The dawn is breaking on a new era of space exploration, with moon bases and Mars colonies potentially only decades away. Live Science tracks the researchers, companies and countries setting their sights on the stars to bring you the biggest stories in space. Whether it's reporting on concerns that alien organisms could hitch a ride on our spacecraft and contaminate Earth, explaining what 11 billion people means for space travel, sharing a glorious photo of Earth during a total solar eclipse snapped by Japan's lunar lander, or compiling a list of the weirdest things we have launched into space, our expert writers and editors will ignite your sense of interstellar adventure with the latest space exploration news, features and articles.
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Latest about Space Exploration
Watch SpaceX rocket explode over Grand Turk island in dramatic stream of fire and smoke
Debris from the rocket's explosion was caught on camera by a family vacationing on Grand Turk island.
'It was very fortunate timing': Astronomers watch 1st black hole to 'shut off' blast back to life
The first black hole that astronomers observed "turning off" just turned back on, releasing jets of hot gas into the cosmos.
China plans to build enormous solar array in space — and it could collect more energy in a year than 'all the oil on Earth'
China has announced plans to build a giant solar power space station, which will be lifted into orbit piece by piece using the nation's brand-new heavy lift rockets.
New NASA robot with X-ray vision will watch Earth 'breathing' from the moon
NASA's LEXI instrument is set to land on the moon's surface sometime this month. Using X-ray sensors, the device will watch Earth's atmosphere "breathing out and breathing in" to uncover key space weather mysteries.
NASA and Japan launch world's 1st wooden satellite into orbit. Here's why it could help solve a huge problem for our planet.
NASA and Japan's space agency (JAXA) have officially launched the world's first wooden satellite into Earth orbit. The magnolia wood LignoSat is an attempt to make space junk biodegradable, potentially solving the growing problem of orbital debris.
James Webb Space Telescope quiz: How well do you know the world's most powerful telescope?
The James Webb Space Telescope can look deeper (and earlier) into the cosmos than any telescope before it. How much do you know about this wonder of technology and its incredible findings?
Coolest space missions coming in 2025
From a death swirl into Jupiter to "Ghost Riders in the Sky," here are some of the most exciting space missions coming in 2025.
10 times space missions went very wrong in 2024
From astronauts getting stranded on a leaking ISS and faceplanting moon landers to injured Mars robots and a tumbling solar sail, here are 10 of the biggest space exploration mishaps in 2024.
Parker Solar Probe survives historic closest-ever flyby of the sun, NASA confirms
On Christmas Eve, NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever — a stunning technological feat that scientists liken to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969. Now, we know it survived.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe will reach its closest-ever point to the sun on Christmas Eve
NASA's record-breaking Parker Solar Probe will smash its own personal bests for proximity to the sun and fastest speed by a human-made object when it whizzes past our star on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24). It is unlikely to get significantly closer to the sun before the end of its mission.
