Content for Space

Following Webb’s Arrival at L2, Telescope Commissioning Set to Begin

“Following Webb’s arrival at its orbital destination around Lagrange Point 2 (L2) on Jan. 24, the mission operations team began working its way through a critical series of steps: powering on all the science instruments, turning off heaters to …

Orbital Insertion Burn a Success, Webb Arrives at L2

“Today, at 2 p.m. EST, Webb fired its onboard thrusters for nearly five minutes (297 seconds) to complete the final postlaunch course correction to Webb’s trajectory. This mid-course correction burn inserted Webb toward its final orbit around the …

The Moon’s farside has sticky soil, Yutu-2 finds

“The dirt tends to get stuck to the rover’s wheels in clods, but hasn’t hindered the rover yet. The farside of the Moon is a far different place from the nearside. It has a more rugged surface, chock-full …

A 3,400-foot-wide asteroid will make a safe flyby of Earth next week

“A huge asteroid will safely whiz by our planet next week. The asteroid, known as 7482 (1994 PC1), will make its closest approach to our planet on Jan. 18 at 4:51 p.m. EST (2151 GMT), according to a …

Assessing Perseverance’s Seventh Sample Collection

“On Wednesday, Dec. 29 (sol 306) Perseverance successfully cored and extracted a sample from a Mars rock. Data downlinked after the sampling indicates that coring of the rock the science team nicknamed Issole went smoothly. However, during the transfer of …

NASA’s Webb Telescope Reaches Major Milestone as Mirror Unfolds

“NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations. A joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian …

NASA Says Webb’s Excess Fuel Likely to Extend its Lifetime Expectations

“After a successful launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Dec. 25, and completion of two mid-course correction maneuvers, the Webb team has analyzed its initial trajectory and determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow support of …

NASA’s Webb Telescope Launches to See First Galaxies, Distant Worlds

“NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space …

Raspberry Pi computers head to International Space Station

“Two Raspberry Pi computers have launched into space from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a Space X rocket. The credit card-sized devices are heading to the International Space Station (ISS) to carry out experiments programmed by school pupils. It is …

How NASA’s Psyche Mission Will Explore an Unexplored World

“Launching in August 2022 and arriving at the asteroid belt in 2026, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will orbit a world we can barely pinpoint from Earth and have never visited. The target of NASA’s Psyche mission – a metal-rich asteroid …