Space & PhysicsFebruary 9, 2021
Hope Probe Enters Orbit around Mars
The United Arab Emirates’ first interplanetary mission reaches its destination scarcely a decade after the country’s first satellite launch
Stories by Meghan Bartels
Meghan Bartels is a science journalist based in New York City. She joined Scientific American in 2023 and is now a senior reporter there. Previously, she spent more than four years as a writer and editor at Space.com, as well as nearly a year as a science reporter at Newsweek, where she focused on space and Earth science. Her writing has also appeared in Audubon, Nautilus, Astronomy and Smithsonian, among other publications. She attended Georgetown University and earned a master’s degree in journalism at New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.
Space & PhysicsFebruary 8, 2021
The United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe Approaches Mars
Stakes are high for the Arab world’s first ever interplanetary mission as it prepares to enter Martian orbit
Space & PhysicsJanuary 21, 2021
Biden Administration Appoints Acting NASA Chief
Associate administrator Steve Jurczyk, who has worked at the space agency since 1988, will serve as its interim leader during the presidential transition
Space & PhysicsDecember 1, 2020
The Arecibo Radio Telescope’s Massive Platform Has Collapsed
The hanging structure crashed through Arecibo’s dish after major cable failures
Space & PhysicsNovember 3, 2020
The International Space Station Is Doomed to Die by Fire
Twenty years after the famed orbital outpost went up, scientists and engineers are deciding how and when it will come back down
Space & PhysicsJuly 29, 2020
Why NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Uses Nuclear Energy
Radioactive plutonium is crucial for keeping this and other power-hungry deep-space missions warm and working for years on end
Space & PhysicsJune 1, 2020
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Docks with Space Station
The first-ever orbital flight of astronauts on a private spacecraft has been a historic success
Space & PhysicsApril 8, 2020
Margaret Burbidge, Astronomer Who Studied the Inner Workings of Stars, Dies at 100
Sometimes called “Lady Stardust,” Burbidge helped reveal the cosmic origins of chemical elements
Space & PhysicsApril 1, 2020
NASA’s Next Solar Mission Will Use Six Spacecraft to Make One Giant Telescope
Launching no earlier than July 2023, the SunRISE mission will study the origins of solar storms
Space & PhysicsMarch 30, 2020
Cooped Up at Home? Help Scientists Spot Penguins from Space or Seek Out Galaxies
Some citizen science projects can be done during quarantine
PolicyFebruary 25, 2020
Hubble Telescope Test Inspires Changes at NASA to Combat Gender Bias
The space agency’s adoption of dual-anonymous review for certain science programs seeks to ensure proposals are judged on merit alone
The SciencesFebruary 24, 2020
Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures Fame Dies at 101
The pioneering NASA mathematician overcame racial barriers to help humans reach the moon
Space & PhysicsJanuary 14, 2020
Astronomers Just Found (Another) Potentially Habitable Exoplanet. What Happens Next?
NASA’s TESS spacecraft identified the unusual world around a red dwarf
Space & PhysicsJanuary 7, 2020
James Webb Space Telescope on Track for March 2021 Launch, NASA Says
Despite numerous setbacks, the $9.7-billion observatory is still on schedule to revolutionize our view of the universe
Space & PhysicsNovember 4, 2019
Boeing’s Next-Generation Starliner Vehicle Passes Major Safety Test
Despite a parachute glitch, the spacecraft’s pad-abort system showed it could protect future astronauts
Space & PhysicsSeptember 19, 2019
Asteroid Dust Triggered an Explosion of Life on Ancient Earth
At 466 million years ago, the breakup of a large space rock may have led to major changes in our planet’s biodiversity
Space & PhysicsJune 3, 2019
NASA Picks First Private Landers for Lunar Science
Three companies are receiving millions of dollars apiece to ferry payloads to the moon’s surface in 2020 and 2021
Space & PhysicsMay 1, 2019
Gigantic Ice Formation Found on Saturn’s Moon Titan
The mysterious feature wraps almost halfway around the giant moon
Space & PhysicsFebruary 12, 2019
NASA Spots Another Possible Impact Crater Buried Under Greenland Ice
The newfound crater candidate is thought to be unrelated to another that was discovered last year
Space & PhysicsJanuary 29, 2019
Scientists Prepare for Mission to Europa
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft could launch as early as 2023 to investigate one of the solar system’s most mysterious moons
Space & PhysicsJanuary 19, 2019
Lunar Craters Show Spike in Earth-Pummeling Space Rocks
A new analysis suggests the last few hundred million years of life on Earth has seen above-average asteroid impact rates
Space & PhysicsJanuary 14, 2019
Ocean Moons, Promising Targets in Search for Alien Life, Could Be Dead Inside
The interiors of Europa and other watery moons in the outer solar system might be too geologically inactive to support life
Space & PhysicsDecember 4, 2018
New Gravitational-Wave Detections Include Largest, Most Distant Black Hole Crash Ever
The four fresh signals from merging black holes hint at a forthcoming data deluge from the LIGO and Virgo observatories
Space & PhysicsNovember 15, 2018
Scientists Spot Giant Crater Hidden under Greenland's Ice
The enormous crater is among the 25 largest known on Earth, and likely came from a meteorite impact within the past three million years