When NASA’s Parker Solar Probe flew close by the sun, telescopes were watching from Earth and space

Telescopes on Earth and in space had the sun safely in their sights when NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made its 11th daring close flyby of the star on Feb. 25, all to understand more about the sun’s behavior. To be clear, the Parker Solar Probe wasn’t directly visible in the various instruments, as the van-sized … Read more

Europe’s sun mission flew through the tail of Comet Leonard

As Comet Leonard bid farewell to Earth and flew past Venus, a sun-studying spacecraft flew through the comet’s long tail, giving humans a new perspective on the icy wanderer. Discovered last January and also known as Comet C/2021 A1, Comet Leonard was perhaps the most spectacular visitor for skywatchers in 2021. The object put on … Read more

Rich Clifford, NASA astronaut who secretly flew with Parkinson’s, dies at 69

Michael “Rich” Clifford, who as a NASA astronaut flew on three space shuttle missions, including one after his diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease, has died at the age of 69. Clifford’s death on Tuesday (Dec. 28) was confirmed by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), a professional organization for astronauts and cosmonauts that included Clifford as … Read more

SpaceX’s all-civilian Inspiration4 astronaut crew flew a meteorite back to space (briefly)

After spending 50,000 years on Earth, a meteorite got the chance to visit space again for almost three days, during the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission in September. Pilot Sian Proctor shared a video on Twitter Friday (Dec. 10) showing a fragment of the immense Canyon Diablo space rock that slammed into northern Arizona, forming Barringer Crater (better … Read more