SPACEIt’s been a conversation months in the making. No, it’s not a new iPhone product or what celebrity baby names will be hot this Winter, but rather what to call one of the greatest achievements mankind will make in your lifetime?
Reaching out to the public for a little bit of inspiration in creative names, researchers at the ESA have created an open competition where anyone and everyone can submit their own ideas for what the site should be named.
Mars had a close call this past weekend as a comet passed so close to the Red Planet that NASA moved its three Mars orbiters to the opposite side of the planet hoping to shield them from the dust and gas debris left by the tail of Comet Siding Spring.
It’s been a flyby anticipated for months, and one whose arrival sparked much commotion at NASA’s headquarters this past weekend. Hurtling through the night sky at nearly 125,000 miles per hour, Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passed right by the planet Mars early Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, coming in close contact with the Martian outer atmosphere at about 2:27pm ET.
It’s no big secret that humans tend to think of themselves as the center of the universe. It’s a flaw that has countlessly been proven wrong as science emerged and showed a different view of the world a around us. However, as it turns out, our galaxy may also be to blame for believing it too is the center of the universe.
The U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane landed this week after a record of nearly two years in orbit, yet government officials still haven't commented as to the nature of its mission. The 'orbital test vehicle' is the third such OTV mission, and orbited the Earth for 674 days.
Saturn's 'Death Star' Moon Might Have an Ocean Saturn's Moon Mimas, also referred to as the 'Death Star' moon because of its resemblance to the Star Wars space station, may have a secret that no one knew about previously.
While Rosetta mission team members are preparing to touch down on the surface for a more up-close view of the comet, Rosetta’s Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) is taking a look at the surface from afar. And in the newest batch of images sent back Monday morning, researchers have revealed a large pyramid-shaped boulder standing 82-feet-tall near the intended landing site for Rosetta’s Philae rover.
In hopes of a long future on the Red Planet, researchers have proposed the addition of a horticultural experiment onboard NASA’s next Mars rover mission, scheduled to land in 2021. The proposed project, known simply as the “Mars Plant Experiment” (MPX) would not only aid in the understanding of plant growth on foreign planets, but also would lay the foundations for future colonies currently planning on settling in on Mars.
For most, space exploration has been a fascination since adolescence; series like Star War and Star Trek, romanticizing the concept of far off planets and uninhabitable lands, filled with vast expanses of the darkness of space. Letting dreams take you beyond the clouds, aspirations of a career as an astronaut seem closer than before, but what about those who cannot make it through the rigorous process of entering NASA’s elite profession? Turns out you can buy your way off this planet; but there is still catch—you can’t come back.
Ever wonder what you’d need to build the world’s largest spacecraft? The world’s largest tools, of course.
Looking to usher in a new era of space exploration, late last August NASA approved the next generation of American rockets, known as the Space Launch System (SLS). Built for deep-space missions the core stage of the rocket is more than 200 feet tall and 27.6 feet in diameter, allowing enough space to fuel four RS-25 engines.
With a giant solar storm erupting just last week, causing cosmic disturbances emanating from the center of the sun, the northern skies have welcomed the arrival of aurora lights. Reaching as far south as New York, the record-breaking Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) of early last week’s solar storm brought with a gust of solar wind, an illuminating spectacle of lights across the sky.
