Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science / Space

Jessica U. Meir plays sax in the Cupola.

How Do Astronauts Spend Their Weekends in Space?

They take time off and practice their hobbies, though that wasn’t always the case

Christina Koch (left) poses for a portrait with Jessica Meir while preparing for their first spacewalk together.

Smithsonian Voices

Gender-Inclusive Language Puts an End to the Era of ‘Manned’ Spaceflight

It is time to honor six decades of women’s contributions to spaceflight, says the Air and Space Museum, with unbiased verbs like ‘crewed’ or ‘piloted’

Artist’s conception of the Perseverance rover sampling rocks on the floor of Jezero crater. The rover also carries the Ingenuity helicopter (not shown) that can fly in advance of the rover and scout out high priority rocks and outcrops for the rover to visit.

Smithsonian Voices

Is There Life on Mars?

Smithsonian scientist John Grant says we have to know what to look for and where to go on the planet for evidence

Artist’s rendition of Ingenuity flying on Mars.

Smithsonian Voices

How the Perseverance Rover Paves a Path Into the Future

Three new (and particularly challenging) aspects of the Mars 2020 mission that distinguishes it from previous missions

Researchers in France are testing which fish eggs are best suited to being launched to the moon. So far, European seabass are among the leaders.

Could Astronauts Rear Fish on the Moon?

Researchers in France aim to boldly farm fish where no one has farmed fish before

NASA's Perseverance rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the surface of Mars.

Exploring Mars

Perseverance Kicks Off Elaborate Effort to Bring Mars Rocks to Earth

The decade-long mission requires dozens of glass tubes, two rovers and three more rocket launches, including the first from another planet

"We didn’t think there was a lot of wind-driven activity on Mars because the atmosphere is so thin,” says the Smithsonian's Mariah Baker. “We’ve discovered that Mars is a very active place."

Exploring Mars

Why a Smithsonian Researcher Is Tracking the Wind on Mars

When Perseverance lands, Mariah Baker will collect data that will prepare the way for crewed missions to the Red Planet

Ingenuity undertakes its first test flight on Mars in this illustration.

Exploring Mars

NASA’s Helicopter Ingenuity Will Attempt the First Flight on Mars

If the craft succeeds, it will provide crucial information for exploring the other planets by air

An illustration of the Perseverance rover on Mars

Exploring Mars

Exploring Mars

Space agencies are launching new missions outfitted with revolutionary technologies, including the Perseverance rover, to learn more about the Red Planet

Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the Perseverance rover to land safely on Mars.

Exploring Mars

What to Know Before You Watch Perseverance’s February 18 Landing on Mars

Experts describe how they plan to land the rover, what could go wrong and what they hope to learn

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity Helicopter.

Smithsonian Voices

Six Ways to Celebrate Perseverance This February

Be a part of NASA’s Perseverance rover landing this February with these six ways to celebrate the mission to Mars

An artist's rendering of the five-planet system that orbits star HD 108236, or TOI-1233. In the foreground is a hot, rocky planet that resembles Earth.

Balancing Homework and A.P. Classes, These High Schoolers Discovered Four Exoplanets

Thanks to a Harvard-Smithsonian mentoring program, high school students Kartik Pinglé and Jasmine Wright helped discover new worlds

A Perseid meteor burns up against the night sky over Big Bend National Park.

Ten Celestial Events to Look Forward to in 2021

Eclipses, meteor showers and dazzling views of planets will excite amateur and professional astronomers alike in North America

NASA astronaut and pilot Victor Glover launched from the International Space Station on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission.

Smithsonian Voices

Five Things We Learned From Astronaut Victor Glover

Discover what it’s really like to live and work in space! Astronaut Victor Glover shares his thoughts and little-known facts about being an astronaut

The planets in our solar system all orbit the Sun in one shared plane.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do the Planets All Orbit the Sun in the Same Plane?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

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

The waxing gibbous Moon as we viewed it on December 3, 2011.

Smithsonian Voices

Is the Moon Fluffy?

Before spacecraft (and humans) set off to explore our nearest neighbor, these were some of the questions scientists were asking

Why does smaller size, like that of the anteater, benefit species in different environments, wondered one Smithsonian reader.

Why Are South American Animals Smaller Than Those on Other Continents?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

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.

Smithsonian Voices

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

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

Page 7 of 40