Deep Space

A collection of 74 posts

Deep Space

NASA's Twin Venus Missions Regain Momentum, DAVINCI Moves Up a Year

NASA's two Venus-bound missions, DAVINCI and VERITAS, are back on track after budget pressures threatened to cancel one and delay the other. DAVINCI will now launch in December 2030, a year earlier than previously planned, while VERITAS is scheduled for November 2032. The revival marks a turnaround

Deep Space

Radiation, Not Weightlessness, Drives Lasting Heart Damage in Deep Space Study

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have found that galactic cosmic radiation can trigger lasting cardiovascular damage, immune suppression, and permanent genetic mutations in rats, with some effects taking the equivalent of decades to appear. The findings, published in PLoS One, help quantify the long-term biological risks astronauts

Launch

JAXA Phobos Sample Mission Set for October 20 Launch on H3 Rocket

The Martian Moons eXploration mission will lift off aboard an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41 JST on October 20, 2026. MMX will be the first mission to collect a sample from Mars's moon Phobos and bring it back to Earth, a planetary-science

Deep Space

UAE Reveals Asteroid Belt Lander Ahead of 2028 Launch to Mysterious Red Asteroid

The United Arab Emirates has unveiled the lander for its second interplanetary mission, an eight-year journey through the asteroid belt that will end with a touchdown on the unusually red asteroid 269 Justitia. The mission team presented a half-scale model of the homegrown probe at an October 1

Deep Space

Hubble and Webb Team Up to Probe Solar System's Faintest Icy Relics

NASA's Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have jointly studied some of the most distant and faintest bodies in our solar system for the first time, directly observing 27 newly discovered Trans-Neptunian Objects. Researchers found fewer small TNOs than expected and discovered that these tiny bodies share

Launch

Fusion Propulsion Ventures Report Early Milestones as Space Demo Targeted for 2027

Several companies are now building practical nuclear fusion propulsion engines, and they say recent tests suggest the long-theoretical technology may finally be within reach. U.K.-based Pulsar Fusion hopes to launch a demonstration mission to space in 2027, while separate efforts continue in the United States, potentially opening

Deep Space

Philadelphia Designer Wins $300,000 in NASA Mars Food System Challenge

NASA announced the winners of the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table on Thursday, awarding a combined $650,000 to five teams. The top $300,000 prize went to Chinyere Ukeje of Philadelphia for the Adaptive Nourishment Infrastructure, or ANI, a concept for a complete space food system designed

Deep Space

NASA Advances PRIMA Far-Infrared Telescope, First Mission in New Probe Explorers Class

NASA announced Wednesday that PRIMA, a far-infrared space telescope designed to study the history and evolution of the universe, is advancing to the next phase of development. The mission is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions called Probe Explorers, part of the agency's

Deep Space

Ramses Asteroid Spacecraft Powers Up for First Time in Milan Cleanroom

The European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Ramses planetary defence spacecraft has been switched on for the first time by its prime contractor, marking a major milestone in the mission's time-critical development schedule. The power-up confirms that the spacecraft's integrated

Deep Space

Fire Amoeba Sets New Heat Record for Complex Life, Reshaping the Search for Life Beyond Earth

NASA-supported scientists have discovered an amoeba that thrives at temperatures long thought impossible for complex cells, setting a new upper limit for all known eukaryotes. The organism, found in the heated waters of California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, reproduces at 145 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius), surpassing

Deep Space

AstroForge Bets on Onboard AI to Command Its Next Deep Space Vehicle

AstroForge is preparing to put an artificial intelligence system in direct control of a spacecraft, developing an autonomous transformer-based control stack called Solo that would run the vehicle without ground operators. The asteroid mining startup plans to fly its first autonomous spacecraft in 2027, a move that would break

Deep Space

Roman Space Telescope Powers Up 300-Megapixel Camera in Space

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully activated its Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel infrared camera built to survey vast areas of the universe while capturing fine detail. The telescope's Coronagraph Instrument has also completed an early checkout of its digital, electronic, and mechanical

Launch

China Advances Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return Into Prototype Phase

China has moved its Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return mission into prototype development, targeting a 2028 launch and the return of Martian samples to Earth around 2031. The effort could become the world's first Mars sample return mission, running alongside an expanding lunar program, a student-led asteroid

Launch

NASA Taps SpaceX Falcon 9 Rideshare for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Mission

NASA has selected SpaceX to launch its StarBurst mission, a small satellite built to study neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts. The spacecraft will fly as a rideshare payload aboard a Falcon 9 no earlier than 2028, adding another astrophysics investigation to the agency'

Deep Space

Chandra Data Reveals a New Class of Cosmic Objects Hiding in Six Galaxies

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered a previously unseen class of objects that emit unusually low-energy X-rays alongside intense ultraviolet radiation. The finding, published Wednesday in Nature Astronomy, identifies 84 of these objects across six galaxies and could help resolve two long-standing

Deep Space

Hubble Reveals a 10-Sided Wave Taking Shape Over Saturn's South Pole

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave circling Saturn's south pole, the first time scientists have observed a large, regularly shaped jet pattern in the planet's southern hemisphere. The structure, described as a decagon, appears to have formed

Markets

NASA Taps Blue Origin to Build Mars Telecommunications Network in $700 Million Deal

NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract Tuesday to develop the agency's Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-generation system designed to provide reliable, high-bandwidth communications and navigation services for current and future Mars missions. The firm-fixed-price contract carries a maximum potential value of approximately $700 million

Deep Space

Nonprofit Targets $15 Million Mission to Alpha Centauri by 2029

A new nonprofit called Fermi Explorer announced plans on September 1, 2026, to launch humanity's first mission to Alpha Centauri by the end of 2029, on a budget of less than $15 million. The mission, founded by the co-founders of Starcloud, aims to succeed where Breakthrough Starshot

Deep Space

Gravity Data Reveals Mars Is Hundreds of Degrees Hotter in the South

Researchers have found a major temperature imbalance deep inside Mars, with the planet's southern interior appearing significantly hotter than its northern half and possibly partially molten. The discovery, drawn from decades of gravity measurements, offers a new window into the Red Planet's geologic history, including periods

Launch

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Lifts Off on Falcon Heavy for Survey of Two Billion Galaxies

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday, August 30, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The $4.3 billion observatory is bound for a point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, where it will begin a five to ten year

Deep Space

NASA Glenn Advances SR-1 Freedom, Billed as First Nuclear Fission-Powered Interplanetary Spacecraft

NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is playing a key role in developing Space Reactor-1 Freedom, described as the first nuclear fission-powered interplanetary spacecraft. The vehicle is designed to travel to Mars and deliver a payload of three helicopters, then remain in space for testing of its nuclear

Launch

Roman Space Telescope Set for Sunday Falcon Heavy Launch from Kennedy

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to lift off at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Sunday, August 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The observatory pairs spy satellite optical technology with sophisticated infrared detectors, delivering a field of view

Deep Space

NASA Activates New 34-Meter Antenna at Goldstone, Expanding Deep Space Network

NASA has added a new 34-meter (114-foot) radio frequency antenna to its Deep Space Network at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. The new dish, Deep Space Station 23 (DSS-23), began operations on August 3 and strengthens the communications and navigation system that supports

Deep Space

Tianwen-2 Delivers First Close View of Kamoʻoalewa After 400-Day Chase

China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has returned the first close-up image of the near-Earth asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, photographing the object from about 20 kilometres away on 2 July 2026 after a 400-day heliocentric transfer covering roughly one billion kilometres. The China National Space Administration released the image

Launch

Roman Space Telescope Cleared for Aug. 30 Falcon Heavy Launch from Kennedy

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has completed its Flight Readiness Review and is being prepared for liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than 7:26 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 30, from Launch Complex