Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people

— Carl Sagan

Astronomy

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit on 1st half of spaceflight doubleheader (video, photos)

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 4:15pm
SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Monday (March 31), on the first of the company's two planned liftoffs for the day.
Categories: Astronomy

As Measles Continues to Rise, CDC Muffles Vaccine Messaging

Scientific American.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 4:15pm

By burying an assessment with updates and recommendations about the U.S.’s current measles outbreaks, the CDC has signaled an alarming shift in its public messaging

Categories: Astronomy

NASA launches rockets into auroras, creating breathtaking lights in Alaskan skies (photos)

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 4:00pm
Two NASA rockets launched into auroras over Alaska last week, and the results were gorgeous.
Categories: Astronomy

What it was like to experience the sunrise solar eclipse in New Brunswick

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 3:00pm
The clouds were cruel on the Bay of Fundy coast, but a memorable experience was had.
Categories: Astronomy

Subsurface Habitats on the Moon and Mars Could Be Grown Using Mushrooms and Inflatable Robots

Universe Today - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 2:43pm

Subsurface Habitats on the Moon and Mars Could Be Grown Using Mushrooms and Inflatable Robots

Categories: Astronomy

Artemis II Core Stage Integration – Complete!

NASA Image of the Day - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 2:42pm
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and primary contractor Amentum integrate the SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket with the solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, March 23, 2025. Artemis II is the first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

SpaceX Fram2 1st polar astronaut mission: Live updates

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 2:23pm
Find out the latest about SpaceX's private Fram2 polar astronaut mission for cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang.
Categories: Astronomy

A Dramatic Einstein Ring Seen by Webb

Universe Today - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 2:15pm

One of the first verified predictions of general relativity is the gravitational deflection of starlight. The effect was [first observed in 1919 during a total solar eclipse.](https://briankoberlein.com/post/einstein-and-eddington/) Since stars appear as points of light, the effect is seen as an apparent shift in the position of stars near the eclipse. But the effect happens more generally. If a distant galaxy is obscured by a closer one, some of the distant light is gravitationally lensed around the closer galaxy, giving us a warped and distorted view of the faraway stars. This effect can also magnify the distant galaxy, making its light appear brighter, and we have used this effect to observe some of the most distant stars in the Universe.

Categories: Astronomy

NASA practices recovering its next moon astronauts: Space photo of the day

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:51pm
NASA's Orion crew module test article is framed by the well deck of the U.S. Navy's USS Somerset as teams practice Artemis 2 recovery ops.
Categories: Astronomy

NASA officially adds SpaceX's giant Starship megarocket to its launch roster

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:45pm
SpaceX is building Starship as a full reusable heavy-lift rocket to fly astronauts to the moon and Mars.
Categories: Astronomy

Watch SpaceX Launch Historic Fram2 Crewed Mission over Earth’s Poles Tonight

Scientific American.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:45pm

Fram2, a first-of-its-kind private mission to send four astronauts into polar orbit around Earth, is about to launch

Categories: Astronomy

Modeling Lunar ISRU Extraction Can Help Plan Future Prototypes

Universe Today - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:12pm

In-situ resource utilization will likely play a major role in any future long-term settlement of the Moon. However, designing such a system in advance with our current level of knowledge will prove difficult, mainly because there's so much uncertainty around both the availability of those resources and the efficacy of the processes used to extract them. Luckily, researchers have tools that can try to deal with both of those uncertainties - statistical modeling. A team from Imperial College London, the University of Munich, and the Luxembourg Institue of Science and Technology recently released a pre-print paper on arXiv that uses a well-known statistical modeling method known as Monte Carlo simulation to try to assess what type of ISRU plan would be best for use on the Moon.

Categories: Astronomy

Cave spiders use their webs in a way that hasn't been seen before

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:00pm
Cave-dwelling orb spiders have adapted their webs so they act as tripwires for prey that crawl on the walls of the caves
Categories: Astronomy

Cave spiders use their webs in a way that hasn't been seen before

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 1:00pm
Cave-dwelling orb spiders have adapted their webs so they act as tripwires for prey that crawl on the walls of the caves
Categories: Astronomy

Venus Could Be Much More Volcanically Active Than We Thought

Universe Today - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:53pm

Even though Jupiter's moon Io is considered the most volcanically active world in the Solar System, Venus actually has more volcanoes and volcanic features on its surface. For a long time, scientists thought that most of these features and volcanoes were ancient remnants of the planet's geological past. However, newer research shows that Venus is still volcanically active.

Categories: Astronomy

Big Banks Quietly Prepare for Catastrophic Climate Change

Scientific American.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:15pm

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and an international banking group have quietly concluded that climate change will likely exceed the Paris Agreement's 2 degree goal and are examining how to maintain profits

Categories: Astronomy

A revolutionary new understanding of autism in girls

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00pm
By studying the brains of autistic girls, we now know the condition presents differently in them than in boys, suggesting that huge numbers of women have gone undiagnosed
Categories: Astronomy

A revolutionary new understanding of autism in girls

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00pm
By studying the brains of autistic girls, we now know the condition presents differently in them than in boys, suggesting that huge numbers of women have gone undiagnosed
Categories: Astronomy

Mission Control 'members only': NASA flight directors don new jacket

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00pm
NASA's flight directors have taken a page from the astronauts they support, if not also the Masters, Hells Angels and Saturday Night Live's Five-Timers Club. There is now a flight director's jacket.
Categories: Astronomy

Hubble Telescope captures gorgeous new view of Milky Way's star-packed galactic neighbor (photo)

Space.com - Mon, 03/31/2025 - 12:00pm
The Hubble Space Telescope has sent back a gorgeous new view of one of our nearest galactic neighbors, which is full of bright, colorful stars.
Categories: Astronomy