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Happy Tuesday, space fans!
Another day, another series of wild goings-on in space. Whether you enjoyed fireworks over this past weekend or not, I highly recommend checking out the video that astronauts took from the International Space Station of fireworks over Los Angeles. The entire city can be seen sparkling from space. With the recent fires that destroyed entire regions of the Los Angeles area last year, it's a bit surprising to see so many rogue fireworks all over the city, but hey — at least the views from space are pretty neat.
SpaceX just had another major first, launching the first-ever nuclear-powered commercial satellite. Will this set a trend with other companies and across future satellite constellations? In stranger news, metal spheres have washed up on the shores in Australia. But don't worry, before you start listening to the conspiracists (I'm sure they're already hard at work on this one), it's already fairly clear that it's debris from a foreign rocket body, possibly a piece from a Chinese rocket launch that fell back to Earth. Still fascinating, though. We also have a revolutionary superconducting spacecraft thruster system, theories on nuking asteroids, and much more.
Check out what's big in space below:
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The Australian Space Agency is warning residents of Queensland to be on the lookout after metallic-looking spheres, possibly space debris, appeared on a beach.
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A satellite aboard SpaceX's Transporter-17 rideshare mission is the first commercially designed and operated spacecraft to harness nuclear energy in orbit.
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Twice a year, the setting sun perfectly aligns with Manhattan's street grid, creating one of New York City's most spectacular skywatching events.
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From A Coruña and Bilbao to Madrid and Zaragoza, here's where to see the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, in some of Spain's biggest cities.
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A novel space thruster using superconducting magnets completed its first orbital tests. The technology could in the future propel spacecraft using just the power of the sun.
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While no imminent asteroid threats have been found for Earth, Chinese scientists discussed two ways to deflect a space rock in case of trouble.
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe has found charged grains of dust being carried on magnetic plasma waves in the Sun's outer atmosphere, providing a new clue to the mystery of the Sun's corona is so hot.
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NASA astronaut Chris Williams recently flexed his muscles for a photo while on a spacewalk with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir.
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That's it for our space update today!
If you live in Australia, let us know if you find any mysterious metal spheres washing up on the shore. And for those in the NYC-area, this weekend you will have your second (and last) chance to see Manhattanhenge this year. If you miss it, it happens every year, but it's a fun time watching the sun perfectly align with the city's grid; human creation and nature blending together in a spectacular sunset show.
Coming up, we are excitedly looking forward to the 50th anniversary of NASA's Viking 1 lander, the first successful Mars lander in history. We'll be exploring its trailblazing mission and how and why we're still digging through its observations to this day. We are also counting down to a total solar eclipse as well as the launch of NASA's next major flagship mission: the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Stay tuned and we'll take you with us! And to stay as in the loop as possible, you can now get Space.com right in the palm of your hand with our new app available now on iOS and Android.
Ad astra, per aspera
Chelsea Gohd
Content Manager, Space.com
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