Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
Terraforming the thin atmosphere, toxic dust, extreme cold, and lack of magnetic field is infeasible, given limitations to the size of what can be sent to Mars. NASA and SpaceX are instead exploring creating underground shelters.
In 1961, aboard Vostok 1, the pilot orbited the Earth once for 108 minutes. On his return, he parachuted out of his capsule and landed in a field near present-day Space Conquerors Park, south of Moscow.
In November 2023, Voyager 1 began sending unusable data due to a stuck bit in a decades-old memory chip. After months of investigation, engineers managed to reroute the faulty code to a new memory location, restoring functionality in April 2024.
NASA's annual budget consists mainly of human spaceflight activities (50%) and robotics and scientific research programs (30%). It peaked at almost $70B in 1964, but has been less than $30B since 1995, coming from discretionary non-defense funds.
The ECCO project used thousands of satellites and ocean sensors to track and display hundreds of ocean currents in a single map. These currents include the Gulf Stream and the Agulhas current off the east coast of Africa.
The retirement of the International Space Station in 2030 has led NASA to refocus its efforts on continuing microgravity research through private partnerships, including the support of multiple commercial space stations' design and development.
This interactive timeline chronicles the Space Race from its Cold War origins to the Moon landing, highlighting key figures, pivotal moments, and rapid technological advancements. It combines archival photos, video, and links to related material.
This 3D solar system visualization displays the positions of known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies. Major asteroids include additional details, including orbital trajectories and discovery dates.
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators use a thermocouple—two plates of different metals joined at two junctions to make a closed circuit. When heating one junction while keeping the other cool, a voltage and an electric current are created.
Space shuttles delivered storage carriers, docking compartments, airlocks, solar arrays, and labs, which were assembled in low Earth orbit. The station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, alongside maneuvering spacewalkers, has assisted with this assembly since its installation in 2001.
The Apollo Program aspires to return humans to the moon—and to build humanity's first permanent habitat on its surface. The project involves complex construction plans, including creating roads from moon dust, baking bricks to build habitats, and more.
Since our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed scientific knowledge and new technologies to expand the boundaries of our understanding of the natural world. From quantum computing and microplastics to artificial intelligence and memory, explore these topics and more with our concise yet informative overviews and expert-curated resources.