Exploration
Chinese Astronauts May Build a Base Inside a Lunar Lava Tube
Caves were some of humanity's first shelters. Who knows what our distant ancestors were thinking as they sought refuge there,…
Webb Can Detect Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs, And Maybe Even See Signs of Life
In a recent study accepted to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, an international team of researchers led…
Why Visit Just one Moon When you Could Explore Them all?
The Solar System's moons are intriguing objects for exploration. Especially moons like Europa and Enceladus. Their subsurface oceans make them…
A Robot Made of Ice Could Adapt and Repair Itself on Other Worlds
Some of the most tantalizing targets in space exploration are frozen ice worlds. Take Jupiter's moon Europa for instance. Its…
This Martian Lava Tube Skylight is 50 Meters Across. The Biggest Lava Tube on Earth is Only 15 Meters Across
NASA's Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it reached Mars in late 1971. It got…
A History of the Magellanic Clouds and How They Got Their Names
The Magellanic Clouds are a pair of dwarf galaxies that are bound to the Milky Way. The Milky Way is…
Lava Tubes on the Moon and Mars are Really, Really Big. Big Enough to Fit an Entire Planetary Base
Could lava tubes on the Moon and Mars play a role in establishing a human presence on those worlds? Possibly,…
Why Lava Tubes Should be Our Top Exploration Priority on Other Worlds
When magma comes out of the Earth onto the surface, it flows as lava. Those lava flows are fascinating to…
The First Images Are In from Rosetta’s Valentine’s Day Comet Flyby
On Saturday, Feb. 14, the Rosetta spacecraft swooped low over the surface of comet 67P/C-G in the first dedicated close pass…
ESA Marks 50 Years of Cooperative Space Innovation
In 1964 the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) were founded, on February 29 and March…