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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and cargo Dragon capsule on the pad ahead of a planned Dec. 6, 2020 launch toward the International Space Station.

SpaceX will launch a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station for NASA today. Here's how to watch live.

By Amy Thompson

SpaceX will launch its a Dragon spacecraft packed with NASA cargo to the International Space Station today in its first uncrewed mission with its upgraded spacecraft.

NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are still making discoveries more than 40 years after launching.

From interstellar space, twin Voyager probes spot 'electron burst'

By Elizabeth Howell

The discovery could shed new light on the mechanisms of flaring stars.

The return capsule of Japan's Hayabusa2 asteroid-sampling mission streaks through Earth's atmosphere shortly before landing on Dec. 5, 2020.

Japanese space capsule carrying pristine asteroid samples lands in Australia

By Mike Wall

A small capsule bearing pristine pieces of the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu touched down today (Dec. 5) in the Outback of South Australia.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and cargo Dragon capsule on the pad ahead of a planned Dec. 5, 2020, launch toward the International Space Station.

Tissue chips and organoids: SpaceX is launching lots of science to space for NASA on Sunday

By Amy Thompson

SpaceX's next resupply mission to the International Space Station, scheduled to launch Sunday (Dec. 6), will carry a host of science gear to the astronauts living and working on the orbiting lab.

Hayabusa2 casts a shadow on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu during a landing maneuver.

We may be in a 'golden age' of sample-return space missions

By Doris Elin Urrutia

Modern astronomy is going through a new chapter of sample-retrieval missions, which started with the Apollo program.

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft will return samples of the asteroid Ryugu to Earth on Dec. 5, 2020. Here: An artist's illustration of that sample capsule entering Earth's atmosphere.

Japan is bringing pieces of an asteroid to Earth today. Here's how to watch online.

By Elizabeth Howell

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft is about to deliver a precious sample of asteroid dust to Earth late Friday, Dec. 4 (EST), and you can watch the event live.

A diagram showing the path of 2020 SO, which is likely a Centaur upper stage from a lunar mission launched during the 1960s.

A piece of vintage NASA space junk from a 1966 moon mission just whizzed by Earth

By Elizabeth Howell

A misunderstood piece of space junk whizzed by Earth Tuesday (Dec. 1), but don't worry, it's just part of an old moon mission's rocket.

The ASKAP radio telescope array, located in the Australian outback, just mapped 3 million galaxies in less than a month.

Scientists just mapped 1 million new galaxies, in 300 hours

By Brandon Specktor

Australian scientists tested all 36 receivers on the ASKAP radio telescope for the first time ever, mapping 85% of the sky in 300 hours.

An image of the near side of the moon based on data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

NASA will buy moon dirt from these 4 companies

By Mike Wall

NASA just bought the rights to four batches of future moon samples for the low, low price of $25,001.

A still image from video provided by the NSF shows the Arecibo radio telescope's massive platform falling to the ground.

Terrifying footage shows collapse of Arecibo Observatory's massive radio telescope

By Meghan Bartels

It took 17 seconds for Arecibo's massive radio telescope to crumble. It will take much longer for the dust to settle.

This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our solar system over the next 400,000 years based on measurements and projections from the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft.

A 'tsunami' for astrophysics: New Gaia data reveals the best map of our galaxy yet

By Megan Gannon

With new data from the European Gaia spacecraft, astronomers can now explore 1.8 billion cosmic objects in unparalleled detail.

Cosmic strings, string theory, abstract background.

Black holes may not exist, but fuzzballs might, wild theory suggests

By Paul Sutter

What if black holes aren't black holes at all, but rather the cosmic equivalent of fuzzy, vibrating balls of string?

This image shows the paths of 40,000 stars located within 326 light-years of our solar system over the next 400,000 years based on measurements and projections from the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft.

The Milky Way and beyond: Scientists publish new data on nearly 2 billion stars

By Meghan Bartels

As of today (Dec. 3), scientists have 1.8 billion local stars at their fingertips.

a black hole

Swarms of 'primordial' black holes might fill our universe

By Rafi Letzter

A vertically exaggerated and false-color perspective of a large, water-carved channel on Mars called Dao Vallis. Whether channels like these on Mars were carved by surface water or groundwater is highly debated. The channel is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide, 1.6 miles (2.5 km) deep, and more than 310 miles (500 km) long.

On Mars, internal heat may have powered habitable hotspots long ago

By Mike Wall

The Martian underground may have been habitable billions of years ago even if the planet's surface was a dry, frigid wasteland.

Alexander Krivenyshev, president of WorldTimeZone.com, captured these shots of the sun over New York City from New Jersey on Nov. 28, 2020, using a Canon EOS7D camera. The closeup of the sun, taken with the aid of a solar filter, shows the sunspots AR2786 and AR2785.

Sun, spotted: Our speckled star shines over New York City (photo)

By Mike Wall

A photo captured by amateur astronomer Alexander Krivenyshev shows two big sunspots on Earth's star.

China's Chang'e 5 moon lander snapped this image shortly after touching down on the moon on Dec. 1, 2020.

Amazing panorama shows China's Chang'e 5 landing site on the moon (photos)

By Andrew Jones

China's Chang'e 5 lander has returned its first panorama from its landing site on the moon.

An image shows the catwalk astronomers used to reach the science equipment, including a radar transmitter, suspended over the massive radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory.

After Arecibo, NASA isn't sure what comes next for planetary radar

By Meghan Bartels

Arecibo Observatory's massive radio telescope has collapsed; with it has gone a crucial tool in understanding asteroid risks to Earth — and it would take a serious government initiative to replace.

An artist's illustration of astronauts mining water on Mars.

Mars colonists could get fuel and oxygen from water on the Red Planet

By Charles Q. Choi

Colonists on Mars could one day generate fuel and oxygen from saltwater on the Red Planet, a new study finds.

This aerial view shows the damage at the Arecibo Observatory after one of the main cables holding the receiver broke in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on December 1, 2020.

These photos of the Arecibo Observatory telescope collapse are just heartbreaking

By Elizabeth Howell

Gut-wrenching pictures and video documented the beginning of the end for the Arecibo Observatory, one of the world's most iconic telescopes.