Space Exploration

With 3.14-Day Orbit The longer we study the universe, the more exoplanets we find. Many of these discoveries are notable because of how Earth-like they are or because of the number of planets crammed into a single solar system. The rocky planet K2-315b, on the other hand, is notable because …

  The margin for error in space exploration is tiny. Even an unassuming rock or a bit of sloped terrain can topple a robotic explorer, and what if there’s no one within millions of miles to flip it right-side-up again? NASA is developing a new precision landing system called Safe …

Spectral data gathered by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft provide strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of Saturn’s moon Enceladus has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. In these detailed infrared images of Enceladus, reddish areas indicate fresh ice that has been deposited …

  Humanity has identified thousands of exoplanets, so you’d think we’ve got a pretty good handle on where to look for them. And yet, the universe keeps surprising us. A new study led by Andrew Vanderburg of the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals a possible exoplanet some 80 light-years away. The …

  Rocket Lab has seen modest success with its petite Electron booster in the three years since its maiden flight. There have been a few setbacks, to be sure, but the little rocket that could has its sights set on a very timely target. Rocket Lab might be the first …

  Charlie Bolden ran NASA from 2009 until early 2017, and before that, he went into space four times as an astronaut. So, when he talks about the Space Launch System (SLS) he oversaw at the agency, you can trust he knows what he’s talking about. In a new interview, …

In a process called tidal heating, gravitational push and pull from Jupiter’s Galilean moons — Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto — and the gas giant itself stretch and squish the moons enough to warm them. As a result, some of the icy moons contain interiors warm enough to host oceans …

Extrasolar planets hosted by stars with sufficiently high carbon-to-oxygen ratios could be made of diamonds and silica, according to new research by Arizona State University and the University of Chicago. An artist’s impression of a carbide planet with diamond and silica as main minerals. Image ctredit: Shim / ASU / …

  There are numerous risks associated with sending someone into space — it’s a completely foreign environment where even a small mistake can spell disaster. Our squishy Earth-bound bodies are so unaccustomed to space that simply being in microgravity can be dangerous long-term. The key to safer human space travel …

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, launched in 2016, is currently orbiting the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu with the aim of briefly touching on the surface and obtaining a sample from the asteroid in October 2020, and then returning to Earth. Shortly after entering orbit around Bennu, the spacecraft’s instruments detected asteroid activity …