NASA

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There's a Lot Riding on Upcoming Starship Launch

Analysts calls planned May 21 test flight the 'single most important pre-IPO catalyst'

(Newser) - SpaceX has circled a new date for what may be its most consequential Starship trial yet. The company now aims to launch its latest, largest version of the rocket—Starship V3—on Thursday with a liftoff window opening at 6:30pm Eastern and plans to stream the suborbital test online,...

Volunteers Help Double Known Number of Brown Dwarfs

Citizen scientists have detected more than 3K of the enigmatic gas balls

(Newser) - Citizen scientists poring over old NASA images have doubled the known population of a strange class of objects called brown dwarfs. NASA says a decade-long effort under its Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project has turned up more than 3,000 previously unknown brown dwarfs—gas balls that can be up...

NASA Tests New, Super Powerful Engine

Lithium-fed thruster prototype reaches record output for ion engine in lab test

(Newser) - NASA just nudged its Mars ambitions forward with a lab test of a new ion engine that vastly outmuscles anything it's flown before. The lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster hit 120 kilowatts during five February test firings inside a vacuum chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory—about 25 times the power...

The Rapid Sinking of This City Can Be Seen From Space

Mexico City is said to be sinking 10 inches per year, one of Earth's fastest-sinking metropolises

(Newser) - Mexico City is sinking by nearly 10 inches a year, according to new satellite imagery released this week by NASA, making it one of the world's fastest-subsiding metropolises. One of the world's most sprawling and populated urban areas, at 3,000 square miles and some 22 million people,...

NASA Chief Wants to Make Pluto a Planet Again

Isaacman says agency has research it wants to 'escalate through the scientific community'

(Newser) - Pluto just picked up a powerful ally: the head of NASA. Testifying before a Senate panel on the 2027 NASA budget Tuesday, Administrator Jared Isaacman made clear he wants the icy world reinstated as a full-fledged planet, Space.com reports. "I am very much in the camp of '...

Scientist May Have Found a Shortcut to Mars
Scientist May Have
Found a Shortcut to Mars
NEW STUDY
Apr 29, 2026 5:47 AM CDT

Scientist May Have Found a Shortcut to Mars

Brazilian researcher uses asteroid orbital data to chart a roundtrip of just 153 days

(Newser) - Relying on optimal planetary alignment, NASA estimates a roundtrip to Mars would take two to three years. Now, a new study argues that using orbital data from asteroids, rather than planets, could shave years off the trip, potentially cutting total mission time to about five months. Instead of relying solely...

NASA Wants Your Help Spotting Lunar Strikes

Citizen scientists invited to record lunar impact flashes

(Newser) - NASA is looking for help with a problem most of us rarely think about: how often the moon gets smacked by space rocks. To better plan for long-term lunar bases, the agency wants citizen scientists to track "impact flashes"—brief bursts of light visible when meteoroids slam into the moon's...

Researchers Find Fungus Surviving in NASA Clean Rooms

Discovery raises the possibility of contaminating Mars missions

(Newser) - NASA may have met its match in a microscopic stowaway that shrugs off conditions meant to simulate Mars. Researchers found a fungus, Aspergillus calidoustus, lurking in NASA clean rooms used to assemble Mars missions and put its spores through a punishing series of tests: intense radiation, extreme cold, searing heat,...

Next Moon Mission May Have a Spacesuit Problem

NASA watchdog says moon suits might not be ready until 2028

(Newser) - NASA's next moonwalk may be tripped up by the wardrobe department. A new report from the agency's Office of Inspector General warns that the spacesuits needed for a planned 2028 lunar landing are running behind schedule and might not be ready before 2031. NASA's existing suits for spacewalks outside the...

House Panel Eyes 'Possible Sinister' Link in Scientist Cases

FBI leading investigation into deaths, disappearances

(Newser) - The FBI says it is now leading the effort to investigate a cluster of deaths and disappearances involving scientists with ties to US nuclear and aerospace work. The bureau says it is working with the departments of Energy and Defense and local and state police to examine possible links between...

Scientist on Mars Find: 'Is It Life? We Can't Tell'

Curiosity uncovers rich mix of organic molecules in sample from ancient lakebed

(Newser) - NASA says its Curiosity rover has turned up its richest haul of organic molecules yet, sharpening, though not settling, the question of whether the planet once hosted life. In a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications , researchers say a drilled sample dubbed "Mary Anning 3" from a single...

Voyager 1 Has Lost 80% of Its Instruments

Low on power, aging spacecraft powers down LECP, leaving 2 of 10 instruments still active

(Newser) - NASA just turned off another instrument on humanity's farthest-flung machine. Engineers have powered down Voyager 1's Low-Energy Charged Particles (LECP) experiment, which measures ions, electrons, and cosmic rays, to stretch the 49-year-old spacecraft's dwindling power supply and keep it operating in interstellar space for as long as...

Artemis II Commander Praises 'Magnificent Machine'

'We want to thank the world,' Wiseman says. 'Thank you for tuning in'

(Newser) - The Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance gave high marks Thursday to their moonship, especially the heat shield, for its performance during reentry. In their first news conference since returning to Earth, the three Americans and one Canadian said their lunar flyby puts NASA in a much better...

Joe Rogan: Iran War Is 'Absolutely Terrifying'

Podcaster ramps up his criticism of Trump's strategy as reckless

(Newser) - Joe Rogan's split with President Trump is only deepening. In a new podcast interview with comedian David Cross, Rogan amplified his previous criticism of the Iran war. "All of it's terrifying," Rogan said, reports Mediaite . "Any time you're involved with—you're shooting missiles...

Artemis II Astronauts Return to Earth

Record-breaking lunar voyage ends with 'perfect bull's-eye splashdown'

(Newser) - Artemis II's astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity's first lunar voyage in more than a half-century. It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only swaths of the...

Riskiest Part of Artemis II Mission Is Ahead

NASA alters Orion re-entry path to offset heat shield concerns

(Newser) - NASA's first crewed trip around the moon in more than 50 years is coming down to 13 or 14 very intense minutes, NBC News reports. The four Artemis II astronauts are due to slam into Earth's atmosphere Friday evening in their Orion capsule, with a planned Pacific splashdown...

'Riding a Fireball Through the Atmosphere Is Profound'

Artemis II astronauts prepare for Friday return

(Newser) - Drawing ever closer to Earth, the Artemis II astronauts tidied up their lunar cruiser for its upcoming "fireball" return and reflected on their historic journey around the moon, describing it as surreal and profound. As the next-to-last day of their flight dawned Thursday, humanity's first lunar explorers in...

Artemis Moon Crew Has 'Avatars' on Board

Chips with astronauts' bone marrow cells are part of an experiment that could help future missions

(Newser) - Four astronauts heading home after their historic trip around the moon are also participants in a unique science experiment that could help future space missions. On board with them are what NASA calls their "avatars"—chips about the size of a half-dollar that contain the bone marrow of...

Artemis II Mission Captures Stunning Views of Moon, Earth

Crew witnessed Earthrise and total solar eclipse

(Newser) - The Artemis II astronauts—three Americans and one Canadian—hurtled deeper into space than any other humans during a moon flyby Monday that marks NASA's lunar comeback. They were greeted by a total solar eclipse as they became the first to gaze by eye at parts of the elusive far...

Jupiter's Crazy Powerful Lightning Puts Earth's to Shame

Team describes strikes with 100 times the energy of Earth's, predicting they go much higher

(Newser) - Jupiter's storms aren't just big, they're packing electrical punches that put Earth's to shame. A new analysis of data from NASA's Juno spacecraft finds lightning on the gas giant can routinely deliver about 100 times the energy of a typical strike on Earth—and may,...

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