China’s commercial space sector has entered a new frontier. In January, a private Chinese aerospace company unveiled the test capsule of what is set to become the country’s first commercially developed crewed spacecraft, with plans for crewed flights by 2028 and bookings already taken from private space tourists. The project reflects a decisive shift in…
The length of a night on Mars isn’t too different from here on Earth, lasting just over 12 hours on average. Thanks to its similar axial tilt, it also experiences longer nights in winter and shorter nights during summer — but the gloom is eerie, with temperatures plummeting to as low as -100 degrees Fahrenheit…
When four astronauts begin a historic trip around the moon as soon as February 6, they’ll climb aboard NASA’s 16.5-foot-wide Orion spacecraft with the understanding that it has a known flaw — one that has some experts urging the space agency not to fly the mission with humans on board. But NASA remains confident it…
Cloud-9 was first discovered about three years ago by a telescope located in Guizhou, China. However, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) wasn’t able to exactly identify it for what it really was. The Chinese astronomers classified it as yet another hydrogen gas cloud near the spiral galaxy Messier 94, roughly 14 million light-years from Earth….
Like many long-time reporters in Hong Kong, I had occasional dealings with David Webb, the market transparency and shareholder rights crusader who died this week of prostate cancer at the relatively young age of 60. Almost all of my encounters with him over the years were annoying and slightly unpleasant. But they made me respect…
The most sensational story of the year for astronomers has been the discovery of the comet 3I/ATLAS, which was first observed on July 1, 2025 by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Although comets regularly pass by Earth, the most famous being Halley’s Comet, there’s something extra-special about this new find. Halley’s and other…
After a yearslong series of setbacks, NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission has finally begun its roundabout journey to Mars. Launched on Nov. 13, 2025, aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, ESCAPADE’s twin probes will map the planet’s magnetic field and study how the solar wind – the stream of…
Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s pick to be NASA Administrator, speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Jared Isaacman, US President Donald Trump’s NASA administrator nominee has made a ‘China promise’ to Americans. Trump’s two-time appointee to lead NASA…
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, a cosmic rock first discovered by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile on July 1, 2025. At this point, 12 NASA cameras have captured imagery of 3I/ATLAS as it’s traversed our solar system, but a brand-new…
The United States will redouble efforts to ensure its return to the moon ahead of China and also establish an enduring presence on Earth’s natural satellite to entrench the country’s presence, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on Wednesday during a Senate confirmation hearing. Such a sense of…