NASA Spots 1,284 New Planets, Including 9 That Are 'Potentially Habitable'
Of the more than 1,200 planets in the latest trove turned up by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, about half seem to be rocky, like Earth.
Space
Mercury Will Cross In Front Of The Sun In A Rare Event. Here's How To Watch
Stargazers, ready your (solar-filtered) telescopes: Mercury will pass directly across the sun on Monday for more than seven hours. And you can watch when it does — if you do it just right.
SpaceX Lands Falcon 9 On A Barge At Sea (Again)
Despite uncertain odds, the company landed part of its Falcon 9 rocket in the open ocean for a second time. The rest of the spacecraft continued on to put a communications satellite into orbit.
3 Strange Worlds Circling A Cool Star Might Be Prime Spots To Support Life
Scientists say each of these planets has one searingly hot side that's always facing the star and one frigidly cold side that's always facing away. But the regions in between might be cozy.
#NPRreads: Take Your Pick Of Space, Race Or Celebrity
In this weekly story roundup, NPR reporters, editors and producers share what they have been reading. Today's mix explores life away from Earth, forgotten photos and fallen stars.
Mars By 2018? SpaceX And NASA Announce A New Space Project
The Red Dragon missions are aimed at figuring out what's needed "to land large payloads propulsively on Mars." For now, the plan doesn't include sending astronauts to the red planet.
Astronaut Completes London Marathon From The International Space Station
About 38,000 runners competed in the London Marathon today – and one of them ran it in orbit 200 miles above Earth. British astronaut Tim Peake says microgravity is "perfect" for post-race recovery.
Stephen Hawking's Plan For Interstellar Travel Has Some Earthly Obstacles
The theoretical physicist is part of a team that wants to send postage-stamp-size probes to our closest star system, Alpha Centauri. But can they get the proper permits?
Hot On The Trail Of Alien Moons
Astronomers have found about 2,000 planets beyond our solar system. Now, some scientists are expanding the search to look for distant moons, too, in the hunt for signs of life.
Ambitious Project Would Use 'Starchips' To Travel To Alpha Centauri
Internet Billionaire Yuri Milner on Tuesday announced plans to travel to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. A trip would take thousands of years with existing technology.