It will be painful if Israel and Hamas militants continue to exchange rocket fire and airstrikes. But invading Gaza would increase the devastation even further.
The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak on Oct. 7.
(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
The bloody ground attacks by Hamas in Israel caused the biggest shock. But the unprecedented scale of rocketry and successful use of armed drones contributed to the surprise.
The Overview Effect describes the transformative impact of seeing Earth from space and feeling profoundly connected to our planet and concerned for it. That’s at odds with the impact of space tourism.
Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, launched from a spaceport in Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The launch of a new rocket is always an exciting event. SpaceX’s ‘go fast and fail’ approach means that even though the test ended with engineers blowing up the rocket, it was a valuable first flight.
Both the U.S. and China have plans to establish bases on the Moon in the near future.
Caspar Benson/fStop via Getty Images
China has invested massively in its space capabilities in recent years and is now a major competitor with the US. But according to a space policy expert, the US still dominates space by most measures.
The surface of Europa – one of Jupiter’s moons – is a thick layer of solid ice.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and Europa Clipper missions will arrive at Jupiter in the 2030s and provide researchers with unprecedented access to the icy moons orbiting the gas giant.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites launches on Aug. 19, 2022. The Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket and its re-entry is controlled after launch, reducing debris.
(Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)
Rockets used to launch satellites fall back to Earth, and as their number grows, the risk faced by people living on the ground — or flying in airplanes — increases.
Three taikonauts rode aboard the Shenzhou 15 mission on their way to China’s new Tiangong space station.
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
China has completed construction of the Tiangong space station, and science projects are now underway. The station is an important piece of China’s ambitious plans for space activity in coming years.
NASA astronaut Winston E. Scott on an EVA in 1996.
NASA JSC
NASA has only mapped 40% of the potentially dangerous asteroids that could crash into Earth. New projects will boost that number, and upcoming missions will test tech that could prevent collisions.
It only takes light about eight minutes to go from the Sun to Earth.
loops7/E+ via Getty Images
The fastest things ever made by humans are spacecraft, and the fastest spacecraft reached 330,000 mph – only 0.05% the speed of light. But there are ways to go faster.
A telescope in the outer solar system would be able to do unique science that is impossible closer to the Sun.
Michael Zemcov
Such a mission could be developed soon, allowing astrophysicists to take selfies of the solar system and use the Sun’s gravity as a lens to peer deep into space.
Thousands of the satellites orbiting Earth are small – like this cubical satellite seen here being released from the International Space Station.
NASA
In the past decade, the number of satellites in orbit has skyrocketed thanks to tiny electronics and cheap launches. The crowded night sky is posing problems for astronomers and astronauts.
Four people – none of them trained astronauts – launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, 2021.
NASA Johnson/Flickr
The Inspiration4 mission sent four civilians to space for three days. Though still funded by a billionaire, the mission is a step forward in the nascent space tourism industry.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson launches Virgin Galactic.
Terry Caws/Alamy Stock Photo
Improved rocket technology and tactics have made the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict different from the one in 2014. Israel’s defences have been stressed.