Space Exploration

Space Exploration

A 3D illustration of a typhoon as seen from orbit.
Retired astronaut Ron Garan believes that before we can begin solving our problems, we must understand our interrelatedness through the "orbital perspective."
JADES JWST z 13
Leaving Hubble in the dust, JWST has officially seen a galaxy from just 320 million years after the Big Bang: at just 2.3% its current age.
magnetic fields galaxy planck
The very dust that blocks our view of the distant, luminous objects in the Universe is responsible for our entire existence.
Compared to Earth, Mars is small, cold, dry, and lifeless. But 3.4 billion years ago, a killer asteroid caused a Martian megatsunami.
artemis
It is humanity's biggest step yet into the Solar System.
moon base
From astrobiology to geology, a Moon base could serve as a laboratory unlike anything on Earth.
cosmic ray blazar
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies gobble up whatever matter ventures too close, becoming active. Here's how they work.
methane
Methane is a shorter-lived but more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Cleaning it up could have a quick impact on global warming.
ideal night sy conditions
We're used to scientists telling us about the math and physics behind astronomical events. But what does studying space make us feel?
Astronomers have been looking for radio waves sent by a distant civilization for more than 60 years.
All across the Universe, planets come in a wide variety of sizes, masses, compositions, and temperatures. And most have rain and snow.
good night oppy
Thanks to a couple of rovers, we know Mars was once blue.
The largest hazardous asteroid found in the last 8 years showcases a little-known class of planet-killers. And we're woefully unprepared.
Hawking radiation incorrect
In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that even black holes don't live forever, but emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Here's how.
mars life
Organic molecules can be produced by living or non-living systems. But the recent findings are very intriguing.
Most exoplanets have been found around single stars via the transit method. But binary star systems might contain even more of them.
The DART mission tested whether it's possible to deflect an asteroid by crashing something into it.
rubble pile
Most asteroids aren't what you think they are.
With its first view of a protoplanetary disk around a newly forming star, the JWST reveals how alone individual stellar systems truly are.
It's the very closest stars to us that hold the key to unlocking the possibilities for life in star systems all throughout the Universe.
changesite
It could one day fuel nuclear fusion reactors.
Yes, NASA's Perseverance rover found organics on Mars. So did Curiosity. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean anything in the search for life.
“The more we understand ourselves and the universe, the more magnificent it is.”
how big is the universe
You would think that with all our technology, like the James Webb Space Telescope, we would know how big the Universe is. But we don't.
jwst cartwheel
The first set of James Webb's images blew us all away. In just 2 mere months, it's seen highlights that no one could have predicted.
FU orionis illustration
As recently as 1990, we didn't know of any planets beyond our Solar System. Today, with 5000+, we're deep into the weeds of how they form.
Following the advent of human space flight, NASA began naming missions after children of Zeus.