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Outer Space

The telescope has five layers that dissipate heat from the sun. The sunshield's outer layer can reach 230 degrees Fahrenheit, and the last can drop to -394 degrees.

The James Webb Space Telescope Just Cleared Its Most Challenging Hurdle

The tennis court-sized sunshield fully unfurled itself this week, accomplishing the riskiest and most complicated aspect of the telescope’s deployment

If found to be made of metal and a planetesimal, Psyche could reveal what the inside of planets like Earth looks like underneath the layers of mantle and crust, and further help researchers understand how the Solar System formed.

This Metal-Rich, Potato-Shaped Asteroid Could Be Worth $10 Quintillion

In August, NASA is sending an orbiter to the space object, which may be the partial remains of planet-forming material made of nickel and iron

Exploding meteors, also called airbursts, happen with a chunk of space rock smashes into Earth's dense atmosphere. 

Boom Heard in Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day Was Likely an Exploding Meteor

The energy released during the blast is as powerful as 30 tons of TNT

An artist’s conception of the James Webb Space Telescope at work.

The James Webb Telescope Successfully Launches Into Space

A rocket carrying the $10 billion dollar invention blasted off Christmas morning and powered up as planned, providing astronomers with a long-awaited gift

Two reseach teams analyzed a sample of the Ryugu's surface.

What Five Grams of ‘Primordial’ Stardust From an Asteroid Tell Scientists About How the Early Solar System Formed

Ryugu is a carbonaceous, water-rich space rock with a unique, dark coloration and porous composition

From amazing firsts on Mars to the impacts of climate change on Earth, these science stories stood out as the most important of 2021

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2021

Thrilling discoveries, hurdles in the fight against Covid and advancements in space exploration defined the past year

Webb’s 18 mirror segments can lock into the largest telescopic mirror humankind has ever built.

Future of Space Exploration

The Five Big Ways the James Webb Telescope Will Help Astronomers Understand the Universe

The highly awaited observatory is set to break new ground in many areas of astronomical research

Jovian moon Ganymede, is the only moon known to have a magnetic field. On its most recent flyby of the moon, the JunoCam imager on NASA's Juno spacecraft snapped the most detailed images of Ganymede on June 7, 2021.  

Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede Sounds Like Dial-Up Internet

The 50-second audio track was pieced together from data collected by NASA’s Juno Spacecraft

A region within Mars's Valles Marineris (pictured) called the Candor Chaos had a large amount of hydrogen about a meter below the surface.

Beneath Canyons on Mars, Astronomers Find Potentially ‘Water-Rich Area the Size of the Netherlands’

A Martian orbiter located a large reserve of hydrogen in a mountainous area of the Red Planet

On April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Discovery.

A Look Back at Hubble’s Interstellar Success

At the launch of the Webb Space Telescope, the legacy of America’s favorite eye in the sky is best remembered with a look at a Smithsonian artifact

While the nebula can be observed in visible light (as seen in the image above), it gets its name from how brightly it also appears when viewed in infrared wavelengths of light.  

Hidden Within This Wispy, Butterfly Wing–Shaped Nebula, a Star Is Born

The image of a budding celestial body reveals clues as to what happens before it becomes a full-fledged star

Since the Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018, it's been orbiting the sun and inching closer with every loop.

For the First Time Ever, a NASA Spacecraft Has ‘Touched’ the Sun

The Parker Solar Probe reached the sun’s upper atmosphere, gathering data along the way to help scientists better understand the center of our solar system

Over the course of our planet’s history, major impacts by comets and asteroids are plentiful.

The Very Real Effort to Track Killer Asteroids and Comets

In “Don’t Look Up,” researchers warn authorities about a comet hurtling towards Earth. Such a scenario isn’t just science fiction

A satellite positioned nearly a million miles away from Earth captured the eclipse over Antarctica.

Watch a Total Solar Eclipse Cloak Antarctica in Complete Darkness

The astronomical event occurred during the continent’s summer, when the sun never sets and the whole region is illuminated 24 hours a day

The rover will spend two to three lunar days, which is about two to three months time on Earth, traversing the lunar landscape to take a closer look at the object.

Chinese Rover Spots Weird, Large ‘Cube’ on the Moon

The geometric lunar feature dubbed a ‘mystery hut’ has stumped scientists, who say they plan to take a closer look

As comets near the sun, they begin to form a head and tail.

Meet Leonard, the Brightest Comet of the Year

The celestial object will reach peak visibility in the northern hemisphere on December 12 and should be visible until the end of the month

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of the Centaur LD2 as it orbited near Jupiter.

The Ambitious Idea to Study the Evolution of a Comet

Researchers want to send a spacecraft near Jupiter to join up with a chunk of rock and ice as it’s flung toward the sun

Not much is known about mysterious quasisatellites because of their small dimensions, distance, and ability to conceal themselves in the shadows. Kamoʻoalewa is the first quasisatellite to move within observing range of large telescopes.

A Chip Off the Moon May Be Tailing Earth on Its Orbit Around the Sun

Researchers suspect the fragment may have been debris from a cratering event on the lunar surface

Astronomers and planetary scientists interested in understanding how often or when the weather patterns occur use past and present images to compare how the planets change over time.

Say Cheese, Outer Planets! Hubble Captures New Images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

New images of the solar system’s giants give astronomers insight into atmospheric activity on other worlds

While pursuing her undergraduate and graduate studies Watkins interned for NASA at the Ames Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins Becomes the First Black Woman to Join International Space Station Crew

She will be the SpaceX Crew-4 team’s mission specialist

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