The cosmos has taken up its fair share of space in the news this year. Here are some of the major stories from beyond Earth that happened during 2025.
All-women space trip
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin completed its first mission with an all-women crew, including entrepreneur and Bezos’s wife, Lauren Sánchez, former NASA scientist Amanda Nguyen, singer Katy Perry, TV presenter Gayle King, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe and film producer Kerianne Flynn. The trip lasted a whopping 11 minutes, sending the women to Earth’s lower orbit and back.
The trip was the subject of widespread controversy, with many viewing the mission as unnecessary and excessive. “As stupid as I thought it would be, it was even stupider,” said Heather Schwedel for Slate. Others viewed it as inspirational. “I’m not going to let you steal our joy,” said King. “Most people are really excited and cheering us on and realize what this mission means to young women, young girls and boys, too.”
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Deep space comet
The 3I/ATLAS comet was first discovered in July and was “only the third interstellar object ever recorded to pass through Earth’s solar system from another star,” said Al Jazeera. The comet is thought to have been ejected from a giant exoplanet and traversed the Milky Way for billions of years. Because of this, scientists have been jumping at the opportunity to study it.
The comet was the closest it has ever been to Earth during July, providing prime viewing opportunities. Astronomers can “glean information about celestial bodies by observing the light reflected off them with telescopes,” said Darryl Z. Seligman, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Michigan State University, at Space.com. “When 3I/ATLAS is closest to the Earth, all the features that we are looking for will be easier to detect with our telescopes.” Specifically, scientists can “look up close and learn about how planet formation in exoplanetary systems is similar or different to how it unfolded in our solar system.”
Alien debate
Scientists claimed to have found signs of life on a planet called K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth, according to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in April. Analysis of the exoplanet showed an abundance of dimethyl sulfide, which is a “molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae,” said The New York Times.
However, following the study’s release, the results were questioned and three separate analyses were unable to find any evidence of life on K2-18b. The “claim just absolutely vanishes,” said Luis Welbanks, an astronomer at Arizona State University and an author of one of the studies, to the Times.
Back to Earth
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were trapped in space for 286 days before finally returning to the ground in March. The two spent nine months in the International Space Station for a mission that was only supposed to last eight days.
When they first blasted off in June of 2024, the “Boeing Starliner capsule they rode on for its first crewed test flight experienced thruster failures and helium leaks following takeoff,” which made the “game plan surrounding their return to Earth” suddenly shift, said E! News. After finally making it back to Earth, the astronauts had to readjust to life. “By following astronauts like Butch and Suni before, during and after their missions, we can track how the human body responds to the extreme conditions of space,” said Rachael Seidler, a leading expert in spaceflight-associated health changes, in a statement.
New moons
Scientists discovered 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the planet’s total to 274. Many of these moons are “only a few miles across,” said The New York Times. This is “small compared with our moon, which is 2,159 miles across.”
But size does not matter when it comes to moon classifications. If they have “trackable orbits around their parent body, the scientists who catalog objects in the solar system consider them to be moons,” said the Times. Saturn having so many moons is a point of interest because it indicates “multiple dramatic collisions in space.” To learn more about them, scientists will need to use an extremely powerful telescope or even a spacecraft to get a closer look.
