In a scene that feels more like a midnight vigil than a routine inspection, NASA engineers and scientists gathered in near darkness inside a pristine cleanroom. Armed with flashlights and ultraviolet lamps, members of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team carefully examined the observatory’s primary mirror, searching for even the smallest trace of contamination.
The eerie green glow…
Astronauts beam home Christmas wishes from International Space Station: 'I think we may be orbiting a little higher than Santa' (video)
December 26, 2025
They may not be home for Christmas, but astronauts in space are finding their own way to make the season bright. They’ve even hung their space stockings by the airlock with care.
Four astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are sending their best Christmas…
Christmas is a wonderful time for those who celebrate and once the turkey dinner is done and the wrapping paper has been tidied away, there’s always one last treat that we all can share — the majesty of the winter night sky.
So, gather your friends and family and…
Fifty-seven years ago, three American astronauts set forth on one of the most audacious and inspiring journeys in human history.
In late December 1968, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders launched to the moon aboard Apollo 8, becoming the first humans to break free of Earth’s gravity and travel to another world.
The moon of 1968 was different from the one that…
Far from shipping lanes, cities, and even most scientific outposts lie the South Sandwich Islands, one of the most remote island chains on Earth. Stretching in a slender arc through the stormy South Atlantic Ocean, these islands sit more than 994 miles (1,600 kilometers)…
The biggest black hole breakthroughs of 2025
December 25, 2025
Black holes are arguably the most fascinating entities in the whole realm of science — these are regions in the fabric of spacetime that surround an infinitely dense, infinitesimally small point of mass and exert a gravitational force so strong that not even light can…
After years of making headlines, air vehicles of nameless origin, unknown intent, and seemingly odd capabilities are still being reported within America’s national airspace, allegedly flying over sensitive facilities and interfering with commercial air traffic.
All of this aerial weirdness involves unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP for short. Whatever they are, UAP continue to be…
How 2025 became the year of comet: The rise of interstellar 3I/ATLAS, an icy Lemmon and a cosmic SWAN
December 24, 2025
2025 has seen stargazers look on in awe as a trio of magnificent comets barreled headlong into the inner solar system to survive a close brush with the sun, only to emerge to race back out into the blackness of space, never to be seen again.
Of these comets — the…
Best targets to observe between Christmas and New Year 2025
December 24, 2025
There are few better ways to spend the long winter nights than under a crisp, clear December sky — and between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2025, the Northern Hemisphere night sky will be at its very best. A waxing moon will glide past Saturn, the Pleiades and Jupiter…
Northern lights may be visible in 10 states tonight
December 23, 2025
The northern lights may put on another show across the U.S. tonight as speedy solar wind from an Earth-facing coronal hole is forecast to spark minor (G1) geomagnetic storm conditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.
Geomagnetic activity is expected to reach minor (G1) storm levels overnight, which could be good news…
