Outer Space

Lucy measures more than 46 feet wide, and about 24 feet tall and is equipped with solar arrays on its main body that allow it to power up its instruments. Each camera will enable Lucy to study the surface of the asteroids, detect traces of water or minerals, and count craters or rings.  

NASA's Lucy Probe Asteroid Mission Will Study Fossil-Like Origins of Our Solar System

The spacecraft launches on October 16 and is expected to reach its target by 2027

Artist conception of the controversially named James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched in just a few months.

NASA Won't Rename New Space Telescope Despite Anti-LGBTQ Controversy

The agency says the James Webb Space Telescope will retain its name regardless of concerns from astronomers, the public and NASA employees

The massive 170,000-pound Discovery measures 122 feet long by 58 feet tall with a wingspan of 78 feet.

Following the 1986 and 2003 Shuttle Disasters, 'Discovery' Launched America Back Into Space

This "Champion of the Fleet," a signature Smithsonian artifact, flew 39 space missions and traveled 150 million miles

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The Wonder of Avi Loeb

The physicist thinks we might have glimpsed evidence of an alien civilization. Despite controversy, he’s determined to find more

The segmented mirrors that weigh 46 pounds each also needed to fold origami-style so that they could fit inside the rocket and later bloom open once it reaches its destination.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Will Launch Into Orbit in December

Once in space, the observatory will travel to a location one million miles from Earth

ELSA-d is a demonstration device designed to show that space debris removal is possible.

Can the World's First Space Sweeper Make a Dent in Orbiting Debris?

A private company has just completed the first successful test of its trash collector

NASA stitched together 129 individual images taken with the rover’s Mast Camera to create 360-degree panoramic vistas.

Explore Stunning 360-Degree Panoramic Views of Mars in New NASA Video

Captured by NASA's Curiosity rover, the footage takes viewers on a tour of the fourth planet from the sun's surface

Construction of multiple telescopes has begun on Saishiteng Mountain—near the town of Lenghu in the Qinghai province of China. The site could be China’s first major observatory, on par with those in Hawaii, Chile, and the Canary Islands.

Why the Tibetan Plateau Might Be the Ideal Spot for the Telescope of the Future

A team in China has identified a location that could give the Eastern Hemisphere its first major observatory

Pictured is an image of tube No. 233. Perseverance sent this image to Earth and is one of the pieces of data researchers received showing that core sample was not collected.

Perseverance Rover's First Martian Rock Sample Goes Missing

Engineers are working to solve the mystery using data about the sample that the space robot sent back to Earth

The habitat 3D printed by the construction technology company ICON, and designed by the architecture firm, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, includes separate rooms for each crew member, two bathrooms, a kitchen, areas for fitness and recreation, and a space to grow crops.

NASA Is Recruiting Candidates for Year-Long Mars Simulation

Crew members will live in a 3-D printed habitat called Mars Dune Alpha in Houston, Texas

The false-color mosaic shows how features on the Moon differ from each other because of its meteoric impacts and volcanic past.

What NASA's Technicolor Mosaic Images of the Moon Can Teach Us About the Lunar Surface

The vivid hues showcase soil composition and ancient volcanic history

For liquid water to exist on the Red Planet, the water needs to be infused with large amounts of salts or heated by a heat source like geothermal activity.

Subsurface 'Lakes' on Mars May Actually Be Frozen Clay Deposits

After various studies suggesting liquid water may lie underneath the Red Planet's south pole, a new study suggests it instead consists of smectites

The ascent module (pictured) may still be orbiting the moon—or it exploded. According to the new calculations, the space junk never crash-landed onto the moon's surface as previously expected.

Part of the Apollo 11 Spacecraft May Still Be Orbiting the Moon

New research suggests the 'Eagle' ascent stage either exploded in space or remains in orbit—but it likely didn't crash land back on the lunar surface

DESI will analyze light collected by the four-meter Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

New Project Aims to Create Most Detailed 3-D Map of the Universe

An instrument named “DESI” will chart up to 40 million galaxies, ten times more than any previous survey

After about a month of darkness, Hubble is back online and already collection impressive scientific data.

Retired NASA Engineers Return to Fix Hubble Telescope

The repaired space computer is back online and already beaming spectacular images of distant galaxies back to Earth

A new image of a powerful jet firing out of the black hole at the center of the radio galaxy Centaurus A, taken with the Event Horizon Telescope.

New Black Hole Image Shows Plasma Jets Blasting Into Space

Researchers say the new, detailed image of the black hole at the center of the Centaurus A galaxy could reveal how its jets formed

The plumes were first discovered in 2006 when the Cassini spacecraft spotted the geysers shooting water and other organic materials at high velocities hundreds of miles into space near the moon's south pole.

Could Methane-Spewing Microbes Be Living in the Depths of a Subsurface Ocean on Saturn's Moon Enceladus?

The hot, chemical plumes could be produced by something similar to Earthly microscopic life forms that consume hydrogen and carbon, then burp up methane

Ingenuity releases its first aerial photos of its shadow cast across the Séítah terrain during its ninth flight.

NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Soars 2,000 Feet Through Martian Atmosphere in Its Ninth Successful Test Flight

The aerial trooper set new records for speed and distance, as well as stretched the capabilities of its navigation system

Astronomers used the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i to analyze what chemical building blocks made up the Comet 46/P Wirtanen.

Boozy Comet's Mysterious Heat Source Offers Clues to How Planets Like Earth Obtain Water

The cosmic relic contains minerals from when the solar system first formed and high amounts of methanol

Mice pups were borne out of freeze-dried mice sperm that had been stored on the International Space Station for up to six years. Some of those mice and their offspring are pictured here.

After a Six-Year Sojourn in Space, Freeze-Dried Mice Sperm Produce Healthy Pups

Scientists say the finding supports the idea that genetic material can be shipped to other worlds to help establish a diversity of life

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