Articles by Adam Mann, Space.com Contributor

Adam Mann is a journalist specializing in astronomy and physics stories. His work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Nature, Science, and many other places. He lives in Oakland, California, where he enjoys riding his bike. Follow him on Twitter @adamspacemann or visit his website at https://www.adamspacemann.com/ (opens in new tab).

Articles by: Adam Mann

close up of pluto with rippled terrain and an ice cap visible below

Why is Pluto not a planet?

By Adam Mann, Elizabeth Howell published 13 October 22

Reference Pluto, officially a dwarf planet, has surprising complexity on its surface. While certainly a world, not everyone agrees it is a planet.

Artist’s concept of future moon landing Artemis program

NASA's Artemis program: Everything you need to know

By Ailsa Harvey, Adam Mann last updated 12 December 22

Reference Artemis is NASA's plan to go back to the moon.

The Apollo 15 rocket blasting off on 26th July 1971 during the Space Race

What was the space race? Origins, events and timeline

By Adam Mann published 8 July 22

Reference The Space Race was a bitter competition that took place in the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, between the USA and the Soviet Union.

A print-out of data with "Wow!" written in red

Famous 'alien' Wow! signal may have come from distant, sunlike star

By Adam Mann published 24 May 22

An astronomer proposes that the sun-like star 2MASS 19281982-2640123 is the origin of the Wow! Signal

graphic illustration of what Starlink satellites look like orbiting above Earth.

Starlink satellites: Everything you need to know about the controversial internet megaconstellation

By Tereza Pultarova, Elizabeth Howell last updated 23 November 22

Reference Starlink satellites have been developed by SpaceX to provide internet to remote locations. Here we explore the controversial megaconstellation in more detail.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule on the move toward Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17, 2022.

Why NASA's new 'mega moon rocket' is so incredible

By Adam Mann last updated 29 April 22

NASA's upcoming Space Launch System is amazing in so many ways.

This illustration shows a black hole emitting jets of fast-moving plasma above and below it, as matter swirls around in an orbiting disk.

The 10 wildest things we learned about black holes in 2021

By Adam Mann published 30 December 21

A rundown of awesome results about black holes from 2021.

The Lucy mission will study the Trojan asteroids in a bid to shed light on the formation of the solar system.

Lucy mission: NASA's journey to the Trojan asteroids

By Adam Mann, Daisy Dobrijevic last updated 30 January 23

Reference NASA’s Lucy mission is the first to visit the Trojan asteroids. Lucy will help answer questions about the formation of the solar system.

If the universe is a giant computer simulation, here's how many bits would be required to run it

By Adam Mann published 8 November 21

A trippy new estimate calculates the total number of bits in the visible universe

A star releases a giant gamma-ray flare.

Weird cosmic object keeps exploding over and over again, and scientists don't know why

By Adam Mann published 3 November 21

Researchers have watched a mysterious fast radio burst shoot out energy far more times than they thought was possible.

A Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule is prepared for a critical launch abort system test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The Nov. 4, 2019 test will demonstrate a critical safety system for crewed launches.

The Boeing Company: From rockets to commercial crew

By Adam Mann published 25 October 21

All about the private company Boeing, with an emphasis on its commercial spaceflight operations.

An artist's depiction of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite in orbit around Earth.

The Copernicus Program & Sentinel satellites

By Adam Mann published 25 October 21

An overview of the Earth-observing fleet of Sentinel satellites that are part of the Copernicus program.

an illustration of a protoplanetary disk

Baby planets marinate in a life-giving cyanide 'soup,' analysis reveals

By Adam Mann published 5 October 21

A major astrochemical project has produced comprehensive maps of molecules in protoplanetary disks and found lots of organic material.

Gravitational waves are giant ripples in the fabric of space-time.

New gravitational wave detector picks up possible signal from the beginning of time

By Adam Mann published 20 September 21

Physicists turned on a new type of gravitational-wave sensor and saw two intriguing results, but they aren't yet ready to claim a discovery.

Quantum crystal could reveal the identity of dark matter

By Adam Mann published 31 August 21

By entangling the motion and quantum properties of a beryllium crystal, scientists have achieved unprecedented precision for measuring electromagnetic waves.

A conceptual illustration of a Dyson sphere

Alien 'Dyson spheres' could be harvesting the power of black holes

By Adam Mann published 30 August 21

Researchers show how intelligent aliens might draw nearly-limitless power from a black hole using a Dyson sphere.

Mystery object in space could be a new arm of the Milky Way

By Adam Mann published 24 August 21

A telescope in China has mapped out what may be a totally new arm of our home galaxy.

The reusable New Shepard space vehicle ascends through clear skies to an apogee of 339,138 feet (103,369 meters).

How much will Jeff Bezos' New Shepard rocket warm the planet?

By Adam Mann published 20 July 21

An attempt to figure out how much emission Jeff Bezos' jaunt into space will produce and whether we should be concerned about it

Jeff Bezos at the Blue Origin launch pad with a New Shepard rocket in the background.

What are the chances that Jeff Bezos won't survive his flight on New Shepard?

By Adam Mann published 17 July 21

Two spaceflight experts consulted by Live Science said that Jeff Bezos had decent odds of surviving his upcoming ride into space

New measurement may resolve cosmological crisis

By Adam Mann published 8 July 21

Astronomer Wendy Freedman suggests that the latest observations of red giant stars could be closing the gap on the Hubble tension.

Photo of the uncrewed Cygnus NG-15 cargo vessel departing the International Space Station on June 29, 2021.

The Cygnus spacecraft: Northrop Grumman's cargo ship

By Adam Mann published 1 July 21

Information about Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus cargo vehicle.

'Giant arc' stretching 3.3 billion light-years across the cosmos shouldn't exist

By Adam Mann published 22 June 21

Colossal arc of distant galaxies makes astronomers question some of their most cherished principles about the cosmos.

Can we stop time?

By Adam Mann published 16 June 21

Here's how we might stop the flow of time.

The Crab Nebula is one source of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

A dozen ultra-high-energy particle accelerators discovered in the Milky Way

By Adam Mann published 30 May 21

New observations help astronomers hone in on a long-standing mystery about where cosmic rays come from.

An image of an ORC, by Bärbel Koribalski, based on ASKAP data, with the optical image from the [Dark Energy Survey](https://www.darkenergysurvey.org)

Astronomers keep finding mysterious circular rings in the sky and don't know how to explain them

By Adam Mann published 14 May 21

Mysterious circular objects in the distant universe are challenging for astronomers to explain.

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