Space & Spaceflight

Russia’s Soyuz Spacecraft Looks Fantastic as It Prepares to Launch

Looking like something straight out of a movie, this picture shows the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft as it was moved by train to its launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan yesterday. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch on March 28th Kazakh time (which will be March 27th Eastern time). It will be taking NASA Astronaut…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 26

NASA Wants To Give The Moon A Moon

NASA’s Asteroid Redirection Mission (ARM) is an ambitious (and divisive) plan to take an asteroid, shunt it into lunar orbit, and then send astronauts to take a sample. The mission is a vital stepping-stone on the journey to Mars, and today, NASA finally announced how it will work. Since the inception of ARM, there’s been…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills Mar 26

Why the Length of Saturn’s Day Is So Hard to Measure

The length of a planet’s day seems like such a simple number, a basic piece of information that should accompany any solar system diagram. But probes flying past Saturn have turned up oddly conflicting numbers. Scientist have now calculated the most definitive length of Saturn’s day yet, which is 6 minutes shorter than previously thought.…

Space & Spaceflight Sarah Zhang Mar 25

We Is Here! Relive The Last Moon Mission In Its Entirety

If you are fond of the Apollo project, then you’ll love this site Ben Feist has been building for years—which is now online in its very early alpha stage. Apollo17.org is a highly addictive, interactive, real-time exploration of the entire Apollo 17 Mission, based upon official NASA footage and the transcription of radio transmissions. In…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy Mar 25

Mars’s Marathon Valley Sure Is Pretty

When NASA’s Opportunity rover paused to take in its surroundings earlier this month, it had quite a views. This is what it saw from the edge of the Endeavour Crater, a part of the planet that’s been dubbed Marathon Valley. The name’s no coincidence: it happens to be where the little rover clocked up 26.21…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 25

It Only Took NASA 11 Years To Run A Marathon On Mars

The Mars Exploration Rover, better known as Opportunity, has been beaming back images and data from our planetary neighbour since 2004. As as of today, it has travelled 26.219, making it the first little interplanetary explorer to complete a marathon. Although that’s not exactly a barnstorming pace — about 0.006 miles per day, or two…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills Mar 25

50 Years Ago, NASA Astronauts Smuggled a Corned Beef Sandwich Into Space

On March 23, 1965, astronaut John Young reached into his pocket and offered his crewmate Gus Grissom a corned beef sandwich. It was in the middle of the Gemini 3 mission, and let’s be clear, they were in space. It was a silly little prank but one that, man, really pissed off Congress. Gemini 3…

Space & Spaceflight Sarah Zhang Mar 24

Curiosity Has Found Nitrates Important for Life on Mars

Samples obtained by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars have been analyzed and shown to contain nitrogen compounds, that are a source of nutrients for living things. Researchers have been scouring Mars for signs of organic carbon, but they’ve now discovered signs of nitrates at three areas on the Red Planet—Rocknest, John Klein and Cumberland. The…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 24

This Is What the First Growth Spurt of a Star Looks Like

A team of astronomers has pieced together data from orbiting observatories to create this image of a star undergoing a huge growth spurt during the earliest phase of its development. In the images, the protostar known as HOPS 383 appears to accumulate a huge mass of gas and dust in a very short period. Known…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 24

Hubble Gives Us A Wide-Angle View Of An Entire Galaxy

The Hubble telescope is probably best known for its incredible close-up images of everything from star formation to Jupiter’s shrinking spots. But my favorite Hubble pics are always the sweeping, broad views of galaxies — and its latest is a real beauty. What you’re seeing is an edge-on view of spiral galaxy NGC 5023, which…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills Mar 24

Why This Astronaut Thinks NASA Can Save Humanity From Extinction

Astronaut Daniel T. Barry thinks NASA’s mission to Mars is humanity’s most important endeavor yet, for reasons including the birth of Captain Kirk. We talked to him about what it’s like to explore the Final Frontier. I met Daniel T. Barry through Elliott Jessup, head of the California Academy of Sciences‘ “twilight zone” dive team…

Space & Spaceflight Laurel C. Allen Mar 23

Things Are Not Going Well At Russia’s New Spaceport

“I will not allow sabotage, I’ll simply rip heads off,” is never something you want your boss to say. Russia is in the process of building its first new cosmodrome—or rocket launch site—since the fall of the USSR. And it’s a mess. For the past two decades, Russia’s used the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in current-day Kazakhstan,…

Space & Spaceflight Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 23

The Bright Radar Reflections of London

The bright lights of London have always drawn wide-eyed, enthusiastic youngsters seeking fame and fortune. But in this image from the European Space Agency, the city shows up with bright radar reflections instead. The image is created from data gathered by the ESA’s Sentinel-1A satellite on 4th March 2015 using its Interferometric Wide Swath detector.…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 23

Behold, the Stellar Explosion that Could Spawn Up to 7,000 Earths

Exploding stars are always a sight to behold, but not all supernovae are created equal: Some, for instance, may give birth to thousands of Earth-like worlds. Shown above is a false-color image of the interstellar dust cloud Sagittarius A East, located 26,000 light years away toward our Galactic center. It’s the remains an core-collapse supernova…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone Mar 21

Today’s Solar Eclipse in 22 Stellar Photos

This morning, a total solar eclipse was visible from the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, Norway, and a partial solar eclipse from many parts of Europe, Northern Africa and Northern Asia. These stellar photos shows the astronomical event that darkened the skies. View of the partial solar eclipse as viewed through the viewfinder of a digital…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy Mar 20

This Is What Europe’s Solar Eclipse Looked Like From Space

This morning Europe was lucky enough to enjoy a solar eclipse—though only those in the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, Norway, were theoretically able to see a full occlusion. This wonderful view from space, though, we can all appreciate. In fact, many parts of Europe—including London, where I’m based—were covered in cloud as the eclipse occurred.…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 20

This Is How NASA Tests Spacesuits Ahead of Missions

These NASA employees may be lying down, but the experience isn’t perhaps as relaxing as it looks. This is how the space agency goes about testing spacesuits ahead of launch. In a facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, staff don the suits—in this case NASA’s Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suits—to see how they stand up…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 20

Why Does The International Space Station Have Such A Weird Shape?

I feel like a parent that was just told their child is ugly. As an engineer, I look at the ISS and think “of course it looks that way, why would it look different?” Where a fictional spacecraft has the luxury of having its design dictated by style, real spacecraft are constrained by budget, tradeoffs,…

Space & Spaceflight Robert Frost - QUORA Mar 19

Ask An Astronaut All Your Questions About Life Aboard the Space Station

Last week, Astronaut Butch Wilmore was on the International Space Station. This afternoon, he’s right here answering your questions. He and Niki Werkheiser, head of NASA’s 3D printing project, can talk about 3D printers in space, life aboard the ISS, and anything else you want to know! Wilmore spent the last six months on the…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra Mar 19

NASA’s New Landing System Can Adapt in Real-Time Based on What It Sees

Taking a spacecraft to the surface of an alien planet is hard enough, but it can be even more difficult to reach the exact landing spot. Now, new NASA technologies could enable landers to adapt in real-time to what they see before them. A team of engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been testing…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Mar 19

Russia’s Soyuz Spacecraft Looks Fantastic as It Prepares to Launch

NASA Wants To Give The Moon A Moon

Why the Length of Saturn’s Day Is So Hard to Measure

We Is Here! Relive The Last Moon Mission In Its Entirety

Mars’s Marathon Valley Sure Is Pretty

It Only Took NASA 11 Years To Run A Marathon On Mars

50 Years Ago, NASA Astronauts Smuggled a Corned Beef Sandwich Into Space

Curiosity Has Found Nitrates Important for Life on Mars

This Is What the First Growth Spurt of a Star Looks Like

Hubble Gives Us A Wide-Angle View Of An Entire Galaxy

Why This Astronaut Thinks NASA Can Save Humanity From Extinction

Things Are Not Going Well At Russia’s New Spaceport

The Bright Radar Reflections of London

Behold, the Stellar Explosion that Could Spawn Up to 7,000 Earths

Today’s Solar Eclipse in 22 Stellar Photos

This Is What Europe’s Solar Eclipse Looked Like From Space

This Is How NASA Tests Spacesuits Ahead of Missions

Why Does The International Space Station Have Such A Weird Shape?

Ask An Astronaut All Your Questions About Life Aboard the Space Station

NASA’s New Landing System Can Adapt in Real-Time Based on What It Sees

FCC Exempts Netgear from Foreign-Made Router Ban For Some Reason

Jamie Dornan Is Your New Aragorn in ‘The Hunt for Gollum’

Trump’s Fed Pick Is Knee Deep in Tech and Crypto Investments

The First Trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Takes Terror Stateside

The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash

‘Masters of the Universe’ Really, Really Wants to Be the Next ‘Barbie’

Samsung’s Micro RGB TVs Provide So Much Color It May Be Too Much

The Crypto Bros Want to Get Their Hands on Anthropic’s ‘Super Dangerous’ Model

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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