Saturn’s Rings May Be Ancient After All
Against earlier studies estimating an age of just 100 million years, new research suggests the planet’s rings could be as old as the solar system itself
Stories by Mike Wall
Newfound Alien Planet Has a Bizarre Looping Orbit
Astronomers have never seen a world quite like HR 5183 b before
SpaceX Starhopper Rocket Prototype Aces Highest (and Final) Test Flight
Starhopper is passing the test-flight torch to orbital prototypes
Silica Blankets Could Make Mars Habitable
Thin layers of lightweight aerogel might be the main ingredient for making regions of the Red Planet more Earth-like
What Prevents Pluto’s Ocean from Freezing?
Layers of ice-like gas hydrates may insulate frigid ocean worlds across the cosmos
Mars Has Methane—But Does It Have Life?
Multiple lines of evidence suggest the gas occasionally surges into the Red Planet’s atmosphere. Could it be a sign of a subsurface biosphere?
Is NASA’s Golden Age of Space Telescopes Ending?
For the second year in a row, the White House is seeking to cancel one of the space agency’s top-priority astrophysics projects, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope
SpaceX Crew Dragon Splashes Down after Historic Test Flight
Splashdown occurred at 8:45 am Eastern time about 230 miles off the Florida coast
"Mole" on InSight Mars Lander Begins Burrowing, but the Going Is Rough
Small stones have impeded progress on landmark efforts to study the Red Planet’s subsurface activity
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Weighs a Mountain on Mars
Gravitational measurements may solve the long-standing mystery of how Mount Sharp formed
China Makes Historic First Landing on Mysterious Far Side of the Moon
The milestone marks a turning point for China’s space exploration, and may unlock deep secrets of lunar history
NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Snaps Selfie, Surveys Workspace
The Red-Planet-probing spacecraft is on course to deploy its instruments in early 2019
Success of Tiny Mars Probes Heralds New Era of Deep-Space Cubesats
Two pint-sized spacecraft, MarCO-A and MarCO-B, served as communications relays for NASA’s InSight lander
NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Touches Down Next Week
The $850 million mission will be the first to land on the Red Planet in more than 6 years
Russia’s Soyuz Rocket Returns to Flight with Crewed Launch in Early December
The rocket’s next launch comes less than a month after a major mishap endangered the lives of crewmembers bound for the International Space Station
Kepler, NASA’s Revolutionary Planet-Hunting Telescope, Is Dead
After running out of fuel, the mission leaves behind a legacy of thousands of exoplanets and a new understanding of Earth’s cosmic context
NASA’s Kepler Mission May Have Found Fewer Habitable Exoplanets Than Thought
New data from the European Gaia space telescope could lead to a downward revision to tally of Earth-like worlds
Hubble Space Telescope Returns to Action after Gyroscope Glitch
The workhorse orbital observatory has resumed normal science operations, NASA says
Hubble Space Telescope Almost Back in Action
The famed orbital observatory has recovered from a glitch that suspended its operations earlier this month
Europa’s Equator May Be Covered in Perilous Ice Towers
Jagged ice spikes called ‘penitentes’ on Jupiter’s ocean-bearing moon could pose grave risks for robotic landers
