Space

Can this little thing really ride hurricane winds?

How Swarming Drones Can Explore a Hurricane

A University of Florida engineer is building a squadron of hand-sized drones that he says will be able to gather data as they ride on hurricane winds

Water may have come to earth by way of comets and asteroids.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Did Water Come to Earth?

It took an out-of-this-world arrival to get that perfect chemical combination for water to fill our planet

Lisa Randall is the first female theoretical physicist tenured at Harvard.

Lisa Randall’s Guide to the Galaxy

The famed cosmologist unveils her latest theories on the invisible universe, extra dimensions and human consciousness

As part of the Star Songs project, X-ray emissions from the EX Hydrae system (above, near center)—in which one star pulls matter from its partner—are converted into music.

How to Convert X-Rays From A Distant Star into Blues, Jazz and Classical Music

A vision-impaired scientist, her coworker, and a composer team up to transform light bursts from stars into rhythms and melodies

Your Ticket to the Universe, a new book by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Kimberly Arcane and Megan Watzke, features arresting images of the cosmos captured by the Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes.

Look Up! Venus, Jupiter and Mercury Conjoin this Evening

Kimberly Arcand and Megan Watzke, authors of "Your Ticket to the Universe," point out a few wonders of the cosmos

Much about lightning remains a mystery.

8 Things We’ve Learned Lately About Thunder and Lightning

Such as, storms can make your head hurt. And we should expect more turbulence on transatlantic flights

Ride aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983

How Astronaut Sally Ride Opened Science’s Doors to Women

A panel discusses the first American woman in space's lasting legacy and the challenges still to be overcome for gender equality in the sciences

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Earth & Sky Photo Contest Winners 2013

These award-winning photos, chosen from submissions by photographers in 45 countries, reveal the natural beauty of the night sky

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Buzz Aldrin on Why We Should Go to Mars

The Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon dreams of a future where Americans are the first to walk on Mars

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The Water On the Moon Probably Came From Earth

New isotopic analysis of hydrogen in Apollo-era Moon rocks shows that the water locked inside them hails from our planet

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10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year

With each new frontier of exploration and travel came new challenges.

Lost in Space and Other Tales of Exploration and Navigation

A new exhibit at the Air and Space Museum reveals how we use time and space to get around every day, from maritime exploration to Google maps

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Robot Cars and R2D2s: Snapshots from Behind-the-Scenes of new “Time and Navigation” exhibit

From sea to space and back again, the new Air and Space exhibit shows you how we get where we're going

Who’s in the suit? Increasingly, it’s our digital selves.

How to Travel to Outer Space Without Spending Millions of Dollars

Who's in the space suit? Increasingly, it is our digital selves

Astronauts float in zero gravity outside the Challenger space shuttle in 1984.

How IMAX Pulled Spaceflight Down to Earth

The 1985 film that famously revealed the lives of astronauts in zero gravity returns to the big screen

Jupiter’s innermost large moon, Io, is extremely volcanic. “If you look closely on the upper left and upper right horizon, you can see eruptions in the process of happening,” says Benson. “We know that at least 400 volcanos are continuously blasting magma into space from Io.” Mosaic composite photograph. Galileo, July 3, 1999.

Michael Benson’s Awe-Inspiring Views of the Solar System

A photographer painstakingly pieces together raw data collected by spacecraft to produce color-perfect images of the Sun, planets and their many moons

Outer space does have borders, but scientists are not yet sure exactly where they are.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Far Can Voyager I Go?

The spacecraft will run out of power around 2025, but where will it travel to first?

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What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

Photographer Thierry Cohen tries to reconnect city dwellers with nature through his mind-blowing composite images—now at New York City's Danziger Gallery

A team of scientists has recovered pieces of a rocket engine that launched Apollo astronauts to outer space.

Apollo Rocket Engines Pulled From Sea — But Where Will They Land?

Scientists retrieved pieces of rocket engines that may have launched the first man to the moon. Will any of them end up at the Air and Space Museum?

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UPDATED: Has the Voyager 1 Probe Finally Left the Solar System?

New data indicate the spacecraft, launched in 1977, has neared interstellar space, more than 11 billion miles away from the Sun

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