This low-cost mission is still only getting started, and it's taking bigger risks than typical big-ticket NASA missions.

The moon and sun share top billing in 2026. Kicking off the year’s cosmic wonders is the moon, drawing the first astronauts to visit in more than 50 years as well as a caravan of robotic lunar landers including Jeff Bezos’ new supersized Blue Moon. A supermoon looms on Jan. 3 and an astronomical blue moon is on the books for May.

We asked our staff to choose their favorite Space.com stories of 2025. Here's what we got.

Here are eight of the most spectacular astronomical discoveries of 2025.

When a piece of debris hits another object in space, it can also create more space debris, adding to the problem.

NASA’s plans to launch astronauts to the moon in early 2026. The Artemis II mission is expected to carry a crew around the moon — though not to the lunar surface.

It's the 12 days of Spacemas, fa la la la la la la la la (sorry).

Searches for dark matter particles have come up empty so far, driving theorists to get more creative with their ideas.

While space is often referred to as a vacuum, it isn't completely empty.

When Marc and Cristina Easton’s son was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, the Baltimore couple left the doctor’s appointment in confusion. Their toddler - who was very social - didn’t resemble the picture of the condition they thought they knew. And the specialists could offer little clarity about why or what lay ahead. It wasn’t until four years after their child’s diagnosis that the Eastons finally began to get answers that offered them a glimmer of understanding. This summer, a team from Pr

When Marc and Cristina Easton’s son was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, the Baltimore couple left the doctor’s appointment in confusion. Their toddler - who was very social - didn’t resemble the picture of the condition they thought they knew. And the specialists could offer little clarity about why or what lay ahead. It wasn’t until four years after their child’s diagnosis that the Eastons finally began to get answers that offered them a glimmer of understanding. This summer, a team from Pr

Scientists working to solve human evolution’s biggest mystery made a big breakthrough in 2025.

Don't miss the moon cozy up to Saturn on Dec. 26.

New discoveries and fresh looks at familiar worlds show how far exoplanet science has come — and how much remains unknown.

Overall, the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the Earth as a whole.

As a space scientist, I predict that the company will soon have to reckon with a growing problem: space debris.

All the NASA engineers and scientists need is a star on top of the telescope in the cleanroom.

From Santa’s reindeer and the Hanukkah armadillo to some very festive sea worms, our changing world is changing life for creatures great and small.

They won't be home for Christmas, but astronauts in space are finding their own way to make the season bright.

The night sky is the Christmas gift that just keeps giving.

According to the patent, habitable modules would rotate around a central axis to simulate gravity for crew by producing an outward-pushing centrifugal force.

We just got a great up-close look at a SpaceX Starlink satellite that recently suffered an anomaly in orbit, thanks to Vantor's WorldView-3 spacecraft.

The "America 250" logo commemorates the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Researchers studied fossils, well-preserved remains and even a single fingerprint to solve some of history’s long-standing mysteries this year.

Highlights from a cometary trio that captured our imaginations.

Understanding what happens to Antarctica’s ice matters, because as it melts, sea levels rise, affecting lives and economies around the world.

3I/ATLAS may have moved away from Earth as it makes its way out of the solar system, but this interstellar intruder continues to delight and surprise astronomers.

Outside Earth's protection, space travellers will be routinely exposed.

On Christmas Eve 1968, the Earth received a message from astronauts on a mission like no other - the first around the moon. NASA will return in 2026.

The South Sandwich Islands were born from a tectonic collision, forged by volcanism and relentlessly reshaped by ice, wind and waves.