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News Articles: space exploration

A Long March rocket carrying a crew of Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou-18 spaceship lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on Thursday.

China launches a new crew to its space station, advancing toward lunar mission

Three astronauts will spend six months on China's space station. Some experts worry China's ambitious space program could pose a threat to U.S. space superiority and military effectiveness.

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By:
  • John Ruwitch
A new lunar time zone has been pitched for the moon.

NASA has been asked to create a time zone for the moon. Here's how it would work

A new lunar time zone is all about ensuring the success of future, multinational missions to the moon.

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By:
  • Kai McNamee
This artist's impression shows one of the Voyager spacecraft moving through the darkness of space.

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is talking nonsense. Its friends on Earth are worried

Voyager 1 has been traveling through space since 1977, and some scientists hoped it could keep sending back science data for 50 years. But a serious glitch has put that milestone in jeopardy.

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By:
  • Nell Greenfieldboyce
In this image taken from video broadcast by SpaceX, crew members wave after the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Florida Panhandle, late Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

SpaceX mission returns from space station with ex-NASA astronaut, 3 paying customers

The return caps a nine-day mission to the International Space Station. The mission was funded by Axiom Space, a company that wants to build and operate the world's first commercial space station.

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By:
  • Russell Lewis and
  • Ayana Archie
NASA's InSight Mars lander is covered in dust in its final selfie, taken on April 24. The following month its robotic arm was put into resting position, aka "retirement pose."

Goodnight, sweet spacecraft: NASA's InSight lander may have just signed off from Mars

InSight's end has long been in sight, with NASA warning that it would likely be inoperative by the end of the year. The lander went quiet this weekend and shared a tweet it said might be its last.

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By:
  • Rachel Treisman
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifted off in Florida in Feb. 2015, on its way to send the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite into space. But seven years later, part of the rocket left behind in space is hurtling straight toward the moon.

A piece of space junk the size of a school bus is barreling straight toward the moon

Astronomers predict that on March 4th, a piece of a rocket launched in 2015 will crash into the moon. It's believed to be first time something man-made has accidentally crashed into the moon.

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By:
  • Deepa Shivaram
In a first, the SpaceX mission set to launch Wednesday night will carry four civilians: Chris Sembroski (from left), Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux.

The 1st All-Civilian Crew Is About To Orbit The Earth

Marking the latest step in the commercialization of space, the SpaceX mission set to launch Wednesday will carry four civilians, including a billionaire CEO, a physician assistant and a geoscientist.

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By:
  • Deepa Shivaram
President Richard Nixon gave these moon rocks to the state of Georgia in 1972. They will be on display at a special event at UGA's Richard B. Russell Library on Tuesday, July 16, from 12 to 2 p.m.

Special Event Puts Moon Rocks On Display At UGA's Russell Library

The University of Georgia's Richard B. Russell Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with an exhibit of rare items collected...

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