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Science / Space

From the National Air and Space Museum / Udvar-Hazy Center.

The Story of NASA’s Jet-Propulsion Backpack

Thirty years ago, astronauts set out on the first untethered space odyssey

The Intel Science Talent Search honored the top winner and nine esteemed runners-up of its 2014 competition at a black-tie affair in Washington, D.C.

These Teenagers Have Already Accomplished More Than You Ever Will

The winners of this year’s Intel Science Talent Search take on flu vaccines, stem cells and tools for diagnosing cancer

The planet Kepler-22b, shown in this artwork, is the right size and distance from its star to support liquid water, and perhaps life.

Life in the Cosmos

The Search for Life Across the Universe

Smithsonian astrophysicist Jeremy Drake explains how the question changed from “if” life will be found elsewhere to “when” and “where”

It is time that we drop Hollywood’s humanoid view of extraterrestrials. In reality, David Aguilar says, “We are going to find bizarre adaptations.”

Life in the Cosmos

What Will Extraterrestrial Life Look Like?

Illustrator David Aguilar melds art and science to imagine how alien creatures might adapt to their environments

Observing the center of the Milky Way at Paranal Observatory.

Top 10 Travel Destinations for An Astronomy Geek

From the world’s biggest telescopes to isolated islands, here are some of the best places to explore the cosmos

Why Carl Sagan is Truly Irreplaceable

No one will ever match his talent as the “gatekeeper of scientific credibility”

The immense emptiness of Mars' Meridiani Plains, taken by the Opportunity Rover during the month it was stuck in a sand rippled dubbed Purgatory. Full size version.

After Ten Years on Mars, Here Are the Most Beautiful Photos Taken by the Rovers

Over the last decade, Spirit and Opportunity captured stunning photos of rocks, dunes and vistas

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The Coolest Science of 2013, in GIFs

This year, we saw dissolving electronics, flying meteors, gravity-defying chains and rotting pineapples

The Andromeda Galaxy

Think Big

What Does the Future of the Universe Hold?

The collision of our galaxy with the Andromeda galaxy is billions of years away, but it’s never too early to wonder what will happen

Charles "Pete" Conrad stands with the United States flag on the lunar surface on November 19, 1969.

The Moon Belongs to No One, but What About Its Artifacts?

Experts call on spacefaring nations to protect lunar landing sites, not to mention Neil Armstrong’s footprints

A closeup of one of the rocks, with a patch of dust brushed away by Curiosity's instruments, that provides evidence of an ancient lake.

Curiosity Found Evidence of An Ancient Freshwater Lake on Mars

Drilling into Martian rock revealed that it formed at the bottom of a calm lake that may have had the right conditions for sustaining life

A new analysis indicates that 22% of Sun-like stars harbor planets roughly the size of Earth in their habitable zones.

There Are Probably Way More Earth-Like Exoplanets Than We Imagined

A new analysis indicates that 22 percent of Sun-like stars may harbor planets roughly the size of Earth in their habitable zones

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Explore Mars’ Mountains and Canyons from a Probe’s-Eye View

Using ten years of data from their probe, the European Space has created a lifelike flyover simulation of the red planet

An artist’s depiction of the newly discovered ice-rich, rocky asteroid that was ripped apart by the distant white dwarf star 200 million years ago.

Scientists Just Discovered Water Near a Star 170 Light Years Away

The water was once bound as ice in a small, rocky planet or asteroid that was destroyed 200 million years ago

Defrosting the Crests of Inca City, LAT: -81.5° LONG: 296.3° “The nature of this polygonal network, unique on Mars, remains poorly understood, but seems to be linked to volcanic dykes covered by eolian sand. These terrains are close to the South pole and undergo springtime defrosting in dark patches that become progressively larger as temperatures climb,” writes geophysicist Nicolas Mangold in This is Mars.

This Is Mars in Extremely High Resolution

French designer Xavier Barral pored over 30,000 images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera, selecting the most appealing for his book

The Crab Pulsar, located in the Crab Nebula, is one of the celestial bodies Mickey Hart has translated into music.

Former Grateful Dead Drummer Mickey Hart Composes Music from the Sounds of the Universe

Hart teams up with a Nobel Prize-winning cosmologist to translate light and electromagnetic waves into octaves humans can hear

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How Did Mars Become the Red Planet?

A new NASA spacecraft, MAVEN, will explore the geologic history of our planetary neighbor

Analysis of Jake_M, the first rock Curiosity tested, shows that it’s unlike any rocks previously found on Mars, and probably formed after hot magma came into contact with water.

Curiosity Discovers a New Type of Martian Rock That Likely Formed Near Water

The rock closely resembles mugearites, which form after molten rock encounters liquid water

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Watch NASA’s Next Mars Orbiter Be Put Together, Piece by Piece

This time lapse video shows the assembly of NASA’s next Mars orbiter, MAVEN

Every 11 years, as part of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic field flips, coinciding with a maximum in activity such as solar flares.

The Sun’s Magnetic Field Is About to Reverse

Every 11 years as part of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic field flips. What’s in store for Earth when the field reverses a few months from now?

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