X-37B spaceplane launched back into space

The US Air Force's experimental X-37B space plane is off on its travels again, blasting off from Cape Canaveral yesterday atop an Atlas V rocket.

The seven planets that could support life

One year on the Habitable Exoplanet Catalog has identified seven exoplanets in our Milky Way that are similar to Earth.

Astronomers trace history of hypergiant star

A 30-year study of an extraordinary hypergiant star has revealed that it went through an extremely rare stage called the 'Yellow Evolutionary Void.' 

NASA 'dusts off' its Apollo archives

NASA has restored the dust archives from the Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 moon landing missions.

The glittering galaxies of NASA's Hubble

All that glitters may not be gold, but galaxy ESO 318-13 is nonetheless very impressive indeed.

NASA lacks coherent direction, says government report

A report sponsored by NASA has concluded that the agency is failing to inspire the world, the nation or even its own staff, and is unlikely to achieve long-term objectives such as a manned Mars landing.

US company announces commercial moon missions

US start-up company, Golden Spike, plans to offer affordable and routine trips to the moon. 

Gullies on Vesta may be sign of flowing water

NASA scientists have spotted long, narrow gullies on the giant asteroid Vesta that they say may have been carved out by liquid water.

MIT team sees the very first stars

Researchers at MIT, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California at San Diego have peered so far back in time that they've found matter that pre-dates the creation of heavy elements.

Wide binary stars may have started out as triplets

The old adage, ‘two’s company three's a crowd’ could also be true for wide binary star systems. 

Grail probes reveal deep crack in moon

NASA's twin Grail probes have revealed the surface of the moon in unprecedented detail, showing unbelievably deep cracks, craters and tectonic structures.

‘Green bean’ is new type of galaxy

Astronomers have classified a new type of galaxy after they noticed that it glowed an unusually bright green. 

NASA to send another rover to Mars

NASA is making ambitious plans to land a second rover on Mars in 2020 and send astronauts there in the 2030s.

Other sunlike stars could be more hospitable to life

Most stars in the Milky Way that resemble our sun are more likely to host planets that support life than our own.

Voyager 1 hits 'magnetic highway' to outer space

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered the last region it has to cross before reaching interstellar space.

Mars rover finds organic compounds

NASA's confirmed rumors that the Curiosity rover has found organic compounds on Mars - but says they're probably not a sign of life, and likely came from Earth.

Are volcanoes active on Venus?

Volcanic eruptions may be the explanation for large changes in the sulfur dioxide content of Venus’s atmosphere, and one intriguing possible explanation is volcanic eruptions.

New telescope to help predict solar storms

The new Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in Australia could save the world billions as an accurate early-warning system that forecasts damaging solar systems.

The peculiar compact Blue Dwarf Galaxy

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a rather impressive image of the irregular NGC 5253 galaxy.

Frozen water on Mercury reveals its cooler side

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft has found that water ice likely exists on the frozen poles of Mercury, the planet closest to the sun.