Tag Archives | space

A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Epsilon rocket launches the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace satellite (ERG) into orbit from Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan on Dec. 20, 2016. A Japanese spacecraft designed to help scientists better understand the radiation environment of near-Earth space has made it to orbit. The Exploration of energization […]

Since August 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been carving a path across the Martian surface, trying to understand more about the environment of the Red Planet. Where did water flow? Was it habitable? And what other geologic history took place in Gale Crater and Mount Sharp? Now that Curiosity is on the lower reaches of […]

This compressed view of the entire sky visible from Hawai’i by the Pan-STARRS1 Observatory is the result of half a million exposures, each about 45 seconds in length, taken over a period of 4 years. Call it a cosmic Wikipedia: A massive catalog of astronomical data collected over four years using one of the largest […]

The new space flick “Passengers” takes place in a far-off, science-fiction future, but modern-day science is laying the groundwork to turn some of those fictional elements into reality. At a panel discussion Sony Pictures held earlier this month, two real-world scientists talked about two key scientific elements that were portrayed in the film: the search […]

Lunar eclipses occur when Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which otherwise reflects off the moon. There are three types — total, partial and penumbral — with the most dramatic being a total lunar eclipse, in which Earth’s shadow completely covers the moon. The next lunar eclipse will be a partial lunar eclipse on Aug. […]

The Technical Education nanosatellite (TechEdSat-5) will be deployed from the International Space Station in early 2017, and engineers will use Exo-Brake to guide the nanosatellite through the de-orbit phase of re-entry. A novel technology that could allow for accurate, guided landing of payloads returning to Earth from the International Space Station will soon undergo testing […]

On November 17, 1970 the Soviet Luna 17 spacecraft landed the first roving remote-controlled robot on the Moon. Known as Lunokhod 1, it weighed just under 2,000 pounds and was designed to operate for 90 days while guided by a 5-person team on planet Earth at the Deep Space Center near Moscow, USSR. Lunokhod 1 […]

Supermoons, meteors and colorful auroras treated skywatchers and astronomers around the world this year. Check out some of the most amazing photos taken by Space.com readers in 2016 in this year-end gallery. HERE: Astrophotographer Mike Killian took this image of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasting off on May 6 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station […]