:focal(800x602:801x603)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/d5/3a/d53a112f-4fbe-47b4-9559-4feabcddb561/stsci-01ezcvr2p2tqddmsrmscfxgh90_web.jpg)
Researchers want to send a spacecraft near Jupiter to join up with a chunk of rock and ice as it’s flung toward the sun
:focal(1000x752:1001x753)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b5/5d/b55dd4ed-d886-4715-8258-fdcfdfad149a/mars-mobile.jpg)
A hostile landscape. Cramped quarters. Dehydrated food. A photographer takes part in an attempt to live on another planet
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/22/66/2266d549-a456-4351-bb43-d33aa8ff2dea/oct2021_d01_asksmithsonian.jpg)
You've got questions. We've got experts
:focal(2106x1751:2107x1752)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/29/ff/29ffdb0a-21c3-4330-b46e-e5f4585848db/lenghu_observatory_licai_deng.jpg)
A team in China has identified a location that could give the Eastern Hemisphere its first major observatory
:focal(1765x1062:1766x1063)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/9d/96/9d967504-8d41-4faf-bcfd-332219c541e5/mar2021_e01_asksmithsonian.jpg)
:focal(742x314:743x315)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/80/f9/80f92edf-0756-4882-9e29-2c13e4c7f555/pia23492_2_msr_b_mars_2020_with_tubes_on_surface_web_social.jpg)
The decade-long mission requires dozens of glass tubes, two rovers and three more rocket launches, including the first from another planet
:focal(908x222:909x223)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/9e/3a/9e3ad7e3-1df7-4331-b18c-28ec8e2329a6/helicopter_landing_composite_social.jpg)
If the craft succeeds, it will provide crucial information for exploring the other planets by air
:focal(605x314:606x315)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/64/63/6463ed21-627c-4455-a0f0-92045e13a2ed/1-pia23764-rovernameplateonmars_social.jpg)
Space agencies are launching new missions outfitted with revolutionary technologies, including the Perseverance rover, to learn more about the Red Planet
:focal(611x405:612x406)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/06/69/0669ee57-941b-4c6c-830b-53cfc94dce96/09_touchdown_10k_social.jpg)
Experts describe how they plan to land the rover, what could go wrong and what they hope to learn
:focal(427x557:428x558)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/95/05/9505b42a-5790-4783-83d2-31be88750fe0/32n_fm2021_liliumj006airtaxi_live.jpg)
For future trips from Orlando to Tampa, consider the high road
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/4c/cd/4ccd4d06-3f37-4c93-8978-501ef596cc1c/alien-life-1600x600.jpg)
Astronomers have more places to look for signs of intelligent life and more advanced tools to find it
:focal(240x163:241x164)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/5a/06/5a066e76-d4ea-4b97-a845-7a4e57aa2754/illustration-spacecraft-uranus-800x600.png)
NASA scientists imagined some innovative technologies that could enhance a future mission to Uranus or Neptune
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/video/preview_image_mxaoQn4Q_3c8b71b331f6ac45fefdf369e8599ac8.jpeg)
Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon
After the success of Apollo 11, NASA unveiled an ambitious agenda for more missions into space, but interest among the public was beginning to decline
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1f/13/1f13a427-da98-4933-915a-b9a971bea4b1/screen_shot_2019-07-19_at_100143_am.png)
Humans have walked on the moon six times, and robotic probes have been touching down on the lunar surface for decades—but there is still much to explore
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/56/25/562504ec-3bd8-49c6-b2ee-c4ed046e6410/apollo11-main-thumb.jpg)
Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon
A collection of stories to celebrate the semicentennial of the Apollo 11 mission
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/61/e6/61e63cf9-f289-4b5e-8eff-ced34e35022e/apollo8.jpg)
The unforgettable, 99.9 percent perfect, December moon mission marked the end of a tumultuous year
:focal(520x457:521x458)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/82/14/8214a064-7052-42b6-8fd9-ecba7e6768dc/pspsoluri_is4a0285.jpg)
The probe, which launches Sunday, will attempt to solve enduring mysteries about the sun
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/78/44/7844dbcf-a962-4f41-85cf-105c0b82ddc4/iss056e012405.jpg)
What can terrestrial travelers learn from people who have been to space?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/46/9e/469e0cd2-8ded-47b2-825a-63e293072c47/space_debris_1.jpg)
A team of scientists and policy experts want to develop space sustainably for future generations
Page 2 of 4
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/video/preview_image_Tc31cWbV-kE_lUugMldo3a-xbj6bAWjoUwrrZQw.jpg)