The Launchpad
Happy Tuesday, Earth!

Hey, Space Fans! We've got what looks like a big week in spaceflight ahead of us with SpaceX gearing up for the tenth flight of its massive Starship rocket on Sunday, Aug. 24.

Additionally, the U.S. Space Force will be sending its secretive X-37B space plane back into orbit for its eighth mission on Aug. 21.

Aside from spaceflight, we've got a rare "Black Moon" on Aug. 23, meaning it will be the third new moon in a season that contains four new moons. While the moon will be invisible on that night, it will set up a few gorgeous thin crescents in the nights that follow. Stay tuned to Space.com this week for all this and more!

Brett Tingley Managing Editor, Space.com

A rare Black Moon rises with the sun on Aug. 23
two people look up at a starry sky
(Alasdair Turner via Getty Images)
A Black Moon rises Aug. 23, though you won't see it. Its timing makes it a rare lunar event.
Full Story: Space (8/18)
SpaceX completes investigation into Starship failures
a rocket laucnhes
(SpaceX)
Starship's Flight 9 failures were traced to booster stress and a pressurization fault.
shareshare-text
Read More
Skywatching
Don't miss Mercury, the moon and the Beehive Cluster
a starry night sky
(Left: blackphobos via Getty Images, right:redonion1515 fr Canva Pro)
A rare August morning alignment brings Mercury, a thin crescent moon and the Beehive Cluster together in the predawn sky. Here's how you can see it for yourself.
shareshare-text
Read More
Spaceflight
Artemis 2 astronauts practice photographing the moon
people in orange suits look up at an inflatable moon hung from the ceiling of a hangar
(NASA/James Blair)
To gear up for photographing the moon up close, the astronauts used an inflatable moon and a mockup Orion capsule.
shareshare-text
Read More
Chinese astronauts conduct 6.5-hour spacewalk
a person in a bulky white spacesuit floats above metal machine parts with earth in the background
(CCTV)
Two astronauts were outside the three-module Tiangong space station for more than six hours on Friday (Aug. 15).
shareshare-text
Read More
Science & Astronomy
'Strongest evidence yet' that comets brought water to Earth
a fuzzy streak of light in the sky
(Chris Shur)
Water found on Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is "virtually indistinguishable" from water found on Earth.
shareshare-text
Read More
Fly through the eye of Hurricane Erin with the USAF
a circle of clear blue sky peeks out through dense clouds
(U.S. Air Force, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron)
A new video shows incredible views of Erin from satellites and the United States Air Force's Hurricane Hunters.
shareshare-text
Read More
SpaceX
SpaceX launches 100th Falcon 9 rocket of 2025
a rocket stands upright on a barge at sea
(SpaceX)
SpaceX sent another batch of its Starlink broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit Aug. 18 atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
shareshare-text
Read More
Trivia Tuesday: Quiz of the week
Wheelie smart? Take our Mars rover quiz to prove it!
a four-wheeled robot on a cracked, reddish-orange surface
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
This quiz is dedicated to the mechanical marvels that have rolled across the surface of the Red Planet: the iconic Mars rovers!
Full Story: Space (8/18)