Space

mars' surface with the left side of the image toned yellow and the right side blue

Astronomy

NASA shares colorful “postcard” of Mars’ surface

NASA has used photos taken by the Curiosity rover to create a gorgeous “postcard” of the Martian landscape.

Kristin Houser

a crowd of young people with their backs to the camera watching a rocket fly through the air in the distance

Aerospace

Students build reusable rocket, win $5,000 from NASA

The University of Alabama in Huntsville has won Student Launch 2023, NASA’s annual rocket-building competition.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of a capsule reentering Earth's atmosphere

Aerospace

SpaceX successfully launches world’s first “space factory”

SpaceX has successfully deployed a “space factory” developed by startup Varda Space Industries to manufacture drugs in microgravity.

Kristin Houser

a rendering of a base on the moon, with robots constructing buildings

Aerospace

China plans to build moon bases using robot masons and lunar dirt

China plans to start testing an ambitious plan to build moon bases using a robot mason and dirt bricks as soon as 2028.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

Jupiter’s moons hide giant subsurface oceans

Three of Jupiter’s moons – Europa, Ganymede and Callisto – are home to large, underground oceans of liquid water that could support life.

Mike Sori

two men in space suits standing in what looks like a dust field

Aerospace

See inside NASA’s simulated Mars base for the first time

NASA has unveiled Mars Dune Alpha, a simulated Mars base where volunteers will live like Mars astronauts for a year at a time.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

New method could triple the size of space telescope mirrors

A new technique for making super-thin, lightweight space telescope mirrors could dramatically improve our view of space.

Kristin Houser

a map of Mars with dozens of locations labeled

Astronomy

You can now explore the highest-res map of Mars ever made

Caltech researchers have created an interactive map of Mars that lets anyone explore the surface of the Red Planet in unprecedented detail.

Kristin Houser

an illustration of astronauts floating with paper money

Aerospace

Space could be a trillion dollar industry by 2040

Now that falling launch costs are making space more accessible, hundreds of groups are looking for ways to make money off-world.

Kristin Houser

a tall rocket covered in Chinese writing on a launchpad

Aerospace

Chinese space startup makes history with first rocket launch

Chinese rocket startup Space Pioneer successfully reached orbit on its first try, something no private company has done before.

Kristin Houser

the Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars

Aerospace

NASA’s Mars helicopter breaks two records in a single day

On its 49th flight, NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, soared higher and faster than ever before, setting two records in one day.

Kristin Houser

A close up of a leg wearing a black cloth sleeve with two zig-zagged lines of white thread

Wearables

NASA funds first wearable to measure muscle atrophy

The first wearable designed to monitor muscle atrophy could help NASA astronauts stay strong during long space missions.

Kristin Houser

Astronomy

The strongest evidence for a Universe before the Big Bang

For many decades, people conflated the hot Big Bang, describing the early Universe, with a singularity: that this "Big Bang" was the birth of space and time.

Ethan Siegel

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