Space

Is the New Star Trek Film Scientifically Sound?

Discover has an excellent piece that dissects the new Star Trek movie by its major scenes and examines the scientific validity behind the admitted pseudoscience. There are SPOILERS, but passages like this make it great: https://gizmodo.com/can-young-kirk-really-survive-the-car-jump-in-the-new-s-5114714 The Scene: Kirk and McCoy are on a shuttle about to head up to orbit. McCoy, true to form,…

Space & Spaceflight Mark Wilson May 11

Two Space Shuttles Prepped For Launch, In One Of Their Very Final Missions… To Probe Our Cosmic Origins

Later today, Space Shuttle Atlantis will be lifting off from Florida for the last ever servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Today’s mission also marks the 30th mission for the Orbiter, which first launched in October of 1985 with STS-51-J. The primary mission will be to install new equipment and upgrades for Hubble, which…

io9 AndrewLiptak May 11

The Sun Is Weaker Than It’s Been In 80 Years, Apparently

Fueling fears about the dimming sun, scientists are predicting that the current solar cycle is not only running a year or so late, but will also be the weakest cycle since 1928. Solar disaster! https://gizmodo.com/why-is-the-sun-getting-dimmer-5225214 The current cycle of activity, officially called Cycle 24, will peak somewhere around May 2013 with roughly 90 sunspots a…

io9 Graeme McMillan May 11

Space Shuttle Launch Live Video Coverage Here

Space week may be over, but the epic quest to reach the stars lives on. Atlantis is launching today in the riskiest shuttle mission ever. See the launch live. [Update: Atlantis is now in space] https://gizmodo.com/why-we-need-to-reach-the-stars-and-we-will-5247705 Mission STS-125—which will service and upgrade the space telescope Hubble for the last time—is scheduled to launch today at…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz May 11

NASA Preps For The Worst With Dramatic Hollywood-Style Shuttle Rescue Mission

If the rare event that something goes wrong on a space shuttle mission, NASA is ready with a rescue plan that would undoubtedly make many Hollywood directors and tough boy actors piss their pants. Picture this, if you will… The main shuttle mission, Atlantis, experiences another foam incident, and the heat shield is damaged beyond…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus May 10

Why We Need to Reach the Stars (and We Will)

We reached the Moon in a tin can, built a humble space station, and have a plan to reach Mars in a bigger tin can. But we need to reach the stars. And we will. https://gizmodo.com/how-big-is-the-iss-compared-to-science-fiction-spaceshi-5099175 Yes, I know what you are thinking: “It’s impossible.” And right now, you are right. Our current propulsion engines…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz May 10

Hubble Upgrades Will Give Space Telescope Cosmic Super Vision

The Hubble space telescope, near and dear to we space-loving Gizmodo editors, is about to get tuned-up, courtesy Atlantis. The astronauts are also installing two new gadgets that MSNBC says bestows “superpowers.” That’s pretty accurate. And it’s completely fitting too, given that this voyage is the last trip NASA will take to service Hubble. But…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus May 10

From Earth To Moon Redux: How The Next Moonshot Will Happen

May 2019: Our scheduled return to the moon. There’s plenty of laboring to be done on the Constellation Program before then, but the foundation is set. Here’s how you—as an astronaut—would experience the mission: Ares V Unmanned Cargo Rocket, EDS and Altair: The Gear Goes Up First First it’s the turn of the giant unmanned…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 9

Some Other, Non-Giz-Affiliated Astronaut to Answer Questions Live From Space

Because NASA’s hip with the kids, dammit, they’re using both YouTube and Twitter to let the public ask questions of astronaut Mark Polansky, commander of the International Space Station. If you want to ask a question, just tape yourself asking it in 30 seconds or less, upload to YouTube, and then post the link on…

Space & Spaceflight Dan Nosowitz May 9

Sex In Space: When’s Someone Gonna Get Freaky in Zero G?

In his final installment as Gizmodo’s cherished Astroblogger, real-life astronaut Leroy Chiao covers the taboo topic of sex in space. Will it happen? Has it happened? Guess you’ll have to read to find out… Has anyone had sex in space? To date, I can tell you emphatically, no. Why am I so sure? It’s simple.…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 9

View From The Vacuum Organism Farms Outside My Domed Habitat On Rhea

Wish you were here! According to NASA: In 2006 April, Cassini captured Saturn’s A and F rings stretching in front of cloud-shrouded Titan. Near the rings and appearing just above Titan was Epimetheus, a moon which orbits just outside the F ring. via Astronomy Picture of the Day (thanks Roklimber!)

io9 Annalee Newitz May 8

Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?

Yesterday Obama unveiled an $18.7 billion budget for NASA in 2010—a 5% increase over this past year. This is a preliminary figure that could change after a 3-month review of the agency is completed. Some argue that this budget does not reflect Obama’s campaign promises about the future of the space program. Again, this figure…

Space & Spaceflight Sean Fallon May 8

10 Everyday Gadgets With Ties To The Space Program

Chances are you use a gadget touched by space technology each and every day. Here are 10 common gadgets and products with ties to space exploration that have improved our lives here on Earth.

Space & Spaceflight Sean Fallon May 8

Slooh: Control Big Telescopes Around the World in Your PJs

Used by astronomers for years, Slooh is an online service that lets people control space telescopes around the world and take images in real time. They’ve now launched a novice version for you and me. Slooh controls a global network of mountain top telescopes located in Chile, Australia, and Europe, offering 24 hour views of…

Space & Spaceflight Odelia Lee May 8

The Trouble With Space Toilets

Even when astronaut guest blogger Leroy Chiao isn’t asked, he knows people are dying to know: What’s the deal with relieving yourself when there’s no gravity to contain the mess? How does it actually work? In the early days, there were no restroom facilities onboard spacecraft. The first flights were only supposed to last minutes,…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 8

Eating Like an Astronaut: Our Six-Course Space Food Taste Test

Eating is one of life’s most important activities, and the same applies in space. Every astronaut eats three times a day, and yesterday for lunch, Adam and I had space food. It was awesome. So how did everything taste? On the whole, surprisingly good! But before we delve into our detailed taste test, a word…

Space & Spaceflight John Mahoney May 8

The Air Up There: What Space Stations Smell Like

In Leroy Chiao’s five-day stint as astronaut guest blogger, he’s striving to illuminate the everyday aspects of life aboard the International Space Station, stuff that isn’t in press releases. Today’s topic? The air they breathe. OK, so someone wanted to know what the International Space Station smells like. After we opened the hatch, I noticed…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 8

The Space Station We Were Supposed To Get 40 Years Ago

Across the Space Frontier is one of the most beautiful—if wildly inaccurate—books on space travel, mostly American space-race propaganda. Here are cutaways of the space station and rocket promised to be active by 1970. It’s an amazing work, penned by the pioneer’s of America’s space program—Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, Heinz Haber and even a…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 7

Confessions of a Space Camp Alum

In the summer of 1986, I spent a week at Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. Not only that, but in our final mission, I crashed our Space Shuttle. I remember watching the very first Space Shuttle launch ever, in April 1981. We were sitting on the floor in the hallway of my school, gathered around…

Space & Spaceflight Wilson Rothman May 7

NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore

Supplies of NASA’s go-to fuel for space exploration, plutonium-238, are dwindling. The U.S. stopped making it 20 years ago and now NASA’s Russian suppliers are running out after production shut down. The problem? Nobody makes nukes anymore. Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can’t use solar power because they’re too far from the sun. So they…

Space & Spaceflight Sean Fallon May 7

Is the New Star Trek Film Scientifically Sound?

Two Space Shuttles Prepped For Launch, In One Of Their Very Final Missions… To Probe Our Cosmic Origins

The Sun Is Weaker Than It’s Been In 80 Years, Apparently

Space Shuttle Launch Live Video Coverage Here

NASA Preps For The Worst With Dramatic Hollywood-Style Shuttle Rescue Mission

Why We Need to Reach the Stars (and We Will)

Hubble Upgrades Will Give Space Telescope Cosmic Super Vision

From Earth To Moon Redux: How The Next Moonshot Will Happen

Some Other, Non-Giz-Affiliated Astronaut to Answer Questions Live From Space

Sex In Space: When’s Someone Gonna Get Freaky in Zero G?

View From The Vacuum Organism Farms Outside My Domed Habitat On Rhea

Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?

10 Everyday Gadgets With Ties To The Space Program

Slooh: Control Big Telescopes Around the World in Your PJs

The Trouble With Space Toilets

Eating Like an Astronaut: Our Six-Course Space Food Taste Test

The Air Up There: What Space Stations Smell Like

The Space Station We Were Supposed To Get 40 Years Ago

Confessions of a Space Camp Alum

NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore

On ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’, Not Everyone’s Willing to Learn a Lesson

PhD Student Uses Turntable to Create the Most Impractical Drum Machine Ever

A Diarrhea-Causing Superbug Is on the Rise, Health Officials Warn

Mark Zuckerberg Is Officially a Bot

Hollywood’s Stars Are Beginning to Turn Against the Paramount-Warner Deal

AI Jesus Might Be the Thing That Finally Breaks MAGA’s Faith

‘Rise of the TMNT’ Could’ve Introduced Even More Turtles

Amazon Fire TV Soundbar With Dolby Audio Finds a Prime Day–Level Price Point Outside the Sale Window

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

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

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?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

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