Space
New Atlas keeps you up to date with the latest space news and fantastic images from all corners of the Universe.
Latest News
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Fusion drive space engine ready for flight
March 26, 2024Rocket science got a bit more science-fiction-like as RocketStar announces it has successfully demonstrated a new ion drive that incorporates nuclear fusion. It's not the sort of fusion that powers the Sun, but it does improve thrust by 50%. -
Life might survive the sulfuric acid clouds of Venus, new experiments find
March 24, 2024Venus may be a hellscape, but there’s a chance some forms of life could evolve there. A new MIT study has now found that the building blocks of life are surprisingly stable in highly concentrated sulfuric acid – which Venus’ clouds are made of. -
NASA mission could detect alien life from a single cell as early as 2030
March 22, 2024We might find alien life as soon as 2030, suggests a new study. A lab experiment has shown instruments on a spacecraft headed to one of the most promising worlds to find life are sensitive enough to detect a single living cell in a single ice grain. -
DARPA and Northrop Grumman's railway on the Moon
March 21, 2024In preparation for a permanent human colony on the Moon, DARPA has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman to develop a highly ambitious lunar railway concept. It's part of the agency's 10-year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study. -
China is building a railgun that can hurl crewed spacecraft into orbit
March 20, 2024Rockets being passé, China is working on using an electromagnetic railgun to launch crewed spacecraft the size of a Boeing 737, weighing 50 tonnes, into orbit. This remarkably ambitious project is even more ambitious than it seems at first glance. -
Bright new ‘North star’ will soon burst into view – here’s how to see it
March 19, 2024Sometime this year, the night sky will get a brand new 'star' that will be visible with the naked eye, even in the city. The celestial light show will be the result of an explosive interaction between two neighboring stars that occurs every 80 years. -
Gibberish download may save Voyager 1 deep space probe
March 17, 2024NASA's Voyager 1 deep space probe may get a new lease on life thanks to an unexpected download from one of its onboard computers. After months of sending back gibberish instead of collected data, the craft may have provided a clue to its salvation. -
Starship successfully makes orbit – but the FAA has grounded it anyway
March 14, 2024Third time's the charm! SpaceX's Starship roared into orbit today from the company's Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas. Larger and more powerful than the venerable Saturn V, the giant rocket lifted off into the history books at 8:25 am CDT. -
Newly found monster Martian volcano might be hiding an icy secret
March 14, 2024A massive volcano has been hiding in plain sight on Mars, says new research. Not only is its sheer size noteworthy, but the team believes it might also harbor glacial ice that could be critical for further exploration and Martian settlements. -
How to watch the third Starship launch
March 13, 2024Want to see if SpaceX's Starship steps up or blows up on its third orbital launch attempt? Here's how to watch the action live from the Starbase facility in Texas. And, after the first two launch attempts, you can expect some drama. -
Supermassive tension measured between the heaviest cosmic couple
March 06, 2024We’ve all regretted taking too long to make a move, but at least it wasn't 3 billion years. That’s how long the sexual tension has been building between two slow-dancing supermassive black holes, whose eventual congress could rock the entire universe. -
Cosmic billiards: 1.3 million asteroid paths check for 2029 impact
March 05, 2024In 2029, a large asteroid will whizz past Earth so close it’ll be visible to the naked eye. But could collisions with other asteroids bounce it off-course into us? To find out, astronomers have now crunched the paths of 1.3 million known asteroids. -
Juno probe tweaks the odds for life on Europa
March 04, 2024Data from NASA's Juno Jupiter orbiter suggests that the Jovian moon Europa produces about 26 lb/s (12 kg/s) of oxygen or almost 100 times less than previously estimated. This changes the probability of life being found in the moon's subterranean ocean. -
NASA and SpaceX run Moon lander docking system through the wringer
February 29, 2024Tackling one of the unsung but absolutely necessary tasks of Moon exploration, NASA and SpaceX are doing intensive testing of the docking mechanism that will be used to transfer astronauts from Artemis to the Starship Human Landing System. -
Odysseus broke leg on landing thanks to overlooked laser switch
February 28, 2024As the Odysseus Moon lander faces its final hours, there's one final twist in the saga: The spacecraft broke one of its legs on landing, thanks to a cascade of mistakes that began back on Earth, when a safety switch wasn't flicked on prior to launch.
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