
Q&A: 3-D Printing Rockets with Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis
After years of stealthy activity, the start-up is making big moves and revealing its plans to overturn more than a half century of tradition in aerospace manufacturing
Lee Billings is a senior editor for space and physics at Scientific American. Credit: Nick Higgins
After years of stealthy activity, the start-up is making big moves and revealing its plans to overturn more than a half century of tradition in aerospace manufacturing
Anticipated but never before seen, the existence of tens of thousands of these dark objects at the galactic center could have far-reaching implications for astrophysics
Damaged thrusters and a torn sunshield are keeping the telescope grounded perhaps until May 2020—and throwing astronomy and astrophysics into turmoil
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
Breakthrough measurements of Jupiter’s hidden interior could revolutionize our understanding of giant planets
The White House’s controversial plans for U.S. space science and exploration could ignite a budgetary battle with Congress
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
For most life in the universe, oxygen might be a deadly poison. Surprisingly, that might make such creatures easier for astrobiologists to find
The era of “multimessenger astronomy” has arrived
Scientists are peering into the “engines” behind some of the most extreme outbursts in the universe
2017 was a banner year for scientists seeking aliens—even though they (apparently) didn’t find any
General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber.
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
Most of the alien worlds closest to our own are found around the smallest, dimmest nearby stars
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
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...
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...
The Executive Secretary of the National Space Council discusses the Trump administration’s plans to “make America great again”—in space
As it departs the inner solar system, scientists are racing to study the object before it fades from view
A conversation with scientist and author Caleb Scharf about the relative scales of the universe, the limits of knowledge and finding significance in life
Support science journalism.
Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.
Create Account