Earth could be “the only place” in the universe with life forms intelligent enough to form civilisation, Professor Brian Cox has said. While microbial life forms could well be common, the physicist believes that “things like us may be extremely rare”. When asked about US Congressman Andre Carson’s comments earlier this week that UFOs are […]
The world got a look on Thursday at the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black holes at their centre, where light and matter cannot escape, making it extremely hard to […]
Scotland will be the launchpad for Europe’s very first microlauncher rocket. Lifting off from Space Hub Sutherland, in the Highlands, the Prime orbital space rocket has been unveiled by Orbex, a spaceflight company. The firm will now press ahead with testing, allowing “dress rehearsals” of rocket launches and the development of launch procedures. Orbex recently […]
Early observations from the James Webb Space Telescope will be released in the summer and are expected to change the face of astronomy forever, experts have said. The telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Christmas Day last year on its mission to unlock the secrets of […]
A helicopter caught a falling rocket – before its crew was forced to let it go again for safety reasons. Rocket Lab partially pulled off the feat as it pushes to make its small Electron rockets reusable. The California-based company regularly launches 59ft rockets from the remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand to deliver satellites […]
Shallow liquid water may be present on Jupiter’s moon Europa, data based on the Greenland ice sheet suggests. Europa is a prime candidate for life in the Solar System, and its deep saltwater ocean has captivated scientists for decades. The giant planet’s moon has been visited by the Voyager and Galileo spacecrafts, and data collected […]
The most distant star ever seen has been observed by astronomers, who say the discovery could unlock secrets of a still-unknown era of the universe. The light from the star has taken some 12.9 billion years to reach Earth, much more than the nine billion light years of the farthest “supergiant” previously observed. Scientists said […]
Nasa’s new space telescope has gazed into the distant universe and shown perfect vision: a spiky image of a faraway star photobombed by thousands of ancient galaxies. The image from the James Webb Space Telescope is a test shot – not an official science observation – to see how its 18 hexagonal mirrors worked together […]
Europe will no longer be attempting to send its first rover to Mars this year because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And if co-operation on the mission with Roscosmos, Russia’s state space corporation, cannot be resumed then it is likely to be 2026 or 2028 before the ExoMars rover is blasted off towards the […]
Comedian Pete Davidson will blast off to space in a rocket built by Jeff Bezos’ company. Blue Origin announced that the Saturday Night Live comic will be among the passengers on its 20th flight scheduled for March 23. He follows Star Trek actor William Shatner and former American football player and TV personality Michael Strahan […]
