Science balloons soaring on new missions

NASA's Balloon Program is preparing new missions, including one designed to investigate the birth of our universe.

Cassini’s final 5 starts August 14

Today, as part of its Grand Finale, the Cassini spacecraft begins its final 5 orbits, a set of ultra-close sweeps through Saturn’s upper atmosphere.

Well, hello! 4 Earth-sized planets found at nearest sunlike star

The nearest sunlike star is Tau Ceti, only 12 light-years away. It's now known to have at least 4 planets orbiting it, with relatively small masses, tantalizingly close to Earth's mass.

Is 2014 MU69 composed of 2 objects?

The next target for the New Horizons spacecraft - which passed Pluto in 2015 - reveals itself, intriguingly, to be a possible contact binary, that is, 2 objects in 1.

Total eclipse of sun: August 21, 2017

All you need to know about the 1st total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. since 1979, from eclipse master Fred Espenak.

After 40 years, Voyager still reaching for stars

"Few missions can ever match the achievements of the Voyager spacecraft during their four decades of exploration."

Sun’s core rotates 4x faster than surface

Eureka! After decades of puzzling about whether the sun's core spins faster than its surface, astronomers can now measure it.

Lots of water inside the moon?

Researchers have detected widespread water within ancient volcanic deposits on the moon.

No Earth-like atmosphere for Proxima b

It's the nearest exoplanet and in its star's habitable zone. But a new study suggests radiation from its star would drain an Earth-like atmosphere 10,000 times faster than on Earth.

More life keys in Titan’s atmosphere

Scientists expand their knowledge of the stew of ingredients in the atmosphere of Saturn's large moon Titan, and contemplate whether Titan has cooked up life.

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