Space

Out There: The Moon Is Full of Surprises

It is weirdly wet. It is inexplicably young. 
And its battered farside hints at a long-lost twin. 03.28.2012

Back to The Final Frontier

Neil deGrasse Tyson—the acclaimed astrophysicist, writer, and director of the Hayden Planetarium—lays out what it will take for America to remain the leading superpower in space.
 03.19.2012

Tools of the Trade: Curiosity, NASA’s Laser-Blasting Mars Robot

Curiosity will satisfy its curiosity by zapping rocks on the Red Planet and watching the resulting plasma. 03.16.2012

Where Earth Is Unearthly: Exotic Places That Resemble Alien Planets

From windswept deserts to the ocean near Key Largo, some parts of our planet are surprisingly similar to other worlds. 03.14.2012

How to Survive the End of the Universe

Humanity’s guide to the next billion trillion years. (Wormhole kit not included.)
 02.28.2012

The Prophet of Space Trash

Donald Kessler is leading a new study considering what to do about orbital debris, a problem he saw developing decades ago. 01.26.2012

#96: NASA’s Scrappy Successors


Private spaceflight companies draw ever closer to putting people into space their own way. 12.27.2011

#88: Visualizing the Violent Cosmos

A new map shows the hotspots of energetic activity in our galaxy and beyond. 12.27.2011

#79: Untethered Planets May Outnumber Stars


The hunt for exoplanets takes another turn for the surprising. 12.27.2011

#75: Is That Water Flowing on Mars?

There may be water—and even life—in them there hills. 12.27.2011

#66: Found: Stars Cool Enough to Touch


But if you were close enough to touch, you'd be entirely squished by the gravity. 12.27.2011

#53: Did Earth’s Gold Come From Outer Space?


Money never grows on trees, but precious metals do sometimes fall from the sky. 12.27.2011

#52: Superstorm Sweeps Across Saturn


It made even the biggest storms on Earth look puny. 12.27.2011

#41: The Ozone Satellite, 1991–2011


It proved the damage caused by CFCs, helped predict climate changes, and saw the beginning of the recovery of the ozone layer. 12.27.2011

#37: Today’s Forecast: Cloudy, 
80 Percent Chance of a Sunspot

The next time the Sun releases a destructive magnetic belch, we may have some warning to protect the electric grid. 12.27.2011

#33: New Survey Softens 
Fears of Asteroid Impacts


Reports of our impending collective death have been somewhat exaggerated. 12.27.2011