Space Exploration

Is NASA's Space Launch System a flying piece of congressional pork or our best shot at getting humans to deep space?

Astronomers worldwide are focusing on Pluto, in anticipation of a July 14 flyby of the dwarf planet by NASA's New Horizons probe 

The Thirty Meter Telescope can revolutionize astronomy and become a part of the holy mountain’s rich cultural heritage

The embattled Thirty Meter Telescope project can proceed on Mauna Kea, but only by cutting back astronomy elsewhere on the mountain

Called npj Microgravity, the open-access journal will highlight scientific advances in various fields that are facilitated by spaceflight

Most details about the space plane are classified, but the launch vehicle also carried 10 miniscule "cubesats," including the LightSail solar sail, developed by the Planetary Society

With its LightSail project, the Planetary Society aims to take the next step in its decades-long quest to transform spaceflight

Astronomers use Kepler telescope to study weather on Jupiter-size planets beyond our solar system

Bright spots in the latest pictures from NASA’s mission to the dwarf planet may be water ice, researchers say

The cargo vessel burned up over the Pacific Ocean around 10 p.m. EDT on Thursday

Mice exposed to radiation akin to what astronauts to Mars would receive experienced cognitive impairment. Lee Billings reports

Two new studies hint at a richer picture of what’s happening on Saturn’s extraordinary icy moon Enceladus. At about 500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a diminutive natural satellite.