TrendingUltima Thule doesn't look much like a snowman after all.The final photos that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft snapped of Ultima Thule during the probe's reveal the distant object to be far flatter than scientists had thought, mission team members announced today (Feb. 8)."We had an impression of Ultima Thule based on the limited number of images returned in the days around the flyby, but seeing more data has significantly changed our view," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. []"It would be...…TrendingUltima Thule doesn't look much like a snowman after all.The final photos that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft snapped of Ultima Thule during the probe's reveal the distant object to be far flatter than scientists had thought, mission team members announced today (Feb. 8)."We had an impression of Ultima Thule based on the limited number of images returned in the days around the flyby, but seeing more data has significantly changed our view," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. []"It would be...WW…

Astronomers have had five years to brace for the impact of SpaceX's Starlink internet-satellite megaconstellation, but the first few batches of the spacecraft still managed to catch the community off guard. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk announced the Starlink concept (though not the name) back in January 2015, explaining that the company intended to launch about 4,000 broadband satellites to low Earth orbit to provide low-cost internet service to people around the world. The envisioned numbers have grown since then. SpaceX now has permission from the U.S. Federal Communications...…Astronomers have had five years to brace for the impact of SpaceX's Starlink internet-satellite megaconstellation, but the first few batches of the spacecraft still managed to catch the community off guard. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk announced the Starlink concept (though not the name) back in January 2015, explaining that the company intended to launch about 4,000 broadband satellites to low Earth orbit to provide low-cost internet service to people around the world. The envisioned numbers have grown since then. SpaceX now has permission from the U.S. Federal Communications...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.SpaceX's first full-size Starship prototype, the Mk1, stands at the company's build and launch facility in Texas. SpaceX has moved on from the Mk1 design, to a rapidly iterating "SN" series.(Image: © SpaceX)SpaceX is about to make a bone-deep tweak to its Mars-colonizing spacecraft.The California-based company built its first few Starship prototypes out of a known as 301. But aerospace engineers have been using that particular metallic blend since the middle of the...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.SpaceX's first full-size Starship prototype, the Mk1, stands at the company's build and launch facility in Texas. SpaceX has moved on from the Mk1 design, to a rapidly iterating "SN" series.(Image: © SpaceX)SpaceX is about to make a bone-deep tweak to its Mars-colonizing spacecraft.The California-based company built its first few Starship prototypes out of a known as 301. But aerospace engineers have been using that particular metallic blend since the middle of the...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Jodie Whittaker as Doctor Who.(Image: © BBC)for anyone worried about this scary time: don’t worry, we’ll get through this. Thirteen () donned her iconic look and climbed into a cupboard to offer her message of support to all the Doctor Who fans out there who are worried about the spread of .In an "emergency transmission," the worldly time-traveler reveals that the T.A.R.D.I.S. has been picking up "psychological signals" and wants to remind viewers to look out for one...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Jodie Whittaker as Doctor Who.(Image: © BBC)for anyone worried about this scary time: don’t worry, we’ll get through this. Thirteen () donned her iconic look and climbed into a cupboard to offer her message of support to all the Doctor Who fans out there who are worried about the spread of .In an "emergency transmission," the worldly time-traveler reveals that the T.A.R.D.I.S. has been picking up "psychological signals" and wants to remind viewers to look out for one...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An image of one of Accion's small electric-propulsion systems.(Image: © Accion Systems)has big plans for its tiny thrusters.  The company in February that it had completed its latest funding round, raising $11 million to expand the company's productions and staff. The latest funding, which was co-led by Boeing Horizon X ventures and Shasta Ventures, brings Accion Systems' total funding to $36 million since the company's start in 2014, $14 million of which is from...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An image of one of Accion's small electric-propulsion systems.(Image: © Accion Systems)has big plans for its tiny thrusters.  The company in February that it had completed its latest funding round, raising $11 million to expand the company's productions and staff. The latest funding, which was co-led by Boeing Horizon X ventures and Shasta Ventures, brings Accion Systems' total funding to $36 million since the company's start in 2014, $14 million of which is from...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite image shows the new ozone hole spreading over the North Pole.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists have detected what may be the largest hole in the ever recorded over the North Pole.The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of , scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) , and could expose people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. Fortunately, the hole looks likely...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite image shows the new ozone hole spreading over the North Pole.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists have detected what may be the largest hole in the ever recorded over the North Pole.The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of , scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) , and could expose people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. Fortunately, the hole looks likely...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The Virtual Telescope Project captured this view of Comet Atlas' shattered nucleus on April 11, 2020.(Image: © Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project (www.virtualtelescope.eu))It's official: Comet Atlas has broken apart.Just a month ago, it looked like the icy wanderer, officially known as C/2019 Y4 Atlas, around the time of its closest approach to the sun, or perihelion, which occurs on May 31. But relatively lackluster behavior soon dimmed such hopes. And optimism...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The Virtual Telescope Project captured this view of Comet Atlas' shattered nucleus on April 11, 2020.(Image: © Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project (www.virtualtelescope.eu))It's official: Comet Atlas has broken apart.Just a month ago, it looked like the icy wanderer, officially known as C/2019 Y4 Atlas, around the time of its closest approach to the sun, or perihelion, which occurs on May 31. But relatively lackluster behavior soon dimmed such hopes. And optimism...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Saturday (April 11), 50 years after launched to the moon, you can celebrate human spaceflight with a Yuri's Night livestream event.  events have been held annually since 2001 and were originally designed as a way to celebrate human spaceflight. The event is named after cosmonaut , who became the first human to go to space on April 12, 1961. Saturday's livestream begins at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT/4 p.m. PDT) and and on at the broadcast time.In addition to the main...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Saturday (April 11), 50 years after launched to the moon, you can celebrate human spaceflight with a Yuri's Night livestream event.  events have been held annually since 2001 and were originally designed as a way to celebrate human spaceflight. The event is named after cosmonaut , who became the first human to go to space on April 12, 1961. Saturday's livestream begins at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT/4 p.m. PDT) and and on at the broadcast time.In addition to the main...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An artist's depiction of a black hole pulling light back toward its disk.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)For decades, scientists have suspected that some of the light that escapes from around massive nearly doesn't make it — and now, they've finally seen it happen.That's according to scientists who conducted a new analysis of old observations of a black hole feeding on a sunlike star. The researchers focused on measurements of the , where light escaping from the black hole...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An artist's depiction of a black hole pulling light back toward its disk.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)For decades, scientists have suspected that some of the light that escapes from around massive nearly doesn't make it — and now, they've finally seen it happen.That's according to scientists who conducted a new analysis of old observations of a black hole feeding on a sunlike star. The researchers focused on measurements of the , where light escaping from the black hole...WW…

TrendingA photograph of a test Raptor engine firing, tweeted by Elon Musk on Feb. 7, 2019.(Image: © Elon Musk/SpaceX/Twitter)A test fire of reached the power level necessary for the company's next round of rocket designs, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter."Raptor just achieved power level needed for Starship & Super Heavy," he tweeted on Feb. 7, four days after he of the first test of a flight-ready engine.The Raptor engine is designed to power the spaceship currently known as Starship as part of the rocket assembly currently known as Super Heavy (previously dubbed the BFR). The took place in...…TrendingA photograph of a test Raptor engine firing, tweeted by Elon Musk on Feb. 7, 2019.(Image: © Elon Musk/SpaceX/Twitter)A test fire of reached the power level necessary for the company's next round of rocket designs, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter."Raptor just achieved power level needed for Starship & Super Heavy," he tweeted on Feb. 7, four days after he of the first test of a flight-ready engine.The Raptor engine is designed to power the spaceship currently known as Starship as part of the rocket assembly currently known as Super Heavy (previously dubbed the BFR). The took place in...WW…