Get ready for a meteor shower doubleheader. The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks in late July. And this year, it will coincide with a second smaller meteor shower, the Alpha Capricornids. The Delta Aquariids occur every year in North America’s late summer. This year’s peak activity happens early Tuesday morning, with an expected 15...
The United States dared to boldly go where no man had gone before when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on this day in history, July 29, 1958. The legislation established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The act was a direct response to the success of the Soviet...
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster...
A photo from Mars taken by NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft left people perplexed and wondering about the possibility of extraterrestrial life on this day in history, July 25, 1976. Dubbed the “Face on Mars,” the image appeared to show a carving of eyes, nose and a mouth in the Martian region of Cydonia. “NASA’s Viking...
A super Jupiter has been spotted around a neighboring star by the Webb Space Telescope — and it has a super orbit. The planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass. Its atmosphere is also rich in hydrogen like Jupiter’s. One big difference: It takes this planet more than...
While the total solar eclipse was the celestial focus in April 2024, the “Devil Comet” also received attention from skywatchers. Known officially and scientifically as Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, the rare comet, with its moniker suggestive of a fall from grace, neared Earth for the first time in 71 years. What makes this comet particularly unique is...
Man walked on the moon for the first time 55 years ago today, July 20, as America’s Apollo 11 mission achieved a dream bigger than Earth itself. The world was riveted by the event. An estimated 650 million people — nearly 20% of the entire human population at the time — watched the moon landing...
NASA said Wednesday it’s canceling its water-seeking moon rover, citing cost overruns and launch delays. The Viper rover was supposed to launch in late 2023 aboard a lander provided by Astrobotic Technology, but extra testing and increased costs kept delaying the mission, threatening other projects, the space agency said. The rover had aimed to explore...
Engineer, TV host, author and mom Emily Calandrelli will make history when she becomes the first West Virginia woman to travel to outer space. She’ll make the out-of-this-world journey as a citizen astronaut ambassador with Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-founded private spaceflight company, it was announced on Tuesday. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to...
An Italian-led team of scientists say they have confirmed evidence of a sizable cave on the moon not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago. The cave is located at the Sea of Tranquility just 250 miles from Apollo 11’s landing site and researchers suspect there are hundreds more that...
