Space & Spaceflight

Find Your House On This Map and Watch the Satellites Passing Above You

There are more than 2,250 satellites orbiting the Earth right now. But that abstract number didn’t prepare me for the shock of watching a Soviet-era rocket body whipping over my house in real-time. Then I watched an elderly Russian intelligence satellite glide over Seattle. A NOAA weather satellite slid by Newfoundland and the ISS passed…

Space & Spaceflight Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Enceladus and Dione Make a Glorious Pair In the Latest Cassini Image

Is anything more striking than this family portrait of Dione and Enceladus? The two Saturnian moons are night and day when you put them side by side, and yet they’re made from the exact same material. Both moons are largely ice, with a dense, rocky core composed of silicate minerals. But while Enceladus (background) is…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

The ISS Has a (Small) Electrical Fault That Can’t Be Fixed Until 2016

NASA has announced that the International Space Station has suffered a small electrical fault that’s reduced the number of power channels available to the astronauts aboard. The fault doesn’t put the astronauts at risk, but does reduce the available power channel options from 8 to 7. The damage was caused by a short circuit on…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

The Heart of this Elliptical Galaxy Exposes a Ghost From Its Past

Unlike spiral galaxies, with their flat shape and twisted arms, elliptical galaxies are featureless blobs without much structure. But then there’s NGC 3610—an elliptical galaxy with a bright and distinctly disc-like shape at its center. Astronomers say it’s a blast from this galaxy’s past, one that played an important role in its evolution. Incredibly, virtually…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

These Mineral Veins Trace the Flow of Water on Ancient Mars

The mineral veins that crisscross through the rock around this ridge tell an important story about Mars’ ancient past. So of course the Curiosity rover shot them with a laser. Scientists have named this scenic spot on the lower slope of Mount Sharp “Garden City.” (Sometimes scientists have a sense of humor.) To give you…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland

This Gorgeous Starburst Nebula Will Make You Wish You Had a Spaceship

Sometimes (often) I think about how great our distant descendants are going to have it; whizzing about the Milky Way in sleek, FTL-enabled spacecraft. Some of those lucky future humans may even get to glimpse wonders like this with their own eyes. Pictured above is the IC 410 nebula, a brilliant cosmic dust cloud located…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

A Satellite Mishap Is Letting Physicists Test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? That, at least, is the motto the European Space Agency seems to have embraced with respect to two wayward satellites, which are being repurposed to provide the most accurate assessment yet of how gravity affects the passage of time. Last year, a Russian Soyuz rocket accidentally placed…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

That “Mysterious Object” on a Collision Course with Earth Just Burned In Our Atmosphere

I wasn’t worried. Were you worried? The Earth’s most infamous hunk of space trash, a rather-large object by the apt-name of WT1190F, has been thwarting astronomers since they first got a glimpse of it back in October. Its strange behavior hinted to researchers that they were dealing with space trash, and not an asteroid, for…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra

Pluto Shows Its Principal Colors in This Psychedelic Shot

Do not adjust your monitors. While this view of Pluto looks like it’s all screwed up, in fact it’s an image from New Horizons that brings out the subtle variations in color on its surface. The image uses a technique that NASA calls principal component analysis. It’s designed to “highlight the many subtle color differences…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Cool Visualization Lets You See Philae Bounce and Tumble as It Lands on a Comet

It was one year ago today that the Philae Lander bounced, spun, and tumbled across the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. To commemorate the historic event, the European Space Agency has released an animated video chronicling the lander’s chaotic landing. To piece together the details of the Philae landing, the ESA has spent the better part…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Watch Astronaut Kjell Lindgren Play “Amazing Grace” in Space—With Bagpipes!

Bagpipes. IN SPACE. And the touching reason why they’re being played. NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren is a flight engineer and mission specialist with Expedition 45 and has been on board the International Space Station since July. He’s also apparently a musician of the ancient and hallowed art of blowing air through bags in order to…

Space & Spaceflight Kaila Hale-Stern

This Newly-Discovered Dwarf Planet Is the Most Distant Object In Our Solar System

V774104: That’s the name of the new dwarf planet astronomers revealed this week, and it’s three times as far away from the sun as Pluto. It’s the most distant object ever discovered in our solar system—and it could mean there are even more far-flung planets in our corner of the universe just waiting to be…

Space & Spaceflight Bryan Lufkin

How NASA Tests a New Weather Satellite Using Mules and Sensors

When you launch a new satellite, how do you know for sure that its measurements are accurate? It’s a lot harder than you’d think–and NASA is heading to the Pacific Northwest to do it. Pack animals are involved. Last year, NASA launched a new satellite called GPM that aims to measure snow and rainfall over…

Space & Spaceflight Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Can You Spot the Astronaut in this Picture?

Let’s play a quick game of hide-n-seek. In this photo, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren is seen working outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on November 6th. Can you find him among the structure of the ISS? The spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 48 minutes. Hopefully you can spot Lindgren in less time…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

This Is What It’s Like to See Auroras on Other Planets

Witnessing an aurora first-hand is a truly awe-inspiring experience. The natural beauty of the northern or southern lights captures the public imagination unlike any other aspect of space weather. But auroras aren’t unique to Earth and can be seen on several other planets in our solar system. An aurora is the impressive end result of…

Space & Spaceflight Nathan Case

It’s a Really Bad Day to Be This Moon

Can I ask what is up with the moons today? First we’ve got Pluto’s four little scamps tumbling about like a bunch of circus monkeys. Now, word is that Mars’ moon Phobos is falling to pieces. Our Moon better not get any ideas! Phobos’ unfortunate fate is but the latest cosmic upheaval announced today at…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Spaceship Building Blocks For Budding Rocket Scientists

NASA might not have quite as large a budget as it once did for exploring the cosmos, but starting at just $25 your kids can design and build their own spacefaring fleet with these gorgeous wooden building blocks from Huzi Design. Made from solid Beech wood with varying finishes including clear varnish and glossy white…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Liszewski

Pluto’s Tiny Moons Are Spinning Like a Bunch of Hooligans

Mayhem in the outer solar system! Pluto’s four baby moons—Nix, Styx, Hydra and Kerberos—are spinning like mad, surely a sign that the once-ninth planet is gearing up for a full-out assault on the denizens (us!) of the sunlit realm. Okay, maybe my imagination is getting carried away. But seriously, those little moons got some spin.…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

This Galaxy Cluster Is Home to the Most Powerful Explosion Since the Big Bang

Astronomers have compiled a stunning composite image of an extraordinarily large explosion that’s being powered by one of the largest supermassive black holes known to science. The blast is located in galaxy cluster MS 0735.6+7421, which is located 2.6 billion light-years from Earth. As reported in ABC Science, the explosion, an active galactic nucleus (AGN)…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Venus’ South Pole Is an Ever-Swirling Hellish Mess

This striking combo image of Venus’ dynamic south pole was released today by the European Space Agency on the tenth anniversary of its Venus Express mission. It’a mess. ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft was launched on the 9th of November 2005. After a 153-day journey to the planet, the space probe spent eight years in orbit…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

Find Your House On This Map and Watch the Satellites Passing Above You

Enceladus and Dione Make a Glorious Pair In the Latest Cassini Image

The ISS Has a (Small) Electrical Fault That Can’t Be Fixed Until 2016

The Heart of this Elliptical Galaxy Exposes a Ghost From Its Past

These Mineral Veins Trace the Flow of Water on Ancient Mars

This Gorgeous Starburst Nebula Will Make You Wish You Had a Spaceship

A Satellite Mishap Is Letting Physicists Test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

That “Mysterious Object” on a Collision Course with Earth Just Burned In Our Atmosphere

Pluto Shows Its Principal Colors in This Psychedelic Shot

Cool Visualization Lets You See Philae Bounce and Tumble as It Lands on a Comet

Watch Astronaut Kjell Lindgren Play “Amazing Grace” in Space—With Bagpipes!

This Newly-Discovered Dwarf Planet Is the Most Distant Object In Our Solar System

How NASA Tests a New Weather Satellite Using Mules and Sensors

Can You Spot the Astronaut in this Picture?

This Is What It’s Like to See Auroras on Other Planets

It’s a Really Bad Day to Be This Moon

Spaceship Building Blocks For Budding Rocket Scientists

Pluto’s Tiny Moons Are Spinning Like a Bunch of Hooligans

This Galaxy Cluster Is Home to the Most Powerful Explosion Since the Big Bang

Venus’ South Pole Is an Ever-Swirling Hellish Mess

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JD Vance Says UFOs Are Actually Demons

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