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Outer Space

An illustration of NASA's Perseverance rover approaching Mars

‘Conan the Bacterium’ Has What It Takes to Survive on Mars

After experiments here on Earth, researchers say some hardy microbes could endure hundreds of millions of years on the Red Planet

The exoplanet TOI-3757 b has the same average density as a marshmallow.

Puffy, Marshmallow-Like Planet Could Float in a Bathtub

Scientists found the new exoplanet located in the Auriga constellation 580 light-years away

Researchers used multispectral imaging to reveal the hidden text (which is traced in yellow above).

Cool Finds

A Medieval Manuscript Has Revealed the Oldest Known Map of the Stars

Advanced imaging uncovered part of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus’ long-lost star catalog

The afterglow of the gamma-ray burst as captured by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's X-ray telescope. 

This Powerful Gamma-Ray Blast Was the ‘Brightest of All Time’

Astronomers are “in awe” of the high-energy explosion, probably caused by a giant star’s death

James Webb captured the iconic star-forming region with its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).

Marvel at James Webb’s Stunning New Portrait of the Pillars of Creation

The haunting, finger-like shapes are part of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region located some 6,500 light-years away

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station

Art Meets Science

Tom Cruise Might Become the First Civilian to Spacewalk at the ISS

Universal is game to send Cruise into space for a proposed action film, but plans aren’t official yet

Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by the DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. 

NASA Successfully Altered an Asteroid’s Orbit

The agency’s DART mission exceeded expectations, marking the first time humans have changed the trajectory of a celestial body

Nicole Mann poses for a portrait in a T-38 trainer jet at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, in 2018.

Nicole Mann Becomes the First Native American Woman in Space

She is the mission commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission that will spend five months on the International Space Station

A picture of Saturn's moon Enceladus, with Saturn in the background, taken by the Cassini spacecraft.

A Moon of Saturn May Be More Habitable Than Expected

With the prediction of phosphorus in its oceans, Enceladus has become an even more promising candidate for hosting life

The Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Is Slowly Falling—and SpaceX Wants to Give It a Boost

NASA and SpaceX will jointly study whether the private company could lift the space telescope to a higher orbit

Among the eight exhibitions opening October 14, 2022, is "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age," featuring the museum's iconic 1903 Wright Flyer.

A New Look for the National Air and Space Museum

A New Look for the National Air and Space Museum

Follow the October reopening of America’s most-visited museum with exclusive coverage from Smithsonian magazine

The spiral galaxy IC 5332, as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument

See the Eerily Beautiful Image James Webb Captured of a Spiral Galaxy

The spooky-looking structure, known as IC 5332, is about 29 million light-years away from Earth

James Earl Jones beside Darth Vader in 2002

James Earl Jones Retires From Voicing Darth Vader

Future “Star Wars” productions will recreate Jones’ menacing voice using artificial intelligence

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft launched in November 2021 in California, riding atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.   

NASA Successfully Crashed a Spacecraft Into Its Asteroid Target

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a first step toward defending Earth from threatening space rocks

Just as songs repeat in choruses, formations in space take understandable shapes. Pictured here are the large Cartwheel galaxy and two smaller companion galaxies.

What Pop Stars and Actual Stars Have in Common

A songwriter and an astrophysicist discuss the art and science of repetition

An image of Neptune captured by the Webb telescope's Near-Infrared Camera. 

Webb Telescope’s Images of Neptune Showcase Its Rings and Moons

They’re the clearest pictures of the distant planet’s rings in over three decades

James Webb Space Telescope's first images of Mars, captured by its Near-Infrared Camera (right), and a reference map (left)

James Webb Captures Its First Images of Mars

With some adjustments, the highly sensitive telescope could successfully observe the bright Red Planet

A photo of Saturn taken by NASA's Voyager 1 space probe from a distance of 34 million kilometers in 1980. 

What Caused Saturn’s Rings and Tilt? Perhaps the Destruction of a Moon

Scientists propose that about 160 million years ago, the moon was torn apart, creating the planet’s iconic rings

A rendering of the MICROSCOPE satellite in space. 

Scientists Test How Objects Fall in Space

In the most precise experiment to date, researchers confirm a principle of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity

The James Webb Space Telescope's latest image: the Orion Nebula

See the Best View Yet of the Orion Nebula

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured young stars and vibrant gas and dust within the popular constellation

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