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![four people in black flight suits stand in front of a microphone, with the nasa logo in the background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/f5t2vqQShsueATCBHvKcsa-320-80.jpg)
NASA's 1st year-long mock Mars mission wraps up in Houston
By Mike Wall last updated
Four volunteers exited a mock Mars habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center on July 6, bringing the agency's first year-long simulated Red Planet mission to an end.
![a rendered image of a man standing on the rocky grey surface of an asteroid, a space probe hovers in the distance behind him against a starry sky of space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mptrASuFc8xcqKazFb3SBR-320-80.jpg)
Jumping on an asteroid: How VR is being used to visit worlds we can never reach
By Jackson Ryan published
At the 2024 Astronomical Society of Australia's Annual Scientific Meeting, I got to walk on an asteroid in virtual reality. Here's what I found in Ryugu World.
![looping purple lines](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wtwfXHFQMXnuEMNMkfprSE-320-80.gif)
Earth has 7 strange quasi-moons — and you could name one of them
By Monisha Ravisetti published
The International Astronomical Union has partnered with the Radiolab podcast to present a quasi-moon-naming contest.
![a grainy image of the same space rocket shown from many different angles, presented in three rows of seven images, all against black space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4PGYb2GjUKJS6FXEbSHqE3-320-80.jpg)
2 asteroids just zipped by Earth, and NASA caught footage of the action
By Victoria Corless published
NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar has collected invaluable information about two asteroids that flew very close to Earth. Don't worry, neither posed a threat.
![a lumpy rough metallic rock](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cw695aLD6oqWEMADS8yr2V-320-80.jpg)
The early solar system was donut-shaped, meteorite study suggests
By Stefanie Waldek published
Researchers studying iron meteorites suggest that the early solar system took the shape of a donut, not a dartboard as previously thought.
![a rusty brown landscape seen from space shows a sandy swath split in two by a winding, segmented canyon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Rz8bhJ4aXc5ojgeQPpMuv4-320-80.jpg)
Mars orbiter captures Red Planet scar that's longer than the Grand Canyon (image)
By Victoria Corless published
ESA's Mars Express orbiter has captured images of a huge crevice on Mars that looks awfully like a "scar" from above.
![Charred trees are seen along Pallet Creek Road during the Bobcat Fire in Valyermo, California, September 18, 2020.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zJpjXjqVgcUWeiJR9t3v6N-320-80.jpg)
Extreme wildfires are on the rise globally, powered by the climate crisis
By Calum Cunningham, David Bowman, Grant Williamson published
Wildfires are the new "polar bear."
![a space station hangs in black space, its many modules centrally connected. Solar panels stem from a few.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5sAC4osd2DW4UYFSpeWLAL-320-80.jpg)
NASA's vision of a moon-orbiting space station comes to life in new 3D video
By Rahul Rao published
NASA plans to build a moon-orbiting space station in the future, and just released a comprehensive video of its vision.
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