Space Exploration

NASA’s Juno mission took its twelfth trip around Jupiter on April 1, 2018, and the orbiter has sent back extraordinary images of the gas giant. This image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced image is a combination of three …

Galaxies come in all shapes and sizes, from large spiral pinwheels like our own Milky Way to comparatively tiny spherical ones dense with stars. Astronomers have long known that the shape of a galaxy can tell us about its past, but for the first time scientists have confirmed another important …

Space may be the final frontier, but it’s an expensive one to explore. There are ample problems with which to contend here on Earth, and that leads some people to wonder if space exploration is worth the hassle. At ExtremeTech, we believe the answer is unequivocally “yes.” Here are five …

A colossal impact between proto-Mars and a Vesta-to-Ceres-sized object likely produced the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, according to new research. Mars is kept company by two cratered moons — an inner moon named Phobos and an outer moon named Deimos. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Malin Space …

As astronomers look out across unfathomable distances and observe other solar systems, they often see so-called “super-Earths.” These worlds are rocky like Earth, but they can be several times more massive. They might also be our best hope of finding life outside our solar system. We’ll have to go to …

Lego has unveiled a new series of space-themed sets. The new blocks are part of Lego’s FIRST initiative and are intended to be used in the 2018 – 2019 First Lego League challenge. First is an annual challenge event sponsored by Dean Kamen, previously known for inventing the Mall Cop …

One problem with researching the formation of the solar system is finding material that’s existed for more than four billion years. Much of our understanding of this time period comes from studying asteroids and the meteors that fall to Earth. On this planet, plate tectonics and surface weathering have destroyed, …

After months of uncertainty, NASA is getting a new administrator. The US Senate has confirmed Jim Bridenstine to head up the space agency. President Trump’s appointments have often been contentious, but this one has given even Republicans pause. Bridenstine currently serves as a Republican US Representative from Oklahoma, making him …

The Almahata Sitta meteorites — diamond-bearing space rock fragments that rained down on the Nubian Desert in Sudan in 2008 — are remnants of a Mercury- to Mars-sized protoplanet, a new study suggests. The Almahata Sitta meteorite. Image credit: Peter Jenniskens. On October 7, 2008, a 13-foot (4.1 m) diameter …

Like all the other stars in the universe, our sun was not born in isolation. The same clouds of dust and gas that gave rise to the sun and all the planets coalesced into other star systems that have since drifted away from us. Scientists from Australia have completed the …