| |    | | (NASA/Ben Smegelsky) | Happy Thursday, Space Fans, and welcome to your daily dose of the space. Our top story just might be the question on everyone's minds: Will Artemis 2 be ready to launch to the moon on April 1? NASA will tell us all today. Here's what we know.
And that's not all! An asteroid the size of a bus is passing Earth today (see below), Firefly's Alpha rocket returned to flight and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes gets spicy about old vs new Trek. Find it all below! | |  | | (NASA JPL, NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale/A. Pagan) | I mentioned the asteroid flyby tonight and rather than keep you on edge, we moved it up here so no one worries. The asteroid, called 2026 EG1, won't hit Earth. It should buzz our planet overnight, just days after it was discovered, Here's what we know. | | |   | | (James Abbott) | We may not all get to be astronauts and fly in space, but we can fly drones to at least get close and for you fliers, this deal is not one to miss. The DJI MIni 5 Pro is the best drone for its weight class and right now you can save $500 to land your own. See where to find it here. | | | | Artemis 2: NASA's next moonshot | |  | | (Future) | The closer we get to April, the more real NASA's Artemis 2 mission is starting to feel and if you're looking for moon gear ideas to show your excitement, well, we've got you covered here, so check it out! | | |  | | (Firefly Aerospace) | The third time was the charm for Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket, which made a picturesque return to flight with a launch from California, after two explosive failures in 2025. See photos and video of the launch. | | |  | | (NAOJ) | Our sun and a host of sun-like "solar twins" may have migrated away from the core of the Milky Way galaxy together. That's pretty wild. What's wilder? That star migration may have helped life start on Earth. Here's what scientists think happened. | | |  | | (Paramount+) | Jonathan Frakes may be Star Trek royalty as Will Riker, Number One from TNG, but he's also directed loads of Trek since then and now he gets real (and a bit frank) about old Trek vs. new while working on Starfleet Academy. | | |  | | (NASA) | Our photo for the day is actually from this morning, as astronauts in orbit capture Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL freighter being jettisoned away from the International Space Station carrying thousands of pounds of garbage, headed for a fiery demise. Learn about the photo here. | |  | | (NASA/Ben Smegelsky) | On March 12, 2015, NASA launched four satellites on a mission to study a weird phenomenon in Earth's magnetic field called magnetic reconnection. Watch how the satellite quartet worked here! | | | | Hey, you made it to the end. We're glad you did and thanks for reading. With NASA's Artemis 2 briefing coming up this afternoon, be sure to check back later to find out what the agency reveals about the SLS rocket's rollout schedule and new launch date.
Until then, keep looking up!
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief, Space.com | | | | Stay up-to-date on all things space science, news, and entertainment by subscribing to our newsletters. | |  | | | | | | | Future US LLC © | | Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036 | | | |
