MARS · GEOLOGY
Mars and water: reading the past in rocks
There are signs that water once left its mark on Mars. How do scientists recognise them?
READ THE STORY ↗EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Explore planets, moons, dwarf planets and the Sun.
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MOONS, DWARF PLANETS AND THE SUN
Discover the diverse worlds of our Solar System.
MISSION CONTROL
STORIES FROM THE COSMOS
Discover stories, missions and the wonders of the universe.
Featured
JUPITER · OCEAN WORLDS
Europa: why look for an ocean beneath the ice?
An ice-covered moon may hide one of the Solar System’s most intriguing environments.
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ASTRONOMY · OBSERVING
The Moon’s phases: a story of light and perspective
From a thin crescent to a full disc, the Moon changes its appearance, not its shape. The explanation lies in the positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon.
READ THE STORY ↗Space & Astronomy
SOLAR SYSTEM · RESEARCH
Planet Nine: a possibility yet to be tested
Could an undiscovered planet lie beyond Neptune? That question is at the heart of the Planet Nine, or Planet X, hypothesis.
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COSMOLOGY · UNIVERSE
What do we know about the universe before the Big Bang?
The universe has expanded from an early hot, dense state. What happened in still earlier phases remains an open question.
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MILKY WAY · ASTRONOMY
What is a galactic year? The Sun’s journey around the Milky Way
Earth orbits the Sun, but the Sun moves too: together with the Solar System, it travels around the centre of our galaxy.
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ASTEROIDS · MISSIONS
Bennu: asteroid samples returned to Earth
OSIRIS-REx returned material collected directly from asteroid Bennu, giving scientists a record of the early Solar System.
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UNIVERSE · RESEARCH
Dyson spheres: how do scientists search for possible technosignatures?
Could a technological civilisation leave observable traces? Technosignatures are signals that scientists study to explore this question.
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ISS · LIFE IN SPACE
Pens and pencils in space: the story behind the myth
How do you write when objects and particles float? The answer is more interesting than the familiar story about the space pen.
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SPACE ENVIRONMENT · SATELLITES
The EchoStar-7 penalty and the problem of orbital debris
In 2023 the US Federal Communications Commission concluded a case involving an end-of-life satellite. It illustrates why managing orbits matters.
READ THE STORY ↗Missions
MISSIONS · TITAN
Dragonfly and Ingenuity: two ways to explore distant worlds
Controlled flight on another world opens new possibilities for exploration. Ingenuity flew on Mars; Dragonfly is designed to study Titan.
READ THE STORY ↗ASTEROIDS · MISSIONS
↗Psyche: the metal-rich asteroid NASA plans to explore
MOON · MISSIONS
↗Artemis II: the four astronauts who flew around the Moon
RESEARCH · MICROGRAVITY
↗Medicine in space: what Varda’s W-1 mission demonstrated
MISSIONS · VOYAGER
↗Voyager 2: how NASA restored contact in 2023
PLANETARY DEFENCE · ASTEROIDS
↗DART and Dimorphos: the first asteroid-deflection test
MOON · MISSIONS
↗Chandrayaan-3: Vikram and Pragyan in the lunar polar region
Space agencies
NASASPACE AGENCY
ISS · MISSIONS
The ISS’s future: preparing for a controlled re-entry
ESASPACE AGENCY
UNIVERSE · TELESCOPES
Euclid: mapping the universe to study the dark cosmos
CNSASPACE AGENCY
MOON · MISSIONS
Chang’e 6: the first samples from the Moon’s far side
RoscosmosSPACE AGENCY
HISTORY · HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT