How to live in space: what we've learned from 20 years of the International Space Station
Nov 02, 2020 09:13 am UTC| Science
November 2 marks 20 years since the first residents arrived on the International Space Station (ISS). The orbiting habitat has been continuously occupied ever since. Twenty straight years of life in space makes the ISS...
NASA's OSIRIS-REx will land on an asteroid to bring home rocks and dust – if it can avoid Mt. Doom
Oct 20, 2020 13:56 pm UTC| Science
Imagine parallel parking a 15-passenger van into just two to three parking spaces surrounded by two-story boulders. On Oct. 20, a University of Arizona-led NASA mission 16 years in the making will attempt the astronomical...
Private companies are launching a new space race – here's what to expect
Oct 08, 2017 10:59 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
The space race between the USA and Russia started with a beep from the Sputnik satellite exactly 60 years ago (October 4, 1957) and ended with a handshake in space just 18 years later. The handshake was the start of many...
Dear Elon Musk: Your dazzling Mars plan overlooks some big nontechnical hurdles
Oct 02, 2017 05:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
Elon Musk has a plan, and its about as audacious as they come. Not content with living on our pale blue dot, Musk and his company SpaceX want to colonize Mars, fast. They say theyll send a duo of supply ships to the red...
The PLATO mission: an investigation of planetary systems
Aug 28, 2017 12:51 pm UTC| Science
Despite its proximity to the Earth, the Sun still poses many questions. But what do we know of other stars, located at immense distances on a human scale? How are they different from the Sun? Are they also hosting planets...
When the sun goes dark: 5 questions answered about the solar eclipse
Aug 07, 2017 07:23 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
Editors note: A total solar eclipse will be visible across the U.S. on Monday, August 21. Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, explains why and how it happens, and what we can...
We worked out what it would take to wipe out all life on a planet – it's good news for alien hunters
Jul 14, 2017 13:15 pm UTC| Science
The first exoplanet was spotted in 1988. Since then more than 3,000 planets have been found outside our solar system, and its thought that around 20% of Sun-like stars have an Earth-like planet in their habitable zones. We...
‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India