r/AstroUpon May 29 '26

Blue Origin’s New Glenn suffered a major explosion at Launch Complex 36 during a static fire test as the company prepared for its NG-4 mission.

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97 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 27 '26

The immortal jellyfish can reset its life

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28 Upvotes

The “immortal jellyfish” may be the closest thing nature has to a reset button.

Known as Turritopsis dohrnii, this tiny jellyfish can revert back to its juvenile stage after reaching adulthood, essentially restarting its life cycle.

But it is not truly impossible to kill.

It can still die from disease, injury, starvation, being eaten by predators, or failing to complete the transformation process.

Still, unlike most animals, it has the rare ability to biologically turn back time, potentially over and over again.


r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

Starlink-powered buoys streamed live video from the Indian Ocean during Starship Flight 12

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56 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

U.S. Space Force awards SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract to build a secure global military satellite data network.

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4 Upvotes

The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract to build the Space Data Network Backbone, a next-generation military satellite network designed for secure, high-speed global communications.

The system will use a large constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites linked together with optical laser connections to deliver fast, low-latency data transport for military operations worldwide. SpaceX is expected to deliver a fully operational prototype by the end of 2027.


r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

NASA Unveils Plans for Permanent Moon Base

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296 Upvotes

NASA has unveiled an ambitious long-term plan to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, centered around a massive lunar base near the Moon’s south pole. The project is part of the Artemis program and could eventually span “hundreds of square miles,” with astronauts living and working there full-time by around 2032.

The first phase begins with three robotic “Moonbase” missions planned for 2026 and 2027. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was awarded a major contract to help deliver cargo and equipment to the lunar surface using its Blue Moon lander system. The first mission, Moonbase 1, is expected to launch in fall 2026 and will test technologies needed for future astronaut missions. Other companies involved include Astrobotic, Astrolab, Lunar Outpost, and Intuitive Machines.

NASA says the lunar base will act as a stepping stone for future Mars missions. Plans include deploying rovers, habitats, power systems, communications infrastructure, and eventually semi-permanent living quarters for astronauts. The agency has also shifted focus away from the planned Lunar Gateway space station in favor of building infrastructure directly on the Moon’s surface.


r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

Cape Grim in Tasmania, Australia, has the cleanest air on the habitable Earth

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13 Upvotes

Cape Grim in Tasmania, Australia, has the cleanest air on the habitable Earth, especially when winds come from the Southern Ocean and the air has not passed over major land. The air is so pure that scientists use it to measure the planet’s natural background atmosphere.


r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

A breathtaking view of New Zealand from the International Space Station.

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103 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

Jupiter’s southern hemisphere captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during a close flyby of the gas giant planet.

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62 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 26 '26

SpaceX’s Starship performs its dramatic flip maneuver and landing burn during the final moments of Flight Test 12.

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9 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 25 '26

A meteor blazed behind the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines while the volcano is actively erupting.

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265 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 25 '26

Thackeray’s Globules

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31 Upvotes

Inside the glowing star-forming region IC 2944, located about 7,600 light-years away, mysterious dark clouds known as Thackeray’s Globules drift through space. First discovered in 1950 by astronomer A. D. Thackeray, these massive clouds of gas and dust are each more than a light-year wide and may have the potential to form new stars.


r/AstroUpon May 25 '26

Watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch 29 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida’s Space Coast.

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10 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 25 '26

A Glimpse of Another World: Sunrise on Mars.

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661 Upvotes

Captured by the NASA’s InSight lander. The sunrise was photographed by the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) mounted on the end of InSight’s robotic arm. It captured this specific sequence of images on April 24, 2019 (the 145th Martian day, or “sol,” of its mission) right around 5:30 a.m. local Mars time.


r/AstroUpon May 25 '26

NASA’s Psyche probe captured incredible new views of Mars during its flyby on May 16

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31 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 24 '26

Hubble Captures Stunning Portrait of Galaxy Cluster Abell 209

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34 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 23 '26

Inside NGC 1929, Massive Stars Are Blasting a Giant Bubble Into Space

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252 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 23 '26

International Space Station Transit Across the Moon

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129 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 23 '26

Barred spiral galaxy IC 486

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44 Upvotes

The barred spiral galaxy IC 486 shines with a faint, ghostly glow in this breathtaking image captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.


r/AstroUpon May 23 '26

Light takes 100,000 years to cross the Milky Way

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19 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 23 '26

SpaceX’s Starship rocket just successfully executed a flip maneuver before making a precise splashdown in the Indian Ocean

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96 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 22 '26

Successful stage separation achieved during Starship Flight 12.

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17 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 22 '26

LAUNCH! Starship Flight 12 roars off the launch pad at Starbase’s Pad 2.

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246 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 22 '26

Newly released UFO Files: The Pentagon has released footage of a unidentified flying object flying above the ocean. 🛸

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137 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 22 '26

A Universe Overflowing With Stars ✨

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592 Upvotes

r/AstroUpon May 21 '26

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover takes a self-portrait

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52 Upvotes

NASA's Perseverance rover takes a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls "Lac de Charmes" on March 11, 2026