SPACEIn July, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make its closest pass of Pluto, giving us a closer look at a body living in a little known region of our solar system. While it still has millions of miles left to go, New Horizons still has a treat for everyone as it has taken the first ever color image of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
For years scientists have struggled to determine the origin of our Moon that lights the night sky faithfully every single night. Now, many believe that the moon may have been formed by a collision between the Earth and another object that happened to be strikingly similar in composition to our own planet.
Lava tubes that are large enough to contain entire cities are now believed to exist on the moon, and scientists believe that they could one day provide shelter from the cosmic radiation associated with space exploration.
Aurora Hints at Ocean under Ganymede The universe is pretty lousy with water, it's actually one of the most common molecules in the universe. But most of it is in the form of either ice or vapor.
It’s the start to the spring today, and with the vernal equinox came a celestial event unlike those in common occurrence. But while flocks of sky-watchers and astronomers ventured north into the Arctic, where a total solar eclipse would be visible for the last time until 2026 in continental Europe, many were left disappointed at the less than “thrilling” display.
A rather rare occurrence, happening once every year or two, a total eclipse of the sun is a pretty big deal in the sky-watching community. Not only is it special because the sun’s disk entirely covered by the moon, but also because it’s a cosmic occurrence right in our back yard. But for those not living in the Arctic or on the Faroe Islands archipelago between Norway and Iceland, tonights events may be a little hard to see.
Preliminary results from China's first lunar rover, Yutu, has suggested that the moon's geological history is much more complex than previously thought.
If life can exist in these types of conditions here on Earth, the possibility that it also exists elsewhere in our solar system increases dramatically. For instance, what could lie beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa or perhaps Saturn's moon Enceladus?
Beneath the glaring surface and choppy waves, many secrets are hidden here in the oceans of Earth. The vast depths hide species unknown to men, lost treasures at the seafloor and perhaps even a cryptid or two. And while terrestrial studies of planets may have been interesting in the 20th century, space agencies are looking to aquatic surveys which may one day reveal the origins of life even farther out in space.
As NASA researchers from the Goddard Space Flight Center revealed this week what lies on the dark side of the moon, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC reveals that space artifacts from that region of the moon may have been hiding here on Earth since the return of Apollo 11. In what appears to be yet another giant leap in the Apollo 11 mission, it turns out that the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, also brought home with him a bag full of keepsakes from his adventure. And they were hidden in his cupboard for more than 40 years.
The recent full moon isn’t the only lunar news to come out of the woodworks this week. It appears that its hidden face is also making headlines here on Earth too. Though historically shrouded in mystery, even with NASA astronauts and other space agencies touching down on the surface of the moon, it appears that researchers are now able to reveal what lies on the “dark side” of the moon thanks to five years of mapping data collected courtesy of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Ever wonder what lies on the dark side of the moon? It’s a perspective unlike any that humans have ever seen, and it has been a question that researchers and civilizations have asked for thousands of years. But now, thanks to data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA is showing us exactly what lies on the dark side of the moon, and the view of our solar system whirling around it.
Though researchers have studied the four natural satellites orbiting around Jupiter, a new set of images courtesy of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a rare new view of three of the moons in action. In a rare, and short-lived event, three of the moons moved across the striped face of the gas giant, casting shadows on the planet below.
China's space program has achieved a new milestone with its missions to the moon, as its latest spacecraft service module has entered orbit around the moon, months after being used in the country's test flight that sent a prototype sample-return capsule on a flight around the moon and back to Earth.
In a time when space missions take the cover pages of nearly every news source, and the headlines pull readers in, the general public would be shocked to learn that many government space agencies are struggling to keep their satellites and spacecrafts up in the sky. And knowing the financial struggle all too well, a group of British researchers from the Lunar Mission Trust, a non-profit think-tank for astronomers and space buffs alike, have decided to crowd-fund their newest adventure to the moon. And with only 24 days left to go, many are questioning whether the team will be able to reach their lofty goals.
For centuries now, since the dawn of man, early scientists have sought out remnants of space rock and interstellar interactions here on Earth. Legends of moon stones and pieces of stars have abounded in nearly every culture, but now that astronomers have the technology to leave their own mark on distant planets and satellites, one company is looking to leave a piece of Earth on our very own moon. If all goes according to plan, and the company can be funded by interested parties, a decade from now a spacecraft from the Lunar Mission One will land on the South Pole/Aitken Basin of the moon and create a new history for mankind.
About 40 years late to the “Space Race”, this morning Saturday Nov. 1, 2014, China became the third nation in the world to successfully orbit the moon and return to Earth to tell the tale. As China’s space agency continues to move forward in its ambitious space program, the lunar orbiter marks a great first success for the mission, and undoubtedly shows its growing presence as a space agency in the world. The eight day turn-around trip came to a close this morning after the test lunar orbiter landed about 500 km away from Beijing, in the Siziwang Banner of China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region according to the nation’s Xinhua state-run news agency.
The launch of the Antares rocket carrying supplies and scientific equipment to the International Space Station was rescheduled from Monday evening to Tuesday evening due to a wayward sailboat entered the restricted zone underneath the rocket's flight path. The launch is now scheduled to 6:22 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
Elon Musk's SpaceX keeps on completing milestones on its way to building that city on Mars ASAP, but first it must prove it can handle reliably traveling to somewhere much closer: the International Space Station, currently orbiting Earth.
NASA has reported that its most recent images of Saturn's moon Titan show a strange phenomenon occurring: gases within the atmosphere near both its north and south poles are glowing. The images were taken by a research team attempting to learn more about what Titan's atmosphere is made of.
For those of you in the states enjoying a welcomed break from the summer sun, today you may just get more than you bargained for. As the moon passes this afternoon across the northern hemisphere, the usually invisible transition will make its mark in daylight as it eclipses part of the sun. And so long as the clouds stay clear of the view, you may just have an interesting afternoon show to look out for.