Stefanie Waldek

Stefanie Waldek

Contributing writer

Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy. With a background in travel and design journalism, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, she specializes in the budding space tourism industry and Earth-based astrotourism. In her free time, you can find her watching rocket launches or looking up at the stars, wondering what is out there. Learn more about her work at www.stefaniewaldek.com.

Latest articles by Stefanie Waldek

A view of the top of Io, a slight haze protrudes from the surface in one isolated location.

NASA's Juno probe reveals lava lakes across Jupiter's volcanic moon Io (image)

By Stefanie Waldek published

Infrared images showcase "fire-breathing" lakes all across the Jovian moon.

Jupiter
A rectangular image with black vertical rectangles at the bottle left and top right to indicate missing data. A young star-forming region is filled with wispy orange, red, and blue layers of gas and dust. The upper left corner of the image is filled with mostly orange dust, and within that orange dust, there are several small red plumes of gas that extend from the top left to the bottom right, at the same angle. The center of the image is filled with mostly blue gas. At the center, there is one particularly bright star, that has an hourglass shadow above and below it. To the right of that is what looks a vertical eye-shaped crevice with a bright star at the center. The gas to the right of the crevice is a darker orange. Small points of light are sprinkled across the field, brightest sources in the field have extensive eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of the Webb Telescope.

James Webb Space Telescope spies never-before-seen star behavior in distant nebula (video, photo)

By Stefanie Waldek published

A new James Webb Space Telescope image shows perfectly aligned protostellar outflows in the Serpens Nebula, supporting a long-running theory of stellar formation.

James Webb Space Telescope
a section of swirling world of gases of tans and browns and off whites with a giant storm of blood orange swirling in the top left.

Is Jupiter's Great Red Spot an impostor? Giant storm may not be the original one discovered 350 years ago

By Stefanie Waldek published

Astronomer Giovanni Cassini observed Jupiter's 'Permanent Spot' in 1665, but new research suggests it's a different vortex from today's Great Red Spot.

Jupiter
a giant blazing star hangs in the black of space, burning vibrant yellow and dark orange. A small planet sits to the right, just below the star's equator.

Could nearby stars have habitable exoplanets? NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory hopes to find out

By Stefanie Waldek published

Astronomers are using the Chandra X-ray Observatory to study stars' radiation and establish the feasibility of exoplanet habitability.

Exoplanets
artwork of voyager 1 spacecraft in black space background

Voyager 1 is back online! NASA's most distant spacecraft returns data from all 4 instruments

By Stefanie Waldek published

Following a technical error in November 2023, NASA's deep-space explorer has resumed full science operations.

Missions
The space station above earth shoots a laser to another satellite, which relays it to earth. along the laser are pictures of cats and dogs

Bark! Meow! Cluck! NASA uses lasers to beam pictures of pet dogs, cats and chickens to the ISS

By Stefanie Waldek published

NASA is testing how infrared light can transfer far more information than radio frequency communications.

International Space Station
An image of Mars captured on May 12, 2003, shows its southern ice cap.

Mars meteorites reveal clues about what lies within the Red Planet

By Stefanie Waldek published

Volcanic meteorites from Mars give scientists a glimpse into the planet's structure.

Mars
An image of blue swirlies on Jupiter.

Jupiter's raging gas cyclones may actually mirror Earth's oceans. Here's how

By Stefanie Waldek published

Jupiter and Earth's oceans have more in common than you might think.

Jupiter
a blue white icy cliff face towers over a snowy valley below.

Satellite data reveals Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier is melting faster than we thought

By Stefanie Waldek published

The ICEYE satellite constellation has given researchers a peek beneath the glacier, and it's not looking good.

Climate Change
Northern lights above the ocean.

Solar storm frenzy of May 2024 was strong enough to affect the deep sea

By Stefanie Waldek published

Ocean Networks Canada's (ONC) deep-sea observatories recorded disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field.

The Sun
A view of a fiery sun.

India's space agency has been carefully watching our sun's solar tantrums

By Stefanie Waldek published

The Indian Space Research Organization has released solar storm data from ground stations and spacecraft, including the Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter.

The Sun
flaming hot magma spews from a crack in the earth, jetting upward in a splash, and streaming down the right of the image over hard, black rock surface.

To better predict volcanic eruptions, you have to dig deep — very deep

By Stefanie Waldek published

New research suggests studying the state of magma in deep reservoirs can improve volcanic eruption predictions.

Earth
a swirling spiral galaxy enriches the blackness of space with shades of blue from stars shining in its arms, and hues of pink and orange near the center.

See this galaxy's bright center? It's home to a voracious supermassive black hole

By Stefanie Waldek published

To launch Black Hole Week, NASA released this new Hubble image of spiral galaxy NGC 4951.

Black Holes
satellite photo showing a dark-blue hole in antarctic sea ice

A Switzerland-size hole opened in Antarctica's sea ice in 2016-17. Now we know why

By Stefanie Waldek published

During the winters of 2016 and 2017, a hole the size of Switzerland opened in the middle of Antarctica's sea ice. And scientists just figured out how it came to be.

Earth
in the mid-right of the image, two three-paneled solar arrays span the image height, meeting in the center at a cubic-like spacecraft with two circular attachments. In the background on the right, starry space. On the left, the half-shadowed rusted-red planet Mars.

This spacecraft is headed to NASA's asteroid-crash aftermath — but first, it'll stop by Mars

By Stefanie Waldek published

During a gravity assist with Mars, Hera will study the moon Deimos.

Missions
a cylindrical spacecraft sits upright on the surface of the moon

Private moon lander will carry Nokia's 4G cell network to the lunar surface this year

By Stefanie Waldek published

Nokia is developing a LTE/4G communications system for the moon, and its first piece of the network might launch as soon as late this year.

Tech
A blue and white glowing view of the Crab Nebula. It looks like there's a ring of gassy material around a dot that's giving off a stream of gas itself.

Watch 2 gorgeous supernova remnants evolve over 20 years (timelapse video)

By Stefanie Waldek published

These supernova remnants are moving at extraordinary speeds only visible to us in long-term timelapses.

The Universe
image of a large whitish rover on the surface of mars, surrounded by rocks and red dirt.

Mars' subsurface is 'burping' out methane and scientists aren't sure why

By Stefanie Waldek published

A new theory suggests that NASA's Curiosity rover could be "burping" the surface of the Red Planet, releasing methane trapped beneath a salty crust.

Mars
closeup photo of the moon blocking the sun during a total solar eclipse

When is the next total solar eclipse in the US?

By Stefanie Waldek published

The next total solar eclipse to hit the United States will be in 2033, but it will only be visible in Alaska. The Lower 48 won't get one until 2044.

Eclipses
a small, bright blue central dot erupts with rays of brilliant pink and yellow-green, with shining stars dispersed within as well as around in the black of space.

Peer inside remnants of an 800-year-old supernova and see a 'zombie' star

By Stefanie Waldek published

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory images the firework-like remnants of the great supernova of 1181.

Stars
Three Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets and their team.

NASA will launch rockets into the total solar eclipse on April 8

By Stefanie Waldek published

It's round two for the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets.

Eclipses
a black circle dead center emits dazzling arrays of white light

There's an April Fools' Day prank about the 2024 solar eclipse — don't fall for it

By Stefanie Waldek published

No, the date and path of the total solar eclipse have not been miscalculated.

The Sun
view from on board a small space capsule showing sparks flying as it reenters earth's atmosphere

'Them space drugs cooked real good:' Varda Space just made an HIV medicine in Earth orbit

By Stefanie Waldek published

Varda Space has written up the results of its groundbreaking W-1 mission, which successfully crystalized the metastable Form III of the antiviral drug ritonavir in space and returned it to Earth.

Tech
a blue, purple and reddish-orange supernova remnant shines against the blackness of space

JAXA, NASA reveal 1st images from XRISM X-ray space telescope

By Stefanie Waldek published

Launched in September 2023, the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) — led by JAXA, in collaboration with NASA with additional contributions from ESA — has produced its first test images.

Black Holes
A view of purple, blue and white glowing hazes concentrated in the center of the image.

Aftermath of 2 star explosions captured in breathtaking new NASA image

By Stefanie Waldek published

Supernova remnant 30 Doradus B, or 30 Dor B, is the (former) star of this new image.

Stars
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