Excavation Begins on a Truly Giant New Telescope
The bigger a telescope’s mirrors, the better resolution it has. Excavation has just begun on a new telescope that will be truly enormous, called the Giant Magellan Telescope.
Watch NASA Launch Its Sun-Skimming Parker Solar Probe
The Parker Solar Probe blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday, setting itself on course to become both the fastest human craft ever launched (in the neighborhood of 430,000 miles per hour) and the first to probe the outer corona of the sun.
How Will NASA Get this Probe to the Sun Without It Melting?
A human-made spacecraft is finally heading to the center of the Solar System. NASA’s first launch window for the Parker Solar Probe begins at 3:33 a.m. ET this Saturday, and if all goes well, the ship will then begin its journey to the Sun.
Bomb Squad Called After NASA Weather Device Labeled 'NOT A BOMB' Drops From Sky
A summer student has been removed from an experiment after NASA decided that a completely accurate note mentioning the President attached to an experiment that fell in a New Jersey field was a “misguided attempt to be lighthearted,” a NASA spokesperson told WNBC-TV.
Will You Be Able to See the Perseid Meteor Shower This Weekend?
One of the year’s most active meteor showers, the Perseids, will peak overnight Saturday into Sunday and Sunday into Monday, with 60 to 70 meteors per hour. But lots of Gizmodo readers live in cities. So, inspired by a friend’s tweet, I wondered—will city dwellers see the meteor shower?
Jupiter's Moon Ganymede Generates Incredible Magnetic Waves
NASA’s Galileo spacecraft surprised scientists when it revealed that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede generated its own magnetic field. But new research shows Ganymede also creates incredibly powerful waves that rocket particles to enormous energies.
Report: NASA Needs to Get Moving on Its Plan to Snatch Some Mars Dust
NASA doesn’t just randomly decide what telescopes and satellites to shoot into space and what planet to study next. Instead, a committee of outside scientists drafts a set of goals and recommendations in what’s called a decadal survey. And though it notes some financial setbacks, a midterm review of the last decadal…
NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Not Dead Yet, May Even Have Another Exoplanet Survey Left in It
NASA’s $600 million Kepler space telescope, which is more or less running on thruster fuel fumes nearly a decade after its launch in 2009, woke up from a four-week hibernation phase on Thursday and is transmitting data back to Earth, Space.com reported on Friday. If all goes well, it may even be capable of continuing…
NASA Announces First Crew for Commercial Space Travel
NASA has announced the first astronauts who will head to the International Space Station on a commercially built spacecraft.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner Program Hits More Delays, First Crewed Flight Won't Happen Until 2019
Boeing has delayed two critical tests of its CST-100 Starliner crew capsule following an engine failure during another test in June, setting back the timeline for its plans to use the craft to shuttle crew back and forth from the International Space Station or other possible future in-orbit destinations as part of…
Top Scientists Explain to Senators Why We Must Look for Aliens
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is holding a series of hearings leading up to another NASA authorization bill, which helps set goals and authorizes funding for the agency (2017-2018's bill is here). On Wednesday, scientists from U.S. universities, the Smithsonian Institution, and NASA…
This Solar System Catalog Could Be Key to Finding an Earth-Like Exoplanet
By searching for the telltale, periodic dimming of light from distant stars, astronomers can spot orbiting exoplanets tens to hundreds of light-years away. But how do they know what these bodies look like? Perhaps they first try to imagine how the planets in our own Solar System might appear to a faraway alien world.
NASA's TESS Spacecraft Has Begun Its Search for Faraway Planets
NASA’s newest exoplanet-hunting spacecraft has started taking scientific data as of last week, according to a NASA release.
Mars and Saturn Are Looking Really Good in These New Hubble Pics
Mars is in opposition tonight, meaning it’s about as close and as bright as it’s going to get. To celebrate, Hubble has released new images of the dusty red planet, as well as of Saturn, which was in opposition last month.
Life on Europa Could Be Just Beyond Our Reach
Our Solar System has its own Hoth: Europa, the ice-covered Jovian moon where the existence of alien life hasn’t been ruled out. Unlike on Hoth, where life thrives on the icy surface, life on Europa would thrive in the ocean beneath its frigid surface—but of evidence for it might be just beyond the reach of our…
America Could Lose Its Access to the International Space Station for Nearly a Year
Boeing and SpaceX, owing to manufacturing delays and certification hurdles, are unlikely to provide NASA with the vehicles required to transport astronauts to the International Space Station next year, according to an alarming government report. As a result, and starting in late 2019, the U.S. might not have a crew…
Russian Cargo Ship Reaches Space Station in Record Time
A Russian-built spacecraft has reached the International Space Station in less than four hours, making it the fastest supply mission to space in history.
NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Is Running Out of Fuel and May Not Have Much More Time
NASA’s storied Kepler Space Telescope—the craft which has discovered thousands of exoplanets since its launch in 2009—is entering the retirement phase of its lifespan. NASA announced on Friday that Kepler staff had “received an indication that the spacecraft fuel tank is running very low” and “placed the spacecraft in…
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