In orbit, the human body changes in unexpected ways — All astronauts must go through rigorous medical training to prepare for space. They need to know that, say, if a fellow astronaut experiences chest pains on a spaceship en route to Mars, a crew member must ultrasound their heart — which will look oddly spherical compared to a heart on…

50 years after the first moon landing, humans are trying to reach the lunar surface again. They’ll stay longer if astronauts can find and mine water. — The Earth and our moon are made of many of the same ingredients. We know that the moon was likely created out of material from our planet because we share the same isotopes, making us the solar system equivalent of fraternal twins. …

Tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk want human beings to move off-planet, but reproducing away from Earth could be incredibly difficult — The romantic lure of space travel runs deep. It’s difficult not to look up at a sparkling night sky and wonder what it might be like to pass beyond the confines of the Earth. It’s not just science fiction — plans to colonize the moon and Mars are spreading throughout…

How astronomers are tapping the public to name 2007 OR10 — There are many distant objects that orbit beyond Neptune — the most famous of which, of course, is Pluto. But far beyond Neptune are numerous dwarf planets that range from Pluto-sized — 4,500 miles across — to even smaller and stranger. …

Space is far from silent, and we can learn a lot if we know how to listen — Like many other planets in the solar system, Mars was once very geologically active. It had massive volcanoes and rivers and lakes of water. It may also have experienced internal quakes — marsquakes. When NASA’s InSight lander touched base on Mars in November 2018, the spacecraft brought with it a…

A new study of astronaut twins — one who spent a record time in orbit, the other who stayed on Earth — offers a clearer understanding of how space travel affects the human body — In 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly journeyed to the International Space Station (ISS), where he spent a year orbiting Earth. It was the longest single stretch of time any American had spent in space and gave scientists an opportunity to study how the body changes while in orbit. …

Here’s how they did it — Of all the enigmatic phenomena in our universe, there’s perhaps one that has captured our attention and imagination the most, even though we had never actually seen one: the black hole. These space objects are so dense that even light cannot escape their grip. Ever since Einstein first proposed their…

Former astronaut Mark Kelly is running for Senate. He may join a small club of astronaut politicians. — Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly recently announced his candidacy for Senate in Arizona, in a 2020 special election for the seat of the late John McCain. Kelly, who is running as a Democrat, released a long list on Monday of Arizona politicians who support his campaign. And if he’s successful…

Scientists are begging NASA to go back to Uranus and Neptune — Until NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft reached Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s, the outer planets were simply fuzzy blobs that could only be viewed through ground-based telescopes. We had no idea what they actually looked like. But when Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Uranus in 1986, the space…