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
ChatGPT could pilot a spacecraft shockingly well, early tests find
In a recent contest, teams of researchers competed to see who could train an AI model to best pilot a spaceship. The results suggest that an era of autonomous space exploration may be closer than we think.
Zombie NASA satellite emits powerful radio pulse after 60 years of silence
Last year, astronomers detected a powerful burst of radio waves from within our galaxy. Researchers now say it came from NASA's defunct Relay 2 satellite — but they're not sure what caused it.
NASA spots Japan's doomed 'Resilience' moon lander from orbit — and it's surrounded by far-flung debris
Spacecraft from NASA and India's space agency have snapped orbital photos of the Japanese lunar lander Resilience after its recent "hard landing" on the moon. Some of the images show pieces of the failed lander strewn across the surrounding surface.
SpaceX's Starship explodes on Texas launch pad in 'catastrophic failure' during routine test
SpaceX's Starship 36 underwent a "catastrophic failure" on the stand at its Texas launch site, but the latest setback is unlikely to dent the company's ambitions.
Satellite coated in ultra-dark 'Vantablack' paint will launch into space next year to help combat major issue
Researchers from the U.K. plan to launch a CubeSat covered with a newly formulated "hull-darkening" Vantablack paint into space next year. If successful, the coating could help mitigate light pollution from private satellite "megaconstellations."
First-ever image of China's mysterious 'quasi moon' probe revealed weeks after it secretly launched into space
A new image released by China's space agency offers the first glimpse at the Tianwen 2 spacecraft, which is en route to collect samples from one of Earth's "quasi-moons". The photo shows some surprising similarities with a current NASA probe.
Japanese spacecraft goes dark during attempted moon landing, holding fate of European rover in question
The private Japanese spacecraft "Resilience" has seemingly been destroyed in a "hard landing" on the moon on Thursday. The lander was carrying what would have been the first European-built rover to explore the moon.
Elon Musk threatens to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft after Trump feud. What does it mean for the US space industry?
A war of words between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump could lead to significant fallout for U.S.-led space exploration.
NASA plans to build a giant radio telescope on the 'dark side' of the moon. Here's why.
A NASA-funded plan to build a large radio telescope on the moon's far side is nearing final approval and could become a reality by the 2030s, researchers say. The ambitious project will help safeguard astronomy from satellite "megaconstellations" — and help scientists unravel more of the radio spectrum.
