Space Station News

July 20, 2026

Top Headlines

NASA Captured the Black Sea Turning Brilliant Turquoise from Space

July 15, 2026 NASA's PACE satellite captured the Black Sea glowing turquoise during its annual phytoplankton bloom. The vivid color comes from massive numbers of coccolithophores, microscopic organisms whose reflective shells brighten the water enough to be seen ...

NASA Selects 41 Space Technologies for Future Moon and Mars Exploration

July 15, 2026 NASA has chosen 41 commercial technology projects that could solve critical challenges for future missions to the Moon and Mars. From powering lunar outposts to protecting spacecraft from Moon dust, the innovations are designed to push both space ...

NASA Selects Four New Moon Missions to Build a Permanent Lunar Base

July 14, 2026 NASA is ramping up its lunar ambitions by awarding nearly $600 million for four commercial Moon landings planned for late 2028. Each mission will carry the same trio of science instruments to improve lunar navigation, study dangerous dust kicked up ...

Europe Just Unveiled a New Rival to SpaceX’s Starship

July 10, 2026 A detailed independent study found that SpaceX's Starship is every bit as revolutionary as expected, while revealing both its impressive capabilities and its biggest remaining hurdles. It also introduces an ambitious European rocket concept that ...

NASA Updates Worsening ISS Leak After Crew Safety Alert

June 8, 2026 NASA says a long-running air leak aboard the ISS recently worsened, leading engineers to investigate new suspected crack locations and consider a riskier repair strategy. Astronauts were temporarily moved into a safe haven as a precaution before the ...

NASA’s New AI Space Chip Could Let Spacecraft Think for Themselves

May 15, 2026 NASA is testing a next-generation space computer chip that could give spacecraft the ability to operate far more independently in deep space. The radiation-hardened processor is showing performance levels hundreds of times beyond current spaceflight ...

Blue Origin’s New Moon Lander Just Survived Extreme Space Testing on Earth

May 6, 2026 A bold step toward returning humans to the Moon is underway with Blue Origin’s uncrewed MK1 “Endurance” lander, designed to test the technologies that future astronauts will rely on. Built in ...

NASA Just Tested a Powerful New Thruster That Could Send Humans to Mars

May 6, 2026 A powerful new electromagnetic thruster has taken a major step forward after a successful high-energy test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fueled by lithium vapor and driven by intense magnetic forces, the experimental engine reached ...

NASA Just Took a Huge Step Toward the Moon After Artemis II Success

May 4, 2026 Artemis II proved NASA’s deep space systems are ready for the next leap. Orion survived its high-speed return with improved heat shield performance and pinpoint landing accuracy, while the SLS rocket nailed its trajectory. Even the launch pad ...

NASA Launches Twin Spacecraft to Solve the Mystery of Mars’ Lost Atmosphere

Mar. 14, 2026 Mars didn’t always look like the barren world we see today. Over billions of years, the Sun’s solar wind stripped away much of its atmosphere, helping transform it from a warmer, wetter planet ...

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes the First AI-planned Drive on Mars

Feb. 2, 2026 NASA’s Perseverance rover has just made history by driving across Mars using routes planned by artificial intelligence instead of human operators. A vision-capable AI analyzed the same images and terrain data normally used by rover planners, ...

AI Restores James Webb Telescope’s Crystal-clear Vision

Oct. 27, 2025 Two Sydney PhD students have pulled off a remarkable space science feat from Earth—using AI-driven software to correct image blurring in NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Their innovation, called AMIGO, fixed distortions in the telescope’s ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:49am EDT

NASA Reveals Artemis III Crew for One of the Most Complex Space Missions Ever

June 11, 2026 NASA has selected the Artemis III crew for a high-stakes 2027 mission designed to test the future of lunar exploration. Astronauts will launch aboard ...

Deadly “red Sky” Solar Storm from 800 Years Ago Discovered in Ancient Trees

May 14, 2026 Researchers in Japan traced a hidden medieval solar storm using ancient tree rings and centuries-old sky observations. The team linked reports of ...

NASA Launches Artemis II for First Crewed Moon Flyby in 50 Years

Apr. 2, 2026 A new era of lunar exploration has begun as NASA launches four astronauts on Artemis II—the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon in over 50 years. Riding aboard the powerful SLS rocket, the ...

Four Astronauts Enter Quarantine as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Launch Nears

Feb. 2, 2026 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 team has entered a carefully controlled two-week quarantine as the countdown begins for their journey to the International Space Station. The four astronauts—representing ...

NASA Is Set to Send Astronauts Around the Moon Again

Jan. 25, 2026 NASA is moving into a new phase of space exploration, with major progress across human spaceflight, science missions, and advanced technology. In just one year, the agency has launched multiple ...

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Retires After 608 Days in Space and Nine Spacewalks

Jan. 22, 2026 NASA astronaut Suni Williams has retired after 27 years of service and a career defined by endurance, leadership, and firsts in space. She spent 608 ...

NASA’s Artemis II Reaches the Launch Pad and the Countdown to the Moon Begins

Jan. 19, 2026 NASA’s Artemis II rocket has reached its launch pad after a painstaking overnight crawl across Kennedy Space Center. Engineers are now preparing ...

NASA Brings Crew-11 Home Early in Rare Medical Evacuation

Jan. 16, 2026 SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down safely in the Pacific after more than five months in orbit aboard the International Space Station. The four astronauts completed over 140 experiments and traveled nearly ...

Scientists May Have Found the Best Place for Humans to Land on Mars

Dec. 27, 2025 A newly identified region on Mars may hold the key to future human landings. Researchers found evidence of water ice less than a meter beneath the surface, close enough to be harvested for water, ...

New Moonquake Discovery Could Change NASA’s Moon Plans

Dec. 7, 2025 Scientists have discovered that moonquakes, not meteoroids, are responsible for shifting terrain near the Apollo 17 landing site. Their analysis points to a still-active fault that has been ...

This Tiny Plant Survived the Vacuum of Space and Still Grows

Nov. 24, 2025 Moss spores survived an extended stay on the outside of the ISS and remained capable of germinating once back on Earth. Their resilience to vacuum, extreme temperatures, and UV radiation surprised ...

Microquasars Emerge as the Milky Way’s Most Extreme Particle Engines

Nov. 16, 2025 LHAASO has uncovered that micro-quasars, black holes feeding on companion stars, are powerful PeV particle accelerators. Their jets produce ultra-high-energy gamma rays and protons that exceed ...

ESA’s Chilling New “super Antenna” in Australia Reaches Spacecraft Billions of Miles Away

Oct. 6, 2025 ESA has inaugurated a powerful new 35-meter deep space antenna at its New Norcia site in Western Australia, marking a major boost to Europe’s ability to communicate with spacecraft exploring the ...

10 People Who Beat 8,000 Others to Become NASA Astronaut Candidates

Sep. 23, 2025 NASA has chosen 10 new astronaut candidates who will train for missions to the Moon and Mars. Their selection represents a powerful blend of talent and ambition, fueling humanity’s next great leaps ...

Rapid Rocket Growth Raises Alarm Over Earth’s Fragile Ozone Layer

Sep. 15, 2025 The booming space industry has filled the skies with rockets and satellites, but this rapid expansion comes with a hidden danger: slowing the recovery of the ozone layer. Rocket launches and burning ...

New Rocket Fuel Compound Packs 150% More Energy

Sep. 30, 2025 A new boron-rich compound, manganese diboride, delivers much higher energy density than current solid-rocket materials while remaining stable until intentionally ignited. Its power comes from an ...

NASA Just Confirmed Its 6,000th Alien World. Some Are Truly Bizarre

Sep. 20, 2025 NASA has confirmed 6,000 exoplanets, marking a major milestone in humanity’s quest to understand other worlds. From gas giants hugging their stars to planets covered in lava or clouds of gemstones, ...

How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Was Lost Before Reaching the Moon

Aug. 11, 2025 NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, a mission designed to create high-resolution maps of water on the Moon, ended after losing contact with the spacecraft just one day after its February 26 launch. Despite ...

NASA’s Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle Will Search for Lunar Ice and Subsurface Structures

July 11, 2025 NASA is gearing up for an exciting chapter in lunar exploration by sending a trio of high-tech instruments to the Moon. Two of the devices will be attached to a new lunar rover capable of carrying ...

Could 'Pausing' Cell Death Be the Final Frontier in Medicine on Earth and Beyond?

May 29, 2025 The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new ...

Miso Made in Space Tastes Nuttier

Apr. 2, 2025 Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt. Researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and ...

Martian Dust Could Pose Health Risks to Future Astronauts

Mar. 31, 2025 Inhaling dust particles from the Red Planet over long periods of time could put humans at risk of developing respiratory issues, thyroid disease and other health ...

The International Space Station Is Overly Sterile; Making It 'Dirtier' Could Improve Astronaut Health

Feb. 27, 2025 Astronauts often experience immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory conditions while traveling in space. A new study suggests that these issues could be due to the excessively sterile ...

Lunar Trailblazer Blasts Off to Map Water on the Moon

Feb. 25, 2025 On Wednesday 26 February, a thermal imaging camera blasted off to the Moon as part of NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission. This aims to map sources of water on the Moon to shed light on the lunar ...

Jumping Workouts Could Help Astronauts on the Moon and Mars, Study in Mice Suggests

Feb. 13, 2025 Jumping workouts could help astronauts prevent the type of cartilage damage they are likely to endure during lengthy missions to Mars and the Moon, a new study suggests. The researchers found that ...

One in Four Chance Per Year That Rocket Junk Will Enter Busy Airspace

Feb. 5, 2025 There's a 26 per cent annual chance that space rocket junk will re-enter the atmosphere and pass through a busy flight area, according to a recent study. While the chance of debris hitting an ...

Fresh, Direct Evidence for Tiny Drops of Quark-Gluon Plasma

Jan. 15, 2025 A new analysis of data from the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) reveals fresh evidence that collisions of even very small nuclei with large ones might create tiny ...

Brain Cells Remain Healthy After a Month on the International Space Station, but Mature Faster Than Brain Cells on Earth

Dec. 17, 2024 Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cogni tion, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, ...

Confinement May Affect How We Smell and Feel About Food

Nov. 18, 2024 New research found confined and isolating environments changed the way people smelled and responded emotionally to certain food aromas. The team in this study compared 44 people's emotional ...

Space: A New Frontier for Exploring Stem Cell Therapy

Nov. 4, 2024 Stem cells grown in microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have unique qualities that could one day help accelerate new biotherapies and heal complex disease, researchers say. The ...