Momentum Grows for Nuclear Thermal Space Propulsion By Jeff Foust With congressional funding and industry support, nuclear thermal propulsion technology is making progress for potential use on future NASA deep space missions.
How Dead Aliens Could Help Save Humanity By Mike Wall Those who don't learn the lessons of an extinct alien civilization's fall may be doomed to repeat it.
Sen Launched 4K Video Cameras Into Space. Here's What They Saw. By Elizabeth Howell New video views of Earth show our planet in stunning high-definition, courtesy of a newly-launched 4K video-streaming platform.
Supersymmetric 'Sleptons' Might Exist. But They'd Have to Be Huge. By Rafi Letzter The biggest, most expensive science experiment in the world might be losing all its dark matter. But physicists are looking on the bright side.
Why Is the Pentagon Interested in UFOs? By Iain Boyd New rules encourage U.S. Navy pilots and sailors to report UFO sightings. Here's why.
There's a Brand-New Kilogram, And It's Based on Quantum Physics By Rafi Letzter The kilogram isn't a thing anymore. Instead, it's an abstract idea about light and energy and fundamental universal constants.
NASA's Moon Return Among Key Topics at 2019 International Space Development Conference By Elizabeth Howell The National Space Society's International Space Development Conference will take place next month amid a large policy shift for NASA: sending humans to the moon, and soon.
Could Blockchain Tech Launch Spacefaring Nations Into a Data-Sharing Frontier By Elizabeth Howell Data sharing between entities in space will be easier and more secure using technologies such as blockchain, an industry participant argued at the Humans to Mars summit on May 16.
Startup Hermeus Wants to Build a Hypersonic Jet That Flies at 5 Times the Speed of Sound By Doris Elin Salazar A U.S. venture-capital firm recently led a round of seed investment for Hermeus Corp., a new startup looking to develop a hypersonic aircraft.
Parachute Development a Challenge for Commercial Crew By Jeff Foust An incident involving a test of parachutes for one commercial crew vehicle has heightened awareness of the challenges involved in developing those systems.
Oh the Places (on Mars) You'll Go! Here's Where NASA's Curiosity Rover Is Headed By Doris Elin Salazar Curiosity will be coming 'round the Martian mountain when it comes — and a colorful new animation highlights where exactly the mission is headed.
Goodnight, Chang'e-4! China's Probe on Moon's Far Side Naps for Lunar Night By Doris Elin Salazar A whole day on the moon lasts 28 Earth days.
New Supercomputer Will Span Continents, Outrace World's Fastest By Mindy Weisberger Paired processors on two continents will power a new computer "brain."
Saving Hubble: How a Space Telescope Repair 10 Years Ago Almost Never Happened (Video) By Elizabeth Howell A major repair to the Hubble Space Telescope 10 years ago this week is still helping us uncover the history of the universe. But it almost didn't happen.
NASA's Voyager and Pioneer Probes Launched Decades Ago and Are Still Out There. Here's Where They'll End Up. By Chelsea Gohd Scientists have predicted the future of NASA spacecraft that launched decades ago, pinpointing the close encounters they will have, even after the craft are no longer functional.
These Ancient Galaxies Are Far Brighter Than Expected. Does That Signal a Cosmic Turning Point? By Doris Elin Salazar By staring at the sky for over 200 hours, the Spitzer Space Telescope collected light that finally reached Earth after a 13-billion-year voyage through space.
How DARPA's Experimental R3D2 Satellite Was Built Super Fast By Elizabeth Howell Northrop Grumman built DARPA's experimental R3D2 satellite in record time, the company says.
NASA Will Aim a DART at Target Asteroid in Upcoming Deflection Test By Doris Elin Salazar Telescopes and spacecraft are already watching the skies for potentially hazardous asteroids, but what could be done to actually deflect a dangerous object heading toward Earth?
Here's the Winner of NASA's 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge By Elizabeth Howell New York-based design agency AI SpaceFactory took the top prize in a NASA competition to 3D print a habitat that could be used on the moon or Mars.
Apollo Fusion Obtains Hall Thruster Technology from JPL By Jeff Foust Satellite electric propulsion startup Apollo Fusion is expanding its product line through an agreement with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, giving it access to advanced Hall thruster technology.
