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Artist's illustration of a large alien spaceship above Earth.

Alien mothership lurking in our solar system could be watching us with tiny probes, Pentagon official suggests

By Hannah Osborne published

A draft paper by a Harvard scientist and the head of the Pentagon's UFO office has raised the idea an alien mothership could be in the solar system, sending out tiny probes dubbed "dandelion seeds" to explore the planets within.

The Virtual Telescope Project will livestream views of the asteroid 2023 DZ2 on March 25, 2023, beginning at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT).

Watch skyscraper-sized asteroid zoom near Earth tonight (March 25) in free livestream

By Mike Wall published

The near-Earth asteroid 2023 DZ2 will pass within 107,500 miles (173,000 kilometers) of Earth today (March 25), and you can watch the flyby live online.

a red moon backdropped by black night

See the moon turn blood red in this stunning lunar eclipse video

By Miguel Claro published

A new time lapse showcases the incredible view during a lunar eclipse, which will help us wait out the two-year drought until a new blood moon appears in our skies.

Uranus is growing a smoggy cap around its north pole, the Hubble Space Telescope reveals.

Uranus grows a smoggy cap while Jupiter's Red Spot keeps shrinking, Hubble telescope reveals (photos)

By Tereza Pultarova published

New images of Uranus and Jupiter taken by the Hubble Space Telescopes reveal slow weather changes on these giant, distant planets.

The Northern Lights appear in the sky on March 23, 2023 in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.

Skywatchers enjoy surprise auroras as strongest solar storm in years hits Earth (photos)

By Tereza Pultarova published

A surprise solar storm supercharged auroras across the U.S. and Europe last night (March 23), with sightings of the colorful displays reported from as far south as New Mexico and Arizona.

The Starliner team works to finalize the mate of the crew module and new service module for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test that will take NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams to and from the International Space Station.

Boeing Starliner's 1st astronaut mission delayed to May at the earliest

By Mike Wall published

Boeing and NASA had been targeting April for Starliner's Crew Flight Test, but the astronaut mission will now launch after the private Ax-2 flight, which is targeted for early May.

Blue Origin's NS-23 New Shepard capsule pulls away from its doomed booster during a failed launch on Sept.12, 2022 near Van Horn, Texas.

Blue Origin says it finally knows what caused its New Shepard rocket launch to fail last year

By Mike Wall published

The September 2022 in-flight failure of Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle was caused by a problem with the vehicle's engine nozzle, the company announced on Friday (March 24).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 56 of the company's Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 24, 2023.

SpaceX launches 56 Starlink satellites, lands rocket on ship at sea

By Mike Wall last updated

SpaceX launched its 20th mission of the year on Friday (March 24), sending 56 of its Starlink internet satellites skyward and landing the returning rocket on a ship at sea.

Still image from a NASA animation showing the sky lit up by gamma-ray flashes, which are represented by pink spots that shrink as the emission dims. The animation was created using a year of data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

Here's what the sky would look like if humans could see gamma rays (video)

By Robert Lea published

A new NASA animation created using data from the Large Area Telescope aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope shows the sky lit up by gamma-ray flashes.

An illustration of the Mars Odyssey Orbiter as it circles Mars

NASA investigates veteran Mars orbiter to solve a missing fuel mystery

By Robert Lea published

NASA engineers have solved the mystery of the Mars Odyssey orbiter's missing fuel, after estimates suggested the veteran spacecraft could be running on empty.

Green band of aurora light in the sky above a rural building.

Strongest solar storm in nearly 6 years slams into Earth catching forecasters by surprise

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

A stealthy solar storm surprised forecasters, causing spaceflight delays and incredible aurora displays as far south as New Mexico.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured an edge-on view of JW100 — a jellyfish galaxy (located in the lower right of the image_— along with six small elliptical galaxies and a much larger elliptical galaxy at the top of the frame.

Hubble telescope captures galactic jellyfish with bright tendrils of star formation (photo)

By Samantha Mathewson published

A distant spiral galaxy boasts bright streams of star-forming gas dripping from its central disk like tentacles of a jellyfish in a new Hubble Space Telescope photo.

SpaceX's SN8 Starship prototype launches on a high-altitude test flight on Dec. 9, 2020. The vehicle performed well during the flight but did not stick its landing, exploding shortly after hitting the ground.

When it comes to space, failure isn't just an option — it's a requirement

By Rick Tumlinson published

In spaceflight, we advance by learning from our mistakes — if, that is, we accept the learning we gain from those failures and apply it to our future endeavors.

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket lifting off on March, 24, from New Zealand.

Rocket Lab launches 2 satellites, returns booster to Earth after delay from surprise solar storm

By Mike Wall last updated

The strongest solar storm in six years delayed Rocket Lab's early morning launch on Friday, March 24, by 90 minutes, and space weather forecasters didn't see coming.

graphic illustration showing the thin crescent moon to the lower left of Uranus. Both are encompassed in a large circle which represents the field of view with a backyard telescope.

Want to see Uranus? The crescent moon points the way tonight (March 24)

By Robert Lea published

The duo should be visible with binoculars or a small telescope.

A Rocket Lab Electron booster launches 34 satellites to orbit on the "There And Back Again" mission on May 2, 2022.

Watch Rocket Lab launch 2 satellites, recover booster on March 24 after delay

By Mike Wall published

Rocket Lab plans to launch two satellites early Friday morning (March 24), on a mission that includes a booster recovery at sea. Watch it live here.

Image for 'Star Trek: Picard' season 3 episode 6 beams in Trek cameos aplenty

'Star Trek: Picard' season 3 episode 6 beams in Trek cameos aplenty

By Scott Snowden published

'Star Trek: Picard' season 3 episode 6, The Bounty, the cameos are stacking up with Geordi and maybe Data, and it's a bit excessive.

astronaut floating beside lockers in space with his arm stretched out

UAE's 1st long-duration astronaut marks the start of Ramadan in space

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Sultan Al Neyadi, who flew to space March 2 as part of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission, may not fast on the International Space Station under an exception for travelers.

still image of the sun peeking through clouds on mars with a lower, drifting cloud at right

Perseverance rover snaps gorgeous shots of drifting predawn clouds on Mars (photos)

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Perseverance rover took a brief break from its Mars life hunt on March 18 to capture stunning shots of drifting predawn clouds on the Red Planet.

still of a metal space structure bursting apart. clouds of dust fill the background. trees silhouette a cloudy sky

Boom! Sierra Space blows up final inflatable space station module in initial test series (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

Sierra Space just destroyed (on purpose) another space module, wrapping up a four-part test series designed to help ready its inflatable habitats for future space missions.