space

NASA’s Kepler mission doubles tally of exoplanets by weeding out impostors

By Nsikan Akpan

NASA has confirmed 1,284 exoplanets, the largest number announced at once, thanks to a new math formula.

Mercury makes rare trip between the Earth and the sun

By Nsikan Akpan

Don't miss Mercury's transit! It only happens 13 times per century.

Two in a row! SpaceX sticks second, trickier sea landing

By Nsikan Akpan

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket pulls off tougher second landing on a droneship barge at sea.

Stephen Hawking and billionaire plan interstellar cruise with $100 million initiative

By Nsikan Akpan

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and Russian-born billionaire announce new quest for space exploration.

SpaceX pulls off first successful mid-ocean rocket landing

By Daniel Costa-Roberts

Four failed attempts and years of effort paid off Friday, as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster re-entered Earth's atmosphere and lowered itself vertically onto a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean -- the company's first successful landing at sea.

This supernova blast was so close, it littered the ocean floor with radioactive dust

By Nsikan Akpan

Radioactive stardust confirms the two closest supernovae to ever explode near Earth. The most recent of the pair may have altered human evolution.

China wants to mine the moon for ‘space gold’

By Vikram Mansharamani

Tinkering in the heavens has emerged as an important plank of China’s geopolitical strategy.

What we’ve learned about Pluto since the flyby

By Nsikan Akpan

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto continues to astonish in new set of five studies on the dwarf planet.

WATCH LIVE: NASA commander Scott Kelly discusses his one-year space mission

By Nsikan Akpan

At 2 p.m. EST today, astronaut Scott Kelly will be live from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he will share his personal perspective on his 340-day mission in space.