Trending

Space News

Browse categories

The Soviet Union's Zond 5 capsule is seen during recovery operations in the Indian Ocean after returning to Earth following a trip around the moon with two steppe tortoises and an extensive biological payload. The tortoises survived.

On This Day in Space! Sept. 15, 1968: Russian Tortoises Take 1st Circumlunar Spaceflight

By Hanneke Weitering

On Sept. 15, 1968, the Soviet Union launched the Zond 5 spacecraft (and two tortoises!) on a mission around the moon. See how it happened in our "On This Day in Space" video series!

Spectators watch SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demonstration Mission 1 launch from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 2, 2019.

NASA Wins Emmy for Coverage of SpaceX's 1st Crew Dragon Test Flight

By Tariq Malik

NASA has won an Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program over its coverage of SpaceX's historic Crew Dragon test flight this year.

Augmented reality provides an immersive way to learn about space. In this photo, NASA's Mars Curiosity rover pays a virtual visit to someone's living room via the agency's free Spacecraft AR mobile app.

How Augmented Reality Will Bring Space Books to Life

By Michael D. Shaw

When we read about the glories of space, we often miss the most magnificent part about exploring it: the audiovisual experience.

The European Space Agency is requesting ideas for ways to explore lunar caves with robotic missions.

Europe Wants Ideas for Cave-Spelunking Moon Robots. Here's How You Can Help!

By Elizabeth Howell

As NASA makes a big push to land humans on the moon's surface by 2024, the European Space Agency wants to learn more about the caves that lie beneath.

An artistic depiction of an asteroid flying past Earth.

Watch an Asteroid Fly by Earth Today in a Live Webcast from Slooh!

By Elizabeth Howell

This weekend you can see live telescope views of an asteroid hurtling past Earth, thanks to astronomy broadcaster Slooh.

The discovery of water vapor in the alien planet K2-18 b is at the heart of two new studies on the exoplanet. Here's what happened behind the science scenes.

2 Studies, 1 Planet! Inside a Race to Discover a Water Vapor World

By Chelsea Gohd

Water vapor, and likely clouds that rain liquid water, have been discovered on an exoplanet that lies in the habitable zone of its star. But there's an issue.

Spectators watch SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demonstration Mission 1 launch from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 2, 2019.

NASA Nabs Emmy Nominations for SpaceX Launch, Mars Landing

By Tariq Malik

NASA coverage of SpaceX's Crew Dragon test flight and the InSight landing on Mars have nabbed two Emmy nominations for 2019.

A close-up of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, captured by astrophotographer Miguel Claro from the Cumeada Observatory, the headquarters of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal.

Rho Ophiuchi's Colorful Cosmic Clouds Glisten in Starry Deep-Space Photo

By Miguel Claro

One of the most colorful wonders of the summer sky in the Northern Hemisphere, especially for deep-sky photographers, is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

When NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flew over Schroeter Crater on the Red Planet, it captured views of some interesting smaller craters within the crater's floor. The two impact craters shown here are located inside Schroeter Crater, which is about 190 miles (300 kilometers) wide, and they contain some intricate dune structures on their own crater floors. These Martian dunes were shaped by wind, much in the same way that dunes form on Earth.

Space Photos: The Most Amazing Images This Week!

By Doris Elin Urrutia

Here are our picks for the most amazing space photos of the week.

The Harvest Moon of 2017 rises over NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in this photo by NASA photographer Debbie McCallum.

Harvest Moon 2019: When and How to See September's 'Micro' Moon

By Joe Rao

The full moon of September 2019 also carries the title of the Harvest Moon for those living in the Northern Hemisphere.

The full micromoon adds a little extra creepiness to Friday the 13th.

On Friday the 13th, Don't Be Freaked Out by the 'Micromoon'

By Stephanie Pappas

The full moon of September 2019 is poised to provide some eerie atmosphere.

Space pirates on the moon…every Apollo astronaut’s worst nightmare. The moon is not a peaceful place in "Ad Astra" starring Brad Pitt.

'Ad Astra' Sneak Peek: Moon Rover Chase Is a Fight Against Space Pirates

By Scott Snowden

A new "sneak peek" video of the space thriller "Ad Astra" reveals pirates on the moon are behind the lunar buggy chase.

An artist's depiction of the Chandrayaan-2 lander, Vikram, preparing to alight on the lunar surface. The procedure occurred on Sept. 6, 2019, but appears to have gone wrong, with the Indian space agency losing contact with the lander late in the maneuver.

US Moon Landing Hopefuls Watch Silent India Lander — and Learn

By Meghan Bartels

In the wake of the apparent crash of India's Chandrayaan-2 lunar lander, NASA and U.S. companies are looking for insights to inform their own moon shots.

The first color image of the comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), which astronomers believe to be the first known interstellar comet ever identified, was captured by the Gemini North telescope at Hawaii's Mauna Kea. Gemini North acquired four 60-second exposures in two color bands (red and green). The blue and red lines are background stars moving in the background.

1st Color Photo of Interstellar Comet Reveals Its Fuzzy Tail

By Elizabeth Howell

Astronomers took the first multicolor images of a potentially interstellar comet, and it looks spectacular.

The HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of an avalanche near the Red Planet's north pole on May 29, 2019.

Avalanche on Mars Kicks Up Dirt Near Red Planet's North Pole in Amazing Photo

By Mike Wall

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a plume of red dirt billowing into the sky near the planet's north pole in May.

A visualization of some of the near-Earth asteroids tracked by NASA.

2 Asteroids Will Harmlessly Fly By Earth This Weekend, But NASA Will Wave Hello Anyway!

By Meghan Bartels

It's always nice to see old friends, and NASA's asteroid-monitoring team has a busy schedule this weekend (Sept. 13 and 14) doing just that.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors, gets a new close-up in this image from the European Southern Observatory's VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. VISTA, which stands for the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, has been studying this dwarf galaxy and its smaller galactic sibling, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), for the past decade to image the two galaxies in unprecedented detail. The LMC is located about 163,000 light-years away from Earth, while the SMC is slightly farther away at a distance of 200,000 light-years. Both are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.

Pictures from Space! Our Image of the Day

By SPACE.com Staff

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors, gets a new close-up in this image from the European Southern Observatory's VISTA telescope.

Bigelow Aerospace has constructed a ground-test unit of its massive Mars Transporter Testing Unit BA-330 space habitat for NASA tests on Earth.

NASA Puts Bigelow Aerospace's Giant Inflatable Space Habitat Prototype to the Test (Photos)

By Mike Wall

NASA is currently conducting a two-week ground test on Bigelow Aerospace's B330 habitat here at the company's headquarters, assessing the module's suitability as a deep-space astronaut abode.

Aaaaaaand it's gone.

This Ridiculously Speedy Star Might Be Running Away from a Rare, Unproven Type of Black Hole

By Brandon Specktor

I'd be running, too.

Astronomers detect powerful X-ray bursts emanating from the center of a galaxy called GSN 069 approximately every 9 hours, revealing the unprecedented diet of a supermassive black hole.

This Hungry, Hungry Supermassive Black Hole Has a Monster Appetite

By Samantha Mathewson

A supermassive black hole located millions of light-years away maintains a very hearty diet.