NASA Tests Prototype 3D Printed Titanium Antenna in Space

With a simple motion, a jack-in-the-box-like spring designed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory showed the potential of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to cut costs and complexity for futuristic space antennas. Called JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC), the spring deployed on the small commercial spacecraft Proteus Space's Mercury One on Feb. 3, 2026. An onboard camera captured a video of the spring popping out of its container as the spacecraft passed over the Pacific Ocean in low-Earth orbit.

The Coldest "Stars" in the Galaxy Might Actually Be Alien Megastructures

Ever since physicist Freeman Dyson first proposed the concept in 1960, the “Dyson sphere” has been the holy grail of techno-signature hunters. A highly advanced civilization could build a “sphere” (or, in our more modern understanding, a “swarm” of smaller components) around their host star to harvest its entire energy output. We know, in theory at least, that such a swarm could exist - but what would it actually look like if we were able to observe one? A new paper available in pre-print on arXiv, and soon to be published in Universe from Amirnezam Amiri of the University of Arkansas digs into that question - and in the process discloses the types of stars that are the most likely to find them around.

Astronomers Device a New Way to Measure Cosmic Expansion with Lensed Supernovae

Researchers in Munich have used the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona to capture five images of one and the same supernova in a single picture. The gravity of two foreground galaxies has deflected the light from a supernova far in the background along different paths to Earth.

Tiny Dust Grains From Massive Stars: How the Smallest and Largest Are Linked

Star dust is at the root of everything that exists, and is produced in large quantities around Wolf-Rayet binaries. But there are some puzzling observations of dust grain sizes that require explanations. New research shows why different observations have found different dust grain sizes.

Laser-Based 3D Printing Could Build Future Bases on the Moon

Simulated lunar dirt can be turned into extremely durable structures, potentially paving the way to more sustainable and cost-effective space missions, a new study suggests. Using a special laser 3D printing method, researchers melted fake lunar soil—a synthetic version of the fine dusty material on the moon surface, called regolith simulant—into layers and fused it with a base surface to manufacture small, heat-resistant objects.

Europe's Answer to Starship

SpaceX's Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built and it may be about to change everything. But researchers at the German Aerospace Centre have been asking a question: does Europe have an answer? Their new study, built on meticulous analysis of Starship's own flight data, suggests the answer is yes although it will require a fundamentally different approach, and a willingness to think differently.

Growing Future Meals in Space Will Require Human Waste

Future farmers on the Moon and Mars will have a big challenge: how to grow healthy food in two extremely unhealthy environments. That's because the soil on both worlds isn't at all hospitable to plants and animals. Neither are other conditions. Both are irradiated worlds, Mars has a thin atmosphere and the Moon has none at all. So, how will future colonists on either world grow their food?

Jupiter Is Smaller and Flatter Than Previously Thought

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and has proudly boasted about this since time immemorial, with its scientific confirmation occurring by Galileo Galilei in 1610. It was later found that Jupiter has a bulging equator caused by its rapid rotation, turbulent atmosphere, and complex interior mechanisms despite its massive size, and scientists have even measured its “waistline” down to a tenth of a kilometer. Now, imagine being the largest planet in the solar system and you’re told you’re not as big as you thought. Where probably most humans would be thrilled to find this out, how do you respond if you’re Jupiter?

The LOFAR Telescope Produces the Most Detailed Radio Map of the Universe Ever

The radio telescope LOFAR, with a major contribution from Leiden Observatory, has produced the most detailed radio map of the Universe ever made. Never before have so many cosmic radio sources been captured in a single survey: 13.7 million.

6 Million Years Ago Something Slammed Into Modern-Day Brazil

Researchers in Brazil have discovered another tektite field. Tektites are gravel-sized chunks of natural glass formed by impacts and spread over a wide area. Their presence indicates that a powerful impact occurred 6 million years ago.

JWST Digs Into the Uranian Ionosphere

Uranus is a planet that seems to roll around on its side as it orbits the Sun. That's because it's tipped over, with an axial tilt of 97.8 degrees. That weird tilt gave the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) a chance to probe the ionosphere using the Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) instrument. An international team of astronomers used the data to map the vertical structure of that region and detect faint auroral displays.

A Method for Extracting Oxygen from Extraterrestrial Soils Just Passed a Major Test

NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project completed an important step toward using local resources to support human exploration on the Moon.

Europa and Other Jovian Moons May Have Formed With Their Own Supply of Life's Building Blocks

Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) are important building blocks for life. They can form in space and be delivered to planets. But new research shows some of them can form in circumplanetary disks where moons form, boosting the prospects for life in Europa's ocean.

Into Totality: Our Complete Guide to the March 3rd Total Lunar Eclipse

If skies are clear, don’t miss one of the top astronomical events of the year this coming Tuesday, March 3rd, as the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow in a total lunar eclipse. This will be a fine leisurely affair centered around the Pacific Ocean region, with totality lasting almost an hour in duration. For many observers worldwide, this is the last total lunar eclipse until late 2028 and mid-2029.

How giant galaxies could form just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang

The existence of massive, elliptical galaxies in the early universe has puzzled astronomers for two decades. An international team led by Nikolaus Sulzenauer and Axel Weiß from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) used data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to shed light on this open question of galaxy formation. They studied one of the most spectacular galaxy aggregations in great detail and published their results in the current issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

What Causes Those Snowmen in Space?

Astronomers have long debated why so many icy objects in the outer solar system look like snowmen. Michigan State University researchers now have evidence of the surprisingly simple process that could be responsible for their creation. Jackson Barnes, an MSU graduate student, has created the first simulation that reproduces the two-lobed shape naturally with gravitational collapse. His work is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

How Long Could Earth Microbes Live on Mars?

Searching for past or present life on Mars is the sole driving force behind every mission we send to the Red Planet, from orbiters to landers to rovers. However, there remains a concern in the scientific community of Earth-based microbes hitching a ride on Mars-bound spacecraft, also called forward contamination. The concern is potentially mistaking Earth microbes for Mars life or Earth microbes potentially influence samples of Mars life we might find. While NASA is dedicated to mitigating it as much as possible, could new methods help determine how long Earth-based microbes could survive on Mars, this alleviating concerns for forward contamination?

NASA Telescope Spots a Young Sun-Like Star Inflating Its Astrosphere

Chandra's X-ray Space Telescope, with some help from the Hubble, spotted a young Sun-like star about 120 light-years away with a powerful stellar wind. It's carving out its astrosphere, a bubble of relatively hot gas that's pushing into the surrounding, much cooler, interstellar medium. This is the same process our Sun went through 5 billion years ago when it created the heliosphere.

This Supernova Progenitor Hid Behind a Surprisingly Thick Veil of Carbon Dust

For the first time, astronomers have used images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to identify a supernova progenitor that could not be seen by any other telescope: a red supergiant that was located in a nearby galaxy. The supergiant’s surroundings were surprisingly dusty - dusty enough to render it invisible to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Super-Jupiters Challenge Planet Size Limits

Our solar system is home to a wide diversity of planetary bodies, boasting eight planets, five officially recognized dwarf planets, and almost 1,000 confirmed moons. The eight planets consist of the four rocky (terrestrial) planets of the inner solar system and the four gas giant planets of the outer solar system. The largest planet in our solar system is Jupiter, measuring a radius and mass of 11 and 318 times of Earth, respectively. However, the discovery of exoplanets quickly altered our understanding of planetary sizes, as several have been discovered to have masses and radii several times that of Jupiter. So, how big can planet get, and are there limits to their sizes?

NASA is Preparing to Roll Artemis II Rocket Back into the Hangar

Grounded until at least April, NASA's giant moon rocket is headed back to the hangar this week for more repairs before astronauts climb aboard.

Supercomputer Simulations Crack a Long-Standing Mystery About Red Dwarfs

Researchers at University of Victoria's Astronomy Research Centre (ARC) and the University of Minnesota study the changes in the chemical composition at the surface of red giant stars.

Sampling Earthly Geysers For Insights Into The Icy Ocean Moons

One way of studying and understanding distant, hard-to-reach locations elsewhere in the Solar System is to find analogues of them here on Earth. For example, deserts and lava fields are often used to understand aspects of the Martian surface. In new research, scientists collected samples from natural geysers in the Utah desert to try to understand the Solar System's icy ocean moons.

Exploring Alien Atmospheres with New Theory

Searching for life beyond Earth has rapidly advanced in recent years. However, directly imaging an exoplanet and all their incredible features remain elusive given the literal astronomical distances from Earth. Therefore, astronomers have settled by exploring exoplanet atmospheres for signatures of life, also called biosignatures. This is currently conducted by analyzing the starlight that passes through an exoplanet’s atmosphere, known as spectroscopy, as it passes in front of its star, also called a transit. But improvements continue to be made to better explore exoplanet atmospheres, specifically cleaning up messy data.

Could it be We've Recieved Alien Signals and Didn't Notice? Not Bloody Likely, According to New Study't we seen them?

For decades, scientists have searched the skies for signs of extraterrestrial technology. A study from EPFL asks a sharp question: if alien signals have already reached Earth without us noticing, what should we realistically expect to detect today?

Exomoons Could Reveal Themselves Through Lunar Eclipses

Our solar system hosts almost 900 known moons, with more than 400 orbiting the eight planets while the remaining orbit dwarf planets, asteroids, and Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). Of these, only a handful are targets for astrobiology and could potentially support life as we know it, including Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede, and Saturn’s moon Titan and Enceladus. While these moons orbit two of the largest planets in our solar system, what about moons orbiting giant exoplanets, also called exomoons? But, to find life on exomoons, scientists need to find exomoons to begin with.

Researchers Examine How We Could Achieve Sustainable Water Systems for Space

If humans want to live in space, whether on spacecraft or the surface of Mars, one of the first problems to solve is that of water for drinking, hygiene, and life-sustaining plants. Even bringing water to the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth orbit costs on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. Thus, finding efficient, durable, and trustworthy ways to source and reuse water in space is a clear necessity for long-term habitation there.

NASA's Techno-Wizardry Grants The Perseverance Rover Greater Autonomy

When the Perseverance rover was sent to Mars, it was largely dedicated to astrobiology. It's driving around an ancient paleolake, Jezero Crater, looking for evidence of past life. But the rover mission is also a testbed for greater autonomous operations. Now, NASA has given the inquisitive rover a way to better navigate the Martian surface with less human intervention.

Report Blames NASA and Boeing for Botched Starliner Flight Test

Nearly two years after Boeing’s botched Starliner mission to the International Space Station, NASA put the mishap in the same category as the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters — and said the spacecraft wouldn’t carry another crew until dozens of corrective actions are taken.

No Supernova Needed. This Star Collapsed Directly Into A Black Hole

Theory says that, under the right conditions, massive stars can collapse directly into black holes without exploding as supernovae. But observational evidence of the phenomenon has been hard to get. Now astronomers have found some sequestered in archival data.

Ancient Massive Stars Enriched Early Clusters and Birthed First Black Holes

The early Universe was a busy place. As the infant cosmos exanded, that epoch saw the massive first stars forming, along with protogalaxies. It turns out those extremely massive early stars were stirring up chemical changes in the first globular clusters, as well. Not only that, many of those monster stars ultimately collapsed as black holes.

Hubble and Euclid Team Up To Identify A Dark Matter Galaxy

We know galaxies by their powerful illumination, generated by multitudes of stars. But some galaxies can be very dim. These are hypothesized to be dark galaxies, or dark matter galaxies. They're theoretical, and only candidates have been identified, but researchers may have confirmed the very first one.

Flexible Force Fields Can Protect Our Return to the Moon

Lunar dust remains one of the biggest challenges for a long-term human presence on the Moon. Its jagged, clingy nature makes it naturally stick to everything from solar panels to the inside of human lungs. And while we have some methods of dealing with it, there is still plenty of experimentation to do here on Earth before we use any such system in the lunar environment. A new paper in Acta Astronautica from Francesco Pacelli and Alvaro Romero-Calvo of Georgia Tech and their co-authors describes two types of flexible Electrodynamic Dust Shields (EDSs) that could one day be used in such an environment.

How Supermassive Black Holes Stifle Star Formation In Neighbouring Galaxies

We know that supermassive black holes can inhibit star formation in their galaxies. But new research and JWST observations show that the most luminous quasars can actually suppress star formation in neighbouring galaxies. SMBH may have played a more pronounced role in shaping the early Universe than previously thought.

Ground Teams Stop Flow of Liquid Hydrogen During Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal

NASA said Tuesday it will now target a March launch of its new moon rocket after running into exasperating fuel leaks during a make-or-break test a day earlier.

An Ancient Merger Could Have Created Titan and the Debris Created Saturn's Rings

New research presents a timeline for recent (astronomically speaking) events in the Saturnian system. It shows that Titan collided with a proto-Hyperion, and the collision smoothed Titan's surface while some of the debris accreted onto a new Hyperion and also created Saturn's rings. The research can also explain some of the Saturnian system's other unusual characteristics.

Occupy Mars? Or the Moon? Get a Reality Check on Elon Musk's Plans

SpaceX founder Elon Musk now says he wants to build a city on the moon before building a city on Mars. Is either scenario realistic? In the latest episode of the Fiction Science podcast, biologist Scott Solomon, the author of a new book titled "Becoming Martian," does a reality check on humanity's prospects for living on other worlds.

New Lunar Samples Challenge the "Late Heavy Bombardment"

Results are coming out from the samples returned by China’s Chang’e-6 sample return mission to the far side of the Moon. They offer our first close-up look at the geology and history of the far side, and a recent paper published in Science Advances from researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has very interesting insights about the impact history of the Moon itself, and even some for the solar system at large.

How Mars' Toxic Soil Actually Makes Stronger Bricks

Using local resources will be key to any mission to either the Moon or Mars - in large part because of how expensive it is to bring those resources up from Earth to our newest outposts. But Mars in particular has one local resource that has long been thought of as a negative - perchlorates. These chemicals, which are toxic to almost all life, make up between 0.5-1% of Martian soil, and have long been thought to be a hindrance rather than a help to our colonization efforts for the new planet. But a new paper from researchers at the Indian Institute of Science and the University of Florida shows that, when making the bricks that will build the outpost, perchlorates actually help.

Scientists Make a Game-Changing Find in the Bennu Asteroid

According to the researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, some of the amino acids found in the asteroid Bennu likely formed in a different way than was previously thought, effectively challenging what we thought we knew about the origins of life.

Very Few Planets Have the Right Chemistry for Life

A complex web of interrelated factors make Earth a life-supporting planet, and some of those factors are chemical. New research shows how oxygen abundance regulates the availability of the important chemicals phosphorous and nitrogen on planets, and that few planets get it right. While discouraging, it could help us optimize our search for habitable worlds.

Earth's Radiation Fingerprint

Scientists have discovered a revolutionary way to measure Earth's radiation budget by observing our planet from the Moon. A team of astronomers have revealed that lunar observations capture Earth as a complete disk, filtering out local weather noise and revealing planet scale radiation patterns dominated by spherical harmonic functions, effectively creating a unique "fingerprint" of Earth's outgoing radiation. This Moon based perspective solves fundamental limitations of satellite observations, which struggle to achieve both temporal continuity and spatial consistency, offering a new tool for understanding global climate change with unprecedented clarity.

The Ariane 6 Rocket Gets More "Oomph!"

Designed for versatility, Ariane 6 can adapt to each mission: flying with two boosters for lighter payloads, or four boosters when more power is needed. In its four-booster configuration, Ariane 6 can carry larger and heavier spacecraft into orbit, enabling some of Europe’s most ambitious missions.

The Hidden Story of Young Martian Volcanoes

New research has revealed that Mars’ most recent volcanoes weren’t formed by simple, one off eruptions as scientists previously thought. Instead, these volcanic systems evolved over millions of years, fed by complex underground magma chambers that changed and developed over time. By studying surface features and mineral signatures from orbit, researchers have pieced together a far more intricate volcanic story than anyone expected.

Webb Reveals a Plethora of Organic Molecules in a Bright Local Infrared Galaxy

A recent study, led by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB), CSIC-INTA and using modelling techniques developed at the University of Oxford, has uncovered an unprecedented richness of small organic molecules in the deeply obscured nucleus of a nearby galaxy, thanks to observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The work, published in Nature Astronomy, provides new insights into how complex organic molecules and carbon are processed in some of the most extreme environments in the Universe.

China Successfully Tests Their New Rocket and Lunar Crew Capsule, Placing them On-Track to Reach the Moon

On Feb.11th, China successfully conducted a low-altitude demonstration and verification flight test of the Long March-10 rocket and a maximum dynamic pressure escape test of the Mengzhou crewed spaceship system. Credit: Xinhua]

How a Perfect Gravitational Wave Tests Einstein

On 14 January, 2025, two colliding black holes sent the clearest gravitational wave signal ever recorded rippling across the universe to Earth’s detectors. This remarkably crisp signal, designated GW250114, has allowed physicists to conduct the most stringent test yet of Einstein’s general relativity by measuring multiple “tones” from the collision. The wave passed the test with flying colours, but researchers remain optimistic that future detections might finally reveal where Einstein’s century old theory breaks down, potentially offering the first glimpses of quantum gravity.

The Galaxy Cluster That Grew Up Too Fast

Astronomers have discovered a massive galaxy cluster assembling itself just one billion years after the Big Bang, there’s just one problem… it shouldn’t exist! Current models suggest it shouldn’t have formed when it did, Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope working in tandem, scientists spotted JADES-ID1, a protocluster containing at least 66 galaxies wrapped in a vast cloud of million degree gas forming during what should have been the universe’s infancy.

Scientists Continue to Trace the Origin of the Mysterious "Amaterasu" Cosmic Ray Particle

The Amaterasu particle was detected in 2021 by the Telescope Array experiment in the U.S. It is the second-highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed, carrying around 40 million times more energy than particles accelerated at the Large Hadron Collider. Such particles are exceedingly rare and thought to originate in some of the most extreme environments in the universe.

How Wood Records the Sun’s Most Violent Outbursts

Ancient trees hold secrets about the most violent storms our Sun has ever unleashed, catastrophic bursts of radiation that dwarf anything modern civilisation has experienced. Scientists have discovered radioactive carbon signatures frozen in tree rings from solar storms so powerful they could cripple our satellite networks and power grids today.