(cache)The Most Amazing Space Stories This Week!!

Photo Credit: SpaceX

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The Week's Top Space Stories

A group of galaxies is moving so neatly through space that dark matter can't explain it; a new study suggests that the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets could have up to 250 times more water than Earth, and the historic launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blew people's minds in all sorts of ways (and for all kinds of reasons). These are some of this week's top stories from Space.com.

Falcon Heavy is now the world's most powerful rocket

Photo Credit: SpaceX

Falcon Heavy is now the world's most powerful rocket

The Falcon Heavy megarocket launched on its spectacular first flight on Tuesday (Feb. 6), making this craft the most powerful rocket currently in operation. Built by private spaceflight company SpaceX, Falcon Heavy's first stage consists of three Falcon 9 rockets fused into one powerhouse vehicle. The historic test flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, sent a Tesla Roadster sports car into an orbit around the sun that will extend out to the orbit of Mars. Both side boosters of the Falcon Heavy made successful landings, while the third booster missed its drone-ship landing pad. [Full Story: Success! SpaceX Launches Falcon Heavy Rocket on Historic Maiden Voyage]

SpaceX "Inception"

Photo Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX "Inception"

As a finale to its first launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX broadcast a surreal live video from aboard the spacecraft's payload, where a test dummy called Starman sat inside a Tesla Roadster. Audiences got to witness the spectacular view of the cherry-red car flying away from the ethereally blue Earth. As the feed progressed, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared extra details that were hidden in plain sight, such as the tiny Hot Wheels Roadster on the dashboard of the car, carrying its own tiny spaceman. [Full Story: 'A Car in Deep Space': Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster Leaves Earth with 'Easter Eggs']

Late-night Super Bowl-viewing party in space

Photo Credit: NASA/Joe Acaba

Late-night Super Bowl-viewing party in space

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba posted a photo on Sunday night (Feb. 4) showing that the 2018 Super Bowl got a special screening in space! Acaba is one of six crewmembers aboard the International Space Station (ISS), along with NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle, Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov, and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai. Since the ISS crewmembers work on Greenwich Mean Time, the football game was a late-night treat for the crew — the game kicked off at 11:30 p.m. their time! [Full Story: Super Bowl 2018: Even Astronauts Are Watching the Big Game]

TRAPPIST-1 planets tug on each other, hint at massive oceans

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Watery Worlds and Orbiting Autos: This Week's Top Space Stories

The Week's Top Space Stories

Falcon Heavy is now the world's most powerful rocket

Falcon Heavy is now the world's most powerful rocket

SpaceX "Inception"

SpaceX "Inception"

Late-night Super Bowl-viewing party in space

Late-night Super Bowl-viewing party in space

TRAPPIST-1 planets tug on each other, hint at massive oceans

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