Space Exploration

NASA’s Curiosity rover was imaged on Mars on May 31, 2019, by the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity can be seen in this image taken from space on May 31, 2019, by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars …

New research by scientists from Harvard University, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the UK Centre for Astrobiology shows that widespread regions of the surface of Mars could be made habitable to photosynthetic life via a solid-state analogue to Earth’s greenhouse effect. Through experiments and modeling under Martian environmental conditions, the …

  Fifty years ago yesterday, the Apollo 11 mission took off for the Moon. You can see CBS’s coverage now on YouTube, showcasing not just what happened, but how it happened. It’s the same way you, your parents, or your grandparents saw the event. I am admittedly not much for …

  Conventional wisdom holds that most large galaxies harbor supermassive black holes at their centers. Scientists also believe that only so-called “active” galaxies should have visible accretion disc of matter, but the Hubble Space Telescope has found one around a black hole with unusually low luminosity. This galaxy might bend …

  Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe has just made history — again. The spacecraft gathered samples from the surface of the asteroid Ryugu earlier this year, and it bombed the asteroid a few months later. Now, the probe has taken another trip to the surface to scoop up pristine material that used …

According to new research, spores of the fungus Aspergillus niger are able to withstand higher doses of radiation than previously thought, which can have implications in future planetary protection policies. This scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image depicts a close up of Aspergillus sp. fungal fruiting body. This reproductive structure is …

  NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is slowly taking shape. After adding the rover’s stereoscopic navigation cameras and prototype wheels, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have attached the rover’s SuperCam Mast Unit. This vital piece of equipment will allow Mars 2020 to analyze samples from a distance as it …

ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has observed several local and regional dust storms brewing at the north pole of the Red Planet. A dust storm underway at the edge of the north polar ice cap of Mars. The image was taken by Mars Express’ Visual Monitoring Camera on May 29, 2019. …

  SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket is one step closer to launch today following a successful engine test. According to CEO Elon Musk, the engine performed as expected during a 51-second test burn. Based on previous timelines, Musk suggests the Starship “Hopper” could be ready for its first untethered flight later …

NASA announced last week that it had selected the Dragonfly mission to explore the prebiotic organic chemistry and look for signs of life on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and an intriguing ocean world with a hazy atmosphere and methane seas. This illustration shows NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander approaching a …