Astronomy(Page 20)

Latest in Astronomy

Japan's space agency is partnering with Toyota to build a six-wheeled, self-driving vehicle to explore the surface of the Moon as soon as 2029.

See the Moon Rover Toyota Is Building for Japan’s Space Program

By Victor Tangermann

NASA included a possible 2026 sample return mission to Mars in this week's budget request. Congress has yet to approve the budget.

NASA Wants to Send a Sample Return Mission to Mars

By Victor Tangermann

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Spots “Moving Water Molecules” on the Moon

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Spots “Moving Water Molecules” on the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

A new paper suggests that we could spot an alien civilization by looking for signs of starships powered by the radiation thrown off by small black hole.

New SETI Plan: Detect Alien Starships Powered by Black Holes

By Jon Christian

NASA’s InSight Mars Rover Runs Into Trouble Digging a Hole

NASA’s InSight Mars Rover Runs Into Trouble Digging a Hole

By Victor Tangermann

Israel’s Moon Lander Just Got Photobombed by the Earth

Israel’s Moon Lander Just Got Photobombed by the Earth

By Victor Tangermann

China's $22.3 million Mars simulation base is now open, and in addition to inspiring the public, it might even help humanity reach the real Mars.

China Opens Its First Mars Simulation Base

By Kristin Houser

China Plans to Launch a Mars Rover Next Year

China Plans to Launch a Mars Rover Next Year

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk Wants to Build a “Permanently Occupied Human Base” on the Moon

Elon Musk Wants to Build a “Permanently Occupied Human Base” on the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

Canada agrees to invest C$150 million in the U.S.'s Lunar Gateway, becoming the nation's first international partner in the ambitious space program.

Canada Commits $150 Million to NASA’s Moon-Orbiting Space Station

By Kristin Houser

ESA researchers have found evidence that Mars was once home to a planet-wide groundwater system — providing a new clue in the hunt for Martian life.

First Evidence of “Planet-Wide Groundwater System” on Mars Found

By Kristin Houser

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Tries to Start Digging, But Hits Snag

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Tries to Start Digging, But Hits Snag

By Victor Tangermann

After problems with its navigation system, Israeli lunar lander ran into another serious glitch after its first maneuver: an unexpected computer reboot.

Israeli Moon Lander Hits Serious Glitch in Orbit

By Victor Tangermann

In an interview newly published by Popular Mechanics, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on colonizing Mars — even how they might grow vegetables.

Elon Musk: Mars Base Will Have “Outdoorsy, Fun Atmosphere”

By Jon Christian

The Lunary Library, a backup copy of human knowledge, is on its way to the moon, where it will serve as an archive in case things go wrong on Earth.

Israeli Moon Lander Is Carrying a Vast Backup of Human Knowledge

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which touched down in 2014, experienced a "hiccup" while booting up last week. For now, it's back online.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Recovers After Serious Glitch

By Jon Christian

NASA and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are working on sending an underwater drone to the deepest points of the Earth's oceans.

NASA’s New Deep-Sea Submarine Could Eventually Look for Aliens

By Victor Tangermann

Researchers have finally figured out why Hippocamp, a tiny moon orbiting Neptune, is able to exist despite its close proximity to a much-larger moon.

Meet Hippocamp, “The Moon That Shouldn’t Be There”

By Kristin Houser

Air and Space Law professor Michelle Hanlon argues that if we don't draft new laws, the destruction of landmarks that happens on Earth will repeat in space.

Lawyer: People Could Try to Sell the Apollo Moon Footprints

By Dan Robitzski

Data collected by NASA and ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory reveals that Earth's gaseous layer extends up to 391,000 miles away from Earth.

New Research: Earth’s Atmosphere Extends Well Beyond the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

An anthropologist is making the case that long space missions, like a crewed trip to Mars, would require crew members with senses of humor.

NASA Is Studying Whether a Mars Crew Would Need a Class Clown

By Jon Christian

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover's last words weren't literally that "my battery is low line," the reporter behind the viral tweet clarified.

The Dead Mars Rover Didn’t Actually Say That “My Battery” Thing

By Jon Christian

Resarchers suggest that we will need larger rockets to land heavy payloads on the surface of Mars rather than bigger parachutes.

New Idea to Land Heavy Payloads on Mars: Dive, Then Turn Nose Up

By Victor Tangermann

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter Sunday night that he expects a round trip ticket to Mars to eventually fall below the cost of a luxury wedding.

Elon Musk: A Round-Trip Ticket to Mars Will Cost Just $100,000

By Jon Christian

Mars One, the startup that said it was going to fund a crewed mission to Mars by turning the journey into a reality television spectacle, is bankrupt.

Mars One Planned to Colonize the Red Planet. Now It’s Bankrupt.

By Jon Christian

In a new interview with The Times, University of St. Andrews astronomer Martin Dominik cautioned against sending messages into the unknown of deep space.

Astronomer Warns Against SETI: “Maybe They Will Come and Eat Us.”

By Jon Christian

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine published a bold essay outlining the space agency's plan to return astronauts to the Moon.

NASA Head: “This Time, When We Go to the Moon, We Will Stay.”

By Jon Christian

$Researchers at the University of Arizona designed an inflatable sailplane that could explore Mars at a fraction of the cost of a rover or satellite.$

Researchers Propose An Inflatable Sailplane to Explore Mars

By Victor Tangermann

A team of students created a design for a Moon base that involves placing inflatable modules in craters and covering them with rock.

Beautiful Moon Base Concept Puts Inflatable Modules in Craters

By Kristin Houser

Beautiful New Photo Shows the Moon With Earth In the Background

Beautiful New Photo Shows the Moon With Earth In the Background

By Victor Tangermann

Elon Musk announced a streamlined version of SpaceX's Raptor engine design that will take Starship to space and beyond as well.

Elon Musk’s New Goal: “Reach the Moon as Fast as Possible”

By Victor Tangermann

Actually, “It’s Colder than Mars” Could be True Year-Round

Actually, “It’s Colder than Mars” Could be True Year-Round

By Sarah Marquart

U.S. President Donald Trump offered NASA unlimited funding if it meant the agency could send a crewed mission to Mars by the end of his first term.

Trump Offered NASA an Unlimited Budget if It Sent Humans to Mars

By Jon Christian

Scientists published more data about an exoplanet named K2-22b, just one of three ever observed to be disintegrating in real time.

Astronomers Are Watching as a Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Disintegrates

By Dan Robitzski

Later this year, NASA might decide to fund a Johns Hopkins University mission that would send a drone to Saturn's largest moon Titan.

A Team of Scientists Want to Land a Drone on Saturn’s Largest Moon

By Victor Tangermann

China's space agency renewed its promises to launch future Mars exploration missions — including a mission to Mars as early as next year.

China Plans to Launch Its First Mars Lander Mission Next Year

By Victor Tangermann

Science journalists were obsessed with a seedling sprouted by China's Moon lander. The only problem: the Moon plant is already dead.

Bad News: That Moon Plant Everybody Was Talking About Is Dead

By Jon Christian

China announced Monday that the country's space program plans to launch three more lunar missions, with the eventual goal of an international Moon base.

China Announces Plans for Moon Base

By Jon Christian

China’s Lander Just Sprouted First-Ever Plants on the Moon

China’s Lander Just Sprouted First-Ever Plants on the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

The chair of Harvard University's Astronomy Department defended his controversial hypothesis that an interstellar object could be an alien probe.

Harvard Astronomer Defends Hypothesis That Object Is Alien Probe

By Jon Christian

In a new interview, a Harvard astronomer opens up about the hunt for alien life — and what first alien contact would mean for human civilization.

Harvard Astronomer Predicts What First Alien Contact Will Be Like

By Jon Christian

Barnard's Star b, a nearby exoplanet, could have 'life zones' under its frigid surface, according to a team of astrophysicists.

One of the Closest Exoplanets to Earth Could Support Alien Life

By Kristin Houser

China's moon lander just sent back more pictures, including a 360 degree panorama, and a video taken during its landing.

Here’s a 360 Degree Lunar Panorama Taken by China’s Moon Lander

By Victor Tangermann

wow! aliens seti comet

The 40-Year Old Mystery of the “Wow!” Signal Was Just Solved

The Chinese moon rover could be scoping out whether the Moon could be a source for helium-3, a fuel that could make it a gateway to interplanetary missions.

The Chinese Moon Rover Could Be Scouting for Interplanetary Fuel

By Jon Christian

See China’s Lunar Rover Set Off Across the Far Side of the Moon

See China’s Lunar Rover Set Off Across the Far Side of the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

In a world's first, Chinese lunar probe Chang'e-4 just touched down on the far side of the moon -- the more mysterious, and lesser known side.

China Just Landed a Rover on the Far Side of the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

A new lightweight drill, originally built to probe beneath the surface of Mars, is being used instead to drill down to Antarctica's bedrock.

A Drill Built for Mars Will Probe Antarctic Bedrock

By Dan Robitzski

New calculations suggest that Jupiter's moons could have active tidal waves, much like those here on Earth, under their thick icy shells.

The Moons of Jupiter and Saturn Could Have Earth-Like Tidal Waves

By Jon Christian

On Friday, Elon Musk speculated that a sophisticated artificial intelligence might touch down on the Red Planet before the first human Mars settler.

Elon Musk Thinks the First Mars Settler Could Be an AI

By Jon Christian

According to Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, crewed missions to Mars and hyped-up chatter of settling the planet are all a waste of time and money.

Apollo Astronaut: It Would Be “Stupid” to Send People to Mars

By Dan Robitzski

For the last 15 years, NASA and ESA scientists have found signs of methane in Mars' atmosphere. But a recent survey by an ESA orbiter didn't find any.

Scientists Thought Mars Was Covered in Methane. Now It’s Missing

By Dan Robitzski

The ESA has released several photos of a massive ice-filled crater on Mars that are stunning enough to adorn a Christmas card.

See Stunning New Images of a Mars Crater Full of Mile-Thick Ice

By Kristin Houser

NASA's InSight lander just successfully placed its seismometer five feet from itself onto the surface of Mars.

NASA’s Mars Lander Places Instrument to Listen for “Marsquakes”

By Victor Tangermann

A nuclear-powered tunneling bot could burrow through Europa's icy shell to probe its composition and, potentially, access the watery darkness under it.

NASA’s Nuclear-Powered Tunneling Bot Could Hunt for Life on Europa

By Jon Christian

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that launched in 2009 could assist future commercial and international lunar landers.

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Could Assist Commercial Missions to the Moon

By Victor Tangermann

A new study from scientists at Stony Brook University found that moon dust particles could react with human cells — and potentially lead to cancer.

Breathing in Moon Dust Could be Even More Toxic Than We Thought

By Victor Tangermann

A Chinese lander destined for the side of the Moon — the side that always faces away from the Earth — has now entered lunar orbit.

China’s Moon Lander Just Entered Lunar Orbit

By Jon Christian

Building telescopes and other things in space, rather than on Earth, would vastly improve our ability to watch and explore the cosmos.

The Search for Aliens May Depend on In-Space Assembly

By Dan Robitzski

NASA's team at JPL just recorded the first sounds from the Martian surface ever to be heard back on Earth.

A World First: Listen to the Sounds of Mars

By Victor Tangermann

China just successfully launched a rocket with a lunar rover on board that will hopefully get the first-ever close-up look at the dark side of the Moon.

China Launches First-Ever Lander Headed to Far Side of Moon

By Victor Tangermann

In a new essay, think tank president and consultant Marko Kovic breaks down four unresolved legal and political challenges for off-world civilizations.

Four Legal Challenges to Resolve Before Settling on Mars

By Dan Robitzski

The InSight team at JPL have discovered that the spacecraft landed at a four degree angle in a large, sand-filled impact crater.

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Landed in a “Large Sandbox” at a Slight Angle

By Victor Tangermann

China is officially launching its Chang'e--4 rover and probe on December 8, and it's planning to land them on the far side of the moon near the South Pole.

China to Land First-Ever Rover on Dark Side of the Moon

By Victor Tangermann