Space Science

SpaceX blasts off NASA's new planet-hunter, TESS

NASA blasts off its newest planet-hunting spacecraft, TESS, a $337 million satellite that aims to scan 85 percent of the skies for cosmic bodies where life may exist.
NASA's new planet-hunter to seek closer, Earth-like worlds

NASA is poised to launch a $337 million washing machine-sized spacecraft that aims to vastly expand mankind's search for planets beyond our solar system, particularly closer, Earth-sized ones that might harbor life.
India successfully puts navigation satellite into orbit

India puts into orbit navigation satellite IRNSS-1I, a part of its satellite navigation system NavIC in copy-book style.
Chinese space station burns up over South Pacific

China’s Tiangong-1 space station re-enters the earth’s atmosphere and burns up over the middle of the South Pacific, the Chinese space authority says.
Astronomers find the 'impossible': A galaxy without dark matter

Stupefied astronomers unveil the first and only known galaxy without dark matter, the invisible and poorly-understood substance thought to make up a quarter of the Universe.
Alien life in our Solar System? Study hints at Saturn's moon

Humanity may need look no further than our own Solar System in the search for alien life, researchers probing one of Saturn's moons say.
NASA turns selfies by Mars rover into stunning self-portrait

NASA has transformed selfies taken by its Mars rover Curiosity into a stunning self-portrait.
‘Super blue blood moon’ in Bangladesh sky

If you miss it tonight, you will have to wait for another 35 years to get the chance to see it. On Bangladesh sky, the entire lunar event – also named “super blue blood moon” -- started at 4:49pm and will end at 10:09pm (local time).
Pentagon’s secret UFO hunters

At last the Pentagon has acknowledged funding a secret multi-million-dollar programme to investigate sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO).
Fly me to the Moon: For some, lunar village takes shape

By 2040, a hundred people will live on the Moon, melting ice for water, 3D-printing homes and tools, eating plants grown in lunar soil, and competing in low-gravity, "flying" sports.
Satellite to test space garbage collection methods

A satellite designed to test various technologies that may help tackle the growing problem of space junk undergoes final pre-flight testing.
Space station crew to get 3 shots at solar eclipse Aug 21

Crew at the International Space Station will enjoy views of the August 21 solar eclipse during three successive orbits, reports CBS News.
Other planets may never be as hospitable as Earth: study

Scientists deal a blow to the quest for organisms inhabiting worlds besides Earth, saying our planet was unusual in its ability to host liquid water -- the key ingredient for life.
Journey of Brac Onnesha begins

Bangladesh’s first nano-satellite, made by students of privately-run Brac University, has begun orbiting the Earth. It will pick high quality photographs of land to analyse vegetation, urbanisation, flood, water resources, forestry and other natural resources from overhead for research purposes.
510mm rainfall in southeast Bangladesh June 12-14: Nasa

Nasa has recorded 510mm (20 inches) rainfall in southeastern Bangladesh between June 12 and 14 when landslides triggered by heavy downpour killed at least 150 people in five hilly districts so far.
US spacewalkers overcome glitch on 200th station outing

Two US astronauts overcome an early equipment glitch to complete an abbreviated spacewalk outside the International Space Station, accomplishing all the major tasks initially planned for a longer excursion in four hours, NASA says.
US spacecraft shares first view from inside Saturn's rings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft sends the closest-ever images of Saturn after surviving its first plunge inside the planet's rings, the US space agency says.
Chinese scientists breed world's first 'space mangoes'

The embryonic cells of the mango brought back by manned spacecraft Shenzhou XI last November after the 33-day space mission have now grown new tissues at a lab in South China's Hainan province.
NASA finds India's lost lunar rover after 8 years

India's first lunar probe - Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - which was considered lost is still orbiting the moon, NASA scientists have discovered. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost communication with Chandrayaan-1 on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008.
7 Earth-like planets discovered around single star

Researchers announce the stunning discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a small star in our galaxy, opening up the most promising hunting ground so far for life beyond the Solar System.
Dwarf planet boasts organic compounds, raising prospect of life

A NASA spacecraft has detected carbon-based materials, similar to what may have been the building blocks for life on Earth, on the Texas-sized dwarf planet Ceres that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt, scientists says.
New weather satellite sends first images of earth

GOES-16, the first spacecraft in NOAA’s next-generation of geostationary satellites, sends the first high-resolution images from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, according to a report published in the website of NASA.
SpaceX poised to launch for first time since Sept blast

SpaceX is poised to launch a Falcon 9 rocket, marking its first return to flight since a costly and complicated launchpad explosion in September.
Work begins on observatory in Tibet

The observatory will focus on primordial gravitational waves.
Nasa's Mars rover finds new clues about life on the Red Planet

Nasa's Mars rover Curiosity finds evidence of ancient lakes and wet underground environments on the Red Planet that changed billions of years ago.
China’s new weather satellite can study lightning, pollutants

China launches a new-generation weather satellite that can improve weather forecasting as well as help study lightning and air pollutants, including PM2.5.
Planet in star system next door may have ocean: study

A rocky planet discovered in the "habitable" zone of the star nearest our Sun may be covered with oceans, according to a new study.
India’s PSLV launches 8 satellites

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has launched three satellites each from India and Algeria, and one each from Canada and the United States, from one rocket into two different orbits.
UK astronaut Tim Peake returns to Earth

UK astronaut Tim Peake is back on Earth after a historic six-month stay on the International Space Station.
Tiny asteroid now Earth’s constant companion

The Earth gets a small companion. NASA scientists discover a small asteroid in an orbit around the Sun that keeps it as a constant companion of Earth and it will remain so for centuries to come.