Northern lights may be visible in these 15 US States tonight | Japan's private ispace probe aims for moon landing | Trump withdraws Jared Isaacman's NASA chief nomination
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Hey, Space Fans! What a difference a weekend makes! From truly epic auroras and solar storms to some huge shakeups in NASA's budget and future leadership, it's certainly been a busy few days since we last met. So here's a look at what to know today, starting off with those awesome northern lights. Let us know if you see them!
Success would be huge for ispace and for Japan, which has just one soft lunar landing on its books to date — that of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's SLIM spacecraft, which touched down just last year. It would also be a big milestone for commercial spaceflight, which has increasingly set its sights on the moon.
"It's essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda, and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon."
The half-lit disk of the first quarter moon will grace the night sky on tonight, presenting a wealth of lunar features to explore before Earth's natural satellite sets below the horizon in the early morning hours. Viewing the moon through a pair of 10x50 binoculars will reveal a myriad of craters and broken terrain features. The magnifying power of a 6-inch telescope (or greater) will grant an even closer view of the moon's more prominent features
Rocket Lab plans to launch an Earth-observing satellite for the company BlackSky tonight, and you can watch the action live. The mission, which Rocket Lab calls "Full Stream Ahead," will send the Gen-3 satellite to a circular orbit 292 miles (470 kilometers) above Earth. Here's what to know.
Three world travelers, two Space Camp alums and an aerospace executive whose last name aptly matched their shared adventure traveled into space and back on Saturday, becoming the latest six people to fly with Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. Among the crew: the 1st New Zealander to fly in space.
A titanic cosmic collision between the Milky Way and its closest large galactic neighbor, Andromeda, may not be as sure a thing as scientists thought. New research has revealed that there is a much smaller chance that these two spiral galaxies will slam into each other and merge over the next 10 billion years than was believed. In fact, it's about 50/50.
The concept of terraforming Mars — transforming the planet's climate to support life as we know it — has long belonged to the realm of science fiction. But a new study argues that it's time to take the idea seriously. "Thirty years ago, terraforming Mars wasn't just hard — it was impossible," said Erika DeBenedictis, CEO of Pioneer Labs and lead author of the new paper. "But new technology like [SpaceX's] Starship and synthetic biology have now made it a real possibility."
On Episode 163 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss Starship's recent test flight with Space.com reporter Mike Wall. What went right, what went wrong, and what are the prospects for Elon's mammoth rocket meeting NASA's goals for a moon landing in 2027?
On June 2, 1966, NASA's Surveyor 1 reached the lunar surface and became the first American spacecraft to successfully execute a soft landing on the moon.
Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos of the moon along with other measurements, but, more importantly, proved that NASA's soft-landing technique and spacecraft designs were sound.
Waves of ionized gas glowing yellow, white and magenta filled the sky in New Zealand, as spectators take photos and witness the "southern lights" spectacle. The Aurora Australis, or the "southern lights," occurs when particles ejected from the sun interact with Earth's atmosphere in the Southern Hemisphere (in the Northern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is called aurora borealis or the northern lights). Here's how the photo was made.
This week offers a tour through lunar phases and planetary plays. The moon reaches its first quarter on Monday, creating ideal conditions to observe lunar craters dramatically lit by angled sunlight. On Tuesday, try spotting the trio of craters — Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel — with binoculars or a small telescope. Thursday brings a lovely pairing of the moon and Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. Then, after sunset on Saturday, Mercury climbs past Jupiter in the western sky — a fleeting but beautiful planetary encounter to catch while it lasts.
The moon reaches its first quarter phase at 11:41 p.m. EDT (0341 GMT on June 3). Half-illuminated on its eastern side, the moon will rise around midday and set around midnight. It's the perfect time to view craters and mountains along the lunar terminator, dramatically lit by low-angled sunlight.
On Tuesday night, look near the moon's center for a trio of large craters: Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel. All three are visible in binoculars or a telescope and offer a glimpse into lunar history, from lava-filled floors to terraced rims and volcanic ash deposits.
As darkness falls, find Spica, Virgo's brightest star, shining just below the waxing gibbous moon in the southern sky. Over the evening, the moon will drift closer to the star. Observers in parts of the southern Indian Ocean and Antarctica may even see the moon occult Spica.
Look low on the western horizon just after sunset to see Mercury and Jupiter close together. On Saturday evening, Mercury will appear just a thumb's width to Jupiter's right. Use binoculars or a telescope to catch this compact celestial duo — but only after the sun has fully set.
The best moon phase to look out for this week is the first quarter moon on Monday, June 2. At this phase, the moon appears half-illuminated and rises around midday, making it visible in both the afternoon and evening skies. It is also the perfect time to look at the moon’s rugged surface through binoculars or a telescope, especially along the terminator line, where low-angled sunlight casts dramatic shadows across craters and mountain ranges.
Feeling inspired to take a more in-depth moonlit tour of our rocky companion? Our ultimate guide to observing the moon will help you plan your next skywatching venture, whether it be exploring the lunar seas, mountainous terrain, or the many craters that blanket the landscape. You can also see where astronauts, rovers and landers have ventured with our Apollo landing sites observing guide.
