Trump may cancel Nasa’s powerful SLS Moon rocket – here’s what that would mean for Elon Musk and the future of space travel

The Space Launch System is a crucial part of America’s plans to return to the Moon.

Yang Gao, Professor of Robotics, Head of Centre for Robotics Research, King's College London • conversation
Dec. 2, 2024 • ~9 min

As the Taurid meteor shower passes by Earth, pseudoscience rains down – and obscures a potential real threat from space

Get past the fake science, and the Taurid meteor shower foreshadows what could, one day, pose a troubling scenario.

Mark Boslough, Research Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico • conversation
Nov. 15, 2024 • ~9 min

Donald Trump’s approach to US space policy could throw up some surprises, especially with Elon Musk on board

We already have some clues to what the Trump administration will change on space policy.

P.J. Blount, Assistant Professor in the Durham Law School, Durham University • conversation
Nov. 13, 2024 • ~9 min

A distant planet seems to have a sulphur-rich atmosphere, hinting at alien volcanoes

Astronomers have detected possible signs of gases released by volcanic activity.

Agnibha Banerjee, PhD Student, The Open University • conversation
Nov. 11, 2024 • ~6 min

How can Jupiter have no surface? A dive into a planet so big, it could swallow 1,000 Earths

Jupiter’s composition is more similar to that of the Sun than that of the Earth.

Benjamin Roulston, Assistant Professor of Physics, Clarkson University • conversation
Nov. 4, 2024 • ~7 min

Apophis: a new European space mission could get up close with a large asteroid that’s set to brush by Earth

Ramses, a European space mission to study the asteroid Apophis, has been approved for perparatory work.

Or Graur, Associate Professor of Astrophysics, University of Portsmouth • conversation
Nov. 1, 2024 • ~8 min

Recruiting the world’s first disabled astronaut doesn’t mean space travel is inclusive – here’s how to change that

Disabled astronauts have lots to offer, but spaceflight has traditionally been limited to the able-bodied.

Vanja Garaj, Professor of Design and Director of Research, Brunel University of London • conversation
Oct. 31, 2024 • ~9 min

The US is now at risk of losing to China in the race to send people back to the Moon’s surface

Nasa’s Moon programme has been hit by delays, while China aims to land by 2030.

Jacco van Loon, Reader in Astrophysics, Keele University • conversation
Oct. 25, 2024 • ~8 min

A new generation of telescopes will probe the ‘unknown unknowns’ that could transform our knowledge of the universe

Cosmology could be transformed by a new wave of telescopes – both on the ground and in space.

Richard Massey, Professor of extragalactic astrophysics (dark matter and cosmology), Durham University • conversation
Oct. 17, 2024 • ~12 min

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a Halloween visitor from the spooky Oort Cloud − the invisible bubble that’s home to countless space objects

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is one of 2 comets from the Oort Cloud passing by Earth in October 2024.

James Wray, Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
Oct. 11, 2024 • ~9 min

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