Space

When nature calls, you have to listen. But when you're in microgravity, going to the bathroom can be a major challenge. How do astronauts get the job done?

By Stephanie Watson

Yes, we have some amazing inventions thanks to space exploration, and we're curious about life on other planets. But the cosmos also touches a deeper part of our psyches. Here are 10 reasons space exploration matters to you.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Our knowledge of space changes all the time as new discoveries are made. But some ideas about the universe have never really held water – including the one that everything is made of frozen H2O.

By Nathan Chandler

Leash your cheetah, buckle your seatbelt and tell Usain Bolt to take a knee. We're about to power through some of the speediest stuff this universe – both in the real world and in fiction – has to offer.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus & Kate Kershner

These days, we may take the stars for granted, but it's not hard to imagine the wonder early humans must have felt gazing up at those inexplicable points of light. Naturally, superstitions were bound to develop — some more fortuitous than others.

By Bambi Turner & Sascha Bos

When you think about massive, mysterious cosmic bodies like accretion disks, the water swirling around your bathtub probably isn't the first thing to come to mind. But hey, physics works the same magic on all scales.

By Kate Kershner

The history of space exploration is full of firsts: first animal in space, first human on the moon, first probe to reach mars. But as they say, you've got to look before you leap. So what was the first telescope launched into space?

By Kate Kershner

Sure, the shuttles may be sitting around in museums now, but our journey to space is far from over. Get ready to meet some serious contenders in the new space race.

By Nicholas Gerbis

What if your job were to protect life in the galaxy at all costs? That's exactly what the folks manning NASA's Planetary Protection office do, and bunny suits are just the beginning.

By William Harris

One tragic, moonless night in April 1912, the Titanic slid into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean -- for good. A crew of Texas State academics suggested that Earth's favorite satellite may have some explaining to do.

By Nicholas Gerbis

As the search for Planet Nine wears on, and astronomers have yet to get so much as a glimpse of it, researchers are pondering what else the object might be.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Polaris, also known as the North Star, is almost exactly over the celestial North Pole, making it extremely useful for navigation (and for making wishes on, as well).

By Patrick J. Kiger

The Geminid meteor shower is one of the year's stronger displays in terms of number and size of meteors. When's the best time to see it?

By Christopher Hassiotis

Lettuce has key nutrients that give both astronauts and Earth-dwellers alike a physical and psychological boost. And the lettuce grown in space is no less nutritious than the Earth-bound variety.

By Katie Carman

NASA's historic Beach House on Cape Canaveral is the last place many astronauts visit before they blast off into space. Today it's full of mission memories and NASA artifacts.

By Mark Mancini

The moon has seen a lot in its 4.5 million years of life, and this detailed geologic map serves as testament.

By Jesslyn Shields & Yara Simón

A new kind of survival story: Scientists discovered a star that came near a black hole and lived to tell the tale – at least temporarily.

By Nathan Chandler

For the first time since 2011, NASA will launch astronauts into space from U.S. soil. It will also be the first time ever a private company will get them there.

By Mark Mancini

In 1953, CalTech geochemist Clair Patterson came up with an estimate for Earth's age that still holds today.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Astronomers used Hubble's full range of imaging to dissect wild 'fireworks' happening in two nearby young planetary nebulas.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

For decades Bob Lazar talked about a mysterious element 115 that could power alien spacecraft. People thought he was nuts, but scientists discovered element 115 in 2003. What can that element do?

By Nathan Chandler

Star-gazers gasped when they saw how much Betelgeuse dimmed in 2019 and the reason wasn't clear. Even though it's back up to full strength, how long will it be before it explodes? We haven't seen a supernova in over 400 years.

By Nathan Chandler

Even if you've never looked through a telescope, you've probably seen Vega, one of the brightest stars in our galaxy. In fact, thousands of years ago, Vega was our North Pole star, and will be again in the future.

By Valerie Stimac

A distant asteroid made mostly of iron is potentially worth $10,000 quadrillion, making it many times more valuable than the global economy.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Check out this video of what astronauts in space see as the shadow of the moon crosses our planet.

By Christopher Hassiotis