Outer Space

An artists concept of the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

Asteroid Sample-Return Mission Arrives to Collect Primordial Rocks of the Solar System

As the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrives at its target asteroid Bennu, scientists on the ground prepare for a new bounty of planetary samples

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found on International Space Station Toilet

The bacteria do not currently pose a risk to astronauts, but that could change as the microbes adapt to their environment

If Light Can't Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them... and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Scott Bolton says he first dreamed of traveling through the galaxy when he was a boy camping out under the stars.

Meet Scott Bolton, the Visionary Behind the NASA Mission to Jupiter

The Juno project will take on the mysteries of the gas giant that may in turn help us understand our own planet’s origins

Illustration of NASA's InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars.

Watch NASA Land the InSight Spacecraft on Mars

The InSight lander has successfully touched down on Mars

The Golden Record features images of life on Earth, nature sounds, greetings recorded in 55 different languages

New Catalogue Describes Everything We’ve Sent Into Space

Entries include Doritos’ advertisement, Klingon Opera invitation, Beatles song

Once NASA's InSight lander touches down on the surface of Mars, it will use a seismometer to measure "Marsquakes," and a self-hammering heat probe will burrow five meters below the surface to study the internal heat of the planet.

NASA Will Attempt Its Eighth Mars Landing on Monday

Touching down on the surface of the Red Planet is one of the most difficult engineering challenges ever attempted, and InSight is about to give it a go

Massive Impact Crater Found Under Greenland's Ice

Radar scans and sediment samples indicate a large meteorite blasted through the ice sheet between 3 million and 12,000 years ago

An artist’s impression of the newly discovered planet’s surface.

Astronomers Discover Second-Closest Known Exoplanet

The planet, a frozen Super-Earth, orbits Bernard's Star about six light-years away

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AOL Co-Founder Steve Case Talks With Smithsonian Geologist John Grant About the Search for Life on Mars

In the near future, we are going to know if life exists elsewhere in the universe

The color-enhanced image was created by citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran using data from the spacecraft's JunoCam imager, according to NASA.

Juno's Latest Photo of Jupiter Is Breathtaking

The image, processed from JunoCam's raw data, shows storms and winds in the planet's Northern Temperate Belt

Gravity Map Reveals Tectonic Secrets Beneath Antartica's Ice

Satellite data shows East and West Antarctica have very different geologic histories

A mid-level solar flare captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in 2017.

Did a Huge Solar Storm Detonate Deep Sea Mines During the Vietnam War?

Dozens of underwater devices seemed to explode without cause in 1972

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Astrophysicist Michelle Thaller on Understanding Our Place in the Universe

Autodesk vice president Brian Mathews talks with the NASA science communicator about the search for life on other planets and why it’s important

A fin whale picked out from satellite imagery

Researchers Can Now Monitor Whales Via Satellite

The latest high resolution satellites can pick out whales surfacing in huge swaths of ocean, which will aid in conservation

The Milky Way

The Milky Way Ate One of Its Neighbors 10 Billion Years Ago

Star data shows we gobbled up a galaxy called Gaia-Enceladus about 1/4 the size of the Milky Way, leaving behind telltale signs of the merger

Kepler Space Telescope, Revealer of New Worlds, Officially Shuts Down After Historic Mission

Launched in 2009, Kepler discovered thousands of new exoplanets before finally running out of fuel earlier this month

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin on a spacewalk in 2013, completing maintenance on International Space Station.

Hanging Out in Space Deforms Brain Tissue, New Cosmonaut Study Suggests

While gray matter shrinks, cerebrospinal fluid increases. What's more: These changes do not completely resolve once back on Earth.

A new Smithsonian Book asks the question: Is there a future for crewed missions to the Moon?

In the Wake of Apollo’s 'Giant Leap,' What’s Next for Lunar Exploration?

A new Smithsonian Book unpacks the possible future of missions to the Moon

Mars imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope during a close approach to Earth.

Salty Water Under the Surface of Mars Could Have Enough Oxygen for Life

New models suggest subsurface water could absorb enough oxygen to support microbial communities and even things like sponges

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