Space & Spaceflight

Rosetta’s Comet Looks Even Weirder When It’s Backlit By the Sun

In its ongoing exploration of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Rosetta spacecraft captured this stunning silhouette of the two-lobed mass from a distance of 200 miles. Wow. The Philae comet lander may be dead, but its valiant mothership lives on. Rosetta recently ventured away from the comet to study its wider coma, tail, and plasma environment. At…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Relive the Magic of the Latest Rocket Launch to Mars in Three Glorious Minutes

Two weeks ago, the European Space Agency launched ExoMars, a major new mission that’ll hunt for signs of alien life on the Red Planet. Now, the ESA has kindly cut us a sick highlight reel set to some orchestral dubstep so that we can all spend our Friday reliving the magic of six metric tons…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

We Finally Know What’s Up With These Enormous Mounds on Mars

For forty years, astronomers have puzzled over the miles-high mounds rising from of the centers of Martian craters. Scientists have finally pieced together an origin story for the weird geologic pimples—and it reveals a critical moment in the Red Planet’s history. The mounds were sculpted by wind, following a shift in Mars’ climate that caused…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

The Nile Has Turned to Blood in This Satellite Image

There’s a passage in the Bible that suggests the Nile once turned to blood. But the red ribbon in this image isn’t quite so grizzly, because it actually depicts the vegetation growing around the river. This satellite image was captured by the European Space Agency’s new Sentinel-3A satellite. Its instruments collect data about the Earth’s…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

A Rocket Launch Seen From the ISS Is as Spectacular as a Comet

Yesterday, Russia launched its autonomous resupply spacecraft Progress into space. The International Space Station passed over the launch site at about the same time, offering the astronauts on board this amazing view. NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams took a few photos of the launch vehicle climbing toward space. He explains in his Facebook post: Sunset occurred…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

Space Archaeologists May Have Found a New Viking Settlement in North America

There’s only one confirmed Viking settlement in North America, far north on the Canadian coast. But if a new team of space archaeologists and their satellite data is to be believed, that’s all about to change. A PBS program set to broadcast next week has the story of a potential Viking site much further south,…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

A Strange Blip in This Star Photo Could Be a New Earth-Like Planet Being Formed

Stare deep into the eye of this planetary disk because something is forming in there—something incredible. This photo of star TW Hydrae from the ALMA Observatory is the most detailed shot of a protoplanetary disk ever captured. It’s not the star or the disk around it that has scientists really excited, though. It’s the gaps,…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

This Is How We Could Hide Our Planet From Bloodthirsty Aliens

Humans have long dreamed of discovering intelligent life beyond Earth. But truth is, we have no way of knowing if an alien civilization would be friendly or hostile. Should we have the rotten luck of discovering the Borg, we’ll need to get our collective asses into hiding quickly—and a team of astronomers thinks they know…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Japan’s Lost Black Hole Satellite Just Reappeared and Nobody Knows What Happened to It

Earlier this week something happened to make Japan’s brand new black hole satellite suddenly, mysteriously lose all contact with Earth. Now, we have video of it spinning wildly in space—and JAXA has also received a few odd, new messages. https://gizmodo.com/no-one-knows-what-happened-to-japans-lost-273-million-1767490239 After a long, tense silence, Hitomi sent two very terse messages in response to JAXA’s…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

NASA Is Setting a Gas-Sniffing Drone to Work On Earth

Whenever anyone questions NASA’s government funding, it’s customary to remind them of memory foam and the ballpoint pen, both (somewhat) products of the space program. Now you can add another: a really tiny fart detector. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a miniature methane gas sensor, light enough to be carried to Mars, and sensitive…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

This Ribbon of Dust and Gas Will Become a Series of Stunning Stars

It may not look much, but this fine filament of matter will soon blossom into something bright and spectacular, as its constituent gases begin to burn as a new set of stars. This image was captured by the European Space Agency’s Herschel observatory, which is able to peer into far-flung reaches of the Milky Way.…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

NASA’s New Launch Software Is Way Over Budget and Behind Schedule

When it’s built, NASA’s new Space Launch System will hopefully take us to Mars and deep space. But there may be delays aside from the hardware: The system’s special new launch software is a year behind schedule and 77 percent above its 2012 budget. ABC News reports that NASA’s inspector general has carried out an…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

NASA’s Attaching an Expandable Space House to the ISS

The ISS has gotten quite a few improvements lately, but the latest addition is unusually impressive: a 12-foot long expandable room that astronauts will attach to the space station’s back and inflate to twice its original size. NASA today revealed that the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will make the trip up on the next…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

No One Knows What Happened to Japan’s Lost $273 Million Black Hole Satellite

Last month, Japan launched a satellite it described as “essential” to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. This weekend, that $273 million satellite mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only an ominous trail of debris and some cryptic messages. Hitomi was launched back on February 17 by Japan’s Space Agency. It was a full-scale X-ray observatory, much…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

There’s a Giant Ice Mountain on Saturn’s Largest Moon

If and when the space tourism industry takes off, Saturn’s moon Titan ought to be one our first destinations—especially after all of the glorious images released by NASA’s Cassini team this week. Several new infrared composites of the icy moon allow us to peer beneath its smothering haze. And if you squint a little, you…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

A Nightmarish Timeline of What Would Happen to the Earth After a Massive Solar Flare

At first, things could actually be rather beautiful: worldwide auroras! A brighter sun! But then things would rapidly get ugly, with the breakdown of communications, rolling power outages, and a burning away of the ozone. We see solar flares all the time on our sun. There’s nothing unusual about them, or the lovely auroras that…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

This Model of the Sun’s Magnetic Field Is Beautiful Insanity

A team of scientists has created a new, high-resolution model of the complex magnetic activity on the surface of the Sun. The result is as spellbinding as it is terrifying. Gaze into the roiling ball of plasma that supports everything you hold dear, and feel your sanity slip away. Astronomers have long known that there’s…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Martian Impact Craters Will Help Reveal How Water Shaped the Planet

In geological circles, a wedge of sediment left behind by flowing water is known as as an alluvial fan. This image, captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reveals two large impact craters that will be used to age such features and reveal how water shaped the Red Planet. The images were acquired by the High…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

This Map Is the Most Complete Catalog Ever Made of Everything in Our Sky

We look up into our sky and we think what we see there—the stars, the planets, the sun, the moon—is incredible, but it’s just a small fraction of what lies beyond. The Max Planck Institute has released a brand new version of its all-sky survey, which is revealed in a new article in Astronomy &…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

Violent Volcanoes Knocked the Moon Off Its Axis Three Billion Years Ago

A bunch of lunar volcanoes heated the Moon up so much, they changed its density, causing it to wander off its original axis aeons ago. That’s according to a new study published today in the journal Nature. It all started when researchers from Southern Methodist University in Dallas noticed a lack of hydrogen deposits that…

Space & Spaceflight Bryan Lufkin

Rosetta’s Comet Looks Even Weirder When It’s Backlit By the Sun

Relive the Magic of the Latest Rocket Launch to Mars in Three Glorious Minutes

We Finally Know What’s Up With These Enormous Mounds on Mars

The Nile Has Turned to Blood in This Satellite Image

A Rocket Launch Seen From the ISS Is as Spectacular as a Comet

Space Archaeologists May Have Found a New Viking Settlement in North America

A Strange Blip in This Star Photo Could Be a New Earth-Like Planet Being Formed

This Is How We Could Hide Our Planet From Bloodthirsty Aliens

Japan’s Lost Black Hole Satellite Just Reappeared and Nobody Knows What Happened to It

NASA Is Setting a Gas-Sniffing Drone to Work On Earth

This Ribbon of Dust and Gas Will Become a Series of Stunning Stars

NASA’s New Launch Software Is Way Over Budget and Behind Schedule

NASA’s Attaching an Expandable Space House to the ISS

No One Knows What Happened to Japan’s Lost $273 Million Black Hole Satellite

There’s a Giant Ice Mountain on Saturn’s Largest Moon

A Nightmarish Timeline of What Would Happen to the Earth After a Massive Solar Flare

This Model of the Sun’s Magnetic Field Is Beautiful Insanity

Martian Impact Craters Will Help Reveal How Water Shaped the Planet

This Map Is the Most Complete Catalog Ever Made of Everything in Our Sky

Violent Volcanoes Knocked the Moon Off Its Axis Three Billion Years Ago

Whatever Just Happened with ‘Fruit Love Island,’ Nobody Won

AMC Puts a Stake in ‘Talamasca’ After One Season

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

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

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

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

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?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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