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Flyer 1, controlled by Orville Wright, makes history’s first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on Dec. 17, 1903. Orville’s brother Wilbur looks on in this photo, which was taken by John Daniels, a member of the U.S. Life-Saving Station in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity carries piece of Wright brothers' famous plane

By Mike Wall

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, which is poised to make its first flight in early April, bears a tiny swatch of fabric from one wing of the Wright brothers' history-making plane Flyer 1.

Following the release of the first image of a black hole in 2019, astronomers have captured a new polarized view of the black hole.

First image of a black hole gets a polarizing update that sheds light on magnetic fields

By Chelsea Gohd

U.S. Navy videos of alleged UFO sightings were previously available but had not been officially declassified.

To be declassified: UFO broke sound barrier with no sonic boom

By Stephanie Pappas

Former Trump intelligence director John Ratcliffe told Fox News that more unexplained sightings of flying objects will soon be declassified.

Artist's illustration of NASA' Mars Helicopter Ingenuity flying on the Red Planet.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity could fly for 1st time on April 8

By Mike Wall

We may be just over two weeks away from the first powered flight by an aircraft on an alien world.

An asteroid the size of a semi-truck and two other space rocks are flying by Earth today

By Elizabeth Howell

Three asteroids are making close approaches to our planet today (March 23), but don't worry; the small rocks pose no threat.

Imagery captured by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellite on March 19, 2019 shows the extent of flooding (depicted in red) around Beira, Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai made landfall.

Integrating diverse satellite images sharpens our picture of activity on Earth (op-ed)

By Amanda Ziemann

A new mathematical application provides a more complete picture of our changing world by drawing on data from several kinds of sensors.

NASA's Perseverance rover has dropped the debris shield that covered the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, a step toward the little chopper's deployment and flight. This photo taken by Perseverance was tweeted out by the rover's official Twitter account on March 21, 2021.

NASA to unveil plans for Mars helicopter test flights today. Here's how to watch live.

By Samantha Mathewson

NASA is expected to unveil new details about the debut flight of its Mars Ingenuity helicopter during a media briefing today (March 23).

saturn

Saturn's summer season ends as Hubble telescope watches (photos)

By Doris Elin Urrutia

Saturn takes roughly seven Earth years to begin and end one of its seasons.

Scientists using data from ESA orbiters are exploring what is causing Mars' water to escape out into space.

Mars is leaking water into space during dust storms and warmer seasons

By Chelsea Gohd

Water is leaking from Mars' atmosphere through changing seasons and swirling Martian storms, scientists found in two new studies.

A preflight view of the Guaranisat-1 satellite created by students from Paraguay as part of the BIRDS-4 program.

Paraguay's 1st satellite is in orbit after launch from space station

By Doris Elin Urrutia

On March 14, Paraguay's first-ever satellite entered orbit around Earth.

The Veggie experiment, which is used to grow lettuce on the International Space Station. In a new study, researchers have discovered new bacteria on the space station that they think could support future food growing efforts in space.

Newly discovered bacteria on space station could help astronauts grow plants on Mars

By Chelsea Gohd

Researchers have discovered three new strains of bacteria that they think could one day help astronauts to grow their own food.

NASA's Perseverance rover has dropped the debris shield that covered the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, a step toward the little chopper's deployment and flight. This photo taken by Perseverance was tweeted out by the rover's official Twitter account on March 21, 2021.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity gets 1st taste of Red Planet air (video)

By Mike Wall

Over the weekend, NASA's Perseverance rover dropped the debris shield that protected the Mars helicopter Ingenuity during the mission's epic Feb. 18 touchdown.

An artist's depiction of the InSight lander on Mars.

The mysterious core of Mars is on the large side, NASA's InSight lander data suggests

By Meghan Bartels

An artist's concept of the 'Oumuamua interstellar object as a pancake-shaped disk. A new study suggests it was once part of a Pluto-like exoplanet.

Interstellar object 'Oumuamua is a pancake-shaped chunk of a Pluto-like planet

By Charles Q. Choi

'Oumuamua, the first known visitor from interstellar space, was likely a pancake-shaped chip off a Pluto-like world.

Bubbles freeze over in Lake Baikal during the winters in southern Siberia.

Why Russian scientists just deployed a giant telescope beneath Lake Baikal

By Stephanie Pappas

The enormous Baikal-GVD will look for the particles from 4,300 feet (1,310 meters) below the lake surface.

The asteroid 2001 FO32 is seen as it appeared on March 16, 2021 ahead of a close flyby on March 21 in this telescope image by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project.

The biggest asteroid to visit Earth in 2021 zooms by our planet unusually fast today

By Tariq Malik

The biggest asteroid to visit Earth this year will zoom by our planet today (March 21) and it's a real speed demon.

Evolution of a dawn storm in Jupiter’s polar auroras. This animation was created from observations made by Juno’s UVS (Ultraviolet Spectrograph) instrument.

Glowing 'dawn storm' auroras that blaze in Jupiter's morning skies are born in darkness

By Mindy Weisberger

New images of Jupiter's polar auroras, captured by the Juno spacecraft, revealed the full cycle of intense and unusual polar light displays.

Asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter have been named after a diverse group of 27 astronauts who are trailblazers for their respective ethnicities.

Asteroids named for diverse group of 27 trailblazing astronauts

By Robert Z. Pearlman

magellanic cloud

Dark energy camera takes hyper-detailed images of nearby dwarf galaxies

By Kasandra Brabaw

New, stunningly detailed images of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the stars making up these two dwarf galaxies.

Galaxy J0437+2456 is thought to be home to a supermassive, moving black hole.

A supermassive black hole is speeding through space, and astronomers don't know why

By Ben Turner

A supermassive black hole is racing across the universe at 110,000 mph (177,000 km/h), and the astronomers who spotted it don't know why.