NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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'Outstanding' Orion Still Faces One of Its Biggest Trials

Dec. 11 entry into Earth's atmosphere will test its heat shield

(Newser) - NASA's Orion spacecraft has reached its maximum distance from Earth, a record-setting 268,563 miles. The spacecraft that launched Nov. 16 reached the halfway point in its 26-day mission on Monday as it looped around the moon. It was 43,138 miles beyond the far side of the moon,...

NASA's Orion Capsule Breaks Record Set in 1970

Spacecraft designed to carry humans has now gone further than Apollo 13

(Newser) - Moonikin Campos, the mannequin in the commander's seat of NASA's Orion capsule, has now traveled further into space than any human. The uncrewed capsule broke a record around 8:40am EST Saturday when it reached 248,655 miles from Earth, the distance reached by the Apollo 13 command...

Artemis Program Nears Another Milestone

It's the first step toward developing a moon base

(Newser) - NASA's Artemis Program has already set at least one record with Artemis I, the most powerful space rocket in history, which was launched last Wednesday from Cape Canaveral. Per the Guardian , the Orion space capsule the rocket carried will soon set another record, traveling 1.3 million miles, more...

After Tense Wait, NASA Reports a Lunar Success
NASA Capsule
Reaches the Moon

NASA Capsule Reaches the Moon

Unmanned craft on track for record-breaking lunar orbit

(Newser) - NASA’s Orion capsule reached the moon Monday, whipping around the back side and passing within 80 miles on its way to what should be a record-breaking lunar orbit, per the AP . The close approach occurred as the crew capsule and its three test dummies were on the far side...

At Last, 'What an Incredible Sight to See'

Artemis rocket holding unmanned Orion spacecraft is finally headed toward moon after series of delays

(Newser) - With a series of nixed attempts left in its wake, Artemis I is finally on its way to the moon. NASA reports that its powerful Space Launch System (SLS), holding the unmanned Orion spacecraft, blasted off for its flying debut from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 1:47am Wednesday...

Beleaguered Moon Rocket Has a New Launch Date

New attempt is set for Wednesday; multiple other attempts in summer, early fall were scuttled

(Newser) - NASA's Artemis I moon rocket needs only minor repairs after enduring a hurricane at the pad and is on track for its first test flight next week, a top official said Friday. "Right now, there's nothing preventing us" from attempting a launch on Wednesday, said NASA's...

Search for WWII Plane Turns Up Chunk of Challenger Shuttle

20-foot remnant found by documentary crew off coast of Florida

(Newser) - It's been more than 35 years since the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members—but a documentary team has just unearthed a big chunk of debris from the doomed spacecraft. In a Thursday release , NASA confirmed the discovery, made in the Atlantic Ocean...

Possible 'Planet Killer' Asteroid Found in Earth's Orbital Path

Future generations will want to keep an eye on it

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a new asteroid in our neighborhood: it's more than a mile wide, and its orbit around the sun crosses the Earth’s path, making it a potential "planet killer," according to a New York Times report on the rock known as 2022 APY. Not...

NASA Catches the Sun &#39;Smiling&#39;
The Sun May Be
Laughing at Us

The Sun May Be Laughing at Us

Or at least 'smiling,' as NASA captions an odd satellite image

(Newser) - A NASA satellite has captured an odd image of the sun—it looks for all the world as if our famous star is "smiling," as the space agency puts it in a tweet . NASA explains that the dark patches making up the image are "known as coronal...

NASA Spacecraft Record Major Meteor Strikes on Mars

Photos show impact craters almost 500 feet wide

(Newser) - Two NASA spacecraft at Mars—one on the surface and the other in orbit—have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet. The high-speed barrages last December sent seismic waves rippling thousands of miles across Mars, the first ever detected near the surface of another planet, and carved...

NASA Tasks Team With Explaining UFOs

16 experts to look at what is needed to 'scientifically discern the nature of UAP'

(Newser) - NASA is bringing a scientific perspective to UFOs, launching a 16-member independent study team to investigate what are now known as unidentified aerial phenomena. The team—chaired by astrophysicist and Simons Foundation President David Spergel and including experts on astrobiology, data science, oceanography, policy, and planetary science—will spend nine...

NASA Releases Stunning Images of 'Pillars of Creation'

James Webb Space Telescope captured star-forming region in vivid detail

(Newser) - Marvel's cosmic Silver Surfer would not seem out of place in the latest amazing images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The images show the Pillars of Creation, spires of interstellar gas and dust in an active star-forming region of the Eagle Nebula in the Serpens constellation, 6,500...

First Native American Woman to Go to Space Has Arrived at ISS

SpaceX launch also carried Russian cosmonaut

(Newser) - Update: SpaceX on Thursday delivered a new crew to the International Space Station for a five-month stay, the AP reports. That includes Marine Col. Nicole Mann, the first Native American woman to travel to space; Anna Kikina, the first Russian cosmonaut to hitch a ride to space from NASA's...

Here's Visual Proof That Our Asteroid Slam Worked

DART's collision with Dimorphos asteroid confirmed by 6.2K-mile-long debris trail

(Newser) - Astronomers know for certain that NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into a distant asteroid in a test of whether Earth-threatening space rocks might be diverted, because that asteroid is spewing a whole lot of rock and dust. Two days after the Sept. 26 Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a telescope in...

NASA Craft Zeroing In on Unsuspecting Asteroid
Asteroid-Slamming Mission
Is a Hit for NASA
updated

Asteroid-Slamming Mission Is a Hit for NASA

Stakes of the test are high, NASA administrator says

(Newser) - Update: The NASA spacecraft DART intentionally slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos at 14,000mph on Monday. It could be weeks, however, before NASA knows how much the impact changed the path of the asteroid, the AP reports. Telescopes on Earth and in space were pointed at the spot in anticipation;...

Hurricane Forecast Leads NASA to Put Moon Rocket Inside

Launch could be delayed until November

(Newser) - Hurricane Ian is prompting NASA to move its moon rocket off the launch pad and into shelter, adding weeks of delay to the lunar-orbiting test flight. Mission managers decided Monday to return the rocket to its Kennedy Space Center hangar. The four-mile trip will begin late Monday night and could...

How to Watch Monday's Collision With Asteroid

NASA will be live-streaming the deliberate smash in the evening

(Newser) - It's not every day you get to watch a spacecraft smash into an asteroid , but Monday just happens to be one. In fact, the impact is expected to occur at precisely 7:14pm Eastern, and it will be streamed at NASA Live . Outlets including Space.com and CNET also...

2 Events to Give Earth a Better Look at Jupiter

Planet will be a mere 367 million miles away on Monday

(Newser) - Citizens of Earth are about to get a better look than usual at Jupiter, as it comes closer to Earth than it's been since 1963. "Jupiter is so bright and brilliant that a really nice thing about it is even in a city, in the middle of a...

Earth Isn't Ready for What We've Collected on Mars

A high-containment lab, unlike any currently in existence, has to be built

(Newser) - Last week brought the news that NASA's Perseverance rover had collected four "scientifically compelling" rock samples from Mars' Jezero Crater, in a location where a river and lake came together eons ago. It's a major move forward in the search for ancient life on Mars, though those...

Artemis Launch Nixed, Again
Artemis
Gets a New
Launch Date

UPDATED

Artemis Gets a New Launch Date

NASA's 2nd shot at launching moon rocket was ruined by fuel leak; new launch set for Tuesday

(Newser) - Update: Let's try again. After two canceled launch dates for NASA's Artemis I moon rocket, Tuesday is set for the next attempt, reports Space.com . The previous two tries, on Aug. 29 and Sept. 3, were nixed due to technical worries, including a fuel leak. That leak has...

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