A private effort to land four astronauts on Mars by 2023 may be hard to believe for some, but several state-run media outlets in China are targeting the project with an even harsher terms like “hoax” and “hype.” Doubts have been growing in China about the legitimacy of Mars One, the Netherlands-based nonprofit that seeks to establish a colony on [...]

Sometimes science fiction becomes science fact. Here’s a scenario that, according to academics, may play out in a future time…somewhere or someplace ‘out there’ in the void of space. Charley Lineweaver, a provocative cosmologist with The Australian National University, believes the ”Planet of the Apes Hypothesis” -a theory subscribed to by Carl Sagan and the astronomers involved with the Search for [...]

NASA Curiosity photo shows a mysterious object that looks like a Nazi helmet among the rocks of Mars. The image appears to show a Army helmet Nazi that casts shadow on the rocky surface of Mars. NASA has not yet made ​​any official comment about the ‘discovery’…..

Archivists in California have unearthed vials of moon dust collected from the Apollo 11 mission, hidden within a warehouse at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Each of the 20 vials have handwritten labels on, dated 24 July 1970, and were found inside a vacuum-sealed glass jar on the lab’s campus. Along with the jar was a copy of the paper [...]

New York City seems alien enough to many of its visitors, but imagine how strange it would look if whisked away to another planet. A new art project does just that, transplanting the Big Apple to Mercury, Venus, Mars and our solar system‘s other non-dwarf planets (Pluto was not included). Pittsburgh-based artist Nickolay Lamm composed the amazing NYC illustrations for other [...]

By David Reneke Astronomy provides a fascinating and even downright astonishing view of the universe. I have previously written on unusual or unexpected aspects of astronomy on these pages before. This time I offer 10 more oddities and misconceptions that you may or may not have heard before. Reader feedback indicates you like them and we’ll have more as time [...]

By Wesley Fenlon Every discussion of a manned mission to Mars inevitably touches on the practicality of a one-way, no-comin’-back trip. Sending a lone astronaut, or a small team, on a trip to a planet roughly 50 million miles away (when the orbits of Earth and Mars are relatively aligned) becomes much more viable when you don’t have the carry [...]

The Sun emitted its strongest solar flare so far this year today, causing a temporary radio blackout – and a bevvy of cameras have captured it.It’s gearing up to be a big solar max. On May 12 the first in a series of flares lept from the sun, to be followed 24 hours later by the most powerful blast this [...]

Video credit: Chris Hadfield Submitted by Loganinkosovo International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield was already becoming an Internet sensation with his 770,000 Twitter followers and videos of him strumming a guitar and cooking spinach in space. But now the Canadian astronaut has topped those short performances with a competently-sung rendition of David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity.” The performance of the [...]

NASA will join journalist Maria Shriver, tennis legend Billie Jean King and Grammy-award winning vocalist Patti Austin in remembering the life of Sally Ride, the United States’ first woman in space, at a tribute in the nation’s capital this month. The special evening event, entitled “Sally Ride: A Lifetime of Accomplishment, A Champion of Science Literacy” will be held Monday, [...]