Numbers, facts, figures, equations. These are all obviously critical components of the space program. But numbers don't speak to our emotions. It's hard to commit millions of pounds and thousand of hours to an equation. We need something visceral that we can connect to.
I've seen many sun flares, but I've never seen anything like this video showing several dark plasma tornadoes on the surface of the Sun, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. It's simply mesmerising and bloody amazing.
There's nothing like a good, firm handshake. Especially when it's with a robot, and you're in space. Yesterday, NASA's Robonaut completed its systems checks aboard the International Space Station — and celebrated with a handshake.
It’s been a long time coming, our intrepid android astronaut was first freed from his packing on the ISS back in March last year, we even glimpsed a look through his eyes in September, but now Robonaut 2’s finally been activated.
Some would argue that the biggest obstacle robotics currently faces isn't the Uncanny Valley or suppressing the urge to destroy all humans — it's keeping their batteries charged. The newest version of the EcoBot may have the answer — it eats poop. Our poop.
You might think Armageddon was just a lot of Bruce Willis sobbing and Aerosmith-fueled sex, but there was actually some truth in there! If an enormous space rock ever heads our way, we're already planning on nuking it to hell. Here's how.
It’s spring on Mars and it’s avalanche season. NASA’s HiRISE satellite was on hand to capture the action as dirt, dust and fine-grained ice cascades like snow on Earth, flying down the side of a massive Martian mountain range.
This image was captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter while flying over the Bonneveille Crater on January 29, 2012. There's a spaceship hidden in plain view, sightly red because of the planet's dust. Can you see it?
We knew there was water in abundance in Mars, but we never saw its ocean. This is it, as uncovered by strong new evidence found over the course of two years by the MARSIS radar on board ESA's Mars Express.
Even the most mundane objects and experiences seem to become totally amazing up in space. Like, say, this knitting needle that's been charged with static electricity interacting with tiny droplets of water. Combine the electric charge with the velocity of the droplet, and the result is a gravity-like orbit of the water around the needle.
It's time to talk about the second letter in NASA: Aeronautics. Yes, NASA does mind-blowing things in outer space, but they also want you to get to your family reunion in one piece. NASA is making planes smarter. Smart enough to be flyable even when they're falling apart.
NASA said that their Blue Marble 2012 was "the most amazing image of Earth ever." Now they have released the other half, answering to popular demand.
SpaceX’s goal of commercial spaceflight and space expeditions took a massive step forward with the testing of the company’s SuperDraco engine. This is the rocket that should allow its Dragon spaceships to land safely back on Earth, or any other planet for that matter.
By now you're probably used to all the spectacular nightime timelapses from the International Space Station. But this one demonstrates that the show is just as amazing during the day. Check out the Moon seemingly sinking into the Earth's atmosphere.
Depths might not be the right expression, actually, as all of these photographs were taken from space, decades and decades ago. Russian rockets, aircraft carriers, secret military compounds—one legendary spy satellite saw it all from orbit.
