A golden glow illuminates Earth’s horizon in a stunning new image from the International Space Station. The atmospheric glow, or airglow, captured in the new photo occurs when sunlight interacts with atoms and molecules within Earth’s atmosphere. The new photo, which NASA shared on Jan. 21, shows a bright golden glow arching above Earth, along […]
For decades scientists have been trying to understand the geologic forces driving the creation of the Himalayas, the worlds tallest mountain chain. A new study from an international team of scientist argues that a part of the Indian Plate, which has formed the mountains by crashing into the Eurasian Plate, is actually splitting apart in […]
China’s space station is set to host a scientific experiment aimed at assessing the viability of Earth’s early life forms in a simulated cosmic environment. China launched the Tianzhou 7 cargo spacecraft on a Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Jan. 17. It arrived at Tiangong space station just over three […]
Earth, our rocky, watery oasis in the cosmos is the ideal place for life to flourish for a number of reasons. We sit at just the right distance from our home star for liquid water to exist on the planet’s surface. The gravitational pull of other large planets helps protect us from apocalyptic collisions with […]
Earth and the rest of our solar system’s inner, rocky planets are the products of a myriad of tiny planetesimals — glorified pebbles of primordial cosmic dust — assembling themselves together more than 4 billion years ago. Now, a new analysis suggests that those planetesimals already contained water. Researchers tested samples from meteorites that they […]
Oprah gets us. She knows what we crave. Her annual curated list of favorite things always has us wishing. But the lifestyle guru really piqued our interest when she sang the praises of one quiet brand — Cozy Earth — for the fifth year in a row. That’s got to be a record! And right […]
Oprah gets us. She knows what we crave. Her annual curated list of favorite things always has us wishing. But the lifestyle guru really piqued our interest when she sang the praises of one quiet brand — Cozy Earth — for the fifth year in a row. That’s got to be a record! And right […]
China deorbited its robotic Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft today (Jan. 19) after it completed its mission serving the country’s space station. The 35-foot-long (10.6 meters) Tianzhou 6 reentered over an area of ocean, likely the South Pacific — an area frequently used by countries for deorbiting spacecraft due to its remoteness — today at 7:37 […]
Astrobotic remains upbeat about its Peregrine lunar lander, despite the failure of the probe’s debut mission. Peregine launched Jan. 8 on the first flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket. While the launch went smoothly, Peregrine suffered a propulsion anomaly just hours into its mission that created a significant propellant leak. It […]
After languishing in space for more than a week, a doomed moon lander met a fiery end Thursday, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere to end its mission. The privately built spacecraft, named Peregrine, was designed to journey to the moon and settle on the lunar surface. But shortly after launching into orbit Jan. 8, the […]
As the Peregrine moon lander counts down its final hours in space ahead of a crash, the company that made it says it wants to bring it down carefully. A fuel leak doomed the robotic Peregrine’s planned soft landing on the moon next month, following its flawless launch on top of a United Launch Alliance […]
The private Peregrine moon lander is hardly leaking any more, but it’s still on track to hit Earth, its builder said Monday (Jan. 15). Peregrine was supposed to soft-land on the moon next month, according to its builder Astrobotic, but things didn’t go to plan after its launch on top of a United Launch Alliance […]