Astronomy
The study of the universe and space, including planets, the solar system and comets
The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers*
The legal status and ownership of resources harvested from space are unclear. How does such uncertainty affect our plans to exploit them?
May 01, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Analogy for Space: Aviation or Seafaring?
Is space travel more like aviation or sea faring? It depends on your mission.
April 13, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
A Scientific Dispute
A scientific dust-up, featuring raw data and bare knuckles. Who and what should we believe?
March 27, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Can We Repurpose Space Assets?
A lost Russian communications satellite has the potential to teach us about operations on the Moon.
March 19, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
How the Mars Community Shot Itself in the Foot
Ask for a lot and perhaps get a little. But ask for too much and you may end up with nothing.
March 08, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Weird Water on GJ1214b
Astronomers learn more about a hot, watery, exotic "super-Earth."
February 23, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
Cataclysmic Conundrum
Is there a way to determine if the Moon underwent an impact cataclysm 3.9 billion years ago? Samples from an old basin may tell us.
February 13, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Scaling the Universe
The Known Universe is a 21st-century upgrade to our visualization of the sheer size of things.
February 10, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
Moonset in Space
Here's something you can only see in Earth orbit.
February 02, 2012 |
By Tony Reichhardt
Shhh, We’re Hunting Asteroids
DARPA's Space Surveillance Telescope is seeking out potentially Earth-threatening asteroids.
January 27, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
Sunstorm? Been There, Done That
Solar tantrums of 1859, 1921, and 1989.
January 26, 2012 |
By Rebecca Maksel
Mass Map
Scientists offer a mesmerizing visual of the matter that makes up, well, everything.
January 17, 2012 |
By Heather Goss
China’s Long March to the Moon
China plans to send humans to the Moon. Why we should care.
January 14, 2012 |
By Paul D. Spudis
The Second-Moon Theory
Is Earth's moon the product of a big splat as well as a big whack?
January 2012 |
By Damond Benningfield
Annus Horribilis: Space in 2011
A review of the year in space. It's not pretty.
December 27, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Doomed Blob of Gas Headed for Black Hole
Astronomers will get to watch a black hole devour material for the first time, as a gas cloud barrels towards the center of the Milky Way.
December 16, 2011 |
By Heather Goss
The Path of Exploration
The meaning of the word "exploration" changed about a hundred years ago. We should recover its full, original meaning, which included not only discovery but exploitation and wealth creation.
December 14, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
The Latest Destination for Human Spaceflight
Humans to Venus? The latest proposed destination for human space missions illustrates the essential hollowness of the current direction of our civil space program.
December 01, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
Slopes, Streaks and Flows
Dark streaks occur on slopes on both the Moon and Mars, although interpretations about their origins may differ. The Moon offers us some insight into how these features can form on all of the terrestrial planets.
November 17, 2011 |
By Paul D. Spudis
In the Museum: The People’s Observatory
Bringing telescopes where the people are.
November 2011 |
By Rebecca Maksel
