NASA's Mars Rover Seems To Be Going A Bit Senile―It Can't Remember A Thing

Medicine & Technology Dec 30, 2014

It's been over a decade since The Opportunity, NASA's newest Mars Rover, began scurrying across the planet's surface―and it's showing some signs of its aging.

What Lay in Seas of Venus? Researchers Say They May Have Found the Cloudlike Answer

Dec 30, 2014

As NASA contemplates sending man to Venus, to live in a floating civilization above the hostile burning surface, new research reveals that while current surface temperatures soar above a bone-ashing 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures may have once supported some sort of liquid on the surface—but you won’t be able to guess what it is.

NASA Envisions Floating City High Above in Venus Skies

Dec 29, 2014

NASA's new concept of a Venus-based "cloud city," as fantasy as it may sounds, has solid backing.

NASA Selects 4 U.S. Partners to Help Further Spaceflight Industry, No Extra Cost to Government

Dec 26, 2014

On December 23, NASA announced new unfunded partnerships with four U.S. firms to help develop the spaceflight industry. Specifically, these firms will assist with developing new space capabilities for both government and non-government customers. That’s right, these partnerships bring us that much closer to public spaceflight opportunities.

VIDEO: NASA Captures Spectacular Solar Flare Light Display

Dec 24, 2014

The best place to check out Christmas lights this year is up in the sky. Late Friday afternoon an extremely active area of the sun, known as Active Region2242, erupted in a gigantic solar flare.

A Christmas Celebration in Space―How the International Space Station Crew Celebrates

Dec 24, 2014

Christmas is a time of the year when we can all gather around a warm, natural gas fed fire and talk about what we've all been up-to this past year. But, if you're in space, a fire probably isn't a good idea.

Must See: 5 Months in Space Compressed into 6 Minutes

Dec 24, 2014

The European Space Agency compiled the five months' worth of pictures down to a 6 minute video that, while depicting space in the most accurate way, feels like science fiction to watch. The video shows natural phenomena such as auroras, lightening and other intense weather patterns like us earth-dwellers have never seen before. It even shows the most breathtaking views of lit-up cities, deep blue oceans, stars and clouds.

Orion’s Return: What Re-entry Means for the Industry of Spaceflight

Dec 23, 2014

On December 5, 2014 after a one-day weather delay, NASA launched Orion from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. While this test flight was unmanned, Orion is built to hold a crew of 2- 6 individuals. It’s no secret that NASA plans to send humans to an asteroid and to Mars using Orion.

NuSTAR Telescope Helps NASA Find Nanoflares on the Sun

Dec 22, 2014

With a new day in science comes a new study of the sun. No, we’re not talking about a new telescope or a new division under the international space agencies, but rather a reallocation of a science used in other parts of space. Turning their sights from far off black holes, with a closer subject in mind, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is repositioning their NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) towards our very own local star to produce the most sensitive measurements of high-energy solar x-rays to date.

Discovery Sparks Interest—NASA’s Mission to Mars Gets Its Own New Show

Dec 18, 2014

Often in the media, it’s what’s new and fresh that brings in the ratings. But what about looking for something potentially millions of years old? What if it wasn’t on this planet even? Peak your interest yet? Well, if so, you may just be in luck, because after decades of researching and scoping out the fourth planet from our sun, Mars, NASA has announced today that it has collaborated with the Discovery Channel to show a never-before-seen view of the Red Planet. And it airs tonight, Dec. 18!

Curiosity Rover Gets Its Own Special—Discovery Channel Tonight

Dec 18, 2014

Earlier this week, NASA announced that its Mars Curiosity Rover may have found some essential building blocks of life, and now they’re saying that viewers on Earth will have a chance to watch the discovery process for themselves. Premiering tonight, Dec. 18, the Discovery Channel will chronicle the Curiosity Rover’s long trek across the Red Planet fourth from our sun, giving viewers here on Earth a never-before-seen perspective from the surface of Mars.

ESA’s Philae Lander May Take the Prize, But Here Are 9 Other Breakthroughs of 2014 Also Worth the Award

Dec 18, 2014

While many were not quite surprised to hear the European Space Agency (ESA) clenched the win for journal Physics World’s Breakthrough of the Year 2014 for its landing of the Rosetta mission’s Philae Lander on a speeding comet 511 million km away, most are also not aware that the list doesn’t just end there.

Organics on Mars—Could Life Be Sustained on Red Planet?

Dec 17, 2014

While there are many requisite features for a planet to be host to forms of life, even as simple as archaea species, the most important known feature is the existence of organic molecules from which they can be created. And though there are still many questions left unanswered about our red neighbor on the galactic block, Mars, researchers from NASA say that the Curiosity Rover Mission has successfully identified methane and other organics which may give their teams a better insight into the possible watery past of our solar system’s famed “Red Planet”.

Eons After the Big Bang, and 80 Years After It Was Proposed, Dark Matter Takes Form in Andromeda

Dec 15, 2014

For decades now, researchers have long believed that the ever-elusive dark matter has comprised roughly 80 percent of the entire universe’s mass. But in spite of advancing technology, taking astronomers past the moon to far off comets/planets and back, researchers have not yet been able to identify the existence of dark matter in our galaxy or any other, and have not yet been able to isolate the hypothetical invisible particles in Earth labs either. But in what appears to be a strange X-ray emission from nearby galactic clusters, two independent European research teams believe that they may have found the first true dark matter known to man—and it’s not too far away either.

Bouncing Philae Takes Award for Breakthrough of the Year

Dec 14, 2014

It’s no big surprise that this year when reporters and editors of the journal Physics World came together to award the top-10 revolutionary breakthroughs of the year, that the team would have many breakthroughs to consider for the year of 2014. And though perhaps not necessarily the most technically successful mission this year, on account of the vast distances between Earth and itself as well as it bouncy landing, the team narrowed down the prospective list down to one to name the November 12, 2014 touchdown of the Philae Lander to be the most historic moment of the year.