NASA

Europa became an interest to researchers as a place that potentially could harbor life after observations from Earth-bound telescopes and space probes found evidence of an ocean 10 to 15 miles beneath the icy surface. This drawing illustrates a possible water pocket within the ice that may contribute to ridges forming on the moon's surface.

Europa's Icy Shell May Be Habitable for Life

The moon of Jupiter could have shallow water pockets within its frozen surface

The research team confirmed the comet's size with photos taken by Hubble Space Telescope in January 2022. The comet's nucleus is seen as a bright dot of light in the photos. With the computer model, the team removed the hazy glow of the coma to leave behind the bright star-like nucleus.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Largest Comet Ever Discovered

The icy object is larger than the state of Rhode Island and weighs an estimated 500 trillion tons

The Hubble Space Telescope detected Earendel after homing in on a magnified streak of light boosted by a nearby galaxy.

Hubble Telescope Spots the Most Distant Star Ever Detected in Outer Space

The star, nicknamed Earendel, is 28 billion light-years from Earth

The lunar dust collected by Neil Armstrong as part of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission in will be auctioned off with a number of space-related items, and is expected to fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million at auction

Apollo 11 Moon Dust Samples Go Up for Auction Against NASA's Wishes

Auction house Bonhams is expecting around $1 million

Researchers turned to Mercury for the possibility of impact-born diamonds because previous surveys of the planet and molten rock found that the surface may have fragments of graphite, a carbon-rich mineral.

Mercury's Cratered Crust May Hold Glittering Gemstones

Fragments of a graphite shell from the planet's past and a series of violent meteorite impacts may have combined to form sparkling diamonds

Researchers chose to focus on lettuce because the plant has been grown numerous times aboard the International Space Station and would provide a way for astronauts to eat fresh greens besides only canned and freeze-dried foods.  

Genetically Modified Lettuce May One Day Help Space Travelers Fight Bone Loss

The vegetable could provide fresh leafy greens to astronauts' diet while providing a new way to transport and consume medications in the cosmos

The moons appear as two blurry dots located close together in the upper right area of the image. Io, seen as a darker speck on the left of the two dots, is the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Europa is seen on the right and features a global ocean beneath its icy surface. 

Citizen Scientist Captures Glimpse of Jupiter's Moons, Io and Europa, Using Juno Space Probe Data

The natural satellites are seen in the distant background of the gas giant's portrait

Russia has dismissed the idea that their cosmonauts’ bold wardrobe colors have anything to do with Ukraine.

Russian Cosmonauts Board Space Station Wearing Blue and Yellow

Roscosmos denies color choice was a show of support for Ukraine

Within a few years, NASA’s OSAM-1 mission will launch into space and use a robotic arm to refuel the Landsat 7 Earth-observation satellite, as shown in this animation.

Robots May Soon Fix and Fuel Satellites in Space

Orbiting machines that grip, grapple and maneuver could one day maintain the fleet of small spacecraft that encircle Earth

Head-on collisions between galaxies like the one seen in Arp 143 (pictured) may be how rings of new stars form.  

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Galaxies Caught in Triangular Tug-of-War

A collision between two galaxies may have sparked the odd shape

Scans of the astronaut's neural networks were taken before they blasted off into space, as soon as they landed safely back home, and some cosmonauts had an additional brain scan seven months after their return to Earth. (Pictured: Astronaut Bruce McCandless II during an untethered spacewalk in 1984)  

Long-Term Space Travel May 'Rewire' Astronauts' Brains

The changes may help the organ adapt to microgravity, but they seem to persist for several months after returning to Earth

One reader wonders if European modernists thought of the American painter Georgia O’Keeffe as a remarkable artist.  

Was Georgia O'Keeffe's Genius Appreciated Outside of America? And More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts.

The star, HD 84406 is seen as 18 photons because it is refracted by the telescopes 18 misaligned mirrors.  

James Webb Space Telescope's First Look at Outer Space Is a Kaleidoscope of Faint Starlight

As NASA astronomers adjust its mirrors over the next month, the dots of light will eventually align into one image of a star in Ursa Major

The football field-length International Space Station photographed by Expedition 56 crew members on Oct. 4, 2018.

NASA Plans to Crash the International Space Station Into the Ocean in 2031

The ISS will join other decommissioned spacecraft on the seafloor at Point Nemo, the farthest point from land in the Pacific

The celestial bodies are known as NGC 7764A and reside in the Phoenix constellation 425 million light-years away from Earth.

Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Stunning Photo of a Faraway Galactic Trio

Some of the galaxies in the image resemble Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise

Scientists used satellites to get a birds-eye view of the jaw-dropping bolts.

Intense Lightning 'Megaflashes' Stretched Almost 500 Miles Across Three U.S. States

The bolts, which occurred in 2020, broke records for distance and duration

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in 2015

A Chunk of a SpaceX Rocket Is Going to Slam Into the Moon

After a chaotic orbit of 7 years, the Falcon 9 booster is predicted to crash into the lunar surface this March

The first-ever archaeology experiment in space is being conducted on the International Space Station.

First-Ever Archaeological Project Studies How Astronauts Adapt to Their Environments

Researchers on Earth, partnering with those on the International Space Station, are taking a novel approach to understanding the ways humans live in space

Researchers examined 24 Martian sediment samples collected from six exposed locations in the Gale Crater that contained mudstones of an ancient lake.

'Intriguing' Carbon Isotopes on Mars Could Be From Cosmic Dust, UV Radiation or Ancient Life

NASA scientists compared the data to chemical signatures of biological processes on Earth and found some similarities to billion-year-old microbes

The telescope has five layers that dissipate heat from the sun. The sunshield's outer layer can reach 230 degrees Fahrenheit, and the last can drop to -394 degrees.

The James Webb Space Telescope Just Cleared Its Most Challenging Hurdle

The tennis court-sized sunshield fully unfurled itself this week, accomplishing the riskiest and most complicated aspect of the telescope's deployment

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