Science

The return to Earth of three astronauts on Saturday after six months at China’s new space station marks a landmark step in the country’s space ambitions, ending its longest crewed mission ever. The world’s second-largest economy has put billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of eventually sending humans to the Moon. China has

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a grand view while exploring patches of the sky. In an infrared image captured by the telescope and posted on social media by NASA, we see a cosmic cloud that resembles a butterfly. But don’t be fooled. This image is of a cluster of “baby stars”, a nebula of

Scientists are expecting a major solar storm to hit the Earth on April 14. This event could cause possible damage to Earth, researchers suggest. Space agencies say that this geomagnetic solar storm could be particularly powerful as the Sun has been quite active lately. Recently, the Sun has been flaring up more. This is because it

The European Space Agency on Wednesday ended cooperation with Russia on three missions to the Moon due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, following a previous decision to do the same for a Mars mission. The ESA said it would “discontinue cooperative activities” on Luna-25, 26 and 27, a series of Russian lunar missions on which

NASA’s Perseverance is breaking the record for longest distance covered by a rover on the Red Planet. It is using its self-driving capabilities as it treks across the Jezero Crater, seeking signs of ancient life and gathering samples for planned return to Earth. On an Instagram post, NASA said the rover is “now capable of

Scientists are all eyes on the behemoth comet, C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has determined that the nucleus of this comet is the largest ever found. The estimated diameter of this comet’s nucleus is approximately 80 miles across. According to astronomers, the nucleus is almost 50 times bigger than found in most known

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful observatory ever sent to space, is gearing up to begin its science mission this summer. In the run-up to that milestone, work is underway to deploy the many instruments aboard the $10 billion (roughly Rs. 76,165 crore) telescope. One of those instruments is NIRSpec, the Near Infrared

Sending miniature robots deep inside the human skull to treat brain disorders has long been the stuff of science fiction — but it could soon become reality, according to a California start-up. Bionaut Labs plans its first clinical trials on humans in just two years for its tiny injectable robots, which can be carefully guided

Scientists studying Neptune’s temperature were in for a surprise recently. They discovered unusual temperature variations on the planet. Scientists had not anticipated such a dramatic temperature swing, with the planet becoming chilly during its summer season and then warming up at the south pole. In a statement, Michael Roman, the study’s lead author, said that

Russia will launch a lunar probe later this year and deepen cooperation with Belarus on space infrastructure and technology, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Speaking at a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, Putin recalled Soviet successes in space and said no sanctions on Russia

With a four-member crew from Houston-based startup Axiom Space, the first fully private mission reached the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday. For a long time, NASA has attempted to hand over the reins of space exploration to private companies. The space agency has welcomed the three-way collaboration with Axiom and SpaceX as a

NASA’s Artemis 1 Space Launch System (SLS) Moon mission test has been delayed several times. Now, the American space agency has announced that the final test will be modified and the launch will be delayed further to mid-April.  NASA had been conducting “wet dress rehearsals” on the next-generation space launch system throughout the last weekend.

NASA scientists have found planets where the temperature goes past 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 1650 degrees Celsius), enough to melt even titanium. During their studies of ultra-hot exoplanets, teams of astronomers working with the NASA Hubble Telescope reported on WASP-178b, an exoplanet 1300 light-years away.  Using NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope, the astronomers found that

A recent experiment showed that a fundamental particle – W boson – weighed more than expected. The mass difference is an important facet for scientists to explain how the universe and its different forces work. The experiment was conducted at the US government’s Fermi National Accelerator Lab (or Fermilab).  During the experiment, scientists crashed the particles

Elon Musk won’t be joining Twitter’s Board of Directors, a move that was announced last week. In a tweet late Sunday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal revealed that Musk was due to join the board on April 9, but the same morning, Musk shared he had decided not to join the board. Agrawal said, “I

The first fully private mission to the International Space Station blasted off from Florida Friday with a four-member crew from startup company Axiom Space. NASA has hailed the three-way partnership with Axiom and SpaceX as a key step towards commercializing the region of space known as “Low Earth Orbit,” leaving the agency to focus on

Researchers have discovered what they believe to be the farthest astronomical object yet discovered: HD1, a galaxy candidate estimated to be 13.5 billion light-years away. That’s an incredible 100 million light-years away from the current farthest galaxy, GN-z11. HD1 shines brightly in ultraviolet light, indicating that the galaxy is teeming with activity. As a result,

NASA’s Hubble telescope, which helped scientists discover some of the amazing aspects of space, has captured a stunning view of an active black hole covered behind tendrils of dark dust. The black hole lies in the spiral galaxy NGC 7172, located about 110 million light-years away from Earth in the ancient, but small constellation Piscis

The first all-private flight to the International Space Station (ISS) is set to take off on Friday. The mission, organised by the US company Axiom Space, will send a crew of four persons to the space station. However, unlike previous flights to ISS, this mission will not include any current NASA astronauts and all the

In a fascinating discovery, scientists have found an exoplanet circling a star 17,000 light-years away. The Kepler Space Telescope, which is now retired, made the discovery in 2016. It’s the farthest planet yet to be discovered. The exoplanet, named K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb, was discovered using a technique known as microlensing. The method identifies exoplanets by the manner