James Webb Space Telescope’s 1st view of the cosmos has scientists thrilled for more

The James Webb Space Telescope’s main mirror is fully aligned and performing even better than it had been designed to do, NASA officials revealed in a news conference held virtually on Wednesday (March 16). The 21.3-foot-wide (6.5 meters) mirror composed of 18 hexagonal segments had to travel to space folded. Aligning it into one smooth … Read more

For The First Time, There Has Been an Unplanned Spacecraft Crash With The Moon

Add one more crater to the long list of pockmarks on the lunar surface. According to orbital calculations, a rocket hurtling through space for years crashed into the Moon on Friday, but the strike wasn’t directly observed, and there might be a wait for photographic evidence.   The impact would have taken place at 7:25 … Read more

New X-Ray Space Telescope Shares Its First, Historic Glimpse of The Cosmos

A new telescope designed to peer into the twisted X-ray Universe has just sent back its first-ever imaging data. The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), a joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, fixed its gaze on one of the most famous explosions in the Milky Way: Cassiopeia A.   Located 11,000 light-years … Read more

NASA’s newly launched X-ray space telescope is ready to start observing the cosmos

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest space observatory, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), is set to begin spying on some of the universe’s most dramatic objects — black holes and neutron stars — potentially changing our understanding of the cosmos in the process.  The 730-pound (330 kilograms) IXPE satellite launched to orbit on Dec. … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope, the biggest ever built, fully unfolds giant mirror to gaze at the cosmos

Astronomers and space fans around the world can breathe a sigh of relief: The James Webb Space Telescope is now fully deployed. The $10 billion NASA observatory unfolded the second “wing” of its massive primary mirror today (Jan. 8), bringing the light-collecting structure up to its full size and marking the end of the mission’s … Read more