Space

From left, astronaut Soichi Noguchi of Japan and NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins walk after arriving at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the Interna

Science

Astronauts Arrive In Florida To Ready For SpaceX Launch To Space Station

8:52pm November 08, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

Four astronauts are scheduled to take a SpaceX capsule to the International Space Station on Saturday. NASA hopes to demonstrate the safety and reliability of regular crew transportation to the ISS.

Researchers have detected water molecules in Clavius crater, in the moon's southern hemisphere. The large crater is visible from Earth.

Science

Water On The Moon: NASA Confirms Water Molecules On Our Neighbor's Sunny Surface

4:16pm October 26, 2020

by Bill Chappell

The breakthrough suggests that water, vital to life on Earth, could be distributed across more parts of the lunar surface than the ice that has previously been found in cold and dark places.

NASA Says It Found Water Molecules On The Moon's Surface

4:08pm October 26, 2020

by Geoff Brumfiel

NASA has announced the discovery of water in a sunlit crater on the moon. The water is likely trapped inside of little glass beads and may one day be useful for astronauts visiting the surface.

An artist's rendering shows NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending toward the asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid's surface.

Science

A NASA Probe Is So Full of Asteroid Material That It Now Has A Problem

8:11pm October 23, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A NASA spacecraft sent out to collect rocks from an asteroid seems to have nabbed a lot of material, but there's now an unexpected problem — a flap isn't closing because some rocks are stuck.

Cosmonauts Read Tea Leaves To Find Air Leak Source

7:01am October 21, 2020

When an air leak got worse on the International Space Station, Russian cosmonauts broke open a tea bag to let the leaves float up to identify the source of the leak.

Queue Listen Now

This mosaic image of asteroid Bennu is composed of 12 images collected on Dec. 2, 2018 by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 15 miles.

Science

If This NASA Spacecraft Can Avoid 'Mount Doom,' It Might Nab A Bit of Asteroid

6:20pm October 19, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

NASA is getting ready to collect its first sample from an asteroid ever. The rocks and dust could help us understand potentially dangerous space rocks and the history of the solar system.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto on July 14, 2015.

Science

Pluto Has White-Capped Mountains, But Not Because There's Snow

5:19pm October 13, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Mountains on Pluto look strikingly similar to white-capped peaks on Earth, but these cold, alien mountains got whitened in a completely different way.

NASA's diagram of Mars opposition shows the Sun, the Earth and Mars lining up every two years.

Science

Don't Miss Your Socially Distanced Date With Mars

10:07pm October 11, 2020

by Huo Jingnan

Mars will be in "opposition" on Oct. 13: the sun and Mars will be on opposite sides of Earth. It's going to be ideal for viewing the red planet.

NASA To Send A New Toilet To International Space Station

4:09pm October 01, 2020

by Brendan Byrne

A new toilet is scheduled to leave for the International Space Station on Thursday. The new commode is smaller and more efficient for deep space exploration and better accommodates female astronauts.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins participates in Soyuz qualification exams on Wednesday at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center just outside Moscow.

National

NASA Astronaut Will Vote From Space

2:38pm September 26, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

Astronauts have been able to cast ballots from above since the Texas legislature gave its blessing in 1997. "It's critical to participate in our democracy," NASA astronaut Kate Rubins said.