Q&A with Heino Falcke, principal investigator of the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (members only)

A Chinese marine observation satellite designed to monitor ocean pollution, measure sea temperatures and track ship movements successfully launched Friday on top of a Long March 2C rocket.

NASA has partially restored the Hubble Space Telescope to science mode after a software error temporarily halted observations, but engineers continue studying a problem that kept the telescope’s aperture door from closing and a separate concern with Hubble’s main camera.

A robotic Chinese spacecraft named Chang’e 4 braked out of lunar orbit and slowed to a controlled touchdown on the far side of the moon Thursday, a first in the history of space exploration. The lander later deployed a small rover to explore the surrounding landscape.