Outer Space

Personal Writings of Arthur C. Clarke Reveal the Evolution of “2001: A Space Odyssey”

Works donated from the author’s archives in Sri Lanka include letters to Kubrick and an early draft of his most famous novel

May 2015

Extreme Makeover: ISS Edition

How to give the International Space Station a little bit more room

May 2015

Behind the Scenes of the Last Mission to Repair the Hubble Space Telescope

Photographer Michael Soluri shares an intimate look at the team that saved the iconic observatory

April 23, 2015

New Research

Scientists Want to Use Lasers to Shoot Down Space Junk

The idea sounds farfetched, but it may be better than previous solutions

April 20, 2015

Cool Finds

Dawn Spacecraft Sends First Color Images of Ceres

Red and blue tell the tale of a dwarf planet covered in rock and ice

April 20, 2015

Cool Finds

Meet the First Donut That Went to Space

A pair of Swedish brothers launched a tasty pastry into the stratosphere—and filmed the entire ride

April 17, 2015

Trending Today

The Messenger Probe Will Soon Crash Into Mercury

As NASA’s probe runs out of propellant, it will crash into the planet’s surface at 8,750 MPH

April 17, 2015

New Research

Earth May Have Become Magnetic After Eating a Mercury-Like Object

Swallowing a sulfur-rich protoplanet could help explain two lingering mysteries in the story of Earth’s formation

April 15, 2015

New Research

Escape From the Black Hole’s Abyss!

An object called G2—previously believed to be a gas cloud—narrowly slipped from the clutches of a supermassive black hole

April 14, 2015

Best Space Photos of the Week

An Einstein Ring and an Asteroid “Dart” Are Among These Space Stunners

A lensed galaxy and a mission to manipulate a space rock feature among our picks for this week’s best space images

April 10, 2015

New Research

The Moon Was Formed in a Smashup Between Earth and a Near Twin

But solving one puzzle of lunar origins has raised another linked to the abundances of tungsten in the primordial bodies

April 8, 2015

Trending Today

Could NASA Stop on the Moon on the Way to Mars?

NASA’s chief of human exploration thinks we’ll need a pit stop en route to the fiery planet

April 6, 2015

Best Space Photos of the Week

An Easter Typhoon and Galactic Ghosts Are Among These Spacey Visions

Astronauts spy a colossal eye and Hubble sees echoes of quasars past in our picks for the week’s best space images

April 3, 2015

Best Space Photos of the Week

A Rocket Blessing and a Cubist Planet Are Among These Celestial Sights

Russia sends off the one-year crew and a Saturn probe gets artistic in our picks for this week’s best space-related pictures

March 27, 2015

Trending Today

An Asteroid Boulder Will Be A Stepping Stone on the Journey to Mars

NASA announces details in its plan to capture an asteroid and bring it into lunar orbit

March 25, 2015

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Moon Landing in Virtual Reality, Bookniture and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Could a new material that uses static charge to stick to any surface spell doom for Post-it notes?

March 20, 2015

Best Space Photos of the Week

A Rainbow Eclipse and X-Ray Fireworks Are Among These Cosmic Treats

A solar eclipse painted the cloudy U.K. skies and an explosion rocked a stellar corpse in our picks for this week’s best space images

March 20, 2015

Trending Today

Here’s What The Solar Eclipse Looked Like From Space

As they orbited the earth, a satellite and an astronaut captured another side of the sun’s disappearing act

March 20, 2015

Who Determined That the Sun Was a Star and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

April 2015

Severe Solar Storm Paints the Sky Green on St. Patrick’s Day

A burst of particles from the sun is hitting our atmosphere and lighting up the night as far south as Illinois

March 17, 2015