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Space Missions
From 2004 through 2017, Saturn was imaged many times and from many angles up close by Cassini. This new viral image isn't real; it's AI.
Human beings have now traveled farther from Earth than ever before with Artemis II's flyby of the lunar far side. Here's how it happened.
Instead of hauling heavy building materials across space, future astronauts may grow fungal shelters from spores, waste, and local regolith.
The path to exploring the high-energy Universe was clear and compelling. Here's how 2025's cuts are still causing NASA casualties in 2026.
No human has ever left the Solar System, and only six already-launched spacecraft will ever exit it. Will Voyager 1 remain the most distant?
If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it's a JWST image or any other observatory.
One side of the Moon always faces us: the near side. The "dark side" of the Moon began as a mere metaphor, but today, science can weigh in.
We first measured G, the gravitational constant, back in the 18th century. As the least well-known fundamental constant, can it be improved?
Since the time of Galileo, Saturn's rings have remained an unexplained mystery. A new idea may have finally solved the longstanding puzzle.
Organic compounds can form through simple chemistry alone — making the search for true biosignatures trickier than it seems.
The Juno spacecraft, orbiting and imaging Jupiter since 2016, is still succeeding. Without a further extension, the mission now faces death.
At the end of July, hundreds of scientists convened to plan NASA's upcoming astrophysics flagship mission. Will the US allow it to happen?
Once every 12 years, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all line up, opening a window for a joint mission. Our next chance arrives in 2034.
Motility was suggested as a promising "biosignature" as early as the 1960s, but the technology was insufficient — until now.
Featuring SpaceX's "Mechazilla," a first-of-its-kind spacewalk, and more.
Earth is actively broadcasting and actively searching for intelligent civilizations. But could our technology even detect ourselves?
Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union was way ahead of the USA in the space race. Then one critical event changed everything.
Reusable rockets, moon landers, civilian astronauts, and more.
MIT Scientist Jason Soderblom describes how the NASA mission will study the geology and composition of the surface of Jupiter’s water-rich moon and assess its astrobiological potential.
What are dark matter and dark energy? The large-scale structure of the cosmos encodes them both, with ESA's Euclid mission leading the way.
Could life be widespread throughout the cosmos, in the subsurface oceans of ice-covered worlds? NASA's Europa Clipper mission investigates.
Dinosaurs and other beasts were once thought to be the “undisputed masters” of Venus.
Physicists recently created Coordinated Lunar Time, a time zone for our Moon.
The Parker Solar Probe is about to undergo its seventh encounter with Venus on its journey toward the Sun. Here's how fast it'll go.
These startups, space agencies, and aerospace giants are building humanity's next off-world homes.
The existence of another watery world in the outer solar system may offer clues to how such seas form — and hope for another spot to search for life.
"When you feel the isolation setting in at times, you have to reframe your mindset."
These missions will put us one step closer to the ultimate goal: crewed trips to Mars.
This research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells in the liquid water ocean hidden beneath Enceladus’s icy crust.
The Moon is the most likely place for evidence from the dawn of life on Earth to be preserved in cold storage.