Astrophysics team say observation of chemical compounds may be ‘tipping point’ in search for extraterrestrial life
A giant planet 124 light years from Earth has yielded the strongest evidence yet that extraterrestrial life may be thriving beyond our solar system, astronomers claim.
Observations by the James Webb space telescope of a planet called K2-18 b appear to reveal the chemical fingerprints of two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life.
Continue reading...Amy Schumer, Olivia Wilde and Olivia Munn are among the famous names calling out the much-publicised space trip
The all-female Blue Origin rocket launch may have received plenty of glowing media coverage – but not everyone is impressed.
The stunt has drawn criticism from a number of female celebrities who were not keen on the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin NS-31 mission, which included Katy Perry, Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sanchez, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn and, in a twist straight out of Apple TV’s The Morning Show, CBS Mornings host Gayle King.
Continue reading...All-female crew led by Jeff Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sánchez lands in Texas after reaching the edge of outer space
Six women – including the pop star Katy Perry and morning TV host Gayle King – safely completed a trip to the edge of outer space and back from a private Texas ranch on Monday morning on a rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos, the Amazon co-founder and commercial space flight entrepreneur.
The women, who also included Bezos’s fiancee, Lauren Sánchez, made the trip to the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space – to float about, weightlessly, in the rocket’s capsule for three minutes before returning to Earth.
Continue reading...Critics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashed
Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday.
The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Revolutionary scanner to be fired into Earth orbit this month to measure effects of deforestation
Scientists are about to take part in a revolutionary mission aimed at creating detailed 3D maps of the world’s remotest, densest and darkest tropical forests – from outer space. The feat will be achieved using a special radar scanner that has been fitted to a probe, named Biomass, that will be fired into the Earth’s orbit later this month.
For the next five years, the 1.25-tonne spacecraft will sweep over the tropical rainforests of Africa, Asia and South America and peer through their dense 40m-high canopies to study the vegetation that lies beneath. The data collected by Biomass will then be used to create unique 3D maps of forests normally hidden from human sight.
Continue reading...Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams’ story markedly at odds with abandonment narrative painted by Trump and Musk
In the end, whatever Elon Musk and Donald Trump liked to insist, astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were never stuck, nor stranded in space, and definitely not abandoned or marooned.
The world heard on Monday, for the first time since their return to Earth two weeks ago, from the two Nasa astronauts whose 10-day flight to the international space station (ISS) last summer turned into a nine-month odyssey. And their story was markedly at odds with the narrative painted from the White House.
Continue reading...Uncrewed Spectrum test rocket’s failure seconds after blast-off said to have produced extensive data nonetheless
A test rocket intended to kickstart satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded less than a minute after takeoff from Norway on Sunday, in what the German startup Isar Aerospace had described as an initial test.
The Spectrum started smoking from its sides and crashed back to Earth in a powerful explosion just after its launch from from the Andøya spaceport in the Arctic. Images were broadcast live on YouTube.
Continue reading...Eclipse peaked in London at about 11am on Saturday and was visible in parts of UK between about 10am and noon
People across the northern hemisphere have gathered to catch a glimpse of the partial solar eclipse.
The eclipse peaked in London at about 11am on Saturday and was visible in parts of the UK between about 10am and noon.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read our story here
Here’s a view of the sun from Dakar, Senegal:
How visible today’s partial eclipse will be depends, unsurprisingly, on how clear the sky is where you are.
Continue reading...Airbus also built the Rosalind Franklin rover, due to launch in 2028 to search for signs of past life
Europe’s first rover to be sent to another planet is back on track to reach Mars, with the lander that will deposit it on the surface lined up to be built in the UK.
The Rosalind Franklin rover – named after the scientist who played a key role in the discovery of the structure of DNA – is part of ExoMars, a European Space Agency (Esa) mission to probe whether life once existed on the red planet, and features a drill to retrieve samples, up to 4bn years old, from two metres below the surface.
Continue reading...Promise was central plank to space agency’s Artemis program, which is scheduled to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027
Nasa has dropped its longstanding public commitment to land the first woman and person of color on the moon, in response to Donald Trump’s directives to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices at federal agencies.
The promise was a central plank of the space agency’s Artemis program, which is scheduled to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027 for the first time since the final Apollo mission in December 1972.
Continue reading...Data from European Space Agency’s mission has allowed researchers to create detailed catalogue of 380,000 galaxies
Astronomers are predicting an “avalanche of discoveries” after the first major release of observations from a European space telescope built to study the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that comprise the bulk of the universe.
The European Space Agency’s Euclid mission has captured images of 26m galaxies, covering 10bn years of cosmic history. They give researchers unprecedented insight into the forces that shape the cosmos and the galaxies it holds.
Continue reading...The arrival of four astronauts will allow Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth after nine months on the International Space Station
There were emotional scenes of smiling astronauts hugging and embracing in zero gravity on the International Space Station on Sunday after a replacement crew docked with the orbital outpost – a step towards the return home of two astronauts who have been stranded for more than nine months.
A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the ISS in a Nasa crew-swap mission that will allow the pair of stuck astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab.
Continue reading...Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine months
A long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.
The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June, but technical problems with the experimental spacecraft that took them there have left them stuck on the orbital laboratory for nine months.
Continue reading...Astronomers deeply concerned that darkest, clearest skies in world will be compromised by proposed facility nearby
In the Atacama desert, the driest non-polar region on Earth, the sky shines when the sun sets.
Up in the arid hills 130km south of the Chilean city of Antofagasta, comets burn brightly and flawless trails of stars and nebulae streak the night sky.
Continue reading...A probe to be launched this week aims to pinpoint sites of lunar water, which could help plan to colonise the Earth’s satellite
Space engineers are set to launch an unusual mission this week when they send a probe built by UK and US researchers to the moon to map water on its surface. Lunar Trailblazer’s two year mission is scheduled to begin on Thursday when the probe is blasted into space from Florida on a Space X Falcon rocket.
Its goal – to seek out water on the lunar surface – may seem odd given that the moon has traditionally been viewed as an arid, desiccated world. However, scientists have recently uncovered strong hints that it possesses significant quantities of water. It will be the task of Lunar Trailblazer to reveal just how much water there is near the lunar surface and pinpoint its main locations.
Continue reading...Sprinter and surgeon John McFall given medical certification for mission lasting up to six months
A British Paralympic sprinter and surgeon has become the first person with a physical disability to be cleared to fly to the International Space Station in a landmark for human space exploration.
John McFall, 43, is a member of the European Space Agency’s astronaut corps and is now waiting to be assigned a mission after a feasibility study concluded there were no technical or medical reasons why he should not fly.
Continue reading...Sound was also recorded in footage of space rock hitting house entranceway, producing cloud of smoke and a crackle
A doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway.
When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report.
Continue reading...These nocturnal events are more spectacular from dark country sky, but they can still be seen from a light-polluted city – and for many, no telescope is needed
Each night an annual parade of constellations passes above our heads but there are always exciting, less frequent events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception. The night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, but you can see these events even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Two satellites in Proba-3 mission expected to be launched on Wednesday in India and will work in tandem to study sun’s corona
Final preparations have begun for a landmark space mission that will use satellites flying in close formation to create artificial solar eclipses high above the Earth.
The Proba-3 mission is the European Space Agency’s first attempt at precise formation flying in orbit and calls for two spacecraft to loop around the planet in an arrangement that never deviates by more than a millimetre, about the thickness of a human fingernail.
Continue reading...