Space Exploration

You may think there are some big animals on Earth today, but this is nothing compared with the Pliocene period a few million years ago. So-called “megafauna” like the 50-foot megalodon shark and giant ground sloth were common. And suddenly, they weren’t. Why? A new study points the finger at …

The surface of the dwarf planet Ceres may contain several times the concentration of carbon than is present in the most carbon-rich, primitive meteorites found on Earth, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / …

< img src=" https://assets.rbl.ms/18980705/origin.jpg" >. The audio recorded by the lander is of Martian winds blowing at an estimated 10 to 15 miles per hour. It was taken by the InSight Mars lander, which is developed to help researchers learn more about the formation of rocky worlds, and possibly discover …

Scientists were already excited to have a chance to study the asteroid Bennu up close with the OSIRIS-REx probe, but the stakes just got higher. In one of its first observations of the object after settling into orbit, the spacecraft has detected evidence of water in the asteroid’s structure. The …

NASA’s InSight lander is on the surface of Mars, which is an amazing accomplishment. A bunch of smarter than average primates, who several thousand years ago were building tone tools, have landed a robot on another planet to study its interior. That’s all well and good, but you can’t say …

On December 6, 2018, NASA’s InSight lander used a camera on its robotic arm to snap a view of itself and the surroundings. Visible in the selfie are the lander’s solar panel and its entire deck, including its science instruments. This image shows InSight’s solar panels and deck; on top …

SpaceX and Boeing are both working toward full certification of their respective spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). it’s been a long road, but SpaceX was set to launch its first demonstration mission (Demo-1) on Jan. 7th, 2019. There has been yet another delay, but at …

Several days ago, a gust of wind swept across Elysium Planitia on the surface of Mars. This has happened uncountable times over the eons, but never before was a robot on hand to record the sound of that wind. Now, NASA’s InSight lander is sitting on Elysium Planitia with a …

After 41 years traveling through the solar system, NASA’s Voyager 2 probe has entered interstellar space. That makes it the second human artifact to leave our home behind to drift between the stars. You might be thinking this already happened, but that’s because the first object out of the solar …

Forty-one years after it launched into space, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft has crossed the outer edge of the heliosphere. Called the heliopause, this boundary is where the tenuous, hot solar wind meets the cold, dense interstellar medium. Voyager 2’s twin probe, Voyager 1, crossed this boundary in 2012, but Voyager …