Mika McKinnon, Author at Gizmodo

How Will a New Clock Keep Good Time Even in Deep Space?

Navigating in deep space is tricky, particularly when you need to keep up interplanetary synchronized clocks. NASA is convinced we can do better with a new atomic clock they’re testing in orbit this year. Here’s how it works, as illustrated by an adorably consternated second hand. “The atomic clock obviously can tell time very accurately,”…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

The First Space Flower Bloomed Decades Ago, Not This Week

This week was full of lessons. Lesson One: Never trust an astronaut. Lesson Two: Everyone loves flowers. Lesson Three: We’ve grown a lot of plants in space. August 2011: Cosmonaut Sergei Volkov visits his plants on the space station. Image credit: NASA The first zinnias from the Veggie experiment on the International Space Station bloomed…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

We Still Don’t Understand These Spots on Saturn’s Moon, and We’re Not Going Back

The Cassini spacecraft made its final close flyby of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus in December, releasing its final up-close look at these weird little spots last week. Discovered over a decade ago, we’re still trying to work out exactly how these spots formed. Now the spacecraft is making its farewell tour of Saturn’s moons in…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Where Should Juno Look When Exploring Jupiter?

Juno is cruising ever-closer to Jupiter, and mission scientists are asking for your help in finding the most interesting spots on the gas giant to focus their cameras once the spacecraft arrives later this year. The Juno mission has been collecting photographs of Jupiter from amateur astronomers as part of their planning process, and soliciting…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

How Should We Look For Aliens?

The search for extraterrestrial life is the ultimate hybrid of creativity and science, the quest to discover something we can’t even describe yet. Jill Tarter embodies that creativity in her work with the SETI Institute, and is the subject of a special video released today. WeTransfer’s Creative Class is an online series highlighting creative people…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

All Five Naked-Eye Planets Are Up at Dawn to Greet You

Are you awake before dawn? Good. Go outside. Look east. Bask in the astronomical wonder of seeing all the brightest planets out at the same time, pinpricks of worlds drifting up from the horizon. Missed it? Try again any morning for the next month. Starting this morning, all five planets bright enough to see with…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Check Out the Wreckage of SpaceX’s Almost-Landed Rocket

SpaceX landed a rocket on a barge this weekend, until it tipped over and exploded. Now the drone ship is back in port with the wreckage on deck. The Falcon 9’s engines are looking shockingly intact for surviving launch, reentry, landing, and an explosion! Eagle-eyed photographer Matthew Wang publishing under the name Bacon Gummy spotted…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Astronauts Almost Killed Their First Flowers

The first zinnias are blooming in space, but they almost didn’t make it from bud to flower. This is a story of how an experiment was saved by throwing out heavily regulated, detailed procedures in favor of using human judgement on the fly. Correction: This wasn’t the first flower to bloom in space, but it’s…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

SpaceX Keeps Getting Closer to Nailing Its Barge Landing

The secret to success is to fail, fail, and fail again, but in different ways each time. SpaceX hasn’t stuck a barge landing yet, but this side-by-side video comparison of each attempt reassures us that it’s getting closer. Despite successfully landing a rocket on solid ground, SpaceX is continuing to attempt barge landings to collect…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Here’s the Behind-the-Scenes Story of SpaceX’s Rocket Launch and Landing Attempt

What was happening out-of-sight during Sunday’s SpaceX launch of Jason-3? These are the stories from reporting live on a white rocket engulfed in a fog bank, but without the internet connectivity to actually update in real-time. I was at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this weekend to cover the Jason-3 launch. Here’s what I…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

SpaceX’s Returned Rocket Still Fires, Mostly

A rocket is only reusable if it still works after landing. Elon Musk reports that the Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX successfully landed at Cape Canaveral performed well during testing, although with some yet-to-be-explained fluctuations. After launching, delivering a payload into orbit, and landing on December 21, 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket was transported to a…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Watch as SpaceX Launches a New Ocean Satellite and Attempts a Barge Landing

We’re on location for today’s SpaceX launch of the Jason-3 ocean monitoring satellite. Afterwards, SpaceX will make their first barge landing attempt in the Pacific Ocean. Join us as we report live from Vandenberg Air Force Base! The thirty-second window opens at 1:42:18pm ET (10:42:18am PT local time) on Sunday, January 17, 2016. Watch the…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Meet NASA’s Newest Ocean-Exploring Satellite Before it Launches Tomorrow

SpaceX is launching the planet’s newest oceanographic satellite tomorrow morning. Here’s the scoop on Jason-3, and how “sea level” is one of those little white lies you learned in school. SpaceX is launching Jason-3 on a Falcon 9 rocket this Sunday morning. The satellite will provide oceanographic data for everything from tide forecast to continue…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

The First Flower Grown in Space is an Edible Orange Zinnia

The first flowers to ever grow in space are blooming on the International Space Station today. Despite fears of over-watering, the crew coaxed the zinnias into a burst of colour in their zero-g vegetable garden. Correction: This wasn’t the first flower to bloom in space, but it’s still gorgeous. Zinnias are edible blooming plants that…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Watch as Astronauts Scramble Around Outside the Space Station

It’s just as true in space as it is on Earth: the best way to kick off the New Year is by doing all those nagging chores. A pair of astronauts are heading out of the ISS to replace a failed voltage regulator today. Astronaut chores are so much cooler than terrestrial ones. You can…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Superluminous Supernova Are a New, Strange Way for Stars to Die

An international team of astrophysicists has discovered the brightest supernova yet, briefly blazing fifty times brighter than the entire Milky Way galaxy. It’s a strange new way for stars to die. As described in a new paper in Science, this spectacularly extravagant stellar explosion—part of a classification known as superluminous supernovae—may give us a peek…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

All Hail Juno, Our Record-Breaking Solar-Powered missary to Jupiter

Juno broke the interplanetary distance record for solar-powered spacecraft on Wednesday morning. The Jupiter explorer is close to half a billion miles from the Sun, setting a new standard for using solar power for deep space exploration. The spacecraft crossed the record-breaking 493 million miles from the Sun at 2pm ET on Wednesday. This is…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Damn Washington, That’s an Impressive Landslide!

A substantial landslide closed part of Washington state’s highway this week. The more impressive part? This mess is going to take days to weeks to clean up. The rock slide closed a chunk of US2 in central Washington between Wenatchee and Chelan early on Sunday. The stretch of road—Pine Canyon in the Wenachee Mountains, part…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Caltech Just Took a Stand Against Sexual Harassment

In an investigation published today, Science reveals that a Caltech professor received a one-year suspension for sexually harassing his students. A physics professor was academically punished by his institution to protect students?! That’s not how this usually works at all! Thank you, Caltech. In June 2015, two graduate students at the California Institute of Technology…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Saturn Reigns as the Undisputed King of its Moons

Wow. Saturn is a beautiful planet, a ringed giant of gas and ice, but this really puts its size in perspective. Look at it towering over that tiny moon! Saturn is the second-largest planet in our Solar System behind Jupiter, but it’s easy to forget just how big it is when we mostly admire photos…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Mika McKinnon

How Will a New Clock Keep Good Time Even in Deep Space?

The First Space Flower Bloomed Decades Ago, Not This Week

We Still Don’t Understand These Spots on Saturn’s Moon, and We’re Not Going Back

Where Should Juno Look When Exploring Jupiter?

How Should We Look For Aliens?

All Five Naked-Eye Planets Are Up at Dawn to Greet You

Check Out the Wreckage of SpaceX’s Almost-Landed Rocket

Astronauts Almost Killed Their First Flowers

SpaceX Keeps Getting Closer to Nailing Its Barge Landing

Here’s the Behind-the-Scenes Story of SpaceX’s Rocket Launch and Landing Attempt

SpaceX’s Returned Rocket Still Fires, Mostly

Watch as SpaceX Launches a New Ocean Satellite and Attempts a Barge Landing

Meet NASA’s Newest Ocean-Exploring Satellite Before it Launches Tomorrow

The First Flower Grown in Space is an Edible Orange Zinnia

Watch as Astronauts Scramble Around Outside the Space Station

Superluminous Supernova Are a New, Strange Way for Stars to Die

All Hail Juno, Our Record-Breaking Solar-Powered missary to Jupiter

Damn Washington, That’s an Impressive Landslide!

Caltech Just Took a Stand Against Sexual Harassment

Saturn Reigns as the Undisputed King of its Moons

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Humanity’s Epic Return to the Moon 🔴

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Blasts Off

Disney’s Robot Olaf Dying Is the Funniest Thing to Happen in 2026

Kia’s EV3 Is Headed to the US This Year With Up to 320 Miles of Range

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

Why the PS6 Handheld Will Matter More Than the PS6

DNA Study Casts Even More Doubt on Shroud of Turin’s True Origin

Sam Witwer Is Ready for Maul’s Moment

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?