Space

The largest orbital telescope ever made will allow astronomers to study the atmospheres of alien planets, learn about how stars form in the Milky Way and peer into the farthest reaches of the universe.

Vast clouds of gas and dust shrouding the luminous blue variable star AG Carinae are revealed in all their subtle glory in new views from the Hubble Space Telescope that reprise the observatory’s 21st anniversary image.

Four civilian space travelers rode a SpaceX capsule through a blazing re-entry back into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday evening and safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral, completing a historic 71 hours in space as the first privately-funded, non-government crew to fly in orbit.

On their final full day in space Friday, the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew circling Earth inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule chatted with Tom Cruise, rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, and downlinked a live video update showing views outside their cupola dome window.

Three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth in their Shenzhou 12 capsule to conclude a three-month expedition on China’s Tiangong space station. Landing in China’s remote Gobi Desert occurred around 1:34 a.m. EDT (0534 GMT) Friday.

Watch the Moon visit several planets and reach Full phase as autumn begins from September 17 to 24.

The first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch on Sept. 15, and you can follow all the action live here.

With the backing of a billionaire businessman, four private citizens blasted off Wednesday night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a first-of-its-kind fully commercial three-day spaceflight aboard a SpaceX crew capsule, riding to an altitude higher than any person has flown in two decades.

NASA will host a media teleconference Monday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. EDT, to announce the lunar landing site for the agency’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).

A giant ozone hole has opened up over Antarctica this year and climate change might be the cause.