Space & Physics
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Slips to 2020, and Astronomy Suffers
Damaged thrusters and a torn sunshield are keeping the telescope grounded perhaps until May 2020—and throwing astronomy and astrophysics into turmoil
Stories by Lee Billings
Space & Physics
Looking for Planet Nine, Astronomers Gaze into the Abyss
Two years on, the search for our solar system’s missing world is as frenzied as ever—and the putative planet is running out of places to hide
Space & Physics
Juno Peers Deep into Jupiter's Abyss to Reveal Weird Winds
Breakthrough measurements of Jupiter’s hidden interior could revolutionize our understanding of giant planets
Space & Physics
NASA Budget Proposal Defunds Space Station, Space Telescopes and More
The White House’s controversial plans for U.S. space science and exploration could ignite a budgetary battle with Congress
Elon Musk Does It Again
His Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off on the first try, puts a Tesla auto into orbit—and maybe changes the business of space commerce and exploration forever
Extraterrestrial Life
A New Recipe for Hunting Alien Life
For most life in the universe, oxygen might be a deadly poison. Surprisingly, that might make such creatures easier for astrobiologists to find
Space & Physics
Better Instruments Give Scientists a New Way to Study the Cosmos
The era of “multimessenger astronomy” has arrived
Space & Physics
Dead Stars Orbiting Black Holes May Explain Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts
Scientists are peering into the “engines” behind some of the most extreme outbursts in the universe
Space & Physics
It’s Never Aliens—until It Is
2017 was a banner year for scientists seeking aliens—even though they (apparently) didn’t find any
Space & Physics
Air Force Tracks Final Frontier
General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber.
Space & Physics
Where Will NASA Go Next? Saturn's Moon Titan, or Maybe a Comet
A flying drone to sniff out life on Titan and a spacecraft to return comet samples to Earth are finalists in NASA’s search for its next interplanetary destination
Space & Physics
A Map of Future Exoplanetary Discovery
Most of the alien worlds closest to our own are found around the smallest, dimmest nearby stars
Space & Physics
Alien Probe or Galactic Driftwood? SETI Tunes In to 'Oumuamua
It’s a long shot, but scientists are about to listen very closely for radio signals from our solar system’s first known interstellar visitor
Space & Physics
What Will NASA’s Biggest-Ever Space Telescope Study First?
To fully utilize the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope, researchers will have to squeeze a generation of scientific studies into the multibillion-dollar observatory’s short lifetime...
Space & Physics
Inflating the Universe with Prize-Winning Cosmologist David Spergel
This year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to the team behind NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, or WMAP, a space telescope that launched in 2001 to map the cosmic microwave background—the earliest, oldest light we can detect from the universe’s infancy...
Space & Physics
Q&A: Plotting U.S. Space Policy with White House Adviser Scott Pace
The Executive Secretary of the National Space Council discusses the Trump administration’s plans to “make America great again”—in space
Space & Physics
Astronomers Spot First-Ever Space Rock from Another Star
As it departs the inner solar system, scientists are racing to study the object before it fades from view
Space & Physics
Astrophysicist Leads a Tour of the "Zoomable Universe"
A conversation with scientist and author Caleb Scharf about the relative scales of the universe, the limits of knowledge and finding significance in life
Space & Physics
Neutron Star Collisions Create Gold
Astrophysicists searching for gravitational waves have finally learned what happens when you crash two neutron stars together--and it's very, very shiny.
Space & Physics
Gravitational Wave Astronomers Hit Mother Lode
Spacetime ripples from a stellar cataclysm in a distant galaxy help explain the cosmic origins of gold, and chart the course for a new age of “multi-messenger” astronomy
