Space & Spaceflight

Scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center recently figured out how to look for extraterrestrial life in tiny samples of space dust using a nanoelectrospray emitter (above, right) that charges molecules into a mass spectrometer (above, left). Previously, they needed large chunks of carbon-rich meteorites to look for signs of aliens.

Spam, Silkworms, Hydroponics: The Speculative Future of Food on Mars

Last year, NASA held a recipe contest for cooking on Mars. Ordinary civilians like us were invited to submit recipes based on a list of available ingredients—heavy on freeze-dried produce and various meat-flavored “textured vegetable proteins”—to be cooked and judged by crew members of HI-SEAS. HI-SEAS wasn’t actually a mission on Mars, of course; it…

Why Astronauts Were Banned From Drinking Wine In Outer Space

The story behind NASA’s brief embrace of extraterrestrial sherry is a curious one. In the early seventies, the agency’s focus was shifting from short, Moon-focused missions to the possibility of longer-term inhabitation of space. A revamped menu was among the most pressing challenges: food on the Gemini and Apollo programs came in dehydrated cube form,…

It’s Hard to Believe These Majestic Light Pillars Are Actually On Earth

Winter does all kinds of weird things to the sky, including make it look like we live on an exotic alien planet circling Vega. NASA just posted this mind-bending 360º view of light pillars in Finland. The agency describes the spectacle: The spherical panoramic image mosaic maps a view from Siilinjärvi in eastern Finland. Flat…

There’s a Solar Eclipse Happening Now That Can Only Be Seen From Space

This is a photo of what’s happening right now above our heads. It’s a solar eclipse near the moon. You just can’t see it, because you’re not in space. In-space solar eclipses are fairly common, but they’re not always caught on camera, and they’re not readily visible to us Earthlings. Besides, there’s always room in…

This Insanely Loud Sound System Can Actually Kill You

Being shot into space puts spacecraft under extreme stress—but did you know that the sound of the rocket launch can damage a craft? Inside the Large European Acoustic Facility, engineers recreate the incredible noise of a launch to make sure satellites can survive it. According to the ESA, “no human could survive” the sound. First…

The Subtle Art of Time and Space in Animation

Norman McLaren, a pioneer of 20th century animation, once said that “what happens between each frame is more important than what exists on each frame.” But what the hell did he mean? This video, by TED Ed, explains how tiny differences in timing and spacing—qualities provided by differences between frames rather than the frames themselves—can…

There’s a Massive River of Hydrogen Running Through Space

An astronomer from West Virginia University has discovered a never-before-seen river of hydrogen flowing through space—and it could explain why spiral galaxies keep up their pace of star formation. Working at the National Science Foundation’s Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, astronomer D.J. Pisano has spotted a tenuous filament of hydrogen steaming through space and…

What a Rover Looks Like After a Decade on Mars

Curiosity is the hip name in Mars-rovin, but the Opportunity rover was doing it long, long before. Just yesterday Opportunity hit its ten-year anniversary on Mars—it left Earth ten years ago in July. Not bad for a mission intended to last a mere three (Earth) months. In celebration it sent back a selfie. https://gizmodo.com/10-years-ago-opportunity-rover-began-a-90-day-mission-t-693893908 This…

17 Vintage NASA Photos of Exploration in the Space Age

Pictures of space are thrilling. Period. For All Mankind is a new exhibition at London’s Breese Little Gallery, highlighting a treasure trove of vintage NASA photos taken from 1964 to 1983. It’s pretty wonderful to see these faded, full-color visuals from a time when the bold explorations were just getting started. We’re so used to…

A Combination of Volcanic Smog and Sunglint Is Breathtaking

You’re looking at a picture of the Vanuatu Archipelago in Australia, shrouded in vog—a word used to describe the kind of volcanic smog which is formed when gases from a volcano react with sunlight, oxygen and moisture. The results are stunning. You can see the vog as a light blue-gray plume which arcs from the…

Wet Dwarf: Astronomers Spot Water In Our Asteroid Belt

Liquid water is considered the single most important factor in our search for extra terrestrial life, so the recent discovery of vaporous H2O spewing from a dwarf planet here in the solar system has Earthbound astronomers over the moon. “This is the first time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any other…

Virgin Galactic Doesn’t Have FAA Permission to Fly You to Space

If you’re one of the 700 or so people who bought tickets to fly to outer space on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic rockets, don’t pack your space bags just yet: Smithsonian notes that the company doesn’t have the Federal Aviation Administration permit required to take passengers to space. Hope you folks got traveler’s insurance. Or…

There’s More to This Image of Saturn Than Meets the Eye

Although it might look like a lot of the other images you’ve seen of Saturn, there’s far more to this picture than meets the eye. https://gizmodo.com/the-most-beautiful-photo-of-saturn-youve-ever-seen-1447226686 Actually, it’s an infrared image captured using a special filter which only allows light polarized in a single direction to hit the sensor. That allows researchers to understand more…

Scientists Discover Water in Stardust and It Suggests We’re Not Alone

Stardust sounds magical enough as it is, but now scientists have for the first time observed that it contains water—which, in turn, could suggest that life is universal. The water forms within dust grains when they’re bombarded with charged winds from the sun. The chemical reaction set up by the winds was hypothesized by scientists…

NASA’s Astronaut Escape Plan Uses Hand-Me-Down Army Trucks

This past December, a free shipment of four heavily armored vehicles arrived at NASA courtesy of the U.S. military. The Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) are all veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they’re about to embark on an unexpected second life as getaway vehicles in case something goes horribly wrong at the Kennedy…

The Universe’s Most Important Alarm Clock Will Wake Up Rosetta Tomorrow

Two and a half years is a long time to sleep—even for a machine. That’s how long Rosetta has slumbered in its decade-long journey towards the comet where it will land. But in the dead of the night, at 2am PST tomorrow morning, Rosetta will awaken. Here’s how its alarm clock works. Rosetta is many…

How Low Earth Orbit Astronauts Are the New Pioneers

The first element of the International Space Station (ISS) launched over fifteen years ago, on November 20, 1998. For more than thirteen years at least two human beings have been continually living off the surface of our planet. Assembly of the Space Station is now complete. It is being utilized by its crews and scientists…

This Isn’t Abstract Art, It’s the Sun

It might look more like abstract art than anything else, but you’re actually looking at a series of observations of the Sun. Captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), this data was recorded to study the evolution of reconnection jets—streams of plasma that loop out an back into a star—on a small patch of…

Watch How the Rosetta Spacecraft Will Orbit and Land on a Comet

Trying to orbit a comet as it rockets through space is no easy task—but that’s just what the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft is poised to do. Here’s how. https://gizmodo.com/how-europe-is-going-to-land-on-a-comet-1480478458 If all goes to plan, at 05:00 EST on January 20th, Rosetta will awake from its slumber, having been in standby during its three-year trip…