The dawn is breaking on a new era of space exploration, with moon bases and Mars colonies potentially only decades away. Live Science tracks the researchers, companies and countries setting their sights on the stars to bring you the biggest stories in space. Whether it's reporting on concerns that alien organisms could hitch a ride on our spacecraft and contaminate Earth, explaining what 11 billion people means for space travel, sharing a glorious photo of Earth during a total solar eclipse snapped by Japan's lunar lander, or compiling a list of the weirdest things we have launched into space, our expert writers and editors will ignite your sense of interstellar adventure with the latest space exploration news, features and articles.
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NASA confirms MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after loss of signal behind MarsNASA has confirmed its MAVEN spacecraft is officially dead after losing contact with the probe in December. An anomaly in the probe's rotation speed led to an unexpected loss of power, though the exact cause remains unknown.
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China launches new Long March 12B rocket, reportedly without any safety warningChina's Long March 12B rocket has blasted off on its maiden voyage carrying more Qianfan "Thousand Sails" satellites, during a surprise launch for which there were reportedly no airspace notices.
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'Very rough day': Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes in gigantic fireball, days after being selected for NASA moon missionsThe rocket explosion, a contender for the largest in American history, is a significant setback for Jeff Bezos and NASA.
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'The sun would all but disappear, and the moon would always look full': A radio astronomer shares her mind-bending view of the universeINTERVIEW Radio astronomer Emma Chapman explains why the radio view of the universe is so crucial to space exploration, astronomy, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
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NASA administrator hails 'Golden Age' of lunar exploration as Moon Base plans unveiledThe space agency described the moon base as a sprawling city-like lunar outpost stretching over hundreds of square miles.
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China launches 'human artificial embryos' to space for the first timeChina's Tianzhou-10 mission just delivered embryo-like structures made from living stem cells to the Tiangong space station. Experiments could shed light on how radiation and microgravity affect human reproduction.
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'I heard gasps': Artemis II astronauts reveal inside story of their mind-bending solar eclipseIn their first visit to Canada since returning to Earth, the Artemis II astronauts opened up about the moments that blew their minds — and brought them to tears.
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'There are 4 people in those pixels': Earth-based telescope snapped Artemis II crew orbiting the moonA blurry new photo captured by the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia shows Artemis II's Orion capsule circling the moon more than 200,000 miles away, making it a candidate for the longest-distance image of humans ever taken from Earth.
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SpaceX prepares to launch next-generation Starship, the tallest and most powerful rocket ever builtStarship V3's maiden spaceflight is scheduled for next week as SpaceX prepares to launch the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built.
