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August's 96% partial lunar eclipse has been and gone, putting on a mesmerizing show for stargazers across the night side of Earth as out planet's shadow slipped silently across the face of the moon, forcing it to adopt a striking crimson hue at the point of maximum eclipse.

Check out our partial lunar eclipse photo roundup for striking views of the event captured from around the world.

A spectacular partial lunar eclipse will darken 96% of the full "Sturgeon Moon" tonight (Aug. 27-28). Here's how you can watch the "almost blood moon eclipse" live online from the comfort of your home.

Each phase of the partial lunar eclipse will occur simultaneously for everyone on the night side of Earth. But if clouds ruin your view — or the moon is below the horizon at the time of the eclipse — there's no need to fret!

Read on to discover a selection of YouTube live streams that'll let you watch each phase of the August partial lunar eclipse online for free. You can also follow along with all the action with our lunar eclipse live blog.

Time and Date

Time and Date will host a livestream of the eclipse on its YouTube channel starting at 10 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27 (0200 GMT on Aug. 28). The stream will feature real-time views of the Sturgeon Moon as Earth's shadow darkens its surface in the skies above Portugal and Spain, weather permitting.

Experienced hosts astrophysicist Graham Jones and Journalist Anne Buckle will provide expert commentary and scientific insights on the nature of the eclipse throughout the event.

The Griffith Observatory

Los Angeles' famous Griffith Observatory will also host a livestream, which will begin at 10:25 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27 (0225 GMT on Aug. 28), providing live views — and public onsite viewing — as the moon turns a deep crimson at the peak of the lunar eclipse.

The Virtual Telescope Project

The Virtual Telescope Project YouTube stream of the lunar eclipse starts at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27 (1:30 GMT on Aug. 28), featuring live views of the Sturgeon Moon captured by telescopes in Manciano, Italy and Chile. The stream will be accompanied by commentary and insights from astrophysicist and astronomer Gianluca Masi.

Be sure to read our live blog for all the latest eclipse news, along with our articles discussing what to expect from each stage, what time they will occur and where the almost Blood Moon will be visible from.

You can also read up on how to capture the moon using our lunar eclipse photography guide and peruse our picks of the best cameras and lenses available for astrophotography in 2026.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

"Houston, we have a working comm link again."

Thanks to the efforts of two astronauts, such a call is possible again using one of two Space-to-Ground antennas outside the International Space Station (ISS). The pair finished the replacement of a faulty dish assembly during a spacewalk on Tuesday (Aug. 25).

Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency (ESA), who previously removed a faulty dish during a spacewalk on Aug. 18, installed a spare in its place and moved the broken assembly from a temporary to more permanent storage location along the station's backbone truss.

As seen from a camera mounted on ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot's helmet, fellow Expedition 75 crew member Anil Menon of NASA works to mount a replacement Space-to-Ground antenna during a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (Image credit: NASA)

With Menon positioned at the end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm and Adenot traversing by handrails to join him, the two Expedition 75 crewmates first retrieved a spare Space-to-Ground Antenna (SGANT) from an external stowage position. Menon and the spare dish were then maneuvered to the Z-1 truss, where it was mounted and connected to the station's power and data systems.

Menon and Adenot then retrieved the faulty antenna, which they had stowed on the Z-1 truss during the prior spacewalk. Menon (on the arm) moved it to external stowage platform-3 (ESP-3) on the starboard side of the truss.

The replacement work became necessary after the SGANT ceased being able to track NASA's data and relay satellites, rendering it unusable, beginning last November. A second antenna has been in use since, continuing the transmission of voice and critical data, but this repair re-established redundancy to the system.

"On behalf of CAPCOM and I, we're going to count down like a bolt: '3, 2, 1… You just saved the video dish, you just saved the video dish,'" sang astronaut Anne McClain from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, parodying the The Buggles' 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star."

"Oh my god, it is hard to top that," replied Menon, who could be heard laughing along with Adenot. "I want to thank the entire team on executing this complex, time-critical operation successfully."

Tuesday's spacewalk began at 8:27 a.m. EDT (1227 GMT) and was completed exactly 6.5 hours later, at 2:57 p.m. EDT (1857 GMT).

The extravehicular activity (EVA) was the 283rd in support of ISS assembly, maintenance and upgrades. It was Menon's third EVA, increasing his total spacewalking time to 19 hours and 20 minutes. It was the second time that Adenot worked in the vacuum of space, raising her time on EVA to 12 hours and 53 minutes after becoming the first woman and fifth citizen of France to perform a spacewalk.

This was the sixth outing from the International Space Station this year, the third EVA for Expedition 75 and the 98th spacewalk using U.S. extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuits at the station.

The history of Alien video games is long and twisty, but Mike Diver — veteran writer, editor, critic, and journalist — decided a few years ago to make a complete chronicle of Xenomorph-filled games his next big adventure. Ahead of Aliens: The Video Games' August 30 release, we sat down with him and discussed the franchise's past, present, and future in games.

The following interview has been edited for better flow.

"I played a lot of Alien 3 on Mega Drive," Diver recalls when asked about his first few contacts with Alien. "I was slightly too young to be watching those movies... I was also quite taken with a book that a friend of mine's dad owned – it was a book with stills of the film in it... I saw the chestbursters in those stills before I saw it moving on-screen, and in a way that was more striking." He believes that left an impression on him, which likely helped his fascination with the franchise over time.

Diver worked in games media for a long time, which afforded him opportunities such as covering the first Alien: Isolation, going into Creative Assembly and playing before it came out. This led to Diver researching Alien games for "on and off over, let's say, five to ten years".

It was actually the Nintendo DS exclusive Aliens: Infestation — a gorgeous 2D sidescroller with a permadeath mechanic for squad members — that made him realize maybe there was a cool opportunity in trying to chronicle the entire history of Alien video games, including the overlooked ones.

(Image credit: SEGA)

"There's no book about Alien games. There was one about Doom, Nintendo, Star Trek... So why not Alien? I pitched it around, got a commission, wrote a book. It sounds easy when you say it like that." While he admits being a fan of the franchise helped, it wasn't easy, especially as he had to chase developers from disbanded studios for research.

"I was speaking to Dave Dorman, who's a comic book artist, and he was working on the cancelled CDI game Aliens Interactive, so he's quoted from archive material, but he and I were exchanging emails, and he was going to send me some concept work and answer some questions, but that never came off, unfortunately," he reveals. "I spoke to a couple of people for Alien: Isolation, but I didn't speak to [director] Al Hope. Sega were quite positive about it, and then they said 'actually no, you can't', and that may be because of the new Isolation game."

While those were notable misses for Diver, he also landed plenty of big shots too. "It was really cool to get someone like Tony Beckwith [producer on Alien 3 for SNES], who's retired, in there, and John Heap, who programmed the original Alien on ZX Spectrum, or Mark Eyles, who worked on Aliens: The Computer Game... There's 24 new interviews across the book in total, so yeah, happy with it."

(Image credit: Sega)

After reading through the book myself, I must say it's a proper deep dive that, despite being full of illustrations and screenshots, still feels like a rather breezy read at under 200 pages.

It was a balancing act, Diver admits: "You gotta think about where the audience's interests are gonna lie. I could definitely write a lot more on the MSX Aliens, for example, but the reality is that not many people will know that game. It's nice to include, but I'm not that worried it's a smaller chapter next to something like Colonial Marines. It made sense to go deeper into the games that people played, but I wanted even the smallest chapters to have some sort of substance."

(Image credit: EA)

Diver and I also got to gush about weirder, more overlooked experiments like Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction for PS2 and Xbox, an off-beat real-time strategy game that wasn't released on PC. "I managed to get in touch with someone on that game; Jason Hough, a designer at Zono... They had totally worked on multiplayer for ages, and then it was all removed." The reason? Probably deadlines and the fact that "online play wasn't really a thing" in the console space back in 2003. (It wouldn't be long before it took off with titles like SOCOM and the Halo sequels.)

Speaking about the future of Alien video games, we have Fireteam Elite 2 right around the corner and Isolation 2 already being shown off. Diver admits he knows "quite a lot about the Isolation sequel" since "devs talk to devs", but the actual chapter in the book only quotes other people about what they think it'll be like. "It's a little bit annoying to sit on that because I thought there'd be more about that game out by the time this book's out... There are things about that game that I'm excited for people to see."

With all the movement around the IP right now — especially after Alien: Romulus and Earth revived a lot of interest in it — Diver wants to return and do more work on upcoming games. "It's quite a rich, fertile period for Alien games, and I'd really like to do more about them in the future."

(Image credit: LJN / SNES A Day)

When asked about his favorite part of the book to put together, Diver returns to Alien 3: "That came really quickly, the combination of the Mega Drive and SNES ones, and then being able to speak to Jas Austin, who did the Game Boy version. I wasn't expecting to get anyone for the Game Boy one because credits back then weren't great. I had to dig around a bit."

The AvP (Atari Jaguar) chapter also came together fast according to Diver: "James Hampton was pretty cool as well... He was very responsive. It's lovely when an interviewee is sending you stuff and like really happy to talk more if I had any follow-ups."

I had to ask Diver about the 'ideal' way to go through his guide, which will no doubt push curious gamers to check out some forgotten Alien games one way or another. "It doesn't go from the early '80s through the 2000s in a straight linear, chronological way... Let's say Alien or Alien 3 is your favorite movie. You can go straight to that," explains Diver. "I'd love it if anyone who picks this up sees an Alien game and they go 'Maybe I'll go check that out' and find a way to play them."

(Image credit: Capcom)

Before logging off, I also asked for his top three Alien games of all time. Diver went with Capcom's AvP (1994) for arcade machines, Aliens: Infestation, and Alien 3 on the SNES. "The Mega Drive one is quite punishing with its time limits... The SNES one is just a lot more methodical, and you can take your time, and the environment art is great. The game ends like Alien 3, so credit for that as well, 'cause the other ones didn't."

We don't get movie tie-ins like those anymore, but looking at what's next for Xenomorphs in video games, I'd say we mostly can't complain… mostly.

Aliens: The Video Games will be available where books are sold starting on August 30. You can pre-order it through Amazon right now.

Aliens: The Video Games: An Unofficial Guide releases on August 30 (UK) and November 2 (US). It's available for pre-order now on both Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Aliens: The Video Games is the first complete history of interactive adventures based on the stunning sci-fi universe of the hit movie series and global multimedia franchise. View Deal

A new spaceport will bring 10 launch pads to Louisiana's Gulf Coast and support thousands of Starship launches per year.

SpaceX and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced Tuesday (Aug. 25) a $100 billion investment in the state's Vermilion Parish to build "Starbase Louisiana," a sprawling new manufacturing and launch facility for SpaceX's massive Starship rocket. It will be one of the biggest projects in the state's history, and serve as SpaceX's largest center for spaceflight operations.

Once complete, the new site will feature five complexes that feature two Starship towers each, for a total of 10 launch pads across the facility, each with its own propellant farm. That fuel will also be produced onsite as well.

"We're planning to build a self-sustaining spaceport with its own propellant production, power generation, deep water shipping capabilities, vehicle processing facilities, and probably an airport," SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell said during the announcement event. "And thanks to the abundant resources here in Louisiana, we have ready access to the natural gas that fuels these rockets to get to orbit."

SpaceX and Louisiana officials say the site will eventually support thousands of launches per year and will be central to SpaceX’s effort to dramatically increase Starship’s flight rate. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk recently estimated that Starship will be launching more than 30 times per day by 2030, which equates to more than 10,000 flights per year.

Landry framed the project in historic terms, saying."This will be the place [from] which America reaches farther than it has ever reached before. In 1803, Louisiana gave America a continent. Today, Louisiana and SpaceX will give America the stars.”

Starship is SpaceX's next-generation, fully reusable launch vehicle. The giant rocket is still under development, but the company is quickly making strides to mature the rocket to operational status. SpaceX is preparing for Starship's 14th test flight in September, and is on a tight timeline to qualify the rocket for operational missions.

Shotwell said SpaceX's existing infrastructure can't support the number or cadence of Starship launches the company anticipates reaching, and tied Starbase Louisiana to SpaceX's long-term goal of using Starship to make human life interplanetary. In the nearer term, Starship is also tasked with returning astronauts to the surface of the moon.

NASA has contracted SpaceX to design a lunar lander version of Starship for the agency's Artemis program. Artemis III is scheduled for mid-2027, and will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft to Earth orbit to practice rendezvous and docking maneuvers with one of SpaceX's current "Version 3" Starship test vehicles. The first moon landing of the program is planned for Artemis IV in 2028, giving SpaceX a fast-approaching deadline to mature Starship from test article to crew-certified lunar lander.

Render of Starship and Orion docked on Artemis III, scheduled for mid-2027. (Image credit: SpaceX)

For the Artemis IV Starship to carry out its mission of landing astronauts on the surface of the moon and then launching them back to lunar orbit to rendezvous with Orion, and for any Starship mission beyond low Earth orbit, the spacecraft requires refueling launches of additional "tanker" Starships. Artemis IV's Starship may need up to a dozen such refueling flights. But Starbase Louisiana's 10 launch pads will be for more than propellant delivery.

SpaceX plans to launch its next-generation Starlink internet satellite constellation aboard Starship. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 300 Starlink missions aboard its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, which has delivered more than 11,000 of the satellites to orbit. Already preparing for the transition to Starship, SpaceX just launched its last Falcon 9 Starlink mission from Florida, and plans to fly the remaining Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX intends to retire Falcon 9 entirely once Starship is fully operational.

The company is also planning for Starship to launch its huge artificial intelligence network and build out an orbital infrastructure to “move supercomputing to space,” Shotwell said, as artificial intelligence drives greater demand for resources.

Illustration of SpaceX's planned Starbase Louisiana site, which the company says will support thousands of Starship launches per year. (Image credit: SpaceX)

“Put all of this together, and these tasks will require thousands of launches,” Shotwell said. “Starbase Louisiana is being designed from day one to support this dramatic increase in launch cadence.”

Construction on the new Starbase is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch from the site targeted for 2029, SpaceX said. According to an outline of the plan from Louisiana Economic Development, the state agency overseeing the project’s economic development efforts, the project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs over the next decade, and thousands of additional jobs indirectly tied to its development.

Already having gone through the processes in Texas and Florida, SpaceX has also already begun working with Louisiana wildlife and coastal agencies to assess the impacts of such a large industrial complex along the Gulf Coast.

"We are committed to doing our part to ensure that this land doesn't disappear," Shotwell said, viewing the area as a unique opportunity to fly the world's most powerful rocket, while supporting Louisiana's coastal resilience. "SpaceX is partnering with state and federal agencies to expand Louisiana's coastal master plan, including shoreline protection, marsh restoration, and wildlife conservation," she said.

Starbase Louisiana will be SpaceX's biggest undertaking ever, and likely the eventual hub of the company's launch operations. "This will be a project like no other," Shotwell said, "another piece of science fiction transported into reality."

Betelgeuse may be a well-known and often-studied stellar object, but that doesn't mean astronomers aren't capable of capturing this doomed star in a completely new light.

A team of scientists examined the doomed red supergiant star with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), gaining new, highly detailed insights into its turbulent surface.

Betelgeuse, located around 600 light-years away, captured the public's attention a few years ago when the rapid and dramatic dimming of the infamous highly evolved star led some scientists to hypothesize that it was about to explode in a spectacular supernova. That hasn't happened, and scientists are now less convinced that this explosion is immediately imminent, but Betelgeuse remains the subject of intense scientific scrutiny.

"Its eventual fate as a supernova makes it fascinating to know what it actually looks like now," team leader Bill Dent, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), said in a statement.

The newly released ALMA images of Betelgeuse, captured in 2023, show bright hotspots on the star's surface and an almost corrugated texture arising from vast amounts of plasma shifting through the star, which has around 20 times the mass of our sun, but is puffed out to around 800 times the size of our star.

The observations show the red supergiant has an atmosphere with a temperature of around 3,680 degrees Fahrenheit (2,030 degrees Celsius), but possesses at least two regions even hotter than this. One of these areas is 980 degrees Fahrenheit (530 degrees Celsius) hotter than the plasma surrounding it.

ALMA image revealing irregular shape and regions of hotter gas on Betelgeuse. The brightest hotspot, toward the northeast, appears at the same location in ALMA observations separated by more than seven years, meaning some structures can survive longer than predicted (Image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/W. Dent et al.)

The uneven nature seen by ALMA is likely the result of massive convective movements in the star, hot plasma rising through the star and generating shockwaves that erupt in the star's atmosphere, creating bright and hot regions.

The familiarity of Betelgeuse to astronomers doesn't mean the star isn't capable of delivering surprises too. When the team compared images collected in 2023 to observations from 2015, they were surprised to see a hotspot in the northeast of the stellar disk has persisted for at least seven years, that is much longer than predicted by current stellar models.

The orientation of the hotspots of Betelgeuse also added support to the idea that the red supergiant star is orbited by an elusive companion star.

Astronomers will continue to monitor the hotspots of Betelgeuse with ALMA to determine how fixed they are and how their evolution relates to things like mass loss, and the structure of the star's atmosphere.

That investigation will likely continue until Betelgeuse finally ends its life in a supernova explosion.

The team's research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and is available on the paper repository site arXiv.

Even if you aren't the kind of person who often looks up the latest space images, it's hard to navigate life (especially on the internet) without running into a few. Try choosing a new iPhone background and you'll have your pick of sharp, gray moon portraits. Watch an old "Star Trek" episode and you may not realize how many of those translucent nebulas outside the spaceship's windows were based on real, hard data.

When it comes to space, we're spoiled. Mind-bending objects light-years away from us have managed to become integrated into our everyday lives — and though we're still a ways away from understanding the true nature of the universe, we're also the closest we've ever been. It's in large part thanks to how impeccable our fleet of space telescopes is. In seconds, you can find a Hubble Space Telescope Deep Field with luminescent galaxies warped along the curvature of spacetime and James Webb Space Telescope images of strange hazy red objects from just after the dawn of time.

Moreover, what's tremendously exciting is this fleet is constantly growing. Indeed, very soon, a new space telescope will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and it should be able to unlock a new level in the astronomy layer of our lives. It will show us new types of images, reveal new types of data and lead us in directions we may not yet know are possible.

What is Roman?

To put it succinctly, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is an approximately 42-foot-long (12.7-meter-long), cylindrical metal observatory scheduled to lift off from our planet on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Across a five-year-long mission (a 10-year-long one if everything goes well), Roman is meant to use two powerful instruments — the Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) and Coronagraph Instrument — to image huge swaths of the cosmos and tackle some crucial questions. It will help scientists probe the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, directly image exoplanets near and far, witness an extensive amount of stars exploding in colossal supernovas and more.

But whether or not it's a fair thought, it's hard not to want to compare the specifications of this space telescope to some of the others that have brought the cosmos down into our daily lives. This is particularly true for two of the major players right now: the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope.

What can Roman do that these two cannot?

The multiple-image effect seen in this Hubble picture is produced by a process called gravitational lensing, a quirk of warped spacetime in which the gravitational field of a massive object bends and amplifies light from a background object. (Image credit: ESA, NASA, K. Sharon (Tel Aviv University) and E. Ofek (Caltech))Roman vs. Hubble

To start, one of the biggest benefits of Roman over Hubble is its processing power.

By numbers, that means Hubble has managed to gather about 400 terabytes of data over its approximately 35 years of service so far. Roman is expected to be able to create 500 terabytes of data every single year.

"Its surveying capabilities are over 1,000 times faster than Hubble, and can chart 200 times more sky in a single image," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said during a press conference about Roman in April. "What would take Hubble 2,000 years to process, Roman can do in a year — the images it captures will be so large there is not a screen in existence large enough to show them."

Roman's primary mirror is about 7.9 feet (2.4 meters) wide, which is actually the same as Hubble's. Primary mirrors are arguably the most important aspect of a space telescope, because it's how an observatory manages to gather light coming from the universe. Bigger mirrors can collect more light, which allows them to see dimmer or more distant objects. Interestingly, Roman's primary mirror is also about 80% lighter than Hubble's. Roman has a secondary mirror as well; it's just under 2 feet (0.5 meters) wide. Hubble's secondary mirror is very similar at exactly 12.2 inches (0.3 m) in width.

On the left, the Roman Space Telescope. On the right, Hubble. (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)

Yet even though Roman's mirrors are so comparable to Hubble's, because of Roman's processing power as well as the capabilities of its WFI, it will be able to image a far wider stretch of sky than Hubble can.

Though Roman does have some visible light capabilities like Hubble, WFI specializes in infrared light — actually the kind of light the JWST works with, but we'll get to that telescope comparison shortly — so we should compare it to Hubble's infrared instrument. The WFI's field of view is about 100 times greater than the Hubble infrared instrument's field of view.

According to NASA, this view will allow Roman to measure light emanating from a billion galaxies and billions more cosmic phenomena over its years of service.

"Both observatories will perform spectroscopy," NASA explains, "which involves splitting light into individual colors to study patterns that reveal detailed information. But Roman's spectral studies will have lower resolution over a large area, while Hubble's has higher resolution over a small area."

This concept really sums up the difference between the two telescopes, and in fact foreshadows what we'll soon discuss about the JWST.

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is encapsulated in the payload fairing of its SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. (Image credit: SpaceX)Roman vs. the JWST

The main similarity between the Roman Space Telescope and the JWST is those infrared light goggles.

Infrared light, unlike visible light, is invisible to human eyes. You can think of it more like a heat signature. Firefighters, for instance, use infrared trackers on burning buildings from the outside to see where the source of the fire might lie within. And when it comes to astronomy, infrared light is priceless — that's why the JWST's strong infrared capabilities give it an advantage over Hubble.

Infrared light's role in astronomy observations has to do with the way light moves throughout the universe. As light from a distant region of space moves toward us — through a continuously expanding universe, no less — those light wavelengths stretch out from tight, bluer ones into long, redder ones. Eventually, the wavelengths stretch out into the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is the part of the spectrum we cannot see with our own eyes. Plus, any objects in our line of sight that are hidden behind dense clouds of interstellar dust or gas can only be seen via their infrared emissions.

What this means is that very, very distant objects as well as concealed objects in space are pretty much invisible to us, hiding in the infrared part of the spectrum. We therefore need infrared decoders, like the JWST's suite of tools or Hubble's infrared instrument, to reveal them.

The JWST has already made absolute strides in this regard, revealing to us peculiar objects from the early years of the universe, consistently breaking its own record while finding the most distant galaxies we've ever seen and revamping Hubble portraits like the spectacular Pillars of Creation with its infrared filter. It's even reintroduced us to our own solar system with crisp views of Neptune's frail, oft-forgotten rings and Saturn's big, bright ones.

The JWST's view of Neptune and its rings. The world looks so small when seen this way. (Image credit: ESA/NASA)

When it comes to mirrors, the JWST's iconic golden primary mirror made of 18 hexagonal segments is a beautiful 21 feet and 4 inches (6.5 meters) across, which is much larger than Roman's. This means the JWST can collect tons more light than Roman can, which makes a lot of sense because it was built to see as deep into the ancient universe as possible.

But where the JWST lacks is, you guessed it, its field of view. This is on purpose. The whole point of JWST is to pierce into the universe with a highly narrow view in order to get great resolution on whatever it's looking at. Roman definitely won't be getting that same resolution, as its images will be shallower than the JWST's, but its WFI will see a region 50 times wider than what the JWST can see.

A view of the James Webb Space Telescope's giant mirror. (Image credit: NASA)

The Roman Space Telescope's mirror. (Image credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde)

To be clear, there are indeed other survey telescopes that are able to image huge amounts of the sky at once, but Roman's version of doing this is expected to be with higher clarity. For example, the ground-based Rubin Observatory is revolutionary for the vast amounts of data it's able to collect while scanning a new section of the sky every 40 seconds. However, Rubin is on the ground. A space telescope sits above Earth's atmosphere, and therefore has less atmospheric interference to sift through. This makes the observations way better.

Okay, you've probably figured out the moral of the story at this point: Roman's reach is shallower than Hubble's and the JWST's, but extremely wide. So, what's the benefit of this enormity?

Simulated views of what a section of space would look like from the Rubin Observatory and the Roman Space Telescope. Because it has to peer through Earth’s atmosphere, Rubin’s images won’t always be sharp enough to distinguish multiple, close sources as separate objects. (Image credit: J. Chiang (SLAC), C. Hirata (OSU), and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)The promise of Roman

Imaging huge amounts of the universe in one go is of foremost importance because things in the universe happen simultaneously. A supernova on one end might be worth checking out, but a fleeting fast radio burst buzzing on the other end of the cosmos could be just as vital to study. Yet, with a narrow field of view, you'd have to select which target to zoom in on. And if you aren't sure which targets are even options, while perusing an ancient black hole with immense resolution you will most definitely miss an even older one that lurks 50 frames or so away.

With Roman, scientists won't have to be as selective about which parts of the sky they scan. Roman is designed to be able to capture the supernovas, fast radio bursts, black hole emissions and warped galaxy candidates all at once. For example, NASA explains how Roman will be able to spot colliding neutron stars — stellar corpses so dense a tablespoon of one is equal to the weight of Mount Everest — with its infrared view. The JWST would likely never even come across such an event due to its tunnel vision.

Of course, Roman won't be able to image these objects with as much depth as the JWST or Hubble — or several other telescopes for that matter, like maybe SPHEREx or Euclid — but it will be able to notice that these objects exist.

The next step would be to have one of those other telescopes follow up on the targets. You can think of Roman as creating the Google Maps of hotspot locations in the universe that the JWST, Hubble or another telescope may want to examine someday.

Big field of view means big science

Furthermore, capturing information from billions of objects in such a short period of time will enable specific kinds of research, such as the hunt for the truth about dark matter and dark energy. Despite collectively making up about 95% of the universe's contents, dark matter and dark energy aren't visible to us. However, we know dark energy exists because it appears to be applying a force that accelerates the expansion of our universe and we know dark matter exists because it seems to be the glue around galaxies that prevents them from falling apart like horses on a merry-go-round spinning too fast.

What this means is imaging tons of galaxies at once could allow scientists to have a better picture of how those interactions between the dark universe and our regular universe play out. Roman will also be able to create time-lapse "movies" of the universe in three dimensions and offer scientists the chance to see how other observations fit into that picture.

It would also be remiss not to mention what Roman's other instrument can do: the coronagraph. The telescope's coronagraph is actually one-of-a-kind. You can think of it like a special artificial eclipse that brings objects into view that would otherwise be obscured by bright starlight. No other space observatory in service right now has the ability to directly image exoplanets like Roman will be able to using that coronagraph. It would take an entire other article to explain the awesome complexities of this instrument — an article that you can definitely expect soon — but to go through the basics, this tool will block out the glare of distant stars and then measure the polarization of light around them in order to help scientists tease out exoplanets orbiting those stars.

A side by side view of the Hubble Telescope's view of the Pillars creation and the JWST's. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Hubble Heritage Project (STScI, AURA), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI))

According to NASA, Roman's coronagraph will be able to detect planets 100 million times fainter than their stars. That capability is about 100 to 1,000 times better than existing space-based coronagraphs. This will give scientists the opportunity to study planets beyond our solar system that are dimmer, colder, farther and more elusive than what we're currently able to see.

With all this in mind, there is an important concept to remember.

When the JWST first entered service in the year 2022, everyone (including me) started comparing it to Hubble and thinking of it as Hubble's upgrade. It's hard not to, especially when the images rolling out of a shiny new telescope are so utterly gorgeous. But "upgrade" couldn't be farther from reality. The JWST is just different. Impressive, sure, but different. The goal is for all of these telescopes to work together, each one giving us a new sheet of the universe to explore. Stack up all the sheets, and you'll get the full picture.

Roman will simply be offering us one breathtaking new sheet.

Aurora chasers are on alert after NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm watch for Friday (Aug. 28), as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched from the sun yesterday (Aug. 25) head toward Earth.

The CME arrival follows a powerful M6.9 solar flare from restless sunspot region 4513 on Aug. 25. NOAA's SWPC has also issued a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday (Aug. 27), as a stream of fast solar wind from a coronal hole is expected to buffet Earth ahead of the incoming CMEs

The M6.98 solar flare erupted from the active sunspot region 4513 and peaked at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), according to SpaceWeatherLive. 4513 has been particularly active over the previous 24 hours, firing off a barrage of solar flares including five powerful M-class eruptions. Solar flares are ranked by strength into five classes — A, B, C, M and X — with each class 10 times more powerful than the one before it. M-class flares are the second-strongest category, sitting just below the most powerful X-class eruptions.

The eruption also triggered a moderate (R2) radio blackout across the sunlit side of Earth, affecting high-frequency radio communications over parts of Africa, Europe and the Arctic.

High-frequency radio blackouts from the M-class solar flare on Aug. 25. (Image credit: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)CME incoming and possible northern lights?

The M6.9 flare wasn't the only eruption to launch material into space on Aug. 25. Several CMEs left the sun that day and NOAA's SWPC now anticipates their arrival at Earth.

NOAA's SWPC has issued a moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm watch for Aug. 28.

Before then, a coronal hole high-speed stream is forecast to reach Earth, prompting a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm watch for Aug. 27. NOAA forecasts isolated G1 to G2 conditions across Aug. 27-28 due to the combined influence of the high-speed solar wind stream and the incoming CME activity.

During G2 geomagnetic storm conditions, the northern lights can push farther south than usual, potentially becoming visible across parts of the northern U.S. and northern Europe.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Aug. 27-28. (Image credit: NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center)

If the glancing CME arrival coincides with the high-speed solar wind stream, the two influences could work together to ramp up geomagnetic activity and potentially enhance aurora activity.

How much of an impact the CME ultimately has will depend on its exact arrival time and, crucially, the orientation of its magnetic field when it reaches Earth. A strong southward magnetic field would interact more effectively with Earth's magnetic field, increasing the chances of stronger geomagnetic activity.

We'll be keeping a close eye on the latest models and space weather forecasts as Friday approaches and will update this story as more information becomes available.

Editor's note: This story was updated on Aug. 26 at 4:00 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT) to include NOAA's latest forecast and geomagnetic storm watches for Aug. 27 and Aug. 28.

On Aug. 25, 1997, NASA launched the Advanced Composition Explorer, or ACE satellite to study energetic particles traveling through space.

It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Delta II rocket and spent the next three and a half months making its way to its orbital post near the L1 Lagrangian point, a point of gravitational equilibrium between Earth and the sun. There, the spacecraft is monitoring the stream of accelerated particles coming from the sun known as the solar wind.

ACE provides 24/7 continuous coverage of the solar wind, which lets scientists know when to expect geomagnetic storms that can disrupt communication satellites and power grids on Earth.

Why it mattered

A Boeing Delta II rocket launches NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer satellite from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Aug. 25, 1997. (Image credit: NASA)

The ACE satellite is a NASA sentinel survivor.

When it launched in 1997, NASA hoped the ACE satellite mission would last up to five years as it monitored solar wind speeds and conditions, as well as the flow of other critical charged particles through space, such as galactic cosmic rays, as well as interplanetary and interstellar particles.

As of today, ACE has been hard at work for 29 years and shows no signs of stopping. It's one of NASA's oldest still-operating sun-monitoring spacecraft (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, is two years older, as it launched in 1995).

ACE serves as a core part of NASA's early-warning system for incoming space weather. It's nine primary instruments were between 10 and 10,000 times better than any sensors flown in space when the satellite launched in 1997. In 2005, one of those instruments — the Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer — stopped sending data, but it is the only instrument to be lost during ACE's lifetime, NASA has said.

Want more space history? Check out our full On This Day In Space Story archive and watch our On This Day In Space videos on YouTube.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Anil Menon complete a spacewalk on Aug. 18, 2026. (Image credit: Roscosmos/Anna Kikina)

Intensely focused and tethered to a floating laboratory in the vacuum of space, two astronauts spent over 6 hours working on the International Space Station during a historic spacewalk.

What is it?

Two astronauts aboard the ISS set out on a spacewalk recently (Aug. 18). European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Anil Menon set out recently a historic spacewalk.

This was Adenot's first spacewalk and, in journeying out into the darkness of space she became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk (or, formally, an extravehicular activity, or EVA).

In this snapshot from the space station, you can see Adenot on the left and Menon on the right, both hard at work on their mission.

On this spacewalk, which took the pair 6 hours and 23 minutes, the astronauts were tasked with removing a failed antenna from the space station. However, while it was a successful outing, the pair didn't have enough time to replace the old antenna with a new, working one.

Why is it incredible?

Getting to space is hard enough. And then once you're there, venturing out of an orbiting laboratory into the darkness of space to do a physically demanding but technically complex repair job on that laboratory is certainly no picnic.

But these two astronauts pushed through almost six-and-a-half hours of grueling space work to remove the broken antenna before running out of time. And this big step forward in this fix is critical, as these antennae help to connect the space station to Earth, which is of the utmost importance.

The antenna, a "Space-to-Ground" antenna, started malfunctioning months ago and a second antenna has temporarily taken over. But this solution was temporary and a more permanent replacement was needed as this antenna ensures that astronauts on the space station can quickly transmit critical information back down to Mission Control back on Earth.

The final frontier is getting more and more contested, so satellite companies are investing in some self-defense.

At least one of them is, anyway. Florida-based Lonestar Data Holdings announced today (Aug. 25) that it has contracted Polish startup Ares Shield to provide protection for its off-Earth data centers, in a deal worth up to $6 million.

"Our clients entrust us with mission-critical data, which is why we treat the security of our orbital infrastructure as the foundation of our entire service," Lonestar CEO Stephen Eisele said in a statement today. "Ares Shield technology offers a unique solution that allows us to further protect our satellites without the risk of generating space debris. For a company whose product is data security, it is a compelling option."

Lonestar has already tested its data-storage tech on four space missions, including two that went to the moon.

For example, one of the company's devices hit the gray dirt aboard Intuitive Machines' Athena lander in March 2025. Athena toppled over shortly after touchdown, but Lonestar's mini data center achieved its desired milestones regardless, according to the company.

Such work has helped inform the development of Lonestar's first commercial space-based offering — a platform called StarVault, which will store customer data at a healthy remove from natural disasters and other issues that could crop up here on terra firma.

"StarVault combines Lonestar's advanced cryptographic key escrow capabilities with space-based data storage infrastructure, creating a new class of digital resilience — extending secure data beyond Earth," the company said in a statement in April.

The first StarVault payload is currently scheduled to fly aboard Sidus Space's LizzieSat-4, which is manifested on SpaceX's Transporter 18 rideshare mission. That flight is expected to launch from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base in late October.

Other StarVault missions will follow, as Lonestar builds a data-storage network in low Earth orbit and, perhaps, more far-flung locales.

No GPS available in space? A satellite experiment may have a solution for that.

NASA's Starling mission — made up of a swarm of four cubesats in low Earth orbit (LEO) — is testing out navigation by using other satellites as moving landmarks. The hope is that this tech will allow future missions to navigate if GPS is not available.

The three-year-old tech demo will be extended beyond its previous expiration date this year until at least 2028, NASA announced on Monday (Aug. 17). The aim is to get the most out of the onboard experiment, a collaboration with industry partner EraDrive called FALCON (short for "Fast Autonomous Lost-in-space Catalog-based Optical Navigation").

"As NASA prepares for more missions beyond Earth's orbit, technologies like FALCON can support lunar satellite swarms, distributed science missions and human exploration," NASA officials said in Monday's statement.

While NASA's applications are civilian, alternative GPS solutions are also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) out of concern that the limited number of GPS satellites could be vulnerable to adversaries. Earlier this year, for example, Space Force entities SpaceWERX and Space Systems Command jointly launched an initiative aiming for new ideas for "positioning, navigation and timing" (PNT) capabilities in space.

The aim of FALCON, however, is to deal with sheer distance. While satellites in Earth orbit have ample access to purpose-built navigational markers such as GPS, that access rapidly thins out as missions go farther afield. And this isn't just an abstract concern; NASA aims to send astronauts to the surface of the moon again as soon as 2028 on the Artemis IV mission, as part of a larger effort to build a moon base.

Industry and the military are also very interested in the moon and the area around it, known as cislunar space — and how best to navigate in the new environment. The moon's orbit also introduces complications to navigation; in 2025, for example, Canada's Outer Space Institute reported that "mass concentrations," or mascons, pull down on orbiting satellites and may affect their pathway, in some cases even inducing crashes into the lunar surface.

But before testing at the moon, NASA wants to learn more closer to home. It partnered with EraDrive, an autonomous spacecraft navigation company that originated with a group at Stanford University, which provided flight software and algorithms for FALCON. The experiment uses data from Starling's cameras, as well as a catalog on the spacecraft that charts thousands of known satellites and space objects around it.

The mission not only is trying out "GPS-independent navigation" but is also showcasing space situational awareness, or SSA — that is, the ability to understand the environment around the spacecraft (including other satellites). Some other spacecraft, like SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites, use SSA to automatically dodge threats of space debris in LEO.

Starling's team is hoping to bring even more capabilities for navigation and SSA. "The results from FALCON can have far-reaching implications for on-orbit space-traffic monitoring, collision avoidance and alternative navigation," Roger Hunter, program manager for NASA's small spacecraft and distributed systems program, said in the statement.

NASA plans a to build a permanent base on the moon over the next decade or so, via a step-by-step approach. (Image credit: NASA)

FALCON notched two major milestones in its first three years. For PNT, the spacecraft used its cameras to observe other satellites and objects — and to match their information with the onboard database, which includes roughly 20,000 objects from publicly available DoD records. "FALCON then used the observed and verified objects as reference points to determine Starling's orbit," NASA stated.

FALCON's in-orbit observations also helped mission managers better understand the pathways of 200 individual objects, beyond the orbital estimates in the DoD catalog. The estimating work was performed over just three days and autonomously, meaning ground operators did not participate.

"The self-orbit determination capability made possible through FALCON is a first for spacecraft using optical cameras, to navigate by their relative position to other objects in space," NASA stated. "Separately, the catalog-update experiments produced better object position predictions onboard Starling than those provided by ground stations."

Starling's four spacecraft operate at an altitude of about 350 miles (565 km), which is about 6 miles (10 km) higher than originally planned. That's because SpaceX advised mission managers that Starling's mission plan put it at risk of coming close to Starlink satellites already operating in an orbital shell at 340 miles (555 km), according to Space News. By comparison, the International Space Station typically orbits slightly lower than Starling or Starlink, at 250 miles (400 km).

All of which is to say that the Starling mission demonstrates operations in crowded conditions. But in the future, NASA is hoping to port the lessons learned to the moon and Mars for science applications — meaning, to improve measurements from spacecraft — as well as for interplanetary traffic management.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' fourth season is well underway, and if you're determined not to miss an episode, this Surfshark VPN deal is for you. At just $2.39 a month with this deal, Surfshark One will let you view it and other sci-fi shows and movies wherever you are.

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Have you ever been traveling and sat down to watch your favorite show, only to discover it's geo-blocked because you're away from home? That's where Surfshark VPN's Surfshark One service comes in.

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

August's 96% partial lunar eclipse has been and gone, putting on a mesmerizing show for stargazers across the night side of Earth as out planet's shadow slipped silently across the face of the moon, forcing it to adopt a striking crimson hue at the point of maximum eclipse.

Check out our partial lunar eclipse photo roundup for striking views of the event captured from around the world.

A dramatic partial lunar eclipse will occur tonight (Aug. 27-28), with almost the entire moon slipping into Earth's shadow.

At its peak, at 12:12 a.m. EDT (0412 GMT) on Aug. 28, 96.2% of the lunar surface will be covered by Earth's dark umbral shadow, leaving only a slender portion of the moon directly illuminated by the sun. The rest of the lunar surface may take on an eerie reddish-orange hue, creating an impressive 'almost blood moon'. The eclipse will be visible from North and South America, Europe and Africa, though exactly how much you'll see will depend on your location (and clouds!).

You can follow along with all the action with our lunar eclipse live blog, and watch the eclipse online with these lunar eclipse livestreams.

Lunar eclipse timings

1. The eclipse begins when the moon enters Earth's faint outer shadow at 9:23 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27 (0123 GMT on Aug. 28).
2. Things get much more interesting at 10:33 p.m. EDT (0233 GMT), when the partial eclipse begins and Earth's dark umbral shadow starts to creep across the lunar surface.
3. Maximum eclipse occurs at 12:12 a.m. EDT (0412 GMT) on Aug. 28, when 96.2% of the moon will be immersed in Earth's umbra.
4. The partial phase ends at 1:51 a.m. EDT (0551 GMT), with the penumbral eclipse concluding at 3:01 a.m. EDT (0701 GMT).

A map of the lunar eclipse on Aug. 27-28, 2026. Click the arrows in the bottom left corner to expand to full screen. (Image credit: F. Espenak, NASA's GSFC)

North and South America are particularly well-placed for the entire eclipse.

For European skywatchers, the eclipse takes place during the early morning of Aug. 28, with the moon setting while the partial eclipse is still underway. From London, maximum eclipse occurs at 5:12 a.m. BST, just over an hour before moonset.

How to view the lunar eclipse

Unlike a solar eclipse, you don't need any special equipment to view a lunar eclipse. Simply head outside and look up. If you own binoculars or a telescope, take a look through them for an even better view of Earth's shadow sweeping across the lunar surface.

If you're interested in trying to capture an impressive photograph of the lunar eclipse, check out our expert's guide on how to photograph a lunar eclipse, along with a roundup of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography.

Editor's Note: If you capture a photo of the August lunar eclipse and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Two astronauts will do some repair work outside the International Space Station today (Aug. 25), and you can watch the action live.

NASA's Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency will conduct a spacewalk today (Aug. 25) to replace a space-to-ground-antenna. The extravehicular activity (EVA) is expected to start around 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT) and last 6.5 hours.

You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. Coverage will start at 7:00 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (at right) and Anil Menon (facing away from camera) completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk to install solar array mounting hardware outside of the International Space Station on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Image credit: NASA)

This will be the third spacewalk for Menon and the second for Adenot, the first French woman ever to conduct an EVA. Her history-making first excursion occurred on Aug. 18, when she and Menon removed a failed space-to-ground antenna, a relay link that enables high-speed communications between the International Space Station (ISS) and Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The duo ran out of time before they could install a replacement antenna, however. They'll finish the job today, if all goes to plan.

"If time allows, Menon and Adenot also will attempt a get‑ahead task to replace a retroreflector on the forward port of the space station's Harmony module, which will improve navigation data for visiting spacecraft," NASA officials wrote in a spacewalk preview.

Adenot arrived at the ISS in February as part of SpaceX's Crew-12 mission, which also includes NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Menon came aboard on July 14, making the trip on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. Menon performed his first-ever spacewalk on Aug. 6, with Meir.

Menon will be "crewmember 1" on today's spacewalk, and Adenot will be "crewmember 2." The EVA will be the 283rd in the history of the ISS, which has been continuously occupied by rotating astronaut crews since November 2000.

Unpopular opinion time, but someone has to say it: I think Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet was a great thing for our understanding of the solar system and for the former planet itself. Let me try to convince you, too.

First, a little background. The Pluto planet controversy began exactly 20 years ago on Aug. 24, 2006, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified the solar system's (former) ninth planet as a dwarf planet.

The reason for the change was the result of the discovery of worlds similar to Pluto in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies and debris extending out beyond the orbit of Neptune. It suddenly became necessary to determine if these bodies are planets or whether the definition of what a planet is needs to be reshaped. The IAU decided on the latter. Pluto took the hit.

The 2006 definition developed for the IAU by the Uruguayan astronomers Julio Ángel Fernández and Gonzalo Tancredi says a planet is "a celestial body in the solar system that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium [it is round or nearly round], and it has 'cleared the neighborhood' around its orbit."

That meant a new definition had to be introduced for large round bodies orbiting the sun, one that meets these first two criteria, but fails to meet the the third. Thus, dwarf planets were defined by the IAU as: "an object in orbit around the sun that is large enough to pull itself into a nearly round shape but has not been able to clear its orbit of debris."

Pluto fell out of the planet category and into the dwarf planet category because, as it orbits the sun out beyond Neptune, other bodies cross its orbital path. Thus, Pluto hasn't cleared its neighborhood. Not a planet then, sorry.

But don't feel too bad. It is a good thing, honestly.

Pluto helped put dwarf planets on the cosmic map

The redefinition of Pluto has had a strange effect on the general public and even some scientists, who seem to "feel sorry" for the former planet, almost as if it has somehow been demoted. There are several Change.Org petitions and petitions on other sites that demand to restore Pluto's planethood. One of these, established in 2024, has over 1,000 signatures.

Some petitions to make Pluto a planet again fundamentally misunderstand why Pluto isn't a planet anymore. Take this one on slightly tongue-in-cheek petition on iPetitions, which states: "Pluto should not have its planet rights taken away form {sic] it just because it is small, so is Daniel, but that doesn't make him not a human anymore! This is a very urgent matter! This is an EMERGENCY!!"

I don't know who Daniel is, but I do know that Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet really exemplified how diverse the solar system actually is.

Pluto as seen by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute )

When we think of the solar system, we think of the planets orbiting the sun, and the moons orbiting their planets. Maybe we picture the occasional visit by an asteroid or comet. The reclassification of Pluto ensures that the general public can't really ignore the fact that there are many solar system bodies with sizes between planets and asteroids that are no less important than the planets themselves.

Many of these dwarf planets exist far from the sun, and don't visit the inner solar system — meaning they don't get blasted by high levels of solar radiation. Likewise, they generally haven't been affected by geological processes, meaning that the material they are composed of is unspoiled. Thus, dwarf planets could act as time capsules that allow us to study the matter that existed in the solar system when planets like Earth started to form.

We shouldn't ignore dwarf planets when we talk about the solar system, and as the king of the dwarfs, Pluto ensures we can't. Its change in status made the study of Kuiper Belt objects seem equally as important as the study of moons and planets.

There is also a really simple and logistical reason not to make Pluto a planet again. Though the IAU currently recognizes only five dwarf planets  — Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris  — astronomers think there are as many as 100 of them still waiting to be discovered.

If we let Pluto back into the planet party, then all these other dwarf planets should be allowed back in too, right? Keeping Pluto a dwarf planet better defines what a planet is and prevents an awkward situation in the future in which schoolchildren (and the rest of us) would have to remember upwards of 100 planets.

Don't 'feel sorry' for Pluto

If you are going to feel sorry for any dwarf planet, maybe it should be Ceres. The closest dwarf planet to Earth, it was discovered in 1801, 129 years before Pluto, and was therefore the first dwarf planet to be discovered (though it was not defined as such initially).

Pluto has really stolen Ceres' thunder as the solar system's most prominent dwarf planet.

Spare a thought for Eris as well. Also located beyond the orbit of Neptune, this dwarf planet is 1,445 miles (2,326 kilometers) wide, making it just a hair smaller than the largest solar system dwarf planet, Pluto, which is 1,477 miles (2,377 km) across. But Eris is actually more massive than Pluto, making it the most massive dwarf planet in the solar system, and Eris never even got the chance to be called a planet.

Where is the petition for Ceres or Eris, eh? Nowhere, that's where.

Spare a though for Ceres (left) and Eris (right) important dwarf planets that have never been classified as planets. (Image credit: NASA/ESO/L. Calçada)

But seriously, there is something crucial to remember in all this: The redefinition of Pluto as a dwarf planet took away none of the former planet's wonder or beauty.

Is the bright heart-shaped plain of Sputnik Planitia, composed of squishy nitrogen ice, any less spectacular because it belongs to a dwarf planet? Are the towering 11,000-foot-high (3,350 m) ice mountains of Pluto any less majestic because they rise from the surface of a dwarf planet, not a planet?

What about the blue haze that envelops the dwarf planet? Or Pluto's regions of shifting ice that show the former planet to be far more active than we once thought? Are they less scientifically fascinating?

New Horizons' view of Pluto, as seen in a new NASA video released on July 14, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Paul Schenk and John Blackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute)

Were the observations made by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft less monumental for humanity, or less of an impressive scientific achievement, because this was only a nine-year trip to a dwarf world?

Of course, the answer to all of the above questions is definitely no.

Pluto may not be the ninth planet, but it still sits at the forefront of dwarf planets in our minds and helped to define a whole population of solar system bodies.

Let's give Pluto its due.

In August 2001, filmmaker John Carpenter said "Boo!" and unleashed "Ghosts of Mars" on the world. While not one of Carpenter's most revered works, it's still a neat sci-fi horror movie in which Mars has been terraformed – 84% terraformed to be exact – and inhabited by humans. Plus, it has Jason Statham and Ice Cube in it, so it's automatically 99% better than all other movies ever made.

Now, the action takes place at Shining Canyon, a remote mining outpost on Mars that has a gritty wild west/Mad Max-ness vibe; it's cold, harsh, and so so so so soooooo dusty – not exactly a dream home location.

Then there's the whole "scary horde possessed by ancient extraterrestrial evil spirits trying to kill you" thing. But let's remove the spooky elements and put them aside for one second, and really consider the possibility of actually living on Mars. It's been 25 years since the movie was released, so how much closer are we to calling the Red Planet our new home?

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

Chief Scientist at the Planetary Society, Dr. Bruce Betts, isn't optimistic. "I don't think we're in a position to do global terraforming due to the technology and lack of resources. The papers indicate now you have only a tiny fraction of carbon dioxide, and then there's just the political and economic reality of it. Any method I've ever heard of is really outrageously expensive over time, and you would have to have multi-year, multi-generational support for programs at a high level. You'd have the whole world having opinions on whether you could or should do it. Then there's also the planetary protection agreements that many countries have agreed to. But the lack of carbon dioxide is the showstopper, really." Even in the movie, they're still 10 years away from having air like we do on Earth.

Dr. Mark Gallaway, an astronomer, science pundit, and founder of Starlight Planetarium, also mentions the cost and carbon dioxide issues as major obstacles, as well as two other challenges that may make attempts to live on Mars near impossible. "There have been enclosed habitats we've built on Earth. A number of times external teams have had to go in and break groups up, because there have been fistfights [...] so that's going to be a long-term problem." And that’s probably going to be an extra big problem when people are cooped up at a remote mining outpost.

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

"The other big problem is we have no idea how human physiology works at 0.38G. The only way we could do 0.38 of a G is to have some kind of spin habitat and have people live there. So, without actually knowing what that surface gravity is going to do to us, it's a bit tricky. We might find that they're on Mars for a year, and when they come back, they can't function anymore."

Recent studies about the state of Mars haven't been too promising either. Betts views Bruce Jakosky and Christopher Edwards' 2018 research paper, where it explicitly states "terraforming Mars is not possible using present-day technology," as the biggest reality check.

"The Jakosky and Edwards paper about CO₂ makes me very negative," Betts says. "There have been thoughts of using exotic technologies, such as nanorods and aerogel, but even with the aerogel, I believe they're talking about using it to create localized domes, and you'd create the interior of that and try to terraform it. It's certainly more plausible than doing the whole planet, but still seems like [there are a lot of implications]. [...] People are coming up with new, nifty technologies, but I just don't see how they can be implemented, even if they did work."

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

Science fiction tends to depict Mars as a possibility for human occupation, but Gallaway points out another big blow for any terraforming ambitions: "We've made recent discoveries that the soil on Mars is actually quite toxic to life. So the scene in 'The Martian' where Mark Watney grows potatoes? That's just not possible. It means if you're going to colonize Mars, you're going to have to bring all your topsoil, which is a big problem."

In addition to all of this, there are the ethical dilemmas that need to be addressed. Astronomer, teacher, and author Dr. Jeffrey Bennett wrote "Life in the Universe" along with Seth Shostak, Nicholas Schneider, and Meredith MacGregor.

In the book, there's a section that discusses introducing greenhouse gas to the Martian atmosphere in order for humans to walk around without a spacesuit. However, this leads to serious questions about the effects of colonization and whether humans have the right to fundamentally change another planet's atmosphere and potentially wreck it for other possible lifeforms already living there. Remember, "it's their planet… we are the aliens."

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

For Bennett, he questions whether terraforming Mars is even an option if humans can't get their own house in order: "Given that we can't even seem to keep Earth's climate functioning the way we'd like it to – for example, global warming is making the climate worse for humans and other life – I find it difficult to believe that our present level of knowledge would allow us to turn an inhospitable place like Mars into a livable world. Perhaps this may become possible in the future, but certainly not before we first learn how to take care of our home planet's climate."

Clearly, living on Mars isn't possible at the moment, but "Ghosts of Mars" takes place in the future, so we still have time because who knows what scientific advancements await us? Alas, experts tend to agree that it's unlikely to happen by 2176 at this current rate, though developments could happen: "I think that people will continue researching on the small scale of things you could do, but I don't think we're going to be any closer to terraforming Mars in reality by 2176 than we are now," Betts says. So, I guess you could say we "don’t stand a ghost of a chance."

(Image credit: Screen Gems)

Gallaway suggests an interesting alternative to terraforming Mars, or any other planet: "From a personal point of view, I actually think we should be looking at space habitats rather than planet-based habitats. Get to what we call an M-type asteroid: [...] Get the platinum group metals out, sell those, then spin the asteroid up, and you can live on it – inside at 1G. I'm a big fan of the late Iain M. Banks and his science fiction, where virtually everybody is living in inhabitable orbital structures, because it's easier to make the environment than it is to change it."

Hmm… Gallaway may have just pitched the perfect sequel. Yeah, "Ghosts of the Asteroid" sounds decent, doesn't it? Just as long as Statham somehow returns and punches everything in sight.

Watch "Ghosts of Mars" on Prime Video or Apple TV.

Amiable sci-fi author Andy Weir, the New York Times bestselling author of "The Martian," "Artemis," and "Project Hail Mary", is embarking on an entirely new imaginative odyssey later this year.

It's not exactly another sci-fi book, though; It's an audiobook, and Weir is foregoing sole authorship of the project and instead co-shepherding this captivating space opera drama for the folks at Audible.

Arriving on Nov. 5, 2026, "Exoplanet" is an ambitious celestial thriller written by comic book veteran and acclaimed author Benjamin Percy ("Red Moon"), executive produced by Weir, and showcasing a stellar vocal cast that includes Anthony Mackie, the Oscar-winning Ariana DeBose, and John Leguizamo.

"When the starship Wild Blue Yonder is torn apart by a quantum anomaly, each surviving crew member crash-lands in a different era on the same deadly exoplanet — hunted, alone and running out of time," states the official synopsis.

"Chief Engineer Jeff Shaw (Anthony Mackie), aided by his virtual assistant, must battle an unforgiving present, driven by one thing: getting home to his daughter. First Officer Becca Bang (Ariana DeBose) fights to survive a hostile alien past. Science Officer Logan Bowers (John Leguizamo) wakes in a machine-ruled future that shouldn’t exist.

"But the anomaly wasn’t random. A relentless alien intelligence is feeding on human technology, and it's been waiting for them across every timeline. Separated by centuries, the crew must find a way to communicate across time itself before this world consumes them all. Blending heart-stopping action with the mind-bending science that Andy Weir is known for, 'Exoplanet' explores what it means to fight for humanity’s future when your own existence hangs in the balance."

"Exoplanet" brings together a strong creative crew and highlights sound design by Lucasfilm's Skywalker Sound, along with an original soundtrack by composer Rob Cairns ("Love, Death & Robots," "Secret Level").

Additional vocal performers include Cherry Jones ("Succession," "The Handmaid’s Tale"), Sufe Bradshaw ("Veep," "Vice"), Charlie Plummer ("The Long Walk," "Lean on Pete"), Ray Porter (Audible's "Project Hail Mary," "The Bobiverse") and Aida Osman ("Rap Sh!t").

Andy Weir attends "Project Hail Mary" New York premiere at Lincoln Center on March 18, 2026 in New York City (Image credit: Getty Images (Dimitrios Kambouris))

"I'm obsessed with problems, the kind where one person and a lot of math are all that stand between survival and disaster," Weir explained in an Audible statement.

"Benjamin Percy's writing in 'Exoplanet' takes that and adds a twist that genuinely kept me up at night: What if the people trying to save each other were separated not by distance, but by centuries? You can’t see that story. You have to hear it. The crackle across a 500-year gap, the desperation in a voice that doesn't know if anyone’s still listening?"

We'll be listening, Andy! We'll definitely be listening!

Audible’s sci-fi audio drama, "Exoplanet," lands on Nov. 5., 2026.

The rumors are true. SpaceX plans to retire its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket once the company's giant next-generation Starship begins regular operational flights.

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 for the first time in 2010, and the rocket soon chiselled itself a place in spaceflight history. The Falcon 9 has lifted off nearly 700 times to date, and it's the first orbital rocket ever to land and refly its first-stage booster. Russia's Soyuz rocket, which has been in operation since 1957, is the only launch vehicle with more missions under its belt, but the Falcon 9 is on track to pass it next year.

However, "winding down Falcon" — both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, a triple-booster variant that has flown 12 times to date — is inevitable, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in an Aug. 22 post on X. "Once Starship is flying reliably several times per week, it makes sense to shift … production resources to Starship to get launch rate to several times per day," he wrote.

The impact of Falcon 9's absence from the launch market can't yet be known, but industry reports suggest that SpaceX may discontinue all but a few Falcon 9 missions beginning in 2028. The ones that remain will likely include crew and resupply missions for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS), which is expected to continue flying until at least 2030, meaning that commercial operators will have to start looking to Starship to deliver their satellites to space.

When exactly SpaceX will begin to wind down Falcon 9 will depend on the continuing development of Starship. Unlike its predecessor, Starship is built for full reusability, with the rocket's Super Heavy booster and Ship upper stage both designed to return to Earth for recovery and reflight. (Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy upper stages are expendable.)

And Starship is bigger than Falcon 9, too. The current Version 3 (V3) Starship stands 408 feet (124.4 meters) tall, towering over the 230-foot tall (70 m) Falcon 9, and is capable of launching substantially heavier payloads to space. Starship is expected to be able to deliver more than 100 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO). By comparison, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy can carry about 25 tons and 63 tons to LEO, respectively.

The majority of Falcon 9 missions over the past few years have been dedicated to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet network, with more than 300 launches since 2023 adding to the growing constellation of over 11,000 spacecraft. The more powerful next generation of Starlink satellites, however, are bigger, and designed to fit in Starship's payload bay, not atop the Falcon 9. And once Starship is launching reliably (and even before then), SpaceX plans to begin upgrading its Starlink network with the newer satellite version.

A Falcon 9 rocketl launches the Crew-7 mission for NASA on Aug. 26, 2023 (Image credit: Space.com/ Josh Dinner)

That will likely kick off an exponential upward trend for Starship launches. This happened with the Falcon 9, after all. SpaceX launched the rocket just 11 times in 2019, the year the company began assembling its Starlink constellation. In 2025, Falcon 9 flew a whopping 165 missions, and 122 of them were Starlink flights.

NASA has also contracted SpaceX to design a version of Starship for use as a lunar landing vehicle for the space agency's Artemis missions. A Starship V3 is in line to launch on the Artemis III mission next year, which will practice docking operability in LEO with NASA's Orion spacecraft. Starship has also been slated to deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon on Artemis IV in 2028. That's also when SpaceX has told NASA that it plans to end commercial Falcon 9 launches, according to Ars Technica.

One thing Starship has not yet been contracted or designed for is docking with the ISS. NASA is positioned to continue purchasing flights of SpaceX's cargo and Crew Dragon spacecraft to deliver astronauts and supplies to the space station through 2030, and would be hard pressed to shift those tasks to Starship. Cost and contract logistics aside, the mere size of Starship poses significant engineering risks outside the station's safety margins.

Regardless of the timeline for the ISS, SpaceX's planned sundowning of Falcon 9 also hinges on Starship's success. The launch vehicle has flown 13 suborbital test flights to date. Another is poised to lift off within the next month, and may be the rocket's first attempt at fully reaching orbit. But that's just one of many milestones that Starship must hit before it can begin "flying reliably several times per week," as Musk stipulated in his post.

That kind of turnaround time has already been achieved by Falcon 9, but building up Starship's infrastructure is a much bigger enterprise than the dozen or so successful test flights the vehicle has under its belt. And how quickly SpaceX can scale Starship to match Falcon 9's reliability will ultimately determine how soon the legacy rocket is largely phased out of commission.

Starlink launches may have become commonplace, but this one was definitely worth staying up for.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday (Aug. 25), at 5:33 a.m. EDT (0933 GMT).

It was the 100th Falcon 9 flight of 2026 and the record-breaking 37th mission for this rocket's first stage, a booster designated B1067.

SpaceX set a new rocket-reuse record early Tuesday morning (Aug. 25), on its 100th Falcon 9 flight of the year. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon 9 is by far the busiest rocket in operation today. Last year, it flew 165 missions — more than all of the world's other orbital rockets combined. And all 165 of those flights were fully successful.

Extensive first-stage reuse is the Falcon 9's secret sauce, making it cheaper and more efficient to fly than its competitors. Those competitors are racing to catch up, however, and some are making strides. In the past six weeks, for example, two different Chinese rockets aced landings during orbital missions.

But neither one of those newcomers has made it back to the pad for a second flight. SpaceX, meanwhile, has six Falcon 9 boosters with at least 30 flights under their belts, led by B1067's 36. (The others are B1077 and B1078 with 30, B1069 with 32, B1063 with 34 and B1071 with 35).

And SpaceX plans to take reuse to even higher levels. The company's next-gen megarocket, Starship, is designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, with each vehicle capable of flying multiple times per day, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. (The Falcon 9 and its cousin the Falcon Heavy are only partially reusable; they have expendable upper stages.)

Previous Booster B1067 launches

CRS-22 | Crew-3 | Turksat 5B | Crew-4 | CRS-25 | Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G | O3B mPOWER | PSN SATRIA | Telkomsat Marah Putih 2 | Galileo L13 | Koreasat-6A | 25 Starlink missions

After launch, B1067 returned to Earth for recovery and yet more reuse. About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas," which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket's upper stage, meanwhile, continued on to deliver its 29 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there 61.5 minutes after launch.

Tuesday's liftoff was the 77th of 2026 devoted to building out Starlink, by far the largest satellite constellation ever assembled. It currently consists of more than 11,000 operational spacecraft, and that number is growing all the time.

The Falcon 9 isn't the only SpaceX rocket to have flown this year. The company has also launched one Falcon Heavy mission and two suborbital Starship test flights. Starship will try to go orbital for the first time on its next liftoff, which is expected in early to mid-September.

Twenty years after Pluto lost its planetary status, people are still arguing about it.

This spring, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman publicly threw his support behind "make Pluto a planet again," reigniting the familiar debate. Social media threads are filled with people arguing over whether Pluto should be grandfathered into the planetary club, whether dwarf planets are simply another kind of planet, and whether the distinction matters at all.

The disagreement dates to August 24, 2006, when members of the International Astronomical Union adopted a definition of a planet that placed Pluto in the dwarf-planet category. The scientific debate over how best to define a planet has continued in the years since, and the public has many thoughts, too — many people still cling to Pluto's identity as a planet. But why?

The planet we grew up with

From its discovery on February 18, 1930 to its demotion, Pluto belonged to one of the first maps of the universe that students learned: our solar system. There were nine planets, usually memorized in order through classroom diagrams, models and mnemonics such as "My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies."

Deana Weibel, a cultural anthropologist at Grand Valley State University, says those childhood associations have staying power long into adulthood. As a planet, Pluto was also particularly memorable: the farthest planet, the smallest planet, and a relatively recent addition to the solar system. "It was the knowledge that new planets could be added, with its story of being discovered in the 20th century," says Weibel.

For people who absorbed that version of the solar system as children, the 2006 decision required replacing something that had been an established fact. Laurie Groh, a licensed psychotherapist and owner of Shoreside Therapies in Milwaukee, says that helps explain why the change could provoke an emotional reaction disproportionate to its effect on everyday life. "People aren't grieving a planet," says Groh. "They're grieving the idea that what they learn is permanent. It isn't. Science changes and evolves."

The haze around Pluto captured by NASA's New Horizons probe. (Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

That attachment may fade as generations raised with eight planets get older — but there's not a black-and-white cutoff date. Rob Crotzer, founder and editor of OuterSpaceTrip.com, has watched his own nine-planet upbringing filter down to his daughter Emily, who was born well after Pluto's reclassification. She learned about Pluto from him, her grandmother, and an astronomy atlas published before the 2006 vote. "My daughter was born into the eight-planet solar system," Crotzer says, "yet she has decided that eight isn't enough."

Why our brains resist recategorization

Nostalgia isn't the only force at play. "Our brains work via comparison and categories. That's how we make sense of anything and everything," says Matthew Leahy, a licensed clinical psychologist who studies memory and cognition. Humans rely on categories to organize enormous amounts of information, and changing an established category requires revising a framework that was already functioning perfectly well.

But Pluto presents an especially curious case because the stakes for most people are so low — its planetary status hardly affects the general public day-to-day. "The emotional meaning of a category can sometimes matter much more to us than its practical importance," says Leahy.

Groh also points to the way the change happened. Unlike Pluto's naming, when the public suggested monikers for the new planet, the public didn't participate in the scientific process of its recategorization. Changes imposed quickly from outside, Groh says, can invite resistance even when there is a solid reason behind them.

Rooting for the underdog

Then there is Pluto itself: small, distant, and lonely. "For many people, the issue is less about astronomy and more about rooting for the little guy, the underdog," says Kevin Schindler, historian and public information officer at Lowell Observatory, where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930.

The language surrounding the change encourages that interpretation. Pluto is routinely described as having been "demoted," rather than simply reclassified, turning a technical distinction into something that sounds punitive. "We don't like the idea of the 'little guy' getting kicked out," Groh says. "We personify Pluto when we have that reaction."

An image showing Pluto and Charon, the world's moon. (Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

That personification has helped give Pluto a cultural life all its own. At Lowell Observatory, affection for the dwarf planet is strong enough to inspire the annual I Heart Pluto Festival, a multi-day celebration of its discovery, science, and history. Nearly a century after Tombaugh first spotted Pluto from Flagstaff — and two decades after its reclassification — people still gather specifically to celebrate it.

In other words, becoming a dwarf planet didn't necessarily diminish Pluto's popularity; if anything, it gave people another reason to rally behind it.

Does it matter what Pluto is called?

Scientifically, yes, it does matter how we classify Pluto. Jessica Libby-Roberts, an assistant professor and exoplanet scientist at the University of Tampa, points to Pluto's unusual orbit, small size, and similarities to other Kuiper Belt objects as reasons the dwarf-planet classification makes sense. Categories allow researchers to compare objects and make sense of how the solar system formed.

But Libby-Roberts doesn't view its exclusion from the eight planets as a knock against Pluto. "Honestly, I think Pluto would rather not be grouped in with the boring rule-abiding planets anyway," she says. "It seems much happier doing its own thing."

A scientific label doesn't determine whether Pluto is interesting, either. Libby-Roberts notes that the 2015 New Horizons mission overturned expectations of a relatively generic, cratered world, instead revealing a dynamic one with mountains, glaciers, and an atmosphere.

"In some ways, it doesn't matter what Pluto is called because regardless of what label we humans assign to it, Pluto will keep orbiting the sun and doing its thing," Schindler says.