The Artemis III crew has officially been announced! Leading humanity's next journey toward the Moon is Randy "Komrade" Bresnik, a veteran astronaut, former U.S. Marine Corps Colonel, test pilot, ISS commander, and spacewalker with over 32 hours of EVA experience. From flying combat missions and graduating from TOPGUN to commanding the International Space Station and helping develop NASA's deep-space exploration systems, Bresnik brings decades of experience to one of the most anticipated missions of the Artemis era. Joining him on Artemis III are: - Luca Parmitano (Pilot) - Andre Douglas (Mission Specialist) - Frank Rubio (Mission Specialist) Backup crew member: Robert Hines The next chapter of lunar exploration begins now.
A major Artemis announcement is coming. On June 9, NASA will provide a fresh update on the Artemis III mission and unveil the astronauts assigned to the highly anticipated test flight. The live event from Johnson Space Center in Houston could offer the clearest look yet at the next steps in NASA’s journey back to the Moon. Artemis III will test the critical rendezvous and docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and a commercial human landing system, capabilities essential for future Moon missions and the long-term vision of a lunar base. Building on the success of Artemis II, which flew astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft launched by NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), Artemis III will help pave the way for the next era of human lunar exploration. Stay tuned to Starlust as the next chapter of Moon exploration unfolds.
On February 18, 2021, NASA's Perseverance Rover landed on Mars and for the first time in history, a spacecraft's descent and landing on another planet were captured in continuous video from multiple onboard cameras. Earlier Mars missions had recorded only still images during descent, which could be assembled into stop-motion sequences. Perseverance's footage provided the first continuous, high-definition, multi-angle video of a Mars landing. The mission also carried microphones that produced the first successful audio recordings from the Martian surface. (Video Credit: NASA)
For years, astronomers were picking up the same powerful burst of radio waves from deep space—repeating every 84 minutes—and had no idea what was causing it. They called these objects long-period radio transients. About a dozen had been discovered, but none had been explained. Now, a team from the University of Sydney has solved one of the mysteries. The signal was coming from two stars locked in a tight orbit—a white dwarf and a red dwarf—whose magnetic fields collide every single orbit, producing the exact burst astronomers had been puzzling over for years. It's the first confirmed source of a signal like this ever identified. Visuals & Credits: ASKAP Telescope Photograph — Alex Cherney / CSIRO NICER Catches Milestone X-ray Burst — Visualization by Chris Smith / NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center T Coronae Borealis Nova Animation — Visualization by Adriana Manrique Gutierrez / NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Study Illustration — University of Sydney / Nature Astronomy
In November 2026, NASA's Voyager 1 will reach an incredible milestone: one light-day from Earth, meaning its signals will take a full 24 hours to travel back home. Nearly 50 years after launch, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 remain the most distant human-made objects ever created, still exploring the vast region beyond the heliopause and the edge of the Solar System. This video looks back at the remarkable journey of the twin spacecraft, from their historic flybys of Jupiter and Saturn to Voyager 2's visits to Uranus and Neptune, and how these pioneering space probes continue to send back data from interstellar space decades after they were expected to retire. Video edited using footage owned by NASA. Royalty free music from Hook Sounds.
A rare fireball lit up the skies above Mayon Volcano in the Philippines on May 25, 2026, creating a stunning scene. Initially thought to have struck the volcano, PHIVOLCS later confirmed that the meteor disintegrated in the atmosphere before reaching the ground. The event was special because it also featured Mayon's ongoing eruption, bringing together two powerful natural phenomena - from space and Earth - in a single frame. Video source: (1) AfarTV YouTube Channel (All rights reserved) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRntP5h3AqI https://www.afar.tv (2) PHIVOLCS-DOST| X Background music by HookSounds
Scientists have identified the critical threshold where a neutron star can no longer resist its own gravity and collapses into a black hole. The boundary lies between 2.2 and 2.3 solar masses. Below this limit, a neutron star survives. Above it, gravity wins—and a black hole forms. Credits: Video Courtesy: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)/ Visualizations by Walt Feimer and Luciano Rezzolla
China successfully launched the Long March-12B rocket on its maiden flight, sending satellites into orbit and marking an important step in the country's next-generation launch capabilities. While the mission received relatively little attention outside the space community, it represents a significant milestone for China's growing space program. The Long March-12B is designed as a reusable launch vehicle and could play a major role in future commercial and constellation missions. 🚀 Rocket: Long March-12B (CZ-12B) 📅 Launch Date: June 1, 2026 🛰️ Payload: Qianfan (Spacesail) constellation satellites Source: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
NASA and NOAA data helped scientists quickly solve the mystery behind a powerful boom heard across the northeastern U.S. on May 30. The culprit was a meteor that exploded high above the Boston region, creating a shockwave heard across multiple states. Radar data suggests meteorites may have survived the blast and fallen into Cape Cod Bay, turning a brief atmospheric event into a potentially recoverable meteorite fall. Read full article on Starlust: https://starlust.org/like-300-tons-of-tnt-meteor-explosion-over-u-s-rattles-residents/ Representative footage courtesy of Getty Images / Pexels / Pixabay.
A complete 2-minute guide to the night sky in June 2026. Watch the stunning Venus-Jupiter conjunction, a rare Mars-Moon-Saturn alignment, Mercury at its greatest elongation, the June Bootid meteor shower, and the full Strawberry Moon. In this quick guide, we break down every major celestial event happening throughout the month and tell you exactly when to look up. Stay tuned to Starlust for more updates on skywatching, astronomy, and beyond.
Speaking at the Moon Base event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Jared Isaacman explained why NASA is moving away from relying on a single all-in-one system for future lunar exploration. Instead, the agency is pursuing a step-by-step approach that uses multiple landers, rovers and habitation modules to build a sustainable presence on the Moon under the Artemis program. Companies such as Astrolab, Lunar Outpost, Firefly and Blue Origin are developing key technologies that could support future Moon Base operations, astronaut mobility, logistics and autonomous activities on the lunar surface.
A New Glenn rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin blew up during a static-fire test at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) in Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at around 9 pm on May 28, 2026, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange. Blue Origin said no one was hurt at the launch pad. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Bezos said via X. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” New Glenn had to be grounded in April when it deployed a satellite in the wrong orbit because of engine failure. It was only the third flight of the rocket that Blue Origin intends to use to launch Blue Moon landers to the moon for NASA, including the landers that will take astronauts to the lunar surface. Just a few days before the blast incident, NASA had awarded Blue Origin a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a pair of moon buggies in the coming years as part of the Artemis program. The rocket was supposed to launch next week with internet satellites that are part of the Amazon Leo constellation in orbit. Video courtesy: @JConcilus
NASA has officially awarded a new wave of private contracts tied to its future Moon Base plans, marking a major step forward for the Artemis era of lunar exploration. Companies including Blue Origin, Firefly, Lunar Outpost and Astrolab will help develop lunar landers, autonomous rovers, and Moonfall drone systems designed for future moon landing operations near the lunar south pole. The contracts are part of NASA’s larger Moon Base mission phases, focused on mobility, cargo delivery, surface mapping, water ice prospecting, and long-term habitation technologies. As NASA expands partnerships with private companies, the global space race is also intensifying, with China rapidly advancing its own long-term lunar ambitions. Read more on Starlust: https://starlust.org/nasa-to-launch-three-moon-base-missions-this-year-itselfheres-all-you-need-to-know-about-them/ Video edited using footage owned by NASA. Royalty free music courtesy of Hook Sounds.