When you buy through links in our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn commission. An animation compares the path of Apophis in 2029 to a swarm of satellites orbiting Earth. | Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The European Space Agency is accelerating a new mission called Ramses that will fly to a near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. It won’t be alone when a cruise ship-sized asteroid passes within 32,000 kilometers (19,883 miles) of Earth on April 13, 2029. The European Space Agency announced that its new Ramses spacecraft will be able to… Read More »
Astronomers may have discovered the presence of water in the atmosphere of a scorching hot planet that is one of the most “metal” worlds ever detected. The planet’s formation remains a mystery that could be solved by the discovery. The extrasolar planet or “exoplanet” in question is HD 149026 b, also known as “Smertrios”, meaning… Read More »
Curious Kids is a series for kids of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Could we ever make Mars like Earth? – Tyla, age 16, Mississippi When I was in middle school, my biology teacher showed the class the science fiction movie “Star Trek… Read More »
With less than a month until the start of summer 2024, the vast majority of the U.S. population has experienced an extreme heat wave. By early July, millions of people in the western U.S. were under heat warnings or sweating from humid heat in the East. Death Valley reached a dangerous 129 degrees Fahrenheit (53.9… Read More »
Curious Kids is a series for kids of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Could we ever make Mars like Earth? – Tyla, age 16, Mississippi When I was in middle school, my biology teacher showed the class the science fiction movie “Star Trek… Read More »
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a huge impact on astronomy since it began sending data back to Earth in 2022, and one of its most revolutionary achievements has been the observation of some of the most distant galaxies ever seen. But because light doesn’t travel instantaneously — instead, it travels at about… Read More »
In recent months, excitement has been building around the approach of a new comet called Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which is officially cataloged as C/2023 A3. Comet Tsuchinchan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) was first discovered on January 9, 2023, at the XuYi Station of the Purple Mountain Observatory in China, then disappeared and was discovered a second time 44 days… Read More »
One of the world’s most well-known and undoubtedly most traveled logos is 65 years old. Since its announcement on July 15, 1959, the emblem representing NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has graced T-shirts and spacesuits, been reproduced 10 stories high, and reached the surfaces of both the Moon and Mars. The red,… Read More »
Space travel has evolved tremendously over the last quarter century, moving from government-led missions of exploration to a more dynamic and commercially focused field. In 1999, there were 79 orbital launch attempts, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) tests. Most of the tasks were performed by respected people space shuttleThe Delta and Soyuz rockets are led… Read More »