Mars could be harboring hidden microbial life
Picture a hot volcanic spring.Mineral-laden acidic water flows through sulfur-rich rocks. A foul odor hangs in the air. For us it’s a nasty environment, best enjoyed through the lens of a tourist’s...
View ArticleAstronaut gives a heart-warming send off to Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy, famous for his role as Spock — the infallibly logical character in the Star Trek TV series and movies — died on February 27, and astronaut Terry Virts gave the beloved actor the perfect...
View ArticleThis is the first space selfie — and it's awesome
You probably know Buzz Aldrin as the second guy to set foot on the Moon.Or maybe as the namesake for Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear.But Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. also has the honor of being the first person...
View ArticleNASA spacecraft 'is about to make history'
On Friday, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will make history by becoming the first spacecraft to reach a dwarf planet, said Robert Mase, project manager for the Dawn mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
View ArticleEurope's first commercial spaceport could be in Wales
The UK government has drawn up a shortlist of locations for a commercial spaceport for Europe. The Department of Transport (DfT) announced on Tuesday plans to deliver the country's first hub for public...
View ArticleScientists have a plan to make breathable oxygen on Mars for the first time
When it comes to deep-space travel and exploration, oxygen is one of the most important elements in the mix. Humans breathe it to live and rockets burn it to fly.That's why a team of scientists at MIT...
View ArticleThe Mars One plan is totally delusional
Despite those beautiful images of swirling red clouds and sprawling landscapes, Mars is an barren desert that is incredibly inhospitable to life.Indeed, temperatures around minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit,...
View ArticlePolitics are shifting and it’s bad news for NASA and space exploration
Ever since President George W. Bush’s decision to retire the space shuttles in the aftermath 2003’s Columbiadisaster, NASA’s human spaceflight program has been adrift. Bush told NASA to go back to the...
View ArticleThese are the best pictures we have of Earth's 'second moon'
The moon is the largest object floating through space around Earth, but it's not the only one. Actually, there are numerous rocky objects living in our inner solar system that occasionally pass by...
View ArticleThink twice before you say that Earth has two moons
Duncan Forgan, a research fellow at the University of St. Andrews, recently wrote in The Conversation about Earth's "second moon".While this is a sexy title that others have used in the past, it's not...
View ArticleHere's what Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks of the Mars One mission
The private company Mars One plans on sending four people on a one-way trip to Mars in 2025 on a $6 billion budget.Neil deGrasse Tyson, famous astrophysicist and host of the new National Geographic...
View ArticleRecord-breaking storms rage on Uranus
Most of the times we have looked at Uranus, it has seemed to be a relatively calm place. Well, yes its atmosphere is the coldest place in the solar system. But, when we picture the seventh planet in...
View ArticleStrange 'iron rain' might explain why the Earth and the moon are so different
New experiments show that the asteroids that slammed into Earth and the moon more than 4 billion years ago were vaporised into a mist of iron.The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, suggest that...
View ArticleEarth's sunset would look completely different if the sun were replaced by...
One of the most spectacular times of day is when the sun sets on the horizon. Just minutes before it disappears from view, the sun lights the sky with deep oranges, reds, purples, and pinks.This...
View ArticleHere’s what life would be like on Mars
The idea of living on Mars has been a staple of science fiction since the 19th century, when American astronomer Percival Lowell speculated that the channels on the Red Planet were really ancient...
View ArticleHumans are about to make our first visit to a dwarf planet — a mission more...
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on course to make history this Friday when it enters into orbit around the closest dwarf planet to Earth, Ceres.Ceres is the largest object in a strip of rocky debris, called...
View ArticleHere's why this Texas Republican's dreams to send people to a star is equally...
If ever there were an agency that thinks big, it's NASA. The first and only agency to send people to the surface of the moon, NASA has now been asked to develop the technology to send manned missions...
View Article20 amazing scientific discoveries that have already been made this year
While looking through soil researchers found what appears to be the first new antibiotic in decades, which could be crucial in the fight against the growing problem of antibiotic-resistance.Astronomers...
View ArticleAmazing images of what Mars looked like with water
Mars is a freezing desert today, but 4 billion years ago it harbored a vast and deep ocean, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Science.This ocean could have reached depths of...
View Article7 things you didn't know about the dwarf planet ceres
On Friday morning (March 6), NASA's Dawn spacecraft will arrive at Ceres, becoming the first probe ever to orbit a dwarf planet.Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and...
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