The Nearest Stars to Earth (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 20 January 22 Get to know our nearest stars, their distances in light-years, spectral types and their known planets.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Mission to the Sun Explained (Infographic) By Jef Castro published 10 August 18 Learn all about NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission, which the agency aims to launch in July 2018. The spacecraft will get seven times closer to the sun than any probe ever has before.
Explorer 1: How the First American Satellite Worked (Infographic) By Space.com Staff published 1 February 18 On Jan. 31, 1958, the United States launched its first successful satellite: Explorer 1. See how the historic mission worked here.
Icy Water Moons That Might Host Life (Infographic) By Calla Cofield published 6 June 17 Alien life may be lurking right in Earth's cosmic backyard. Some of the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter are known to harbor subsurface oceans that could provide habitable environments.
1st American in Orbit: How John Glenn (And NASA) Made History (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 8 December 16 See how John Glenn's Mercury mission put the first American in orbit in 1962 in this SPACE.com infographic.
Tiangong-2: China's Space Lab for Long Missions (Infographic) By Michael Reis published 3 November 16
Meet Proxima b: The Closest Exoplanet We Know Explained (Infographic) By Michael Reis published 26 August 16 In August 2016, astronomers announced that a potentially Earth-like planet orbits Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the sun. Learn about the exciting discovery in this infographic.
Mercury Transit of 2016: A Rare Celestial Sight Explained (Infographic) By Alan Eilander published 6 May 16 On May 9, 2016, Mercury crosses the face of the sun in a solar transit. See how Mercury transits work in our full infographic here.
Beagle 2 Mars Lander: How It Was Lost and Found on Red Planet (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 26 April 16
Stratolaunch: Biggest Aircraft in History to Launch Spaceships (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 25 April 16 Paul Allen's Stratolaunch Systems plans to build a giant carrier vehicle in order to air-launch rockets to Earth orbit.
How Breakthrough Starshot's Interstellar Probes Would Work (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 12 April 16 Postage-stamp-sized space probes could make a flyby of planets around Alpha Centauri within 20 years after launch.
Hitomi: Japan's X-Ray Astronomy Satellite Explained (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 28 March 16 Learn all about the X-ray astronomy satellite Hitomi, a satellite built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that launched in February 2016 and fell silent just over a month later.
Inflatable Space Stations of Bigelow Aerospace (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 28 March 16 Bigelow Aerospace's BEAM expandable module will enhance the living area of the International Space Station.
Earth's Moon Phases, Monthly Lunar Cycles (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 24 March 16 Moon Astronomy Lesson: See the moon phases, and the difference between a waxing and waning crescent or gibbous moon, in this Space.com infographic about the lunar cycle each month.
How Europe's ExoMars Missions to Mars Work (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 10 March 16 The European Space Agency's ExoMars project involves an orbiter, lander and rover, launched on two separate Proton rockets.
How the British Skylon Space Plane Works (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 3 March 16 The British company Reaction Engines Ltd. hopes to manufacture Skylon, a runway-to-orbit space plane using hybrid air-breathing rocket engines.
How XCOR's Lynx Space Plane Works (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 1 March 16 XCOR aims to take paying passengers on a suborbital weightless hop to the edge of space.
How the DARE Dark Ages Radio Explorer Spacecraft Would Work (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 5 February 16 DARE is a proposed lunar satellite that would study the early era of the universe when the stars first starting turning on.
'Planet Nine'-Type Worlds Are the Most Common Ones We Know (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 4 February 16 Mini-Neptunes outnumber other types of planets found by astronomers.
The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: What Happened? (Infographic) By Karl Tate published 28 January 16 Chart details the causes of the destruction of Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986.
