Space

On a humid morning in Sriharikota earlier this year, Dr. V. Narayanan stepped onto the dais with the calm precision of a man who has spent his life around rockets. Known for his mastery of cryogenic engines, Narayanan had just taken over as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). His message was neither cautious nor bureaucratic, it was bold. India, he declared, must aim not just for launches and landings, but for human spaceflight, lunar sample returns, and even its own space station.

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of mysterious "interstellar tunnels" of hot plasma connecting our Solar System to distant star systems, according to a study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The discovery challenges traditional views of the void between stars as empty space.

The Trump administration has proposed a significant overhaul of NASA’s budget, slashing $6 billion while redirecting $1 billion toward Mars exploration—a move that aligns with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s long-standing ambition to reach the Red Planet. The plan, outlined in a discretionary budget posted on NASA’s website, prioritizes beating China in the space race to the Moon and landing humans on Mars, but at the cost of terminating key programs and reducing scientific research.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011 and orbiting Jupiter since 2016, continues to revolutionize our understanding of the gas giant and its moons. Despite a malfunctioning thruster that now keeps it in a wide, looping orbit, Juno’s latest findings reveal jaw-dropping details about Jupiter’s chaotic polar cyclones and a record-breaking volcanic eruption on its moon Io—the most violent ever seen in our solar system.

Spending months away from Earth in a weightless, confined environment takes a special kind of resilience. From groundbreaking research to testing human endurance, these astronauts have redefined the limits of long-term space missions. Here’s a countdown of the top 10 astronauts who spent the longest time in space on a single mission:

The cosmos is once again under the microscope, and this time, it’s thanks to the remarkable observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Since its launch, JWST has been peeling back layers of the universe's history, but a recent discovery has sparked one of the most mind-bending cosmic theories yet — could our entire universe exist inside a black hole?

In a last-minute decision, NASA and SpaceX have postponed the highly anticipated Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), delaying the return of stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. The launch, originally scheduled for March 13, 2025, was scrubbed due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

Since landing in Jezero Crater in 2021, the rover has been investigating the planet's geology, climate history, and potential for past life. To date, Perseverance has gathered 28 of its planned 43 samples, with their return to Earth expected between 2035 and 2039.

A planned renewable energy project in Chile is raising concerns among astronomers, as it could severely impact the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). Experts warn that light pollution from the project may reduce the telescope’s capacity by up to 30%, hindering its ability to observe distant galaxies and study exoplanets.