KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - A major overhaul of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) readying it for launches of NASA's SLS Mars rocket by 2018 has reached the halfway point with installation of massive new access platforms required to enable assembly of the mammoth booster at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) - as seen firsthand during an exclusive up close facility tour by Universe Today.
Continue reading
A new poll has shown that opposition to the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope - which was originally scheduled to be built on Mauna Kea, Hawaii - has dimished
Continue reading
We frequently call the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter "our favorite camera" and for good reason. HiRISE, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, is the largest and most powerful camera ever flown on a planetary mission, sending back incredible beautiful, high-resolution images of Mars.
Continue reading
An international team of scientists recently released a study that shows which of the Kepler exoplanets candidates are most like Earth
Continue reading
Though it is not considered as such, Mercury is actually a viable candidate for colonization - if you can get around the extreme conditions!
Continue reading
By examining faint radio emissions from a local supernova remnant, astronomers are learning more about how stars behave before they explode
Continue reading
According to a new study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, life as we know it could have emerged prematurely in the Universe
Continue reading
In the Sagittarius Constellation, near the ecliptic of the Milky Way Galaxy, lies the faint and compact open star cluster known as Messier 21
Continue reading
A guide to identifying strange lights in the sky.
Continue reading
SpaceX founder Elon Musk's daring dream of rocket recycling and reusability is getting closer and closer to reality with each passing day. After a breathtaking series of experimental flight tests aimed at safely landing the firms spent Falcon 9 first stages on land and at sea over the past half year the bold effort achieved another major milestone by just completing the first full duration test firing of one of those landed boosters.
Continue reading
The SpaceX mission to Mars in 2018 will cost the company a cool $300 million, according to estimates presented at a recent NASA Advisory Council meeting
Continue reading
Located in the southern skies, far from the plain of the Milky Way, is the faint Caelum constellation, which represents the "chisel" that etches the heavens!
Continue reading
The fireball that appeared above Las Vegas earlier this week was apparently the result of a spent Chinese rocket falling back to Earth
Continue reading
Continue reading
Continue reading
The Bohr atomic model (sometimes known as the Rutherford-Bohr atomic model) was a major milestone in the development of modern atomic theory
Continue reading
Set your alarm for Friday morning at dawn when the crescent Moon will either cover up, barely miss or pass in splendid conjunction with Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus.
Continue reading
Scientists at NASA"s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing the photon sieve, a small, inexpensive device designed to study the Sun's corona
Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — The nation's newest surveillance satellite is all set for a brilliant breakfast blastoff on Thursday July 28 atop a powerful Atlas V rocket from the Florida Space Coast - and both the booster and weather are in excellent shape at this time!
Continue reading
In both the course of a year, and over the course of millennia, Earth experiences variations due to the fact that its axis is tilted
Continue reading
Continue reading
Scientists have found a bit of a mystery at the dwarf planet Ceres. In the rough and tumble environment of the asteroid belt, ancient Ceres was certainly pummeled by numerous large asteroids during its 4.5 billion-year lifetime. But yet, there are just a few large craters on found there.
Continue reading
Mars is not only further from the Sun than Earth, but has an eccentric orbit that leads to a great deal of variation in its seasons and surface temperature
Continue reading
Catch a rare conjunction of Mercury with the Moon next week, and an occultation for a very privileged few.
Continue reading
For the remainder of 2016, all payloads traveling to the US National Lab aboard the ISS will feature a mission patch with Marvel characters
Continue reading
Astronomers have theorized there could be an intermediate stage between neutron stars and black holes called quark stars. Are they out there?
Continue reading
Located in the southern Sagittarius constellation is the Trifid Nebula, a bright star-forming region and combination nebula
Continue reading
A comparison between the rocket that delivered the Apollo astronauts to the Moon, and the one that promises to deliver astronauts and colonists to Mars
Continue reading
MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY, NEW ORLEANS, LA - NASA has just finished welding together the very first fuel tank for America's humongous Space Launch System (SLS) deep space rocket currently under development - and Universe Today had an exclusive up close look at the liquid hydrogen (LH2) test tank shortly after its birth as well as the first flight tank, during a tour of NASA's New Orleans rocket manufacturing facility on Friday, July 22, shortly after completion of the milestone assembly operation.
Continue reading
Continue reading
The asteroid that punched an "eye" in the Moon is about 10 times more massive than originally thought. Researchers say a protoplanet-sized body slammed into the Moon about 3.8 billion years ago, creating the area called Imbrium Basin that forms the right eye of the so-called "Man in the Moon."
Continue reading
With a long history of contributing to space exploration, the Canadian Space Agency is looking for the next generation of Canadian astronauts
Continue reading
With the upcoming test of the Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX is looking to expand its facilities by introducing two new landing pads
Continue reading
Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot is a huge cyclonic storm big enough to swallow the Earth. But it's been getting smaller over time, while other storms have been growing. What does the future hold for this Jupiterricane?
Continue reading
Continue reading
We toast the 40th anniversary of the dual Viking missions to Mars this week. Time to celebrate an achievement that gave us our first visceral feeling of standing on another planet.
Continue reading
Looking for a way to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission landing on the Moon? Here are a few different ways look back on this historic event and take advantage of advances in technology or new data.
Continue reading
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Following a flawless post midnight blastoff two mornings ago, a pair of NASA astronauts executed a flawless capture of the newest SpaceX Dragon supply ship at International Space Station early this morning, July 20, carrying 2.5 tons of priceless research equipment and gear for the resident astronauts and cosmonauts.
Continue reading
Venus' orbit has some strange properties, which includes taking 243.025 days to rotate once, and the fact that it rotates backwards compared to Earth
Continue reading
Some of the greatest discoveries in astronomy have been made by watching how the skies change over time. Today we talk about these techniques, and an observatory that will revolutionize time-based astronomy.
Continue reading
Continue reading
Hosting an evening star party this summer? Then you're in for a treat. Starting this week, all five naked eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) are visible in the evening sky at dusk for a bried few weeks.
Continue reading
Continue reading
As part of their Journey to Mars, NASA has unveiled the compact exercise system its astronauts will use to stay healthy during the trip
Continue reading
Located in the constellation of Ophiuchus, some 28,700,000 light years from Earth, lies the faint globular cluster known as Messier 19
Continue reading
A look at the Solar Systems largest planet (Jupiter) and how it stacks up in terms of size, mass, satellites, and composition to our home planet
Continue reading
Get ready to tune in the Red Planet on your earbuds. NASA recently announced that it would include a microphone in its Mars 2020 Mission.
Continue reading
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - The outlook is outstanding for a dramatic midnight blastoff of the next SpaceX commercial cargo Dragon jam packed with some 5000 pounds of critical payloads and research supplies for NASA and heading to the space station on Monday, July 18 - that also simultaneously features an experimental land landing that promises to rock loudly across the Florida space coast and one day slash launch costs.
Continue reading
After a decade of research, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey has released the most detailed 3D map of the Universe to date
Continue reading
Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory have spotted a growing dark region called a coronal hole, which is the cause of high-speed solar winds that can disrupt satellite communications.
Continue reading
Universe Today