Astronomy(Page 16)

Latest in Astronomy

According to a House appropriations bill released today, Congress doesn't intend to raise NASA's budget, setting aside the same $22.63 billion for 2021.

Congress Budget Denies NASA Full Funding for Moon Missions

By Victor Tangermann

In a new white paper, a team of researchers argue that flying by Venus on future crewed missions to Mars could make a lot of sense.

Scientists: Flying By Venus to Get to Mars Would Be Cheaper, Faster

By Victor Tangermann

China, the UAE, and the U.S. all plan to launch Mars missions this month to capitalize on the planets' fortunate alignment.

Three Separate Countries Are Launching Mars Missions This Month

By Dan Robitzski

A team of NASA scientists found that there might be more subsurface metals beneath the Moon's surface than previously thought.

NASA Discovers Huge Potential Caches of Metal On the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

A new mathematical model predicts that a self-sustaining colony on Mars could succeed with just 110 settlers working together.

According to New Equations, a Mars Colony Would Need This Many People

By Dan Robitzski

Scientists have yet to find any evidence of life on another planet.But that hasn't stopped some rogue scientists from making outlandish claims.

Extremely Dubious Scientist Believes There’s Mushrooms and Lichen on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

NASA just delayed the launch date for its Mars rover, Perseverance. But barring any future delays, the mission should still go off without a hitch.

NASA Pushes Back Mars Rover Launch Due to “Contamination Concern”

By Dan Robitzski

The just-launched "Lunar Loo Challenge" tasks amateur rocket scientists to come up with a toilet that can handle near-zero and Moon gravity.

NASA Says It Needs a New Space Toilet for the Artemis Moon Missions

By Victor Tangermann

In the coming years, NASA plans to crash a SpaceX rocket into a tiny moon as a test run for diverting asteroids. But the moon's name was way too boring.

NASA Renames Small Moon It Plans to Smash With SpaceX

By Dan Robitzski

This year, NASA wants to take a giant leap from scanning Mars' geographical features using surface-bound rovers to launching a small helicopter.

Here’s NASA’s Ingenious Way of Testing Its Mars Helicopter

By Victor Tangermann

When the Artemis astronauts land on the surface of the Moon, NASA expects them to be able to trek ten miles on foot each time they venture out.

NASA: Next Moon Astronauts Will Hike 10 Miles on Lunar Surface

By Dan Robitzski

Aerospace startup Rocket Lab is planning its first mission to the Moon in 2021 to test out navigation systems in its orbit.

A Small Company Is Quietly Planning a Moon Mission Next Year

By Victor Tangermann

A new study suggests that strange bright spots observed on Saturn's moon Titan in the early 2000s may be evidence of dried up ancient lakes and seas.

Astronomers Say They Found “Dry Lake Beds” on Saturn’s Moon Titan

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk: SpaceX Building Floating Spaceports for Moon, Mars Launches

Elon Musk: SpaceX Building Floating Spaceports for Moon, Mars Launches

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists have identified a green glow in the atmosphere of Mars caused by oxygen atoms being released from carbon dioxide due to sunlight.

Scientists Detect Green Glow on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

On Twitter, Elon Musk elaborated on the design tweaks SpaceX will have to make to its Starship to allow it to land on the Moon.

SpaceX Trying to Figure Out How to Land Starship on the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

In order to give high-energy researchers better working conditions, one physicist proposes building a particle collider on the Moon.

This Madlad Wants to Build a Particle Collider on the Moon

By Dan Robitzski

NASA just discovered that Saturn's moon Titan is creeping out into space 100 times faster than they previously thought it was.

Saturn’s Moon Titan Is Drifting Off Into Space, NASA Says

By Dan Robitzski

After over a year, NASA's InSight Mars lander finally managed to get its thermal probe underground, where it can record the planet's internal temperature.

NASA InSight Lander Finally Manages to Bury Its Probe Into Mars

By Dan Robitzski

Building on existing research, researchers suggest that Mars' moon Deimos will likely be split up into tiny rocks, forming a ring around the planet.

New Research: Mars May Have Once Had Rings

By Victor Tangermann

A stunning new NASA animation shows how solar winds are interacting with Mars' magnetosphere to strip away the planet's atmosphere.

This Video of Mars’ Leaking Atmosphere Could Make Elon Musk Cry

By Dan Robitzski

Astronaut pee may be a priceless resource on future Moon settlements. It turns out it makes for a phenomenal building material.

On the Moon, the Real Gold Might Be Human Urine

By Dan Robitzski

NASA is working on simplified, scaled-down nuclear reactors that it hopes will power future settlements on the Moon and Mars.

Scientists Want to Build Nuclear Reactors to Power Moon Colony

By Dan Robitzski

NASA is looking for participants to spent eight months together inside a spaceflight simulator at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow.

NASA Will Pay You to Chill in a Fake Mars Mission for 8 Months

By Victor Tangermann

By playing around with mud in a special lab, an international team of researchers found that Mars is likely covered in strange mud volcanos.

Mars May Be Covered in Bizarre Mud Volcanoes

By Victor Tangermann

In order to equip future Martian settlers, scientists suggest altering their DNA to give them the traits they need to survive.

Astrobiologist: We Should Gene-Hack New Traits Into Mars Settlers

By Dan Robitzski

A delightful new video shows Apollo astronauts falling over in their bulky spacesuits, unaccustomed to the Moon's weak gravity.

Rejoice In This Supercut of Moon Astronauts Falling Over

By Jon Christian

Engineers are building experimental rovers that can vibrate intensely to escape from dangerous, wheel-clogging sand traps on Mars.

This Wiggly Mars Rover Is the Silliest Thing We’ve Ever Seen

By Dan Robitzski

In order to protect future Mars settlers from deadly cosmic radiation, researchers suggest building homes in underground tunnels called lava tubes.

Scientists Say They’ve Found the Perfect Spot for a Mars Colony

By Dan Robitzski

The experimental spacecraft China launched earlier this week successfully and safely landed Friday, paving the way for crewed space exploration.

China Lands Moon-Bound Spaceship After 3-Day Orbital Joyride

By Dan Robitzski

NASA' Perseverance rover just found signs of ancient life in Australia, giving researchers hope that it's well-equipped to do the same on Mars.

NASA Mars Rover Detects Ancient Life… in Australia

By Dan Robitzski

A team of scientists have found new evidence of the earliest rivers that once flowed on Mars billions of years ago for around 100,000 Earth years.

Scientists Find New Evidence of Ancient Rivers on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

Engineers are developing smart lunar habitats that can autonomously sense damage and repair themselves on a future moon settlement.

These Self-Repairing Lunar Habitats Could Help Settle the Moon

By Dan Robitzski

NASA announced today that it has awarded three contracts to develop lunar landing systems in an effort to return astronauts to the Moon as soon as 2024.

SpaceX Wins Large NASA Contract for Starship Moon Missions

By Victor Tangermann

The White House's 2021 budget would cripple NASA's ongoing and future Mars missions. It would also mean shutting down the Curiosity rover.

The White House Is Trying to Shut Down NASA’s Last Mars Rover

By Dan Robitzski

China's space agency says that its mission to Mars is still happening "in coming months," and that the mission finally has an official name.

China Will Launch Mars Mission “In Coming Months”

By Dan Robitzski

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are suggesting we could explore the surface of Mars using a fleet of "nanocardboard" aircraft.

Researchers Want to Explore Mars Using “Nanocardboard” Aircraft

By Victor Tangermann

The team behind NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has transitioned to controlling the rover from their home offices amid the coronavirus outbreak.

NASA Employees Are Running the Mars Curiosity Rover From Home

By Victor Tangermann

NASA spotted a "dragon" in a image taken by University of Arizona's HiRISE camera attached to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

NASA Spots “Dragon” in Stunning Mars Orbiter Image

By Victor Tangermann

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that encourages the mining of resources in space and on the Moon.

Trump Signs Executive Order Encouraging Moon, Asteroid Mining

By Victor Tangermann

NASA is funding research for a conceptual telescope called a "solar gravitational lens" that could observe distant exoplanets at an astonishing resolution.

NASA Telescope Idea Could Spot Vegetation on Distant Exoplanets

By Victor Tangermann

NASA has awarded a Phase 1 grant for a Lunar Crater Radio Telescope on the far side of the Moon that could one day be deployed by wall-climbing robots.

NASA Funds Giant Radio Telescope Concept on Far Side of Moon

By Victor Tangermann

In an experiment, a team of European researchers attempted to use the main compound in human urine and lunar regolith to create a resilient concrete.

Scientists: Astronauts Could Build Moon Base Using Human Urine

By Victor Tangermann

Scientists Say There Could Be Life on Mercury

Scientists Say There Could Be Life on Mercury

By Victor Tangermann

Despite budget overruns — and a pandemic — NASA is determined to get its next Mars rover called "Perseverance" off the ground in July.

NASA’s New Mars Rover Still Launching in July Despite Coronavirus

By Victor Tangermann

Bad news, space fans: NASA just announced they're gonna have reschedule that trip to the Moon they'd been planning in a few years.

NASA: Bad News, Something Came Up, Gotta Rain-Check That Moon Trip :(

By Foster Kamer

In a last-resort move to free up the InSight Mars rover's digging probe, NASA engineers programmed the rover to thwack it with a shovel.

NASA Fixes Mars Lander By Telling It to Hit Itself With a Shovel

By Dan Robitzski

Buzz Aldrin had some choice words of advice for Ars Technica's Eric Berger on how to survive self-isolation during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Second Man to Walk on the Moon Has Some Quarantine Advice

By Victor Tangermann

An international team of astrobiologists claim that organic molecules discovered by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover could be evidence for early life on Mars.

Scientists: NASA Rover Has Found Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars

By Victor Tangermann

Even in spite of the coronavirus pandemic, China has remained on track to launch its planned mission to Mars later this year.

China Powers Through the Coronavirus to Launch a Mars Mission

By Dan Robitzski

Researchers from the University of New Mexico believe they have found the remains of Theia buried deep beneath the lunar surface in a new paper.

Fragment of Planet That Hit Earth May Be Buried Inside Moon

By Victor Tangermann

"Unless we improve our rate of innovation dramatically, then there is no chance of a base on the moon or a city on Mars."

Elon Musk: My Main Goal Is to Get Humanity to Mars Before I Die

By Victor Tangermann

After a nation-wide stdudent contest, NASA has selected "Perseverance" as the name for its next Mars rover, set to launch later this year.

NASA’s New Mars Rover Officially Has a Name

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Curiosity rover snapped more than 1,000 images, which teams back on Earth composed into a 360 degree Martian landscape panorama.

NASA Mars Rover Snaps Glorious 1.8 Billion Pixel Panorama

By Victor Tangermann

Researchers have a new theory which may help explain the strange exoplanets whose shape suggests they must have the density of cotton candy.

New Theory Could Explain Exoplanets With “Density of Cotton Candy”

Researchers have started analyzing data collected by China's Yutu-2 Moon rover's ground-penetrating radar. They found mostly Moon dust.

Chinese Rover Discovers It’s Sitting on 39 Feet of Moon Dust

By Victor Tangermann

A team of astronomers at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey suspect there's a small asteroid that caught itself in our planet's gravity, like a moon.

Astronomers: Our Planet Might Have Another Moon, Except It’s Tiny

By Victor Tangermann

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a nuclear-powered rocket to move cargo around Earth's orbit.

DARPA’s Working on a Nuclear-Powered Rocket for Easy Moon Access

By Jon Christian

A team of astronomers at Penn State just confirmed the existence of G 9-40b, a gigantic super-Earth only roughly 90 light years from Earth.

This Gigantic Neptune-Sized Exoplanet is Incredibly Close

By Victor Tangermann

Six new studies were published today, detailing some of the discoveries made by NASA's InSight Mars lander, including evidence of a strange glow in the sky.

NASA Lander Detects Strange Glow In Sky of Mars

By Victor Tangermann

In an interview with British fashion and culture magazine The Face, singer and visual artist Grimes revealed her wild plans to travel to Mars.

Grimes Wants to Send Her Mind to Mars Inside a “Humanoid Vessel”

By Victor Tangermann

If there's life on Mars, experts agree, it's probably beneath the surface. Finding evidence could require some lateral thinking -- or boots on the ground.

Here’s Why NASA Suspects Mars Life Could Be Hiding Underground

By Jon Christian

Japanese space agency JAXA announced today it has greenlit a sample return mission to the Martian moon Phobos called the Martian Moons Exploration mission.

Japan Gives the ‘Go’ to Sample Return Mission to Mars Moon

By Victor Tangermann

NASA is building a huge dish in California that it hopes will allow Mars astronauts to communicate with Earth — using high-powered lasers.

NASA: Mars Astronauts Will Use Lasers to Communicate With Earth

By Jon Christian