Space

Space and science coverage including asteroids, galaxies, planets, NASA and SpaceX launches.

NASA is asking for another $1.6 billion to fulfill the Moon 2024 promise

May 15th, 2019

Back in March, the Trump administration declared that it was directing NASA to send humans back to the Moon no later than 2024. That’s an incredibly tight deadline for an agency with a budget that is nowhere near what it was (in adjusted dollars, anyway) when the Apollo missions made history, but Trump-appointed NASA administrator …

Science

NASA will test asteroid defenses by slamming a spacecraft into a space rock in 2022

May 7th, 2019

Mike Wehner

If Earth were ever to be threatened by a large space rock — and it definitely will at some point in the future — humanity is going to need to have a plan. Astronomers know this, which is why simulated exercises like the one that took place last week are so important, but actually testing …

Science

NASA’s InSight robot is now covered in Mars dust, but that might actually be good news

May 7th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Mars is a dry and dusty place, and strong winds can kick up huge plumes of material that block out the Sun for days, weeks, or even months at a time. The fate of NASA’s Opportunity rover — which shut down after a colossal dust storm prevented its solar panels from generating power — was …

Science

Massive dust storms may have sucked Martian water away

May 6th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Mars as we know it today is a mostly dry, dusty place with a few pockets of ice in remote regions. It’s barren and we’re pretty sure it’s lifeless today, but that might not have always been the case. Scientists think that Mars was once a relatively wet world, but if that’s true then where …

Science

SpaceX finally offers new details surrounding the bizarre Crew Dragon explosion

May 3rd, 2019

Mike Wehner

It’s been well over a week since news first broke of a serious malfunction with SpaceX’s hotly anticipated Crew Dragon capsule. The spacecraft self-destructed during testing, and blurry video allegedly showing the failed test ending in an explosion drew a lot of attention. SpaceX chose to remain largely silent on the matter, describing it as …

Science

SpaceX forced to delay NASA launch over drone ship glitch

May 3rd, 2019

Mike Wehner

Resupply missions to the International Space Station are typically routine affairs, and SpaceX has completed well over a dozen such missions ahead of this week’s CRS-17 venture. Unfortunately for both NASA and SpaceX, their plans have been derailed not once, but now twice. The original planned launch of CRS-17 was to take place on Wednesday …

Science

This incredible zoom-out reminds us just how powerful Hubble really is

May 2nd, 2019

Mike Wehner

The Hubble Space Telescope is one of those things that seems like it’s always been around. Its mission, which just recently passed the 29 year mark, has provided mankind with some of the most stunning glimpses of the cosmos ever, and while it’s getting up there in terms of age it’s still performing at an …

Science

A huge asteroid will squeak by Earth in 2029, and you’ll be able to see it without a telescope

May 1st, 2019

Mike Wehner

Roughly a decade from now, a rather sizable space rock is going to have a very close encounter with Earth — on Friday the 13th, no less. On April 13th, 2029, the asteroid known as Apophis will pass by Earth at a distance of just 19,000 miles. For a bit of context, the Moon is …

Science

Saturn’s moon Titan has a massive strip of water ice, and scientists don’t know why

May 1st, 2019

Mike Wehner

Like many of the larger bodies in our solar system, Saturn’s massive moon Titan has long been of interest to astronomers due to its unique surface features. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which studied Saturn for over 13 years, spent a great deal of time examining Titan as well, and data it gathered is still yielding new …

Science

Japan found water on an asteroid, and it could reveal secrets about Earth

May 1st, 2019

Mike Wehner

Nothing would excite astronomers more than to discover a planet somewhere out there with obvious signs of life, but it just hasn’t happened yet. Earth, we think, is pretty special in its ability to foster life, and as far as we know there’s a few things that are vital for life to exist, one of …