Just Four Robots Could Deploy a Huge Radio Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon
For decades, astronomers have advocated building radio telescopes on the far side of the Moon. This “radio-quiet” zone always faces…
Edward Stone Has Been the Voyagers’ Project Scientist for 50 Years. He Just Retired
Edward Stone is retiring after 50 years as Project Scientist for the Voyager mission. The twin spacecraft revolutionized our understanding…
When Should Robots Take Risks Exploring Other Worlds?
Researchers from the CMU's Robotic Institute have developed a new method that allows rovers to autonomously weigh risk against the…
In a New Hubble Image, Dark Matter Anchors the Giant Galaxy Cluster Abell 611
Dark matter. It's secret. It's dark because it doesn't give off any light. We can't see it, taste it, touch…
Did Supermassive Black Holes Collapse Directly out of Giant Clouds of gas? It Could Depend on Magnetic Fields
New research shows how the seeds of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) could have formed from gas clouds with amplified magnetic…
Good News! The Ozone Hole is Continuing to Shrink
Most of us don't think about ozone as we go about our daily lives. Yet, this pale blue gas plays…
Mars Express Got so Close to Phobos That it Needed to be Reprogrammed to Keep the Moon in Focus
Let's talk about Phobos. We know it's a moon of Mars and it orbits the planet once every 7.4 hours.…
Too Many Supernovae Can Slow Star Formation in a Galaxy
Interstellar winds are powerful agents of change. For one thing, they can interrupt or shut down the process of star…
Would Mark Watney Have Survived in Real Life, and What This Can Teach Us About Sending Humans to Mars
We want to send humans to Mars eventually, and while this will be both a historic and exciting journey, it…
Will Enceladus finally answer, ‘Are we alone?’
We recently examined how and why the planet Mars could answer the longstanding question: Are we alone? There is evidence…