Stars and Oil: Milky Way Shines Over Texas Oilfield (Photo)
Astrophotographer Matt Smith captured this image of the Milky Way near Batesville in South Texas on May 25, 2015.Credit: Matt Smith The Milky Way illuminates a pump jack working at night in Texas. While oil fields through the state are well lit, this landscape shot captures the spectacular night sky. Astrophotographer Matt Smith captured this […]
Nichelle Nichols, Uhura on 'Star Trek,' Boldly Rides NASA's Flying Observatory
Uhura flies again: “Star Trek” actress Nichelle Nichols had the chance last month to ride aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a telescope-bearing Boeing 747 airplane. Nichols, best known for her role as Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek,” joined scientists and educators on board the high-flying telescope, called SOFIA. A recent NASA […]
SpaceX Wrapping Up Falcon 9 Rocket Failure Investigation
Josh Brost of SpaceX said early reports on the cause of the June 28 Falcon 9 failure — that a strut holding down a helium bottle inside a propellant tank in the rocket’s upper stage broke — “have born out.” – See more at: http://spacenews.com/spacex-wrapping-up-falcon-9-failure-investigation/#sthash.3Bw2hw5u.dpufCredit: NASA TV LAS CRUCES, N.M. — SpaceX expects to complete […]
How NASA and 'The Martian' Teamed Up to Inspire Students About Mars
L to R: Bob Cabana, center director; Jim Green, Ph. D., NASA Planetary Science Division director; Mackenzie Davis, an actress who portrays Mindy Park in “The Martian”; Nicole Stott, a retired NASA astronaut and Chiwetel Ejiofor, an actor who portrays Vincent Kapoor in “The Martian.”Credit: NASA CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ─ More than 10,000 students from […]
Building Benny's Spaceship from the LEGO Movie
6-year-old Zadie and her father, Tariq, (who happens to be Space.com’s Managing Editor) build LEGO’s 70816 kit; a nice 5-hour rainy day project, here time-lapsed with commentary plus a music video. Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship! Credit: @DavidSkyBrody, Producer To source
Spotlight on BepiColombo
Space Science Image of the Week: ESA’s BepiColombo, a mission to explore planet Mercury, seen in a different light To source
Eavesdropping on Black Holes: Feasting Giants Sound Like Static
Artist’s illustration of a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech If you could hear the stuff that swirls around black holes, superdense white dwarfs and young stars, what would it sound like? Probably like the empty spaces on the radio dial, researchers say. Simone Scaringi, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max […]
Earth's Gravitational Pull Cracks Open the Moon
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images have revealed thousands of young, lobate thrust fault scarps on the moon. Image released Sept. 15, 2015.Credit: NASA/LRO/Arizona State University/Smithsonian Institution Earth’s gravitational pull is massaging the moon, opening up faults in the lunar crust, researchers say. Just as the moon’s gravitational pull causes seas and lakes to rise and […]
'Sounds' of Star Collecting Matter Mimicked | Video
All stars, from young proto-stars to supermassive black holes flicker. That flickering light can be translated into audio waves. The Max Plank Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics’ Simone Scaringi created sound files that mimics what star accretion systems might sound like. Credit: Space.com / Audio Created by Simone Scaringi / Visuals: NASA/ESO To source
SyFy Channel's 'The Expanse' App Lets You Fly By Spaceships in 3D
The cast of SyFy Channel’s The Expanse science fiction TV series pose for a photo at New York Comic Con 2015.Credit: SyFy Channel NEW YORK — Fans at New York Comic-Con got an immersive look into the SyFy Channel ‘s epic new TV series “The Expanse” in more ways than one: with a Q&A panel […]
Great Scott! 'Back to the Future' Documentary to Bring Back Our Favorite Time Machine
The new documentary “Back in Time,” funded through Kickstarter, made an appearance at New York Comic-Con to promote its October 2015 premier.Credit: Back in Time Film NEW YORK — Where they’re going, they won’t need roads: a new documentary spotlighted at New York Comic-Con examines the making of the “Back to the Future” trilogy and […]
Buzz Aldrin: Apollo 11's 50th Anniversary Should Kick Off Crewed Mars Effort
Buzz Aldrin modeling his new “Get Your Ass to Mars” T-shirt, the sales of which will benefit his educational ShareSpace Foundation.Credit: Buzz Aldrin/Facebook The 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon would be a fine occasion to kick off a serious effort to put astronauts on Mars, Buzz Aldrin says. Buzz Aldrin […]
Is Stephen Hawking Right About Hostile Aliens?
The SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is hunting for radio signals from hypothetical intelligent alien life in our galaxy.Credit: SETI Institute E.T. was the perfect extraterrestrial: Cute, smart and — best of all — a perfect pacifist. Unfortunately, scientists aren’t so sure that an actual intelligent alien would be so benign. In a recent […]