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Astronomy

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Sir Bernard Lovell, The Man The Soviets Tried to Poison With Uranium, Dies at 98

Lovell, of the Lovell telescope, made several advances in radio astronomy and physics.

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Landing Curiosity on Mars was Way Harder and Way Less Expensive than the Olympics

Landing a car-sized rover on a distant planet using a sky crane is really hard, and really awesome.

The European Space Agency wants to put an unmanned lander on the Moon in 2018.

India Wants to go to Mars Too, And Other Upcoming Space Missions

Though all eyes are on Curiosity, space agencies from around the world have by no means been resting on their laurels.

The fountains of Enceladus as seen by Cassini

If Humans Are Ever Going to See Alien Life, Here’s Where It Will Happen

Scientists are all atwitter over Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons and one of the most likely places in our solar system to harbor life

Sally Ride on board the challenger

How Sally Ride Was Even Tougher Than Ripley in Alien

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What Does Space Smell Like?

The left vehicle shows the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers, the center machine is the Sojourner rover, and the car-sized Curiosity is on the right.

NASA (and XBox Gamers) Prepare for Terrifyingly Hard Mars Landing

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Super-Strong Solar Flare Bringing Northern Lights South

Hubble telescope image from July 7, 2012 showing Pluto’s moon P5

Astronomers Find Pluto’s Fifth Moon

The blue marble

Beautiful New Earth-From-Space Footage from NASA

Satellites and refuse litter low Earth orbit.

Navy Wants to Thwart Space Debris By Releasing More Space Debris

As Voyager Exits Solar System, Sole Proof of Humanity a 70s Record

LIU Yang visited the Chinese University of Hong Kong on 12 August 2012

China’s First Woman Astronaut: Progress or Propaganda?

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Your Last Chance to See Venus Pass in Front of the Sun

The transit of Venus is so rare that only 8 transits have occurred since the invention of the telescope

One of the many mysteries baffling astronomers is how galaxies such as the Milky Way are able to form new stars at an unsustainable rate.

Top Ten Mysteries of the Universe

What are those burning questions about the cosmos that still baffle astronomers today?

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Fast Forward: The Dark Energy Camera

Get a sneak peak at the new project that will search for mysterious cosmic energies that drive our universe

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When Runaway Planets Go 30 Million Miles Per Hour

A new discovery indicates some planets may be flung out of our galaxy at velocities a few percent of the speed of light

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Ask Smithsonian: Can Birds Be Identified Just From Their Feathers? Questions from Our Readers

Our new feature, Ask Smithsonian, is all about finding the answers. Do you have a question for our curators?

An artist's rendering of GJ1214b, orbiting a red dwarf star

Scientists Discover a Waterworld Just 40 Light Years Away

An entirely new type of planet is made up mostly of water

How much is the Hope Diamond worth? Ask Smithsonian.

How Much the Hope Diamond is Worth and Other Questions From Our Readers

From American art, history and culture, air and space technology, Asian art and any of the sciences from astronomy to zoology, we’ll find an answer

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