Stefanie Waldek
Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy. With a background in travel and design journalism, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, she specializes in the budding space tourism industry and Earth-based astrotourism. In her free time, you can find her watching rocket launches or looking up at the stars, wondering what is out there. Learn more about her work at www.stefaniewaldek.com.
Latest articles by Stefanie Waldek
![The James Webb Space Telescope is protected from the sun's and Earth's heat by a giant shield.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9AysSD3r4yQiQVWt9Wfrob-320-80.jpg)
James Webb Space Telescope's most heat-sensitive instrument continues cooling to absolute zero
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
The James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI instrument needs to cool down almost to absolute zero, the temperature where the motion of atoms stops, before it can start observing the universe.
![The galaxy candidate HD1.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PJhp4tGuuJUmQpqjkSiSC3-320-80.jpg)
Astronomers spot most distant galaxy yet at 13.5 billion light-years away
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
Researchers have spotted what might be the farthest astronomical object ever found — a galaxy candidate named HD1 that they estimate is 13.5 billion light-years away.
![NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this image of its own shadow during its 24th Martian flight, on April 3, 2022.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MtFpLXu9eGssNPwkaHajEg-320-80.jpeg)
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter makes its 24th flight on Mars
By Stefanie Waldek published
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter completed its 24th Martian flight on Sunday (April 3), a short repositioning hop that covered 154 feet (47 meters) in 69.5 seconds.
![Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's vice prime minister and the country's minister of digital transformation, shared this photo on Feb. 28, 2022 of Starlink internet terminals that arrived in Ukraine after Russia invaded.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8C9n5JDsynJAmtcPbLiRi6-320-80.jpeg)
SpaceX and USAID deliver 5,000 Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine
By Stefanie Waldek published
The public-private partnership is providing internet connectivity to Ukraine, whose cities have been besieged by Russian forces since February.
![Asteroid Eros, which is more than 500 times larger than asteroid 2022 GN1.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fBtpikTTmWDkwkTVRAtvG4-320-80.jpg)
An asteroid the size of a bus will safely fly by Earth today and you can watch it live online
By Stefanie Waldek published
Asteroid 2022 GN1 will pass within 79,000 miles (127,000 kilometers) of Earth, or about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the moon, later this evening.
![An artist’s depiction of exoplanet AB Aurigae b.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XWo3dggvvLqmhsuePN8ArT-320-80.jpeg)
Hubble spots young gas giant forming in an 'intense and violent' way
By Stefanie Waldek published
The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a young Jupiter-like protoplanet that’s supporting an unusual planetary formation theory, according to a new study.
![An image of spiral galaxy NGC 5921 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/t9ZLXrM4Xm3YHvU4AJs8nj-320-80.jpg)
Serpens galaxy slithers through new Hubble photo
By Stefanie Waldek published
One of Hubble's latest photos captures the spiral galaxy NGC 5921, which lies just shy of 80 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Serpens.
![Scientists walking on Arctic sea ice.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cE8MDoN7dyadd48u9yt64j-320-80.jpeg)
Satellites show Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than scientists realized
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
A new study based on NASA and ESA satellite data shows that Arctic sea ice is thinning at a "frightening rate."
![An artist's depiction of an exoplanet with a methane-rich atmosphere.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GpgQkK2UXuWGA9STuCSLd-320-80.jpg)
NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope will be able to sniff out methane. Here's how to tell if it's a sign of life.
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
The first whiff that humans catch of life beyond Earth might be methane, but scientists will need to tread carefully before declaring a discovery based on the chemical.
![An artist's representation of a supermassive black hole.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WriFpPescWjr7yiWPBv3dP-320-80.jpeg)
Could the secret of supermassive black holes lie in ultralight dark matter?
By Stefanie Waldek published
Though scientists know there's a supermassive black hole at the center of most galaxies, they can't explain how the gravitational giants formed.
![The globular cluster Messier 92 located in the constellation Hercules as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bvvKS5zBao4XC4P2y2thQa-320-80.jpg)
The James Webb Space Telescope will show us more stars than we've ever seen before
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
The data provided by Webb will be a boon to astronomers around the world. Here's what they hope to learn.
![The Hiawatha impact crater in Greenland, as depicted by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K5sJ476dyzhLyNHDB2FT3b-320-80.jpg)
Huge asteroid slammed into Greenland just a few million years after the dinosaurs died out
By Stefanie Waldek last updated
It's much, much older than originally anticipated.
![Galaxy pair Arp 282, photographed by the HubbleSpace Telescope.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/juiAsJj5vP8CshDN2PrDkR-320-80.jpg)
Hubble telescope was at the perfect angle to capture this nearly impossible shot of two 'dancing galaxies'
By Stefanie Waldek published
As eyes turn to Webb, Hubble reminds us of its stellar imaging power with a mesmerizing new photograph.
![Pluto and one of its moons, Charon, located in the Kuiper Belt.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bfT6RZonEAUkHgJkFNk9Qa-320-80.jpeg)
James Webb Space Telescope will study icy objects in the mysterious 'graveyard of the solar system'
By Stefanie Waldek published
The mysterious Kuiper Belt, home to former planet Pluto and its moon Charon, will be a subject of study for the powerful observatory.
![An artist's depiction of the binary star system HR 6819.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BeagHLg5Ej9tuYYuPNgtTC-320-80.jpeg)
The closest black hole to Earth doesn't actually exist
By Stefanie Waldek published
In a paper published today, an international team of researchers has disproved the existence of a black hole in HR 6819.
![Hubble Space Telescope's view of the COSMOS survey area.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/22rmJ62KKNF9XLbJVXrzRn-320-80.png)
Major James Webb Space Telescope project will map half a million early galaxies
By Stefanie Waldek published
The Hubble Space Telescope kicked off the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) two decades ago, but soon, the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope will join the galaxy-mapping program.
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