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Latest by G. Torbet

Unusual ridge networks on Mars may provide clues about the history of the Red Planet.

Citizen scientists are helping to map Mars’s strange ridge features

Members of the public are helping to map unusual ridge features in the Jezero crater on Mars, near to the area where the Perseverance rover is exploring.
A zoom-in image of galaxy HD1.

This galaxy is a mind-bending 13.5 billion light-years away

An international team of astronomers has identified the most distant astronomical object ever observed: A galaxy 13.5 billion light-years away,
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to survey these wind-sharpened rocks, called ventifacts, on March 15, 2022, the 3,415th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The team has informally described these patches of ventifacts as “gator-back” rocks because of their scaly appearance.

Curiosity rover nopes out of region of sharp Mars rocks

The Curiosity rover has come across a challenge on Mars: The densest region of sharp rocks that the rover's NASA drivers have ever seen.
The Moon is pictured (bottom left) as the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour approaches the station with four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts.

First space tourism mission arrives at International Space Station

The first fully private space tourism mission has arrived at the International Space Station.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher.

NASA pushes its mega moon rocket test back to next week

After two false starts, NASA is hoping that third time will be the charm for the wet dress rehearsal of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
MIRI is inspected in the giant clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in 2012.

James Webb’s MIRI instrument about to face most daunting challenge yet

NASA has shared an update on the process of getting James Webb's MIRI instrument down to temperature and ready for alignment.
The SuperBIT balloon in flight.

Telescopes on balloons could be a game-changer for astronomy

Rather than relying on expensive rockets to lift telescopes into orbit, a few innovative astronomers are now exploring a new option: High altitude balloons.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher.

NASA scrubs Space Launch System test due to fan issue

NASA has had to scrub the wet dress rehearsal of its mega moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).
Tendrils of dark dust threading across the heart of the spiral galaxy NGC 7172.

Hubble captures a dusty galaxy that holds a luminous secret

The image from the Hubble Space Telescope this week shows the dusty galaxy NGC 7172, which might look typical but in fact it holds a secret.
The back of the Perseverance rover and its wheel tracks.

How Perseverance is moving faster than any previous Mars rover

Moving fast across Mars isn't just about single day distance records -- it's about consistency.
Tthe 800-kilogram Euclic payload module being lifted by a crane with workers gathered around.

Two modules of dark matter spacecraft Euclid are joined

Europe's dark matter investigation spacecraft, Euclid, has reached a milestone with the joining of two of its major components.
exoplanet haul transits2 on starfield editable 02 20x30

Astronomers discover ‘Jupiter’s identical twin’ exoplanet

Recently, astronomers used data from the now-retired Kepler space telescope to identify a new planet which is remarkably similar to Jupiter.
Tthe light of a star that existed within the first billion years after the Universe’s birth in the Big Bang (at a redshift of 6.2), captured by Hubble.

Hubble smashes record for most distant star ever seen

The Hubble Space Telescope has smashed a record, identifying its most distant star ever.
The two microphones of the Perseverance Mars Rover are labeled.

What Perseverance rover recordings tell us about sound on Mars

Scientists have analyzed audio recordings from Perseverance to learn about how sound propagates on Mars and found that the speed of sound isn't constant there.
Space Launch System ready for wet dress rehearsal, a sunrise in the background.

NASA’s test of its massive moon rocket is underway today

NASA is conducting one of the last major tests of its new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft before its first uncrewed mission to the moon.
The Utopia Planitia, a plain that fills one of three major basins in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

See ridged ‘brain terrain’ crater captured by Mars Express

The Mars Express orbiter has captured a series of images showing a stunning view of impact craters in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars.
This artist’s conception shows the fully unfolded James Webb Space Telescope in space.

Three of James Webb’s four instruments are now aligned

The long process of getting the James Webb Space Telescope ready to begin collecting science data continues, and the Webb team has met another goal.
Still image from a Thesan simulation showing the universe 251 million years after the Big Bang. The orange halos represent the burst of radiation, or light, outpouring from early galaxies.

Astronomers simulate the early universe and the birth of the first galaxies

An international collaboration of astronomers has created the most detailed simulation yet of the early stages of the universe.
A stunning view of the spiral galaxy NGC 4571.

Hubble captures an elegant spiral galaxy 60 million light-years away

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4571, located 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices.
Illustration showing the front of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft in orbit above Earth with its deployable solar panels extended.

Sentinel-6 spacecraft becomes official ocean-monitoring satellite

We have a new tool for monitoring Earth's oceans: The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft.
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity hits 23rd flight, can’t be stopped

The tiny Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to power through its flights, exceeding all expectations.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei poses for a photo on Feb. 10, 2022, while configuring the Combustion Integrated Rack in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module of the International Space Station to support a pair of fire safety experiments.

How to watch record-breaking astronaut return to Earth this week

This week, record-breaking NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will be returning from the ISS along with two of his Russian colleagues. Here's how to watch.
The Sun as seen by Solar Orbiter in extreme ultraviolet light from a distance of roughly 75 million kilometers. An image of Earth is also included for scale, at the 2 o’clock position.

Solar Orbiter image shows the boiling, roiling face of the sun

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter has taken an incredible high-resolution image of the sun, showing its full face and its outer atmosphere or corona.
An odd radio circles (ORC) captured by the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.

Astronomers spot a vast, mysterious circle in space

Astronomers have spotted an enormous and mysterious object more than a million light-years across, called an odd radio circle.
James Webb Space Telescope illustration.

James Webb’s MIRI instrument has both a heater and a cooler

The long process of getting the James Webb Space Telescope ready for science operations continues, with the ongoing alignment of three of its instruments.
Illustration of NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft.

NASA will survey the entire sky with its SPHEREx observatory

NASA is ramping up plans for a new sky survey tool that could help unravel some of the biggest mysteries about the origin of the universe.
Sally Ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

The legacy of Sally Ride: America’s first woman in space

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, didn't fit NASA's archetype for a female astronaut -- and that's precisely why she was such a pioneer.
The heart of NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy that lies about 48 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Fornax.

Hubble used two instruments to image this beautiful galaxy

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope is a stunner: The beautiful galaxy NCG 1097, as capturing using two of Hubble's instruments.
NASA’s Juno mission captured this view of Jupiter’s southern hemisphere during the spacecraft’s 39th close flyby of the planet on Jan. 12, 2022.

See Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa in this stunning Juno image

NASA has released a stunning image of the planet Jupiter, captured by its Juno mission and processed by a citizen scientist.
This artist’s conception shows the fully unfolded James Webb Space Telescope in space.

James Webb begins aligning 3 of its instruments

With James Webb Space Telescope's mirrors aligned with its first instrument, now the team need to work on aligning the other three instruments,
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IXPE spacecraft is the first satellite dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from a variety of cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars. Launch occurred at 1 a.m. EST.

SpaceX sets new record with Falcon 9 booster flying for 12th time

SpaceX set a new record for reuse of a rocket booster this week when it used a Falcon 9 booster for its 12th mission.
iss cosmonauts ukrainian yellow fokie2rxoaq8yjz

Russian cosmonauts arrive at ISS in Ukrainian colors

Three Russian cosmonauts caused a stir yesterday when they arrived at the International Space Station wearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Gaia’s sky mapper image showing the James Webb Space Telescope. The reddish colour is artificial, chosen just for illustrative reasons. The frame shows a few relatively bright stars, several faint stars, a few disturbances – and a spacecraft. It is marked by the green arrow.

Image of James Webb snapped by the Gaia observatory

The Gaia observatory was recently able to snap a picture of the James Webb observatory in its orbit at L2.
ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover

European Space Agency suspends joint Mars mission with Russia

A joint mission to Mars between the European Space Agency Russia has been suspended due to Russian invasion of Ukraine.