India's Union Cabinet has approved the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM), a major advancement in its space exploration program. Scheduled for a March 2028 launch, the mission will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus, with a budget of Rs. 1,236 crore (about $149 million). Of this, Rs. 824 crore will be dedicated to spacecraft development, managed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The VOM aims to deepen understanding of Venus's surface, subsurface, and atmospheric conditions, as well as the Sun’s impact on its atmosphere. The mission will also explore Venus's historical potential for habitability and its evolution compared to Earth.

NASA has issued an alert for asteroid 2024 ON, a 290-metre-wide space rock set to approach Earth on Tuesday. Traveling at 40,000 km/h, it will pass within 1 million kilometers of Earth. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program first spotted the asteroid, which last came close to Earth in 2013. Though 2024 ON poses no threat on its current path, a slight deviation could have significant consequences. Skywatchers won’t see it without telescopes, but a rare partial lunar eclipse coinciding with a supermoon will be visible on the same day across Europe, Africa, and parts of the Americas.

Tonight, sky watchers will witness a rare celestial event featuring a Super Harvest Moon combined with a partial lunar eclipse. The Super Harvest Moon, known for its larger-than-usual appearance, will undergo a partial eclipse, making it a striking sight in western Asia, North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Antarctica. Unfortunately, the event will not be visible from India as the Moon will be below the horizon during the eclipse. The partial eclipse begins at 8:41 pm EDT (6:11 am IST, Wednesday) and peaks at 10:44 pm EDT (8:14 am IST).

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn crew has successfully returned to Earth after a five-day mission featuring the first-ever commercial spacewalk. The Dragon capsule splashed down off Florida’s coast, reaching speeds of 27,000 kph and temperatures of 1,900°C during re-entry. Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, the four-member crew flew higher than any human since 1972’s Apollo mission, conducting over 40 experiments. Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis became the first civilians to perform a spacewalk. This mission, part of three planned Polaris ventures, also tested intersatellite laser communication using Starlink technology.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth uncrewed, three months behind schedule, after NASA’s decision to bring astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home by alternative means. The move highlights growing tensions between NASA and Boeing, with reports suggesting a potential rift over safety concerns. Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program has suffered significant setbacks, including $1.5 billion in cost overruns. With NASA favoring SpaceX for future missions, Boeing’s role in manned spaceflight faces uncertainty, exacerbated by a workers’ strike. Analysts question Boeing's long-term involvement in space exploration.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:37 am on September 15, 2024, following the first private spacewalk by non-government astronauts. The crew of four reached a peak altitude of 870 miles, the furthest humans have traveled since the Apollo missions. During the spacewalk, Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis conducted mobility tests on next-gen suits. The mission also completed 40 scientific experiments. This marked a major milestone for SpaceX and commercial space exploration.

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), remain upbeat despite the extended duration of their mission. Originally planned for a week, their stay has been extended until February 2025 due to issues with Boeing’s Starliner, which will now return to Earth via SpaceX's Crew-9 Dragon. Wilmore and Williams, who performed Starliner’s first crewed test flight, expressed no disappointment, focusing instead on their ongoing work. Williams praised Starliner's safe landing, while both astronauts are maintaining fitness routines to counteract space’s effects on bone density and muscle mass.

In September 2023, scientists detected a mysterious global signal that puzzled researchers. The continuous hum, with a single vibration frequency, lasted for nine days and was recorded from the Arctic to Antarctica. Unlike typical earthquake rumbles, this unique signal had no known origin at first, leading scientists to classify it as a "USO"—an unidentified seismic object. After further investigation, the source of the hum was traced to a massive landslide in Greenland’s remote Dickson Fjord. This unusual seismic event caught the attention of researchers worldwide as they worked to understand its implications.

The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, will light up the UK skies again on Friday night into Saturday morning. After a stunning display on Thursday night, the Met Office predicts the phenomenon will be visible from northern parts of the UK, including Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England. Some reports even suggest sightings as far south as Suffolk. The best viewing time is expected to be around midnight. Stargazers are advised to find low-light areas and look towards the northern horizon for optimal viewing. Conditions are expected to be favorable despite ongoing severe weather warnings.

Astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner and her team discovered that a rogue star passing near our solar system disrupted the orbits of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), shifting them from their original paths. Through 3,000 simulations, the researchers found that the flyby of a star, slightly lighter than the Sun, likely caused the eccentric orbits of TNOs like dwarf planet Sedna. This stellar event stretched the boundaries of the solar system and might explain the different types of moons orbiting Jupiter, Saturn, and other outer planets.