Space

FILE - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A with a payload of a pair of lunar landers at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

This image from video provided by SpaceX shows a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrop Grumman’s mission robotic vehicle — dubbed MRV, launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (SpaceX via AP)

This image provided by the European Southern Observatory shows the Beta Pictoris region on March 6, 2014. (ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2 via AP)

This Dec. 2023 photo provided by Pablo de Vicente shows a radio telescope at Yebes Observatory in Yebes, Spain. (Pablo de Vicente via AP)

This image provided by NOIRLab shows stars in the constellation Lupus, as captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA via AP)

FILE - A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

This image provided by NASA shows four-in-one photos of Mars taken by NASA's Maven spacecraft that's been orbiting the red planet since 2014? Maven is no more, NASA just declared it dead. (NASA via AP)

FILE - This image provided by NASA shows the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on Nov. 30, 2025. (NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory), J. DePasquale (STScI) via AP, File)

This image provided by NAOJ shows artist’s impression of the trans-Neptunian object (612533) 2002 XV93 occulting a background star. Observations of a stellar occultation in January 2024 revealed gradual fading and recovery of the starlight, providing evidence for a very thin atmosphere around the object. (Ko Arimatsu/NAOJ via AP)

The Milky Way stretches across the night sky as seen from the Atacama Desert, Chile, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

This image provided by International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) shows the strong stellar wind from the supergiant star pushes the jets launched by the black hole away from the star. ( (International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) via AP)

The NASA Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft launches at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) CORRECTION: photographer is Chris O'Meara, not John Raoux