Space Exploration

A few decades ago, the space around Earth was empty. It’s very much not empty anymore with a multitude of satellites and an operational International Space Station. The space around Earth is also home to many years worth of abandoned satellites, rocket boosters, and other bits of debris flying around …

There is still a great deal scientists don’t know about the early universe. Most celestial objects from that era are long gone, and those that still exist from our perspective are extremely distant. That’s why finding ancient quasars is so important. These active supermassive black holes are so bright, we …

On Mars, phyllosilicate (clay) minerals are widespread in terrains that date back to the Noachian period, 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago. Phyllosilicates are formed by the interaction of water with volcanic rock, leading many planetary researchers to conclude that there must have been sustained surface water, groundwater or active …

Scientists used to wonder how common planets were throughout the universe, and now we know. They’re extremely common. They’re so common, in fact, it’s possible just to find another one while you’re trying to gather data on the one you already knew about. That’s what happened when astronomers recently turned …

Jupiter’s moon Europa has long been one on of the most enticing potential homes for life in the solar system. Well, other than Earth. While Earth is in the habitable zone with liquid water and a thick atmosphere, Europa is a small frozen moon orbiting a gas giant, However, lurking …

A process called subduction — when a tectonic plate slides underneath another and sinks deep into a planetary body’s interior — is physically possible in the ice shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa, according to new research from Brown University. This is important because material from the surface of Europa could …

After the Moon’s formation, Earth experienced a protracted bombardment by large (over 1,500?km in diameter) planetesimals. Dr. Simone Marchi, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute, and co-authors recently modeled this process. Based on their simulations, the researchers say that the large planetesimals delivered more mass to our planet than …

Is there life out there among the stars? No one knows for sure, but we’re constantly finding new exoplanets that have some potential to harbor life. Astronomers don’t currently have the technology to examine these distant objects directly, but we may be able to learn about their atmospheres. This could help …

Ideally, a rocket makes things go up instead of down, but a Russian Soyuz launch last week did very much the opposite. The rocket’s payload of 19 satellites failed to reach orbit for previously unknown reasons. Now, reports indicate that it was a programming error that led to the loss …

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is the only human-made object in interstellar space. The spacecraft, which has been flying for 40 years, relies on small devices called thrusters to orient itself so it can communicate with Earth. Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of four backup thrusters, …