London, UK (SPX) Aug 22, 2025
The mystery at Jupiter's heart has taken a fresh twist - as new research suggests a giant impact may not have been responsible for the formation of its core. It had been thought that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of Jupiter's core material could have mixed up the central region of the gas giant, enough to explain its interior today

London, UK (SPX) Aug 22, 2025
A new Durham University study challenges the idea that Jupiter's unusual dilute core was formed by a giant collision, overturning a leading explanation of the planet's interior structure. Jupiter's core does not have a sharp boundary but gradually merges into its hydrogen-rich layers. This dilute core was first revealed by NASA's Juno spacecraft, sparking debate about how it formed. Earlie

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 22, 2025
In a milestone for interplanetary communications, Lonestar Data Holdings confirmed the successful test of the Solar System Internet's Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) aboard its lunar data center mission launched on Intuitive Machines' Athena lander in February. The demonstration validated the use of DTN technology, engineered to maintain robust communications in high-latency space environment

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 22, 2025

NASA's Artemis II mission, set to send four astronauts on a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon and back, will advance the agency's goal to land astronauts at the Moon's south polar region and will help set the stage for future crewed Mars missions. While the Artemis II crew will be the first humans to test NASA's Orion spacecraft in space, they will also conduct science investigations

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 22, 2025

On Sept. 11, 2022, engineers at a flight control center in Turin, Italy, sent a radio signal into deep space. Its destination was NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft flying toward an asteroid more than 5 million miles away. The message prompted the spacecraft to execute a series of pre-programmed commands that caused a small, shoebox-sized satellite contributed by t

Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 22, 2025
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover demonstrated a new multitasking capability when capturing this view: It snapped the 15 images that make up the mosaic while simultaneously communicating with an orbiter. The images were taken by the right navigation camera on Curiosity's mast July 26, 2025, the 4,611th sol, or day, of the mission. The rover's tracks cross through a region filled with boxwork formation

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2025
Rocket Lab Corporation has achieved its 70th successful Electron mission, underscoring the rocket's status as the world's most frequently launched small orbital vehicle and reinforcing the company's role as a leader in responsive space launch services. The mission, called "Live, Laugh, Launch," lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on August 23 at 22:42 UTC. The launch occ

Washington (AFP) Aug 24, 2025
Elon Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the next test of its Starship megarocket on Sunday, after a string of recent failures that has prompted some observers to question its viability. The world's most powerful launch vehicle is set to lift off from the company's Starbase in southern Texas at 6:30 pm local time (2330 GMT) for its tenth flight. The mission aims to put the upper stage t

Week in images: 18-22 August 2025

Discover our week through the lens

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 20, 2025
CerraCap Ventures has invested in Space Kinetic Corp., a cleared national security innovator based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The move aligns with CerraCap's push to speed space defense technologies and bolster the United States strategic edge as space becomes increasingly contested