Aug 27 How to land on a comet as it soars through space By Jenny Marder Earlier this month, after a 10-year, 4-billion-mile journey, the Rosetta spacecraft entered orbit around the rubber-duck-shaped Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Now it must land. This is no helicopter landing. Imagine grabbing a mosquito by the wings. Except the mosquito is in New… Continue reading
Aug 12 NASA's carbon dioxide imaging mission shows first sign of success By Anna Christiansen A NASA spacecraft dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has achieved final orbit, producing its first science data this week. Continue reading
Aug 07 Ten-year astronaut sleep study reveals widespread use of sleeping pills in space By Anna Christiansen According to the longest sleep study ever conducted in space, astronauts’ use of sleeping pills, like ambien, is extremely high. The decade-long study also revealed space-farers are chronically sleep deficient while in orbit, and during the period leading up to… Continue reading
Jul 29 Mars Rover sets extraterrestrial distance record By Andrew Troast NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has now traversed 25.01 miles on the surface of the Red Planet, setting a new record for off-Earth distance traveled. Continue reading
Jul 20 Watch a restored broadcast of Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind By Margaret Myers Forty-five years ago today, at 10:56 p.m. EDT, Neil Armstrong took the most famous step of the 20th century. With more than half a billion people watching, the commander of the Apollo 11 climbed down the spacecraft’s ladder and on… Continue reading
Jul 16 45 years ago, Apollo 11 blasted off into space By Ariel Min Forty-five years ago today, the historic liftoff of Apollo 11 was broadcast around the country as America sent the first humans to the moon. Continue reading
Jun 04 Looks like there's a party in deep space and Hubble's got the photos By Jenny Marder If a tractor full of confetti was launched into the night sky and then beamed with a strobe light, it might look something like the Hubble Space Telescope image above. It is, according to NASA, among the most colorful of… Continue reading
Jun 03 Harsh space winds diminish hopes for life on red-dwarf planets By Talia Mindich Space winds in the habitable zones of the most common star in the galaxy may be too severe to harbor life, a new study finds. Continue reading
May 12 Watch Ice sheet in Antarctica has melted past 'point of no return,' NASA says By PBS News Hour Continue watching
May 11 Dunes on Mars resemble Starfleet logos By Annie Sneed, Scientific American The resemblance is uncanny, but no, these aren't Starfleet logos emblazoned on planet Vulcan. Perhaps fittingly, though, this nasa Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows a section of an active dune field on Mars. Strong winds blowing in a single direction… Continue reading