One of the best things about the sheer number of exoplanets that astronomers are currently finding is how some are just very different. Those differences can sometimes undermine standing theories, and prompt scientists to start considering new theories that account for the new information.  That is undoubtedly what will happen to accommodate a new massive …

Continue reading "Giant Planet is Found at an Extreme Distance From its Star"

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Blue Origin is once again feeling momentum after the latest successful flight of their New Shepard launch vehicle.

The post Blue Origin’s Latest New Shepard Flight is a Success, With Passengers Climbing on Board (and Getting off Again Before it Flew) appeared first on Universe Today.

As the New Horizons spacecraft hurtles out towards interstellar space, it has now reached an historical milestone. On April 17, 2021, New Horizons passed 50 astronomical units, or 50 times Earth?s distance from the Sun. It is just the 5th spacecraft to reach that distance, joining the Voyagers 1 and 2 and the Pioneers 10 …

Continue reading "New Horizons is Now 50 Astronomical Units Away From the Sun"

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Time to catch comet C/2020 R4 ATLAS? while you can.

The post Catch Comet R4 ATLAS as it Nears Earth appeared first on Universe Today.

Another 3D graphic artist has a proposal for Musk: to "catch" the Starship using a special launch tower, kind of like they want to do with the Super Heavy.

The post What if Starship Didn’t Do a Landing Burn at All? appeared first on Universe Today.

A study of rotating black holes show that some spin so quickly because dark matter particles haven't slowed them down.

The post One Idea to Explain Dark Matter – Ultralight Bosons – Fails the Test appeared first on Universe Today.

Since they were formed in the early solar system, many meteorites offer an unadulterated view into what that solar system was made out of, or what happened to it as we reported before.  Recently a team of researchers led by Maggie Thompson at University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) took a look at the chemical …

Continue reading "Meteorites Hold Early Atmospheres From Across the Solar System"

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NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the Human Landing System (HLS) that will bring the "first woman and next man" to the Moon in 2024!

The post NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Astronauts on the Moon! appeared first on Universe Today.

Mars has been in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. With the historic landing of the Perseverance Rover earlier in the year, and the successful flight of Ingenuity, the first-ever aircraft to fly in another atmosphere, earlier this morning (April 19, 2021), there?s no shortage of exciting stories of technical brilliance from …

Continue reading "This Is a Collapsed Pit on Mars, Not a Pimple"

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NASA pulled off a Wright Brothers moment on Mars early today by successfully flying the tiny Ingenuity helicopter for approximately 40 seconds. ?We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet,? said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity?s lead engineer, speaking to her colleagues gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California …

Continue reading "“You Wouldn’t Believe What I Just Saw:” Ingenuity Helicopter Flies Successfully on Mars"

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