Space.com: NASA, Space Exploration and Astronomy News

Tech

Japan's space agency has teamed up with Toyota to develop a huge moon rover for future astronauts. It could be ready by 2029, JAXA says.

Japan Taps Toyota to Build Futuristic Moon Rover

By Tariq Malik

Japan wants to build the ultimate moon rover for astronauts and has tapped Toyota to help develop a futuristic, off-road, lunar vehicle that could potentially launch in 2029.

Engineers working with NASA's Spirit rover on Mars had to improvise new ways to move when a wheel broke; new rover designs hope to avoid that in the future.

Rovers Learn New Gait to Avoid Getting Stuck in the Sand on Other Worlds

By Meghan Bartels

Rovers, whatever world they're designed to explore, tend to work like little cars, but that can leave them vulnerable to getting stuck, as Spirit infamously did on Mars.

Spaceflight

'Apollo 11' Featurette Explores Technological Leaps of Filmmakers

By Elizabeth Howell

A new documentary, "Apollo 11," includes a trove of unseen film footage of the July 1969 launch that brought two humans to the surface of the moon.

Chuxiao Qu in Liu Lang Di Qiu, or 'The Wandering Earth' (2019).

Chinese Film 'The Wandering Earth' Imagines a Journey to a New Sun

By Doris Elin Salazar

China's 2019 blockbuster movie "The Wandering Earth" takes audiences on a epic journey outward through the solar system.

Science & Astronomy

Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit extremely closely to their host suns. Scientists have identified a few dozen planets like this in distant solar systems, thanks in part to their hazy atmospheres. Now, a NASA team has recreated a hot Jupiter atmosphere here on Earth, using a very, very hot oven.

The Great Exoplanet Bake-Off: Why NASA Made an Oven-Fresh Alien Atmosphere in Its Lab

By Brandon Specktor

NASA scientists cooked up an alien atmosphere in their lab to solve the puzzle of "hot Jupiters."

This view of the asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on Jan. 19, 2019, was created by combining two images taken by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft: a short-exposure photo, which shows the asteroid clearly, and a long-exposure version, which shows the particles clearly. Other image-processing techniques were also applied, such as cropping and adjusting the brightness and contrast of each layer.

Surprise! 'Active Asteroid' Bennu Is a Rare Particle-Ejecting Space Rock

By Mike Wall

The near-Earth asteroid Bennu is one of just a dozen or so known 'active asteroids,' newly announced observations from NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveal.

Search For Life

An artist's depiction of the Europa Clipper mission, which would receive $600 million in the president's budget request for the fiscal year beginning in October 2019.

Europa Clipper Mission to Jupiter Gets $600M in NASA's 2020 Budget Request

By Meghan Bartels

NASA's Europa Clipper mission could receive $600 million for the fiscal year that begins in October, according to budget request documents released today (March 11) by the Trump administration.

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope launches atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 6, 2009.

Happy Anniversary, Kepler! Pioneering Planet Hunter Launched 10 Years Ago Today

By Mike Wall

NASA's recently deceased Kepler space telescope launched on March 6, 2009, ushering in a new era of planetary science.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter captured this topographical and infrared image of the massive Huygens Crater in 2011.

Water on Mars May Have Been Triggered by Meteorite Impacts

By Charles Q. Choi

Cosmic impacts on young Mars may have triggered deluges, potentially explaining why the Red Planet was once covered in water, a new study finds.

Skywatching

An airplane crosses the supermoon full moon of Dec. 3, 2017 as seen near Ronald Reagon National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Watch Live Now! Slooh Webcast of the Super Worm Moon Equinox

By SPACE.com Staff

The online observatory Slooh.com will host a live webcast of the Super Worm Moon and the vernal equinox today (March 20). Watch it live here, courtesy of Slooh, beginning at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT).