Space

Science
Arts

Jedidah Isler: What Role Do Supermassive Black Holes Play In The Cosmos?

9:26am February 09, 2018

by NPR/TED Staff

Scientists believe at the center of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Jedidah Isler describes how gamma ray telescopes have expanded our knowledge of this mysterious aspect of space.

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How The Launch Of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Fits Into The Company's Other-Wordly Plans

4:34pm February 08, 2018

This week SpaceX successfully launched the world's most powerful rocket in decades. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with writer Tim Urban about what this rocket will do near term, and how it takes Elon Musk one step closer to his grand vision of a million-person colony on Mars.

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Engineers next to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Science

How To Pack A Space Telescope

8:00am February 08, 2018

by Joe Palca

Operating a telescope in space is a challenge, but so is moving one on Earth. An inside look at how NASA's James Webb Space Telescope moved from Houston to Los Angeles.

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The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Science

Our Ancestors, Elon Musk And The First Car In Space

2:09pm February 07, 2018

by Marcelo Gleiser

Musk's successful rocket launch is a step on the ambitious road to Mars; as with our adventurous ancestors, where we might go seems to be limited only by our imagination, says Marcelo Gleiser.

Falcon Heavy blasts off Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday.

WATCH: SpaceX Successfully Launches Most Powerful Rocket In Decades

9:24pm February 06, 2018

The private space company has launched the Falcon Heavy, a rocket more powerful than any other in use today. It's now bearing a roadster into an elliptical Earth-Mars orbit. Watch the rocket's flight.

Space Enthusiasts Gather In Florida As Powerful Rocket Is Set To Launch

7:44am February 06, 2018

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Private company SpaceX on Tuesday is set to launch the world's most powerful rocket — the Falcon Heavy. This is a test launch that will carry a cherry red Tesla roadster into orbit around Mars.

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The Falcon Heavy is the latest advance from the rocket company SpaceX, and it's a step toward the company's goal of sending people to Mars.

Science

SpaceX Set To Launch World's Most Powerful Rocket

7:12pm February 05, 2018

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The company is getting ready for the first flight of its massive Falcon Heavy. It will be the most powerful rocket in use — if it doesn't blow up.

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In one of the most reproduced images of all time, the crew of Apollo 17 captured the perspective of Earth known as "Blue Marble."

Books
Arts

The First Men To Have The Whole World In Their Sights

8:09am February 04, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Christopher Potter's new history of space flight, The Earth Gazers, charts the road to the first photographs of Earth — and how it changes an astronaut to glimpse the entire planet at once.

A "space toilet" on display at Miraikan, The Emerging Museum of Science and Innovation in Tokyo, Japan in 2008.

Science

Making Space Food With Space Poop

8:39am February 03, 2018

by James Doubek

One of the difficult aspects of getting humans to Mars is the need to bring food. Researchers are experimenting with a way to make edible "microbial goo" with help from human waste.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took photos from the Vera Rubin Ridge showing the interior and rim of Gale Crater. The full image features 16 photos stitched together.

Mars Rover Curiosity's Panoramic Photo Depicts Its Epic Journey

5:43pm February 02, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

It captured images that show some of the key regions NASA's robot has explored since 2012.