Space & Spaceflight

These Are NASA’s ‘Spiders’ on Mars

David Bowie will live on in space, but his lyrics are present in physical form within our Solar System, too. These geological features are what NASA refers to as spiders, and they can be found on the surface of Mars. This image, acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

SpaceX’s Older Falcon 9 Looks Good for This Weekend’s Launch

Well, isn’t that nice! SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket performed admirably in its test today, keeping it on-track to launch the Jason-3 oceanographic satellite on Sunday. SpaceX is using up existing stock of its old Falcon 9 rocket in its upcoming launch out of California. In preparation, it ran a full-duration static fire test at its…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

This is the Space Rock Tribute to the Late, Great David Bowie

David Bowie will live on forever in the outer reaches of our solar system. Since last year, a rock in the main asteroid belt has borne his name—a fitting tribute to the mad, crazy, and wonderful artist. Soft, squishy humans are depressingly short-lived, brief flares of creativity in the vast entropy of our universe. Yet…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Researchers are Launching a Final, Desperate Effort to Contact Rosetta’s Dead Comet Lander

High above us, perched precariously on the cold surface of a comet, there sits one of the most technologically-advanced and singular machines humanity ever sent to hurtle up into space and stick its unlikely landing. And now that it’s there, it’s totally ignoring all our attempts to talk to it. Since landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

NASA’s New Photos Bring Pluto’s Surface Into Sharp Focus

Combining data from two instruments on board the New Horizons spacecraft, NASA scientists have produced a detailed composite image of Pluto’s Viking Terra region. NASA has also released a photo of the Sputnik Planum region which it says is the sharpest view yet of the Plutonian surface. To make this image of Viking Terra, scientists…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

The First Age Map of the Galaxy Could Reveal Our Cosmic Origins

The Milky Way may have 13.6 billion years under its belt, but its stars range from newborns to ancients. Astronomers mapped how old the stars are, creating the first-ever age map of our galaxy—and this map could give us clues about how life in the Milky Way started. The map, unveiled today at the 227th…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Here’s the Entire Universe in One Clever Map

A map of the known universe to a constant scale would either be very big, or very useless. But use a logarithmic scale to compress the distances as you travel outwards, and you get this gorgeous and slightly Eye-of-Sauron image. The map was created by artist Pablo Carlos Budassi, using a series of images and…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

We’re Hunting for Twins of One of the Most Famous Explosions in the Galaxy

After years of thinking the iconic binary superstar Eta Carinae was unique, astronomers have found five possible twins in other galaxies. With more examples to study, it’s looking good we might someday understand why Eta Carinae exploded so beautifully in the 1840s. Between 1838 and 1845, the binary stars of Eta Carinae brightened then erupted.…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Scientists Figured Out a Way to ‘See’ a Black Hole with Just a Backyard Telescope

Black holes are some of the most powerful but difficult to comprehend objects in the universe, operating mysteriously and practically invisibly out of the reach of our sight. Until now, that is. Scientists have long used X-ray or gamma ray telescopes to figure out where black holes may lie—but a new study suggests that we…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

See Curiosity Cruise Around Gigantic Martian Dunes in These Stunning New Panoramas

NASA’s Curiosity rover is currently investigating a chain of Martian sand dunes, offering an unprecedented glimpse of these dynamic—but strangely familiar—features. Over the past several weeks, Curiosity has been investigating the Bagnold Dunes, a series of dark sand dunes that run across the northwestern flank of Mt. Sharp. These dunes are considered “true” dunes because…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

How Many Taxpayer-Funded Spaceports Does Richard Branson Need?

Space tourism sounds pretty fun, if exorbitantly expensive. The ticket to ride is far from the only pricy thing about it. Building a spaceport for launches and returns costs hundreds of millions. So why does Sir Richard Branson now want to build one in the UK, right after finishing one in America—which isn’t even sending…

Space & Spaceflight Bryan Lufkin

The Best Ever View of Our Closest Neighboring Galaxy Has Something Very Strange In It

This is the Andromeda galaxy, our very own Milky Way’s next-door neighbor. It’s the best look we’ve ever managed to get at it—and there’s something very strange hidden in this picture. This new snap was taken with NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, an X-Ray telescope designed especially for getting unusually deep-space views—and a far deep-space…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

We Finally Think We Know What Caused Pluto’s Weird, Bumpy Plains

Ever since New Horizons zipped past Pluto in July, we’ve marveled over the dwarf planet’s complex terrain. Among the biggest puzzles Pluto presents us with is a vast, crater-free ice field informally known as Sputnik Planum. The leading hypothesis for how this surface came to be? An epically violent collision. That’s according to New Horizons…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

You’re Running Out of Time to Watch the First Origami Mirror Come Together

The James Webb Space Telescope construction team doesn’t waste time! After hitting the halfway-point in December, they’re now up to 12 of 18 mirrors installed. Check out the livestream from the cleanroom for building this fantastic telescope now, or forever hold your peace! The 18 mirror segments will fit together to create a single 21.3-foot…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Can You Find the Third Moon in this Glorious View from Saturn?

We know the Cassini spacecraft around Saturn took this photo of a trio of moons. Rhea and Enceladus are easy to spy bracketing Saturn’s rings. So fess up: Which one of you stole Atlas? The Cassini spacecraft snapped this photo on September 24, 2015 when it was between 1 and 2 million miles from each…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

Earth Looks Downright Alien in This New Photo From the Space Station

This photograph, snapped by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, looks like it may have been taken over some Martian canyon or Jovian moon, but it was captured as the International Space Station coasted far above strange rocky features in Africa. Kelly, who will be returning to Earth in March after spending an entire year in space,…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

The Science Stories We’ll Be Watching in 2016

Another amazing year of science has come and gone, so it’s time to look ahead and see what the next year has in store. Here are Gizmodo’s most anticipated scientific and technological developments of 2016. Space Exploration Comet Catalina as seen on December 6, 2015 by Brian D. Ottum in Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico. Skywatchers…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Watch 83 Rocket Launches That Happened in 2015 in a Single Video

In 2015, 87 rockets were launched into space. This video shows almost all of them—save for 4 Chinese launches without video—in one glorious super-cut. From Falcon 9 v1.1 on January 10th to Long March 3B/E on December 28th, 2015 was a pretty great year for rocket launches. Russia lofted the most at 29, with the…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

What Two Galaxies Look Like When They Merge Together As One

What happens when two galaxies collide? Not complete and utter destruction, surprisingly, but a long, slow birth of a ‘new’ galaxy, which is what you can see happening in this image. The image was captured by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows what astronomers have long thought to…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Just How Dirty Does a Rocket Get Launching to Space then Returning to Earth?

This. This is how dirty. Coolest part? Check out those huge clean swaths where the landing legs protected the rocket’s paint job from soot, dust, and singeing. We never thought we’d feel tingly about a grungy old rocket, but this one is doing the trick. This SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a constellation of…

Space & Spaceflight Mika McKinnon

These Are NASA’s ‘Spiders’ on Mars

SpaceX’s Older Falcon 9 Looks Good for This Weekend’s Launch

This is the Space Rock Tribute to the Late, Great David Bowie

Researchers are Launching a Final, Desperate Effort to Contact Rosetta’s Dead Comet Lander

NASA’s New Photos Bring Pluto’s Surface Into Sharp Focus

The First Age Map of the Galaxy Could Reveal Our Cosmic Origins

Here’s the Entire Universe in One Clever Map

We’re Hunting for Twins of One of the Most Famous Explosions in the Galaxy

Scientists Figured Out a Way to ‘See’ a Black Hole with Just a Backyard Telescope

See Curiosity Cruise Around Gigantic Martian Dunes in These Stunning New Panoramas

How Many Taxpayer-Funded Spaceports Does Richard Branson Need?

The Best Ever View of Our Closest Neighboring Galaxy Has Something Very Strange In It

We Finally Think We Know What Caused Pluto’s Weird, Bumpy Plains

You’re Running Out of Time to Watch the First Origami Mirror Come Together

Can You Find the Third Moon in this Glorious View from Saturn?

Earth Looks Downright Alien in This New Photo From the Space Station

The Science Stories We’ll Be Watching in 2016

Watch 83 Rocket Launches That Happened in 2015 in a Single Video

What Two Galaxies Look Like When They Merge Together As One

Just How Dirty Does a Rocket Get Launching to Space then Returning to Earth?

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Ranking 2016’s Superhero Debuts, 10 Years Later

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