Launch Tomorrow for Satellites Set to Solve Earth's Magnetic Mysteries
The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission's four satellites are designed to study the phenomenon responsible for powerful bursts of powerful magnetic particles
Dawn Spacecraft Arrives at Ceres, Becomes First to Orbit a Dwarf Planet
Shortly after 7:30 am Eastern time this morning, a seven-year space voyage at last reached its final destination: NASA's Dawn mission entered orbit around Ceres, a small, icy world orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
Sign up now to get 60 days of digital access
Early Mars Lost an Ocean's Worth of Water
New maps pinpoint possible sites of the Red Planet's ancient seas and current underground reservoirs
A Waste of Space [Commentary]
NASA’s new space station mission is not a big step toward Mars, but mostly a holding pattern
Why Space Stinks [VIDEO]
Parts of this supposed vast emptiness smell like rotten eggs or gunpowder.
Ultracold-Resistant Chemical on Titan Could Allow It to Harbor Life
Computer simulations reveal that a compound found on Saturn’s largest moon may be able to form a freeze-resistant, flexible membrane that could encapsulate cells or organelles
Astronauts Breeze through Spacewalk to Rig Station for U.S. Space Taxis
The purpose of the outings was to prepare berthing slips for spaceships being developed by Boeing and SpaceX
Saturn: A History [Slide Show]
Our understanding of this planet has evolved in step with scientific progress
Scientific American and Nature Editors Remember Leonard Nimoy
Nimoy inspired many members of the Scientific American community, some of whom offer remembrances here
The Shifting Politics of NASA's Astronaut Program
Ever since President George W. Bush's decision to retire the space shuttles in the aftermath 2003's Columbia disaster, NASA's human spaceflight program has been adrift.
Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy Dies at 83
Nimoy, the original Spock, got involved in real space science with NASA
Giant Asteroid Collision May Have Radically Transformed Mars
An ancient, global-scale impact could explain the Red Planet’s mysterious “two-faced” appearance