Space

Star Trek's Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk never even lose pocket change when they use a transporter to get from TV's Starship Enterprise to distant worlds. What gives?

Beam Me Up? Teleporting Is Real, Even If Trekkie Transport Isn't

7:00pm July 29, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

Teleporting from one place to the next looks so fun on the big and little screen. But physicists who actually can do something like that with single atoms say teleporting people would be much messier.

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A photo released by Virgin Galactic shows a badly injured SpaceShipTwo pilot Peter Siebold drifting under his parachute after last October's accident that destroyed the spacecraft during a test flight.

SpaceShipTwo 'Pilot Was Thrown From The Vehicle' High In Atmosphere

5:50pm July 29, 2015

by Bill Chappell

SpaceShipTwo broke apart soon after it reached supersonic speeds and an altitude of around 50,000 feet. Its pilot says his parachute opened in a "gentlemanly" fashion, after he had fallen for a while.

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In a photo released by Scaled Composites, Michael Alsbury, who was killed while co-piloting the test flight of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo on Friday, Oct. 31, 2014, is shown.

Co-Pilot Killed In SpaceShipTwo Crash Was Experienced And Steady

4:10pm July 28, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Mike Alsbury, 39, died when Virgin Galactic's prototype reusable space plane apparently broke apart in midair over the Mojave Desert during a test flight on Friday.

SpaceShipTwo crashed in the Mojave Desert in California on Oct. 31. The co-pilot was killed.

Human Error Caused Virgin Galactic Crash, Investigators Say

4:02pm July 28, 2015

by Lucy Perkins

SpaceShipTwo broke apart during an October test flight because the co-pilot unlocked a section of the spaceship's tail too early, the National Transportation and Safety Board announced.

Dark Pluto Bares Its Heart

5:14pm July 24, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

NASA's probe to Pluto has revealed stunning new pictures of the distant world. They show evidence of glaciers moving across the surface.

Science

NASA Announces Discovery Of Earth-Like Planet Around Distant Star

2:41pm July 24, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

NASA is revealing the latest results from the Kepler Space Telescope, which was designed to hunt for planets around distant stars, including ones that might be Earth-like.

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Science

Looking For Earth-Like Planets Provides Clues For Finding 'Life Like Ours'

6:14pm July 23, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Katie Mack, an astrophysicist at the University of Melbourne, about NASA's discovery of an Earth-like planet, and why humankind is so fascinated with twin-earths.

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Artist's concept compares Earth (left) to the new planet, called Kepler-452b, which is about 60 percent larger in diameter.

Kepler Telescope Introduces Earth To A Very Distant Cousin

4:24pm July 23, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The spacecraft has detected the nearest thing to Earth yet discovered — a planet that's a bit bigger and squarely inside the "habitable zone" for life.

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Marking 40 Years Since Apollo-Soyuz Mission And The First Handshake In Space

10:28am July 22, 2015

The joint U.S.-Soviet mission was a stepping stone to today's International Space Station.

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Stephen Hawking at The Royal Society on Monday.

Intelligent Life In Our Galaxy? Stephen Hawking Says 'We Must Know'

6:59am July 21, 2015

by Lucy Perkins

The British cosmologist's new $100 million search for alien life will explore 10 times more sky than previous projects.