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FILE - The progression of a total solar eclipse is seen in a multiple exposure photograph taken in 5-minute intervals, with the moon passing in front of the sun above Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, 225 kilometers (140 miles) from Phnom Penh, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 1995. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

How to get the perfect shot during the solar eclipse

 

A map of April 2024’s total solar eclipse

FILE - The moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Cerulean, Ky. On April 8, 2024, the sun will pull another disappearing act across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada, turning day into night for as much as 4 minutes, 28 seconds. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

April’s total solar eclipse is a month away. Here’s why it’s worth the watch and how to stay safe

 
 · 
MARCIA DUNN

Safety first: How to watch April’s total solar eclipse that will cut across North America

 

What you can expect to experience during April’s total solar eclipse

Today’s top science stories
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship launches at dawn in the haze on it's third test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

SpaceX comes close to completing test flight of mega rocket but loses spacecraft near end

SpaceX’s mega rocket has flown higher and farther than ever before. The nearly 400-foot Starship blasted off from Texas on Thursday on the third test flight.
 
Support teams work around the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Russia cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov aboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

Four astronauts from four countries return to Earth after six months in orbit

 
A gorilla family is observed by people visiting the Fort Worth Zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Researchers will be standing by to observe how animals’ routines at the zoo are disrupted when skies dim on April 8. They previously detected other strange animal behaviors in 2017 at a South Carolina zoo that was in the path of total darkness. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April

 
This photo provided by researcher Roman Garba shows a heavily weathered flake artifact at the Korolevo I archaeological site in western Ukraine in August 2023. Stone tools found in the area are the earliest evidence of early human presence in Europe, dating back to 1.4 million years ago, according to research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (Roman Garba via AP)

Ancient stone tools found in Ukraine date to over 1 million years ago, and may be oldest in Europe

 
This image provided by NASA, processed by Kevin M. Gill, shows Jupiter's moon Europa captured by the Juno spacecraft on Sept. 29, 2022, with north to the left. Research published Monday, March 4, 2024, suggests there's less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa than thought — and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in the moon’s underground ocean. (Kevin M. Gill/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI via AP)

Jupiter’s moon Europa may have less oxygen than expected, a finding that might put a damper on life

 
In this photo released by Roscosmos space corporation, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, centre, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos, bottom, and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus wave as they board to the space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, March 21, 2024. Russia's Roscosmos space agency has aborted the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station about 20 seconds before they were scheduled to lift off. Officials say the crew is safe. The Russian Soyuz rocket was to carry NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. (Roscosmos space corporation via AP)

Russia’s space agency aborts launch of 3 astronauts to the International Space Station; all are safe

 

  1. Higher temperatures mean higher food and other prices. A new study links climate shocks to inflation

  2. Swedish appeals court rules space rock should stay with the owner of the property where it landed

  3. Man pleads guilty in eagle ‘killing spree’ on reservation to sell feathers on black market

In case you missed it

FILE - The progression of a total solar eclipse is seen in a multiple exposure photograph taken in 5-minute intervals, with the moon passing in front of the sun above Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, 225 kilometers (140 miles) from Phnom Penh, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 1995. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
On Now
3:42
How to get the perfect shot during the solar eclipse

AP Texas and Oklahoma chief photographer Julio Cortez, talks about the best tips and tricks to get the perfect shot during upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. (AP Video/Shelby Lum)

On Now
2:03
How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April

Researchers will observe how animals’ routines at the Fort Worth Zoo are disrupted during the April 8 total solar eclipse. The moon’s shadow will sweep across North America including from Texas to Maine. (March 8)(AP Video by Kendria LaFleur/Erik Verduzco. Produced by Mary Conlon)

On Now
1:18
SpaceX comes close to completing test flight of mega rocket but loses spacecraft near end

SpaceX’s mega rocket has flown higher and farther than ever before. The nearly 400-foot Starship blasted off from Texas on Thursday on the third test flight. But the spacecraft was lost near the end of its hourlong trip. (14 March 2024)

On Now
0:44
A map of April 2024’s total solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse will cross North America in April. This animated map shows the path of totality across parts of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. (Feb. 29) (AP Animation: Panagiotis Mouzakis and Marshall Ritzel)

FILE - Blake Davis, 10, of Coral Springs, Fla., looks through solar glasses as he watches the eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla. After April 8, 2024, there won’t be another U.S. eclipse, spanning coast to coast, until 2045. That one will stretch from Northern California all the way to Cape Canaveral, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
On Now
2:53
Safety first: How to watch April’s total solar eclipse that will cut across North America

Sunglasses won’t cut it during the April 8 eclipse. Special eclipse glasses are crucial for safely observing the sun as the moon marches across the late morning and afternoon sky on April 8, covering more and more and then less and less of our star. (AP Video/Shelby Lum)

On Now
2:05
What you can expect to experience during April’s total solar eclipse

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North America. It will be the last one visible from the contiguous United States until 2044. Here’s what viewers should expect to see during each stage of the eclipse. (Feb. 16) (AP video: Christine Nguyen)

Topics

Space

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries staff member stands next to the top of the first stage of a H3 rocket, inside the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Tobishima Plant in Tobishima, Aichi prefecture Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mari Yamaguchi)

Japan’s space agency says it hopes to forge a profitable launch business with its new H3 rocket

 

  1. The spring equinox is here. What does that mean?

  2. Boeing tells airlines to check pilot seats after report that an accidental shift led plane to plunge

  3. Commercial rocket trying to put a satellite into orbit explodes moments after liftoff in Japan

Archaeology

In this handout photo released on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark Mads Dengso Jessen holds a window glass fragment from the Viking Age, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 8, 2023. Over the past 25 years, archaeologists have found glass fragments in six excavations in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany and have analyzed fragments of glass panes to reach the conclusion: Vikings had windows with glass-panes. (John Fhær Engedal Nissen/The National Museum of Denmark via AP)

Vikings had windows, another shift away from their image as barbaric Norsemen, Danish museum says

 

  1. Archaeologists unearth the largest cemetery ever discovered in Gaza and find rare lead sarcophogi

  2. This simple log structure may be the oldest example of early humans building with wood

  3. Ruins of ancient Nero’s Theater discovered under garden of future Four Seasons near Vatican

Biology

From left, John Benson, UNL assistant professor of vertebrate ecology, and John Carroll, Director of the University of Nebraska's School of Natural Resources, install a nesting box for flying squirrels on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, on UNL's East Campus in Lincoln, Neb. (Gwyneth Roberts/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

Duck! Flying squirrels take to the air in Nebraska city

 

  1. Rare sea creature washes ashore in Southern California

  2. Nobel-winning technique like “Google Earth for molecules”

  3. Scientists tinker with evolution to save Hawaii coral reefs

Natural History

This undated handout photo shows a mouse feeding on the head of a wandering albatross chick on Marion Island, South Africa. Mice that were brought by mistake to a remote island near Antarctica 200 years ago are breeding out of control because of climate change, eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve with “unique biodiversity.” Now conservationists are planning a mass extermination using helicopters and hundreds of tons of rodent poison. (Stefan and Janine Schoombie via AP)

A warming island’s mice are breeding out of control and eating seabirds. An extermination is planned

 

  1. California proposes delaying rules aimed at reducing water on lawns, concerning environmentalists

  2. Rhinos are returned to a plateau in central Kenya, decades after poachers wiped them out

  3. Evers goes around GOP to secure grant for largest land conservation purchase in Wisconsin history

The Protein Problem

Dave Pirazzini smells cultivate chicken before sampling it at GOOD Meat's Alameda, Calif., headquarters on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. The company's cultivated chicken, which is grown from animal cells, is approved for sale in the United States and Singapore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

How ‘lab-grown’ meat cultivated from animal cells could offer another sustainable food option

Meat cultivated from cells — with no need to raise and slaughter an animal — is starting to show up in restaurants around the world. But can it be made cheaply enough to displace animal agriculture?
Jose Carlos, an employee at the Sitio Gimaia Tauare owned by Neilanny Maia, harvests cocoa fruits by hand, for processing by the De Mendes Chocolates company, on the island of Tauare, in the municipality of Mocajuba, Para state, Brazil, Friday, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Saving Brazil’s rainforest starts with helping people and businesses make a living off cleared land

The sun sets as Meredith Ellis looks at cattle with her son, GC, 6, on their ranch in Rosston, Texas, Thursday, April 20, 2023. Ellis has seen how global warming is altering her land. She calls it an "existential crisis," the backdrop to the endless to-do list that comes with regenerative ranching. After a long day, she likes to take a moment to remember why she does it. Standing with her 6-year-old son on a cool evening, they watch over a gate as dozens of cows graze amid the lush grass and a setting sun. "I could stand here all evening," she says. "I just love them." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Beef is a way of life in Texas, but it’s hard on the planet. This rancher thinks she can change that

Cows walk together in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

What pastoralists in Senegal and Mongolia can teach us about adapting to a changing environment

Lars Obendorfer, owner of "Best Worscht in Town" sausage holds up vegan curry wursts in one of his branches in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. “There was downright hostility between the meat eaters and the vegans,” he says. “And I just couldn’t understand it, and I said, ‘knock off the arguing.’” (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Plant-based products haven’t converted US meat-eaters. Could new recipes win them over?

More from the project

Can we feed the world without starving the planet? Meet the innovators trying to solve this problem

In the quest to produce more food with almost no land, Singapore provides a glimpse into the world’s food future

We reshaped the planet so that we can feed ourselves. But now we’re running out of suitable land

Demand for seafood is soaring, but oceans are giving up all they can. Can we farm fish in new ways?

Eating less meat would be good for the Earth. Small nudges can change behavior

More news

How bad are flu, COVID-19 and RSV? These charts show how respiratory viruses are spreading in the US

Spring is nearly here, but the 2023-24 respiratory virus season isn’t over yet. Viral activity from flu, COVID-19 and RSV has fallen from the peak, but levels remain elevated.
 
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule with a crew of four on a mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

4 new astronauts head to the International Space Station for a 6-month stay

SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station who will oversee the arrival of two new rocketships during their stint. The U.S.
 
This image provided by Intuitive Machines shows a view from the Odysseus lunar lander made with a fisheye lens on Feb. 22, 2024. Before its power was depleted, Odysseus sent this photo in its farewell transmission, received on Thursday, Feb. 29. (Intuitive Machines via AP)

First US moon lander in half a century stops working a week after tipping over at touchdown

The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts has fallen silent, a week after breaking a leg and tipping over near the lunar south pole.
 
This image provided by Intuitive Machines shows a broken landing leg on the Odysseus lander. The lander touched down near the moon's south pole on Feb. 22, 2024, but then fell over on its side, hampering communications. (Intuitive Machines via AP)

Private US moon lander still working after breaking leg and falling, but not for long

The first private U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon broke a leg at touchdown before falling over. Intuitive Machines, the company that built the lander, said it was still generating solar power as of Wednesday night.
 
FILE - Skeletons of a human and a monkey await installation at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv, Israel on Monday, Feb 19, 2018. Around 20 or 25 million years ago, when apes diverged from monkeys, our branch of the tree of life shed its tail. In a paper published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, researchers identify at least one of the key genetic tweaks that led to this change. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

Our ancient animal ancestors had tails. Why don’t we?

Scientists have identified a gene mutation that may explain why we don’t have tails. Our very ancient animal ancestors had tails.
 
This image provided by Intuitive Machines on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 shows its Odysseus lunar lander over the south pole region of the Moon. The toppled lunar lander is still beaming back pictures of the moon, as its nears the final hours of its life. The photos were taken shortly before last Thursday's touchdown. (Intuitive Machines via AP)

Toppled moon lander sends back more images, with only hours left until it dies

A toppled moon lander is still beaming back pictures, as its nears the final hours of its life. Intuitive Machines posted the latest photos of the moon’s unexplored south polar region Tuesday.
 
These photos provided by NASA show images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team which confirmed Odysseus completed its landing. After traveling more than 600,000 miles, Odysseus landed within 1.5 km of its intended Malapert A landing site, using a contingent laser range-finding system patched hours before landing. (NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University via AP)

Sideways moon landing cuts mission short, private US lunar lander will stop working Tuesday

A private U.S. lunar lander is expected to stop working Tuesday, its mission cut short after landing sideways near the south pole of the moon.
 
This August 1989 image provided by NASA shows the planet Neptune photographed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, processed to enhance the visibility of small features. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced Friday , Feb. 23, 2024, that astronomers have found three previously unknown moons in our solar system — two additional moons circling Neptune and one around Uranus. (NASA via AP)

Astronomers spot new tiny moons around Neptune and Uranus

The moon count in our solar system just went up by three. Astronomers have found two previously unknown moons circling Neptune and one around Uranus.
 
FILE- Picture shows the moon's surface taken by the Russian moonprobe Luna 9, Feb. 4, 1966. The pictures for the first time enable scientists to analyze the microstructure of the moon's surface. The picture was released by the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, England, which picked up Luna 9's signals. (AP Photo/File)

Here’s a look at moon landing hits and misses

Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses and now a U.S. company is the first private outfit to achieve a touchdown.
 
On Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 the Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander captures a wide field of view image of Schomberger crater on the Moon approximately 125 miles (200 km) uprange from the intended landing site, at approximately about 6 miles (10 km) altitude. (Intuitive Machines via AP)

The Odysseus moon lander tipped over at touchdown, and that’s limiting the data it’s sending back

Intuitive Machines initially believed its six-footed private lunar lander, was upright after Thursday’s touchdown. But CEO Steve Altemus said Friday the craft “caught a foot in the surface,” falling onto its side and, quite possibly, leaning against a rock.
 
FILE - Eclipse watchers squint through protective filters as they view an eclipse of the sun from the top deck of New York's Empire State Building in New York on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 1932. Full solar eclipses occur every year or two or three, often in the middle of nowhere like the South Pacific or Antarctic. (AP Photo/File, File)

AP PHOTOS: Total solar eclipses through the decades

The complete shrouding of our sun by the moon has mesmerized humanity for millennia — a moment in time when skies darken and stillness creeps in.
 
Main Engine Control Computer designer for Intuitive Machines Dan Harrison cheers amongst fellow employees during a watch party moments after they became the first commercial company to softly land on the moon on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Houston. ( Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The Odysseus lander gets the US back on the moon for the first time since Apollo 1972

A private lander has made the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years. Intuitive Machines’ lander touched down Thursday, but left flight controllers scrambling before gaining better contact.
 
This photo provided by the European Space Agency shows the European Remote Sensing 2 satellite (ERS-2) satellite in a clean room before its launch in 1995. The Earth-observing satellite fell out of orbit Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, and harmlessly broke apart over the Pacific. (ESA via AP)

Old European satellite plunges harmlessly through the atmosphere over the Pacific

An old Earth-observing satellite has fallen out of orbit and harmlessly burned up. The European Space Agency says its satellite broke apart over the Pacific on Wednesday, halfway between Hawaii and Alaska.
 
This image provided by Intuitive Machines shows its Odysseus lunar lander over the near side of the moon following lunar orbit insertion on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Intuitive Machines via AP)

Private US spacecraft enters orbit around the moon ahead of landing attempt

A private U.S. lunar lander is in orbit around the moon, a day before it will attempt to land on the surface.
 
This illustration provided by the European Southern Observatory in February 2024, depicts the record-breaking quasar J059-4351, the bright core of a distant galaxy that is powered by a supermassive black hole. The supermassive black hole, seen here pulling in surrounding matter, has a mass 17 billion times that of the Sun and is growing in mass by the equivalent of another Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole ever known. (M. Kornmesser/ESO via AP)

Astronomers find what may be the universe’s brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day

Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe. The record-breaking quasar has a black hole at its heart that’s so big and growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day.
 
This photo provided by NASA on Jan. 22, 2024 shows a view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. NASA reported Thursday, Feb. 15, that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.3 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s about a cupful _ the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon. (Erika Blumenfeld and Joseph Aebersold/NASA via AP)

NASA’s final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall. And it’s double the rubble goal.
 
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is launched from a pad at Kennedy Space Center, seen from Port Canaveral, Fla. Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)

Another lunar lander rockets toward the moon for a touchdown attempt

Another private U.S. company is taking a shot at the moon, launching a month after a rival’s lunar lander missed its mark.
 
FILE - An elephant head wall trophy is on display at the Nesbitt Castle in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in this April 23, 2018 file photo. Nearly half of the world's migratory species are in decline, according to a new United Nations report released Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks and migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons and are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution and climate change. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

Nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline, UN report says

A new United Nations report says nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons.
 
This photo provided by Axiom Space shows a SpaceX capsule parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 off the Florida coast. Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. (Axiom Space via AP)

Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden return to Earth, ending private space station trip

Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden are back on Earth, ending a private three-week trip to the International Space Station.
 
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on NASA's Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. NASA’s newest climate satellite rocketed into orbit to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in never-before-seen detail. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA climate satellite blasts off to survey oceans and atmosphere of a warming Earth

NASA’s newest climate satellite has blasted off to survey the world’s oceans and atmosphere in unprecedented detail.
 
This Feb. 13, 2010 image provided by NASA shows Saturn's moon Mimas and it's large Herschel Crater, captured by the Cassini spacecraft. The crater is 130 kilometers (80 miles) wide. Astronomers have reported the best evidence yet of a vast, relatively new ocean beneath the icy exterior of Mimas, believed between 5 million and 15 million years old. The findings were published Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in the journal Nature. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via AP)

Saturn’s Death Star-looking moon may have vast underground ocean

Astronomers are reporting the best evidence yet of a vast, young ocean beneath the icy exterior of Saturn’s Death Star-looking mini moon.
 
This image provided by Virtual Telescope Project out of Italy shows a single 180-second exposure asteroid that was approaching Earth, about 4 million kilometers, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2024. Astronomers say an asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. There's no chance of it hitting us since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon. (Virtual Telescope Project via AP)

A skyscraper-size asteroid will buzz by Earth today, but no need to worry

Astronomers say an asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday.
 
In this Jan. 15, 2010, file photo, a a sea otter is seen in Morro Bay, Calif. Bringing sea otters back to a California estuary has helped restore the ecosystem by controlling the number of burrowing crabs - a favorite sea otter snack - that cause marshland erosion. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, file)

Hungry sea otters are helping save California’s marshlands from erosion

A new study shows the return of sea otters and their voracious appetites has helped rescue a section of California marshland.
 
This photo 2022 photo provided by Samuel Timothy Fabian shows an Atlas Moth (Attacus lorquinii) used to test the interaction of flying insects with artificial light is photographed at Imperial College London. Many scientists have long assumed that moths and other flying insects were simply drawn to bright lights. But a new study suggests, rather than being attracted to light, researchers believe that artificial lights at night may actually scramble flying insects’ innate navigational systems. (Samuel Timothy Fabian via AP)

Are insects drawn to light? New research shows it’s confusion, not fatal attraction

Many scientists have long assumed that moths and other flying insects were simply drawn to bright lights. But a new study suggests that’s not exactly what’s going on.
 
FILE - In this image made available by NASA, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter hovers above the surface of the planet during its second flight on April 22, 2021. On Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, NASA announced that the 4-pound chopper can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage, and its mission is officially over. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS via AP, File)

NASA’s little helicopter on Mars has logged its last flight

NASA says its little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight. The space agency announced Thursday that the 4-pound chopper named Ingenuity can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage, and its mission is officially over.
 
This undated photo provided by the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows adult emperor penguins with a chick near Halley Research Station in Antarctica. Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in new satellite imagery. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds. The British Antarctic Survey said Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, that the four newly found colonies likely existed for many years, but scientists hadn’t previously spotted them. (British Antarctic Survey via AP)

Once unknown emperor penguin colonies have been spotted in Antarctica — though some are moving away

Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in new satellite imagery. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds.
 
This illustration provided by Astrobotic Technology in 2024 depicts the Peregrine lunar lander on the surface of the moon. A fuel leak shortly after its Monday, Jan. 8, 2024 liftoff prevented any chance of a moon touchdown. (Astrobotic Technology via AP)

Private US lander destroyed during reentry after failed mission to moon, company says

A U.S. company’s failed moonshot has ended with a fiery plunge over the South Pacific. Astrobotic Technology said Friday that it had confirmation that its lunar lander broke apart as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday.
 
Axiom-3 mission astronauts, from left, mission specialist Marcus Wandt, of Sweden, mission specialist Alper Gezeravci, of Turkey, pilot Walter Villadei, of Italy, and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria wave to family after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to prepare for this afternoon's launch to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Astronauts from Turkey, Sweden and Italy launch to space station on latest chartered flight

SpaceX has launched Turkey’s first astronaut along with a Swede and Italian to the International Space Station.
 
In this image provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration, an alfonsino fish swims above a thicket of Lophelia pertusa coral during a dive on a cold water coral mound in the center of the Blake Plateau off the southeastern coast of the U.S., in June 2019. In January 2024, scientists announced they have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the U.S. coast. While researchers have known since the 1960s that some coral were present off the Atlantic coast, the reef's size remained a mystery until new underwater mapping technology made it possible to construct 3D images of the ocean floor. (NOAA Ocean Exploration via AP)

Largest deep-sea coral reef to date is mapped by scientists off the US Atlantic coast

Scientists have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the U.S. coast.
 
In this image from a mounted camera released by Astrobotic Technology, shows a section of insulation on the Peregrine lander. The U.S. company's lunar lander will soon burn up in Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot. Astrobotic Technology says its lander is now headed back from the vicinity of the moon. Company officials expect the mission to end Thursday. (Astrobotic Technology via AP)

US company’s lunar lander will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after failed moonshot

A U.S. company’s lunar lander will soon burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after a failed moonshot. Astrobotic Technology says its lander is now headed back from the vicinity of the moon.