The space station travels at about 28,000 kilometres per hour, circling Earth every 90 minutes. That speed is what keeps it in orbit instead of falling down.
Archive: 2026
302 stories published in 2026
When a satellite stops working, it does not just vanish. Operators either drag it down to burn up, park it in a graveyard orbit, or leave it drifting as debris.
Beneath Europa's cracked ice shell may lie a salty ocean with twice Earth's water. The Europa Clipper mission will investigate whether it could support life.
A trip to Mars takes roughly six to nine months, but the exact time depends on launch windows, trajectory, and how much fuel you are willing to spend.
The James Webb Space Telescope sees the universe in infrared light, revealing distant galaxies, hidden star nurseries, and exoplanet atmospheres — but it has real limits too. Here is a clear, beginner-friendly guide to what Webb can and cannot show us.
Mars rewards patience and the right setup. Learn which telescope size shows the polar caps and dark markings, when to observe, and which color filters sharpen the view.
Saturn's rings are visible even in a modest telescope — if you know when to look and what to expect. This guide covers timing, magnification, and the ring details a beginner can realistically see.
Starship and NASA's Space Launch System take opposite approaches to heavy lift: one is fully reusable and built for volume, the other is a traditional expendable rocket built for a single job. Here is how the two designs compare.
Buying your first planet telescope is confusing because specs mislead. Aperture, mount stability, and realistic magnification matter far more than advertised power — here is how to choose.
You can find planets with your naked eye and no app at all. Learn the ecliptic trick, the steady-light test, and how to use the Moon as a signpost to the bright planets.
Nebulae are the glowing clouds where stars are born — and the shells dying stars leave behind. Learn the four main types, why they glow, and what they actually look like through a telescope.
Jupiter's four Galilean moons are easy targets for phone astrophotography. Learn the adapter setup, exposure trick, and burst-and-stack technique that turns a shaky snapshot into a sharp image.
Mars only shines its brightest every two years or so — and the reason is opposition. Learn what opposition is, why the gap is 26 months, and why some oppositions are far better than others.
Darker skies are the best free upgrade in astronomy. Learn how to read a light pollution map, scout a safe observing site, and improve your view even when you cannot leave the city.
James Webb's 2026 work continues to sharpen our view of early galaxies, exoplanet atmospheres, and star birth — not with single headlines, but with steady, testable evidence.
The best stargazing app for beginners is simple, accurate, and easy to use in the dark. Here is what to look for, what to skip, and how to use an app without staring at your phone all night.
A black hole is a place where gravity is so strong that light cannot escape. Here is how they form, what the event horizon means, and why they matter for astronomy.
Starship's test flights aim for full reusability at unprecedented scale. Here is how each test works, what counts as progress, and what challenges remain.
Your phone can capture real lunar detail — if you lower exposure, stabilise the shot, and choose the right Moon phase. Here is a simple method that works on most phones.
Mars rovers drive slowly, analyse rocks, and survive dust storms and freezing nights to reveal a planet that was once warm and wet. Here is how they work and what they found.
Exoplanets are faint, distant, and hard to see — yet scientists have found thousands. Transits, stellar wobbles, and direct imaging each reveal a different piece of the puzzle.
The ISS is a working laboratory 400 km above Earth, where astronauts exercise, experiment, and adapt to microgravity for months at a time. Here is how life in orbit really works.
Binoculars are portable and beginner-friendly; telescopes reveal finer detail but need more setup. Here is how to choose based on what you actually want to see.
James Webb has turned exoplanet atmospheres from speculation into measured chemistry. Here is what its spectra have actually revealed, what remains uncertain, and why the early headlines need careful reading.