Kids News

Two years ago, aerospace manufacturer SpaceX stunned the world by landing its reusable booster engine — the biggest and most costly part of the rocket used to power spacecrafts into low orbit — on an autonomous drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, California-based startup Rocket Lab, has come up with an even bolder idea: using parachutes and helicopters to capture the returning booster, or first stage as it is often called, in midair!...

On Monday, November 11, 2019, stargazers will be treated to an unusual sight: our solar system's smallest planet, Mercury, passing between the Earth and the Sun. The rare event, called a transit, will be the fourth of just 14 transits of Mercury that will occur during the 21st century. The last one took place on May 8, 2016, and the next will not occur until November 13, 2032. However, it will not be visible from North America, which means the continent's residents will have to wait until May 7, 2049, to observe the celestial delight again....

Looking for something spookier than your neighborhood haunted house this Halloween? Then you may want to take a peek at some of the ghostly space images NASA scientists have been able to capture through various missions, like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope....

Mini robots that can roll, fly, float, swim, and even come together to morph into a single machine, may seem like something straight out of a science fiction movie. However, if a team of NASA scientists has its way, the self-assembling Shapeshifter may soon be exploring treacherous distant worlds in search of alien life....

Though Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has ferried seven tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) since 2001, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been opposed to the idea of commercializing the space lab. That changed on June 7, 2019, when the US space agency announced it will soon allow private-sector "astronauts" to spend up to 30 consecutive days aboard the space lab....

Given that even a six month stint at the International Space Station (ISS) causes astronauts to lose bone density and, in some cases, results in visual impairment, researchers have wondered if the human body can withstand a mission to Mars, which could take up to three years. Now, a groundbreaking study involving American twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly has found that while the body undergoes drastic changes when exposed to the weightless environment and space radiation for long durations, it mostly reverts to normal upon returning to Earth. This has led the experts to conclude that astronaut health can be "mostly sustained" for a year in space....

After almost twenty years in space — thirteen of which were spent making extraordinary discoveries about the Saturn system, including its rings and natural satellites — NASA's Cassini spacecraft finally ran out of fuel. However, shortly before plunging into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017, the probe completed one final important mission: six close flybys of tiny moons located inside, or near, Saturn's rings....

Over the years, NASA has successfully deployed several rovers, landers, and orbiters to Mars. While the science laboratories continue to provide invaluable data about the Red Planet, their limited, or zero — as is the case with landers — mobility, restricts the space exploration vehicles to areas close to the original landing site. To obtain a more comprehensive view of Mars, the US Space Agency plans to send a fully-autonomous miniature test helicopter with the Mars 2020 rover, scheduled for launch in July 2020....

Ever since the US shuttle program ended in 2011, astronauts - both American and those from other nations - have been dependent on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to go to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The reliance, which costs NASA $70 million for each trip, is expensive and also leaves astronauts in danger of being stranded in the event of a like the one experienced in October 2018. Now, thanks to SpaceX's successful Crew Dragon test mission, astronauts may soon have an alternate, more affordable, mode of transportation to the ISS....