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NASA delays the James Webb Space Telescope launch again
As things stand, it'll take place a few weeks after the previous planned date of October 31st.
NASA, ESA and JAXA want to figure out COVID-19's environmental effects
NASA, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are hosting a hackathon to figure out COVID-19's environmental effect.
SpaceX's reused Crew Dragon capsule docks with the ISS
Crew Dragon has docked with the International Space Station as part of the Crew-2 mission, marking the first time SpaceX has reused a crewed capsule.
Microsoft and Nintendo sign up for a free, all-digital E3
This year's event runs from June 12th to 15th, and Sony probably won't be involved.
'Hamster ball' robot could explore Moon caves
The ESA is backing a 'hamster ball' robot, DAEDALUS, that would explore Moon caves for signs of water ice and even potential settler sites.
NASA awards key contract to bring rock samples back from Mars
NASA has taken a big step in the Mars Sample Return mission, awarding the Mars Ascent Propulsion System (MAPS) contract to longtime NASA contractor Northrup Grumman Systems.
E3 will return in 2021, likely as an all-digital event
The ESA is reportedly forging ahead with plans for a digital-only E3 2021.
Solar Orbiter probe makes its first Venus flyby
The ESA-NASA Solar Orbiter probe has made its first flight past Venus, collecting valuable data in the process.
The ExoMy is a programmable $600 Mars rover you can build yourself
From Sojourner to the much bigger Curiosity, robotic rovers tend to come in all shapes and sizes, but few will go down as adorable as the European Space Agency’s new ExoMy rover.
US, Europe and SpaceX launch a satellite to track rising global sea levels
NASA, ESA, and SpaceX have launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to track rising sea levels around the world and help study climate change.
The Hubble Telescope caught a supernova outshining every star in its galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope got a rare look at one of the most awesome light shows in the universe, catching a supernova that outshone every star in its galaxy.
Scientists find evidence of multiple underground lakes on Mars
Scientists believe they’ve found more evidence confirming the presence of a large reservoir of liquid water under the surface of Mars first discovered back in 2018. In fact, they believe they’ve found three more subsurface saltwater lakes surrounding that main one — a huge discovery, seeing as those lakes are potential habitats for life. The team used data from a radar instrument on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft to investigate the planet’s southern polar region.
NASA and ESA share the closest images ever taken of the Sun
NASA and ESA share the first images taken by their Solar Orbiter. They're the closest pictures ever taken of the sun.
E3's digital replacement is in the hands of games companies
The glitzy annual show will still be going ahead in spirit but there won’t be one central place to tune into to catch everything that’s going on
E3 will return June 15th, 2021
The Entertainment Software Association may have cancelled E3 2020 due to COVID-19, but it's still committed to holding an event next year. The organization has announced that E3 will return between June 15th and June 17th, 2021. It characterized the future expo as a "reimagined" event, although that's the language it used for its since-scrapped 2020 gathering. It won't be surprising if the 2021 event is really a look at what you might have seen this year, just with a different mix of games.
The ExoMars rover mission has been postponed until 2022 for further testing
The ExoMars mission to carry a rover to the red planet will not launch this year as planned, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Roscosmos. The agencies announced that several components of the spacecraft, particularly the parachutes, still need testing. That means they'll miss the planned 2020 launch window and will need to wait for the next opportunity happening sometime between August and October 2022.
ESA-NASA's Solar Orbiter is on its way to observe the Sun's poles
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have successfully launched the Solar Orbiter on the first-ever mission to study the Sun's poles. It launched aboard United Alliance's highly reliable Atlas V rocket at 11:03 PM ET on February 9th, and at 12:24 AM, scientists received confirmation that the solar panels had unfurled. In about two years, the orbiter will make its first close pass to the Sun and begin observations that could transform solar science and potentially make manned moon missions safer. According to ESA Solar Orbiter project manager César García Marirrodriga, "we have established new high-temperature technologies and completed the challenge of building a spacecraft that is ready to face the Sun and study it up close."
ESA opens plant that turns moondust into oxygen
If humans are going to have a long-term presence on the Moon, they're going to need breathable air and rocket fuel -- and the ESA might just have a way to create both using the Moon itself. The agency is running a prototype plant that converts moondust (currently simulated, of course) into oxygen that could be used for air and fuel. The technique unlocks the high amounts of oxygen in regolith using molten salt electrolysis that superheats the dust and migrates the oxygen along the salt until it's collected at an anode. The basic process has already been used for metal and alloy production, but the ESA tweaked it to ensure oxygen was available to measure.
Scientists confirm that plasma ‘sloshes’ around in galaxy clusters
For the first time, scientists have observed signs of plasma "flowing, splashing and sloshing" in a galaxy cluster. This kind of motion has been predicted, but it was only theoretical. Now, with data on how the plasma moves, researchers hope to discover how galaxy clusters, the largest systems in the Universe, form, evolve and behave. Their findings have been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Europe's space agency approves the Hera anti-asteroid mission
European ministers in charge of the ESA space agency have approved Hera, a mission that will test whether deflection could save humanity from a rogue asteroid. During the $320 million mission, ESA and partner NASA will send a pair of spacecraft to a double-asteroid system called Didymos. NASA will first crash its DART probe into the smaller asteroid (Didymoon) at a speed of around 13,320 MPH, with the event recorded by an Italian cubesat called LICIACube. Hera will arrive later to map the impact crater and measure the asteroid's mass.
