Outer Space

This artist's rendering shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample.

NASA Snags Its First Asteroid Sample

On a mission more than 200 million miles away from Earth, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft grabbed rocks from Bennu

This visualization shows the merging of two black holes, which emit gravitational waves.

Scientists Are Detecting More Gravitational Waves Than Ever Before

The LIGO and Virgo teams have spotted 50 total cosmic signals since 2015

Scientists have known about ice in the dark, deep craters at the moon's poles, some of the coldest known places in the universe, but voyaging into one just wouldn't be likely.

The Moon Has More Water and Ice Hidden All Over Its Surface Than Originally Predicted

Scientists discovered that water is stored in tiny patches all across the moon's surface, not just in the deep, freezing craters of its south pole

The moon seen from the International Space Station.

Future Moon Walkers Will Get 4G Cell Reception

NASA taps Nokia to install the first ever cellular network on the moon as part of a plan to establish long-term human presence on the lunar surface by 2030

The meteor shower is named for the Orion constellation because that’s where the meteors seem to emerge from.

How to See the Orionids Meteor Shower Peak Tonight

The meteor shower reaches peak visibility just before dawn on Wednesday morning but will last until November 7

This illustration depicts a star (in the foreground) experiencing spaghettification as it's sucked in by a supermassive black hole (in the background) during a 'tidal disruption event'.

Astronomers Capture Best View Yet of a Black Hole Spaghettifying a Star

The star was compressed and stretched out like a long noodle and when the ends collided, half of its mass ejected into space

Bennu is shaped like a three-dimensional diamond and seemingly smooth from far away. OSIRIS-REx is in the foreground of this artist’s replication. The spacecraft will gather a sample from Bennu next week.

What an Asteroid Could Tell Us About Ancient Earth

Knowing those rocks’ origins will help scientists learn more about the composition of objects in the solar system and asteroid belt

In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong took this photo of Buzz Aldrin on the first-ever moon walk. Humans haven't walked on the moon since 1972.

Eight Countries Sign NASA’s Artemis Accords, New Legal Framework for Maintaining Peace on the Moon

Nations must sign and uphold the agreement if they plan to join NASA's mission to send astronauts back to the moon

This mosaic of Bennu was created using observations made by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that was in close proximity to the asteroid for over two years.

Asteroid Bennu Could Shed Light on How Ingredients for Life Reached Earth

New, detailed imagery of the asteroid’s surface show that it’s covered in boulders and carbon-containing molecules

NASA's new $23 million Universal Waste Management System

NASA Just Sent a New $23 Million Space Toilet to the International Space Station

Astronauts will test out the expensive commode, which is better designed for “dual ops,” before its eventual use on deep space missions

The contributions of the three Nobel laureates proved that black holes exist and unveiled the nature of these supermassive objects.

Three Scientists Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for Breakthrough Black Hole Discoveries

These Nobel laureates helped discover and describe the mysterious cosmic voids in our universe

The moon at night, as seen from Germany

Why Astronomers Want to Build a SETI Observatory on the Moon

Researchers say the location would offer a quiet spot from which to hear a signal from an intelligent civilization

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is name after NASA's first chief of astronomy.

How NASA’s New Telescope Will Help Astronomers Discover Free-Floating Worlds

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to detect small, distant planets without stars

The fact that Mars' south pole holds many underground lakes suggests that they might be the last remnants of the planet's ancient oceans.

Briny Underground Lakes May Be All That Remain of Martian Ocean

New data confirm the 2018 discovery of a lake under Mars' south pole and point to three smaller water features around it

The projected path for 2020 SO, a space object that astronomers predict will become Earth's mini-moon in October, possibly staying until May 2021. The blue object in the center of the circle is Earth.

Earth May Soon Get Another Mini-Moon, but It's Probably Just a Piece of Space Trash

It could be an asteroid—or, as one astronomer suggests, it could be a rocket booster from the 1960s

On Earth, most people are familiar with ultraviolet radiation’s harmful effects on our skin, but in space, astronauts are also subjected to galactic cosmic rays, accelerated solar particles, neutrons and gamma rays.

Moonwalking Humans Get Blasted With 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth

The new findings will inform how much shielding future astronauts will need to safely explore the moon

The R.M.S. Titanic, seen departing Belfast on April 2, 1912

Did the Northern Lights Play a Role in the Titanic's Demise?

New study suggests the solar storm that sparked the aurora borealis interfered with the ship's navigational and radio equipment

This illustration depicts a giant planet the size of Jupiter, WD 1856 b. The planet is about seven times larger than the white dwarf star that it orbits every 34 hours.

This Giant Planet Is Orbiting a Dead Star

In a first, NASA astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting a 'dead' white dwarf star

A mid-1970s painting by illustrator Rick Guidice depicts an extraterrestrial colony designed by Princeton University physicist Gerard O'Neill.

How NASA Marketed Its Space Program With Fantastical Depictions of the Future

When it came to exploring the stars, Americans had to see it to believe in it

A split image showing an active Sun during solar maximum (on the left, taken in 2014) and a quiet Sun during solar minimum (on the right, taken in 2019).

A New Solar Cycle Promises Calm Space Weather

Experts say the sun’s next decade will likely feature a low number of events like solar flares that can disrupt power grids and satellites

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