MARCIA DUNN Aerospace Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

This image provided by NASA/European Space Agency shows an image captured by Hubble of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. (NASA/European Space Agency via AP)

Hubble Space Telescope takes best picture yet of the comet visiting from another solar system

August 7, 2025

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best picture yet of a high-speed comet visiting our solar system from another star. NASA and the European Space Agency released the latest photos Thursday. The interstellar comet was discovered last month by a telescope in Chile. Astronomers originally estimated the size of its icy core at several miles across, but Hubble’s observations have narrowed it down to no more than 3.5 miles. It’s only the third known object from another solar system to pass our way. It poses no threat to Earth.

FILE - Astronaut Butch Wilmore is interviewed at Johnson Space Center on March 31, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, file)

Stuck astronaut Butch Wilmore retires from NASA less than 5 months after extended spaceflight

August 6, 2025

One of NASA’s two previously stuck astronauts has retired. NASA announced Butch Wilmore’s departure from the space agency on Wednesday. Wilmore and Suni Williams launched last summer as test pilots on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. What should have been a weeklong trip to the International Space Station turned into a stay of more than nine months because of Boeing’s malfunctioning Starliner. Starliner came back empty. Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth in March with SpaceX. The 62-year-old Wilmore had already retired from the Navy. Williams, also a retired Navy captain, is still with NASA.

This diagram provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech shows the trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

New interstellar comet will keep a safe distance from Earth, NASA says

July 3, 2025

NASA has discovered an interstellar comet that’s wandered into our backyard. The space agency spotted the object with the Atlas telescope in Chile earlier this week, and has confirmed it was a comet from another star system. It’s only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. This newest visitor is 416 million miles from the sun, out near Jupiter. The quick-moving comet will make its closest approach to the sun in late October, venturing no closer than Mars and posing no threat to Earth. Astronomers around the world are monitoring the comet to determine its size and shape.

FILE - The Milky Way is seen over the Haleakala Observatory and the lights of Kahului, at right, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 at the summit of Haleakala National Park near Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Astronomers track object that may have originated outside the solar system

July 2, 2025

Astronomers are monitoring an object headed our way that may have wandered over from another star system. The European Space Agency said Wednesday that scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system. Telescopes around the world are observing the harmless object, currently near Jupiter and moving toward Mars and the rest of the inner solar system. Its closest approach to the sun is predicted for fall. More observations are needed to confirm the object’s origins. The first confirmed interstellar visitor was in 2017.

This image provided by NASA shows an annotation indicating the impact site for ispace's Resilience lunar lander, seen by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera on June 11, 2025. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University via AP)

NASA spacecraft around the moon photographs the crash site of a Japanese company’s lunar lander

June 20, 2025

A NASA spacecraft around the moon has photographed the crash site of a Japanese company’s lunar lander. NASA released the pictures Friday, two weeks after ispace’s lander slammed into the moon. The images show a dark smudge where the lander, named Resilience, crashed into a volcanic region in the moon’s far north. A faint halo around the area was created by the lunar dirt kicked up by the impact. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the aftermath of the crash — the second failure in two years for ispace.

This handout provided by the European Southern Observatory shows a detailed, thousand-colour image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). (ESO via AP)

This photo of the nearby Sculptor galaxy spans 65,000 light years

June 18, 2025

Astronomers have revealed a nearby spiral galaxy in all its brilliant glory, shining in thousands of colors. The dazzling panoramic shot released Wednesday of the Sculptor galaxy is so detailed that it’s already serving as a star-packed map. Scientists used a telescope in Chile to observe the galaxy for more than 50 hours, stitching together multiple exposures to create the picture. The galaxy is 11 million light-years away in the Southern Hemisphere’s sky. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands ready for launch on pad 39A for a mission to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Space station leak concerns will delay visit by astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary

June 12, 2025

A chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades has been delayed indefinitely because of leak concerns at the International Space Station. NASA said Thursday that it wants to monitor the cabin pressure on the Russian side of the orbiting lab, before accepting visitors. SpaceX was supposed to launch four private astronauts this week on a two-week space station mission. Bad weather and SpaceX rocket trouble delayed the flight. Then the space station leak issue cropped up. The Russian Space Agency has long been dealing with a cabin pressure leak at the station. Recent repairs resulted in what NASA calls “a new pressure signature.”

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FAA demands an accident investigation into SpaceX’s latest out-of-control Starship flight

May 30, 2025

The Federal Aviation Administration is demanding an accident investigation into the out-of-control Starship flight by SpaceX. The world’s biggest and most powerful rocket blasted off from Texas on Tuesday. The test flight lasted longer than the previous two failed demos, which ended in flames over the Atlantic. This latest spacecraft made it halfway around the world to the Indian Ocean, but not before going into a spin and breaking apart. The FAA said Friday no injuries or public damage were reported. The agency will oversee SpaceX’s investigation, which is required before another Starship can launch.

This undated photo released by the European Space Agency shows the 35 meter-diameter deep-space dish antenna, DSA-2, in Cebreros, Spain, receiving the first signals from Venus Express. (ESA via AP)

Strauss’ ‘Blue Danube’ waltz is launching into space to mark his 200th birthday

May 25, 2025

Strauss’ “Blue Danube” waltz is heading into space this month to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The European Space Agency’s big dish antenna in Spain will beam the waltz into the cosmos as it’s performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The celestial send-off on May 31 will also celebrate the space agency’s founding 50 years ago. The radio signals will hurtle away at the speed of light. Within 23 hours, the signals will be as far from Earth as NASA’s Voyager 1, the world’s most distant spacecraft some 15 billion miles away.

MARCIA DUNN Aerospace Writer.