
NASA Struggles over Deep-Space Plutonium Power
Sluggish production of nuclear fuel could make solar power the preferred choice for the agency’s outer-planets missions
Lee Billings is a senior editor for space and physics at Scientific American. Credit: Nick Higgins
Sluggish production of nuclear fuel could make solar power the preferred choice for the agency’s outer-planets missions
Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce
The newfound planet is 96 light years away, but it's the closest twin to Jupiter astronomers have ever directly seen
China, Russia and the U.S. are developing and testing controversial new capabilities to wage war in space despite their denial of such work
The mysterious gunk on Jupiter’s moon may be sea salt
Private funding for the Arecibo Observatory—the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world—may be a poison pill
The planet, Kepler 452 b, is likely rocky and orbits in its star’s habitable zone where liquid water can exist
With a $100-million donation, billionaire Yuri Milner plans to revolutionize the astronomical quest to find alien life
Two rival teams of astronomers are racing to capture unprecedented images of giant planets around other stars. What they find could change the future of planet hunting
Milner, a tech start-up entrepreneur and philanthropist, is partnering with scientists around the world to search for life among the stars
Early this morning, if all has gone well, the first golden age of interplanetary exploration will have come to a close
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
As the legendary space telescope enters its twilight years, astronomers are searching for a replacement, but no one agrees about what it should accomplish
NASA’s former director of astrophysics plans to revolutionize space science with agile, privately funded missions
The lander, a six-meter Kevlar-inflatable disk, could carry heavier loads to the Red Planet
A galaxy 12.5 billion light-years away gives off the light of 300 trillion suns, because its feeding black hole produces enough heat to set the whole galaxy's dust glowing. Lee Billings reports ...
With its LightSail project, the Planetary Society aims to take the next step in its decades-long quest to transform spaceflight
Neil deGrasse Tyson is host of StarTalk, which is both a top-rated podcast and a television series on National Geographic Channel. Click here for full transcript
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