet for an uncomfortably close encounter in 2029. In order to prepare for the rare event, NASA is calling for ideas for low cost missions to rendezvous with Apophis, but the space agency already has a pair of asteroid probes ready to take on the task. This … Read more
The Moon’s surface seen from the Orion spacecraft on flight day 20 of the Artemis I mission. NASA CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. CNBC’s Michael Sheetz reports and curates the latest news, investor updates and exclusive interviews on the most … Read more
Starlab Space’s forthcoming space station is so big and heavy that only the formidable SpaceX Starship megarocket can launch it into orbit, but the one-time delivery option comes with distinct benefits. Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View Starlab Space, like several other commercial ventures, is racing to deliver a commercial … Read more
NASA is headed to Jupiter’s fascinating moon Europa this year. Scientists suspect a deep ocean sloshes beneath the icy world’s crust. The looming mission, called Europa Clipper, will launch in October, sending a spacecraft the length of a basketball court to make around 50 flybys by the distant Jovian moon, assessing whether it could harbor … Read more