technical updates

A private spacecraft failed to rescue NASA's Swift space telescope, meaning the big observatory will come crashing back to Earth in the near future. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched to Earth orbit in November 2004. Over the past two decades, it studied gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the universe — and other cosmic objects and events using a trio of telescopes. But Swift's science work is now done, and its days in orbit are numbered. Call to action In September 2025, NASA put out a call to action to save Swift, whose orbit was decaying quickly due to high solar activity. The bottom line: The observatory needed a boost to a higher orbit soon, or it would be dragged down to its death in Earth's atmosphere . The Arizona-based company Katalyst Space Technologies answered that call, and won a $30 million NASA contract to perform the re-boost. In hurry-and-s...

Europe's most powerful rocket will fly today (Aug. 27), and you can watch the action live. An Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch the MTG-I2 weather satellite from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana today (Aug. 27), during a 2.5-hour window that opens at 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT; 5:10 p.m. local time in Kourou). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of Arianespace, the French company that operates the Ariane 6. Coverage will begin about 25 minutes before liftoff. You can also follow live directly via Arianespace . An Ariane 6 rocket launches 32 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit from French Guiana on Feb. 12, 2026. (Image credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace-ArianeGroup/Optique Video du CSG-P. Piron) The 8,400-pound (3,800 kilograms) MTG-I2 is the second imaging satellite in the Meteosat Third Generation network (hence the name). It will complete the three-spacecraft network in geo...

Tonight (Aug. 27-28), the full Sturgeon Moon will slip into Earth's shadow, creating a stunning "almost blood moon" as up to 96.2% of the lunar surface disappears into the darkest part of our planet's shadow, the umbra. At maximum eclipse, much of the moon may take on an eerie reddish hue as sunlight filtered through Earth's atmosphere is refracted into the shadow and onto the lunar surface. Only a thin sliver of moon will escape Earth's umbra, appearing as a bright arc against an otherwise dim, rusty-red lunar disk. Lunar eclipses are entirely safe to watch with the naked eye. Unlike a solar eclipse, you don't need filters or certified glasses. Just find the moon at the right time, then simply sit back, relax and enjoy the show. If you can't watch the eclipse in person, you can watch all the action unfold here on Space.com with these free livestreams , weather ...

NASA took the guts out of old spy satellites to build the groundbreaking Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – but how? And why? Years of hard work and anticipation are culminating as we sit on the verge of NASA's launch of its next-generation space telescope. Set to lift off this upcoming Sunday (Aug. 30) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the Roman Space Telescope will push astronomy into the future, exploring the mysteries of dark energy , studying far-off worlds and expanding our understanding of the universe around us. But to get to this point, NASA used some … unexpected technology. At the core of the observatory lies the Optical Telescope Assembly. This houses the telescope's primary mirror, its main mechanism through which it surveys the cosmos, nine additional mirrors, supporting structures and various sorts of electronics. But where did all of this tech come from? The National...

Astronomers have discovered a new ocean world outside the solar system that orbits extremely close to its parent star. This means that the extrasolar planet, or "exoplanet," is in hot water, both literally and figuratively. The exoplanet orbits the star HD 176071 located around 335 light-years away, and is about two and a half times the size of Earth , but has about eight and a half times the mass of our planet. That indicates to scientists that this planet is about 50% water. At a distance from its star of just under 1.5 million miles (about 1.6% of the distance between the Earth and the sun ) and with a year lasting just 14 hours, HD 176071 b is a rare example of a "hot water world." That close distance to its star means the planet experiences extreme tidal forces due to the pull of the star's gravity. These forces are driving the planet, designated HD 176071 b, towards...

"Houston, we have a working comm link again." Thanks to the efforts of two astronauts, such a call is possible again using one of two Space-to-Ground antennas outside the International Space Station (ISS). The pair finished the replacement of a faulty dish assembly during a spacewalk on Tuesday (Aug. 25). Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency (ESA), who previously removed a faulty dish during a spacewalk on Aug. 18, installed a spare in its place and moved the broken assembly from a temporary to more permanent storage location along the station's backbone truss. As seen from a camera mounted on ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot's helmet, fellow Expedition 75 crew member Anil Menon of NASA works to mount a replacement Space-to-Ground antenna during a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (Image credit: NASA) With...

The history of Alien video games is long and twisty, but Mike Diver — veteran writer, editor, critic, and journalist — decided a few years ago to make a complete chronicle of Xenomorph -filled games his next big adventure. Ahead of Aliens: The Video Games ' August 30 release, we sat down with him and discussed the franchise's past, present, and future in games. The following interview has been edited for better flow. "I played a lot of Alien 3 on Mega Drive," Diver recalls when asked about his first few contacts with Alien. "I was slightly too young to be watching those movies... I was also quite taken with a book that a friend of mine's dad owned – it was a book with stills of the film in it... I saw the chestbursters in those stills before I saw it moving on-screen, and in a way that was more striking." He believes that left an impression on him, which likely he...