Space & Physics
SpaceX, That Vision Thing, and Mars
Safely landing a first-stage rocket on a ship opens up "cheap" orbital space, but also shows a path to Mars
"Solar System"
The Sciences
Where in the Universe?
Guess what these images are and earn your stripes as a cosmic sightseer
The Sciences
Where Everything Is in the Solar System, Right Now
NASA knows, and it maintains active archives of these data. Here are maps for the positions of known natural objects in the inner, outer and distant solar system in January 2016
The Sciences
5 Questions and Answers about the Proposed Ninth Planet
A new analysis of outer solar system orbits suggests that there really could be a hitherto unseen giant planet orbiting far from the sun—but what are the implications?
The Sciences
Salty Ceres, Martian Dunes and Venus at Last
From progress on deciphering the strange features of dwarf planet Ceres to NASA's plans to play with Martian sand and a heroic rescue of Japan's Venus-bound spacecraft, it's been an interesting past couple of weeks...
Space & Physics
Did the Solar System Just Gain 2 New Worlds?
A pair of scientific papers suggest that the ALMA observatory may have detected 2 new "planet-scale" objects associated with the outer realms of the solar system. But should we be awed or skeptical?...
Space & Physics
The Failure of Phobos
A new explanation for the strange grooves on the surface of the martian moon Phobos suggests that the entire satellite already shows signs of how it will eventually be destroyed.
Space & Physics
Cassini Reveals That Enceladus Is Embraced by a Web of Cracks
The Cassini mission's third-from-last flyby of the icy moon Enceladus reveals that a highly complex network of thin cracks covering the surface extend all the way into the northern polar region...
Space & Physics
Chelyabinsk Meteor Played 4.5 Billion Years of Cosmic Pinball
A new study of fragments from the Chelyabinsk meteor reveal that it went through at least eight impact events spread across the last 4.5 billion years before it ended up impacting Earth
Space & Physics
A New Billion-Mile Journey for New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons team decide on their next target, a classical Kuiper Belt object that can be reached by January 2019, but the agency must still approve funds for this extended science mission...
Space & Physics
Pluto's Barnacled Beauty
Early images from New Horizons' encounter with Pluto reveal an extraordinary surface of strange mountains and varying deposits of light and dark material
Space & Physics
Good-Bye Pluto, Thanks for Everything
Although we've only just begun to see the scientific return from NASA's New Horizons mission and its close encounter with the Pluto–Charon system, this has been an unexpectedly profound human endeavor...
Space & Physics
Dissolving Surface May Form Titan's Lakes
Titan's lake depressions may form as its organic crust is dissolved by liquid hydrocarbons.
Space & Physics
There's Methane in Them Thar Martian Rocks!
Indigenous methane appears to exist in Martian rocks
Space & Physics
1,776 Portraits of a Comet
A stunning library of comet close-ups
Space & Physics
Salty, Alkaline Curtains are Erupting from Enceladus – and That’s Good
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...
Space & Physics
Rosetta Captures Stunning New Images of Comet’s Surface and Activity
What happens when you make a low-level flyby of a cometary nucleus? You get jaw-dropping images. The above 2-shot mosaic of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by ESA’s Rosetta orbiter at an effective altitude of just 19.9 kilometers...
NASA Goes Big and Bold for Exoplanet Science
A United States federal agency is not necessarily the first place you think of when it comes to answering some of the deepest existential questions for our species...
Space & Physics
Where Would you Leave a Message From the Stars?
A recent article by Samuel Arbesman in the science magazine Nautilus discusses the extraordinary sounding possibility that – just perhaps – a search for extraterrestrial intelligence could be made by looking at our DNA...
Space & Physics
The Grand Texture of Planets
In an idle moment, while staring at a set of solar system data, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to display a set of planetary surfaces on an equal footing, where the overall texture of these worlds was visible (although topography is probably a more [...]..
