Varda Space Industries, a company developing spacecraft for microgravity life sciences and hypersonics research, has raised $187 million to expand the scope and cadence of its missions. The post Varda Space Industries raises $187 million appeared first on SpaceNews.
It’s assumed that our region of the Universe isn’t special, and the Hubble Tension, or mismatch of expansion rates of the Universe at different times, is happening everywhere. But what if our place is unusual, for example, if the Milky Way is inside a lower-density region of the Universe, with stronger gravity pulling material away from us in all directions? A new paper suggests we might be in a void that’s emptying out towards higher-density regions all around us.
December 24th, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun so far, coming within just 6.1 million km from the surface of the Sun. During this flyby, it captured data and images, including this incredible picture using the Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe, or WISPR. In this WISPR image, you can see the corona and solar wind, charged particles coming from the Sun, hurled across the Solar System. The next pass will happen in September.
The end of Prime Day is in sight — savings won’t last for long on these top Canon and Sony cameras. Continue ReadingAct fast to get the best cameras for less — Amazon Prime Day ends tonight
Prime Day is brilliant, but the best savings aren’t always at Amazon. Walmart has beaten the online giant’s price for this Sony A7R IV camera, by over $200, but it could be ending soon! Continue ReadingWant a last minute steal? Save $200 on this pro-level Sony A7R IV mirrorless camera as Walmart takes on Amazon
The Mule makes a murderous entrance in today’s premiere episode, ‘A Song For the End of Everything’. Continue Reading‘Darkness is coming.’ ‘Foundation’ Season 3 arrives today on Apple TV+
Close encounters with massive objects can alter the orbits of planets around their stars. Stellar flybys can change planetary orbits, and may be responsible for some of the rogue or free-floating planets astronomers have discovered. But stars aren’t the only massive objects out there, and new research suggests that primordial black holes may alter the orbits of exoplanets.
The Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 crews spent their second of two weeks together conducting science aboard the International Space Station. Continue ReadingKeeping wastewater flowing into tomorrow’s coffee | On the ISS this week July 7 – 11, 2025
Astrobiology can be split into two very distinct fields. There’s the field that astronomers are likely more familiar with, involving large telescopes, exoplanets, and spectroscopic signals that are pored over to debate whether they show signs of life. But there is another camp, collective known as the Origins researchers that focus on developing a scientific understanding of how life originally developed on Earth. A new paper from Cole Mathis at Arizona State and Harrison B. Smith at the Institute of Science in Tokyo suggests a new path forward to tackling those challenges – set them up as competitions and let a hefty prize motivate scientific teams and individuals to pursue them.
Prime Day finished on July 11 and there are still some late savings on telescopes and binoculars, but they won’t last forever. Continue ReadingPrime Day is over but savings are still active — invest in some new optics for the return of Saturn to late-night skies
Astrophotographer Philippe Tosi captured explosive Ellerman bombs on the sun’s surface as an active sunspot turned toward Earth. Continue ReadingSunspot crackling with magnetic ‘bombs’ is now turning toward Earth (photo)
The Sony A7R V mirrorless camera plunges to just $3200 at Walmart, a staggering $1000 saving that eclipses Amazon’s Prime Day price! Continue ReadingI couldn’t keep quiet about $1000 off the Sony A7R V in this anti-Prime Day deal
In the last couple of decades, evidence has accumulated showing that ancient Mars was a warm planet with abundant water flowing across its surface. The more scientists study the planet, the more evidence they find. New research examining Mars’ Noachis Terra region adds to this evidence, showing that flowing water was once widespread across this less-often studied region.
It’s the question of the hour. On the first day of the month July 1st, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station at Río Hurtado, Chile spotted an interstellar interloper, which would receive the official designation C/2025 N1 ATLAS or 3I/ATLAS. The ‘I’ is a rare ‘interstellar’ designation, only the third such object known of after 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2/I Borisov. But can we see it? Such a spectacle as actually seeing an interstellar comet would be a true rarity to cross off your skywatching life list.
As the newest Superman film hits theaters, we cast our X-ray vision back on every live-action incarnation of the Fortress of Solitude, from its 1978 debut to its 2025 return. Continue ReadingThe Fortress of Solitude: Every live-action incarnation of Superman’s iconic ice hideout
“July Manhattanhenge is what I call the goodbye to the grid.” Continue ReadingDon’t miss the last full ‘Manhattanhenge’ sunset of 2025 light up NYC today
It’s the last day of Amazon Prime Day and some of these deals are ending tonight. Grab some new optics in time to see Saturn’s rings! Continue ReadingThese Amazon Prime Day deals must end tonight — don’t miss out on big savings across skywatching optics
Welcome to Edition 8.02 of the Rocket Report! It’s worth taking a moment to recognize an important anniversary in the history of human spaceflight next week. Fifty years ago, on July 15, 1975, NASA launched a three-man crew on an Apollo spacecraft from Florida and two Russian cosmonauts took off from Kazakhstan, on course to link up in low-Earth orbit two days later. This was the first joint US-Russian human spaceflight mission, laying the foundation Continue ReadingRocket Report: SpaceX to make its own propellant; China’s largest launch pad
We tested the YGiTK Northern Galaxy Lights Projector and loved its multifunctionality and near-silent operation — today’s your last chance to save 26%. Continue ReadingLast chance budget-friendly Prime Day star projector deal — now under $14
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire private astronaut who until recently was on track to lead NASA, is donating $15 million to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for its Space Camp programs. Continue ReadingBillionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman donating $15 million for Space Camp programs
