#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

#25: Mercury’s New Face

NASA's Messenger probe delivers impressive new views of the inner-most planet, which is in some respects harder to reach than distant Pluto. 12.27.2011

#23: The Moon Had a Long-Lost Twin


Computer simulations show the “big splat” from an ancient collision would have created “a pretty interesting spectacle for about 24 hours,” says researcher Erik Asphaug. 12.27.2011

#16: Astronomers Get First Look at Giant Asteroid

“Seeing the surface up close for the first time, in its true glory, is amazing,” says Dawn project lead scientist Christopher Russell. “We’re in awe.” 12.27.2011

#12: China Launches Its First Space Laboratory


The would-be superpower advertises its technical and economic prowess with a giant flying billboard. 12.27.2011

#6: In Memoriam

With great ambivalence we note the passing of 
the first and only reusable spaceship, the space shuttle, 
on July 21, 2011. Our prayers are with NASA. 12.27.2011

#4: New-planet Boom Faces a Budget Bust

You might expect think NASA would race to build on the success of the Kepler telescope. Instead, it is coming dangerously close to abandoning the search for other worlds. 12.27.2011

The Computer Program That Draws Realistic Exoplanets

Accurate, pretty, and faster than any artist 12.19.2011

Where Yeager Went Speeding, Aliens (Allegedly) Went Missing, and Test Pilots Went Drinking

Edwards Air Force Based has had a key role in the development of aviation and space technology. 11.08.2011

Russia's New Super-sensitive Radio Telescope Is a Wee One: 8,000 Pounds; 33-Feet Wide

Only in the Brobdingnagian world of radio telescopes could RadioAstron be considered something of a runt. 11.05.2011

Topics

• Telescopes
• Mars
• Meteors, Asteroids, & Comets
• Solar System

• New Planets
• Space Flight
• Extraterrestrial Life
• Stars