r/AstroUpon

The Great Pyramid Ruled the Skyline for 3,800 Years

The Great Pyramid Ruled the Skyline for 3,800 Years

For nearly 4,000 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza stood as the tallest man-made structure on Earth, an achievement so extraordinary that no other building surpassed it until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311 AD.

u/AstroUpon — 19 hours ago
▲ 100 r/AstroUpon

Markarian’s Chain

Near the center of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, a stunning line of galaxies known as Markarian’s Chain stretches across space, forming one of the most famous galaxy groupings in the night sky. These galaxies are bound together by gravity and contain billions of stars, showcasing the immense scale and beauty of the universe.

u/AstroUpon — 1 day ago

The Massive Scale of SpaceX’s Starship Stacking Process

This incredible footage captures the massive undertaking of stacking SpaceX’s Starship. Once fully assembled, Starship towers nearly 400 feet (120 meters) into the sky, making it the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

u/AstroUpon — 1 day ago

We Have Never Seen the Universe in Real Time

The speed of light means we can never see the universe as it exists right now.

Everything we observe is actually the past. The sunlight reaching Earth is about 8 minutes old. The Andromeda Galaxy appears to us as it was 2.5 million years ago.

No matter where we look in space, we are always looking backward in time — seeing the history of the universe, not its present moment.

u/AstroUpon — 2 days ago

There is nothing quite like the sheer scale of a Starship rolling down the road at Starbase.

u/AstroUpon — 2 days ago

The Solar System May Still Be Hiding a Giant Planet

Astronomers believe there could still be an undiscovered planet lurking far beyond Neptune, sometimes referred to as “Planet Nine.”

Scientists haven’t seen it directly yet, but strange gravitational patterns in distant icy objects suggest that something massive may be hiding in the outer reaches of our Solar System. Some estimates suggest this mysterious world could be several times more massive than Earth and orbit hundreds of billions of miles away from the Sun.

If it exists, one orbit around the Sun could take thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years.

u/AstroUpon — 3 days ago

The Andromeda Galaxy stretches an astonishing 230,000 light-years across. To create this portrait, NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) combined 11 separate image fields.

u/AstroUpon — 4 days ago

Driving to the nearest star would take over 356 billion years

Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighboring star, is about 4.24 light-years away from Earth. If you could drive there at 70 mph, the journey would take more than 356 billion years to complete.

That staggering distance is a reminder of just how unimaginably vast the universe truly is. Even the stars closest to us are separated by distances so enormous that they’re almost impossible for the human mind to fully comprehend.

u/AstroUpon — 6 days ago

Watch as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docks with the International Space Station

Watch as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docks with the International Space Station, where it will stay in orbit until making its return journey back to Earth later this summer.

u/AstroUpon — 4 days ago

Pete Conrad is photographed by Al Bean while he descends to the lunar surface during the Apollo 12 mission, November 19th 1969.

u/AstroUpon — 4 days ago

When astronaut Alan Shepard played golf on the Moon during the Apollo 14 Moon Mission mission in February 1971.

u/AstroUpon — 5 days ago
▲ 257 r/AstroUpon

The Mars Perseverance Rover Continues its Search for Ancient Life on Mars.

u/AstroUpon — 6 days ago

NASA Plans Controlled Destruction of the ISS by 2031

The International Space Station is expected to remain in orbit until around 2030 before undergoing a carefully planned deorbit over the Pacific Ocean near Point Nemo, also known as the “Spacecraft Cemetery.” A special vehicle developed with help from SpaceX will guide the massive 420-ton station back into Earth’s atmosphere, where most of it will burn up before any remaining debris falls into a remote ocean region far from populated areas.

u/AstroUpon — 5 days ago

When the Space Shuttle Discovery Launched a Massive Secret Spy Satellite Into Orbit

STS-51C was the very first dedicated military Space Shuttle mission, and its payload was so highly classified that the press was completely blacked out. Today, we know what they launched: a massive, highly advanced eavesdropping satellite codenamed MAGNUM (or USA-8).

Weighing in at up to 6,000 pounds, this CIA/NRO satellite was deployed into a high geostationary orbit. Once in position, It acted as a giant ear in space, designed to intercept faint radio frequencies, communications, and telemetry from Soviet ballistic missile tests down on Earth.

u/AstroUpon — 7 days ago
▲ 449 r/AstroUpon

A mesmerizing view of home from Low Earth Orbit.

Watching the turquoise waters of the Bahamas, the distinct outline of Florida, and the islands of the Caribbean drift by from space never gets old.

u/AstroUpon — 9 days ago

SPACEX FALCON 9 LAUNCHES DRAGON TO THE ISS

LAUNCH! 🚀

SpaceX Falcon 9 B1096-6 lifts off on the CRS-34 Dragon mission to the International Space Station, delivering critical cargo, scientific experiments, and supplies to astronauts orbiting Earth aboard the ISS.

u/AstroUpon — 6 days ago

A powerful solar flare erupted from the Sun

Classified as an M5.7 flare, this event ranks among the stronger medium-class solar flares and was accompanied by an impressive solar ejecta streaming away from the Sun’s surface.

These eruptions occur when intense magnetic energy suddenly releases in the Sun’s atmosphere, producing massive flashes of radiation and superheated solar material.

u/AstroUpon — 8 days ago