Space
After mistakenly cutting contact, NASA detects ‘heartbeat’ signal from Voyager 2 spacecraft
The command, which tilted the spacecraft’s antenna away from Earth, severed its contact with NASA.
- by Marcia Dunn
Latest
Lunar Codex: A time capsule of human creativity to be stored on the moon
The director of a vast multimedia archive telling a story of the world’s people through creative arts says it’s “message in the bottle for the future”.
- by J.D. Biersdorfer
Interactive
Astronomy
Travel into Earth’s closest cloud complex with 50 newly born stars
NASA has released a close-up image of the closest star-forming region to Earth, called Rho Ophiuchi, which is about 390 light years away.
- by Angus Dalton
It came from outer space: ‘Rocket junk’ washed up on WA beach makes international headlines
Within an hour of the first media report on the unusual find, Reddit posters had already come up with a theory the object was a piece of space junk from an Indian rocket.
- by Heather McNeill and Cameron Myles
Black mathematician calculated orbits for Apollo moon landing
Granville was part of a small cadre of Black women involved in the space program celebrated in movie Hidden Figures.
From a lab to the moon: Growing plants in outer space
The plants will make the 300,000-kilometre journey in 2026, but there are a few challenges facing scientists before then.
- by Laura Chung
Analysis
Science
It appears time moved much more slowly at the dawn of the universe. Here’s why
In a galaxy far, far away, enormous black holes born at the beginning of our universe have much to tell us about the relationship between time and space.
- by Liam Mannix
SpaceX launches Euclid in big step to unlock more secrets of dark matter
The spacecraft will not be alone in peering into the cold storage of our universe, but Euclid will reach back farther, imaging the structure of the universe about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
- by Katrina Miller
The Australians keeping astronauts alive and healthy in space
Our health workers are the best in the world at operating in remote conditions. Now they are paving the way for humanity’s return to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.
- by Angus Thomson
Australian scientists discover key to unlocking Big Bang theory
An 18-year program has collected evidence for waves that could paint our most vivid picture yet of the universe’s birth.
- by Angus Dalton
Exclusive
National security
‘I never was a spy’: Space consultant denies she’s a national security risk
An Irish national thrown into immigration detention after ASIO alleged she had repeated contact with a suspected Russian intelligence officer says she is determined to clear her name.
- by Nick McKenzie