In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, the US military launched a ring of 480million needles into orbit around the earth. It was hoped they would more reliably bounce radio signals back to earth in case the Soviets cut through undersea cables. Multiple clumps of these needles are still up there.
The drop in temperature from Jupiter’s shadow demolishes…
The drop in temperature from Jupiter’s shadow demolishes its moon Io’s atmosphere, which then rebuilds once the shadow passes.
Scientists have recently discovered repeating radio…
Scientists have recently discovered repeating radio signals coming from a mysterious source well beyond the Milky Way. While one-off fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been detected in the past, this is the first time multiple signals have been detected coming from the same place in space.
If you fly through an “asteroid belt”, you’re…
If you fly through an “asteroid belt”, you’re probably not gonna see a single asteroid.
Fifty-five years ago today, astronaut…
Fifty-five years ago today, astronaut Yuri Gagarin made history, when he got into Soviet Vostok 1 spaceship capsule and launched into space. Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Reports praised Gagarin for his perfect flight, but in fact he didn’t pilot the Vostok capsule. Psychologists working with the Soviet Space Program were worried […]
In 1993, an American company proposed to build a giant advertising…
In 1993, the American company Space Marketing Inc. proposed to build a giant advertising billboard in outer space that would appear roughly the same size and brightness as the moon. The project didn’t meet funding and inspired a bill to ban all advertisement in outer space.
Astronauts in the Apollo program reported seeing…
Astronauts in the Apollo program reported seeing “streaks” of white light every 3 minutes, even when they closed their eyes.
If an astronaut “loses it” in space, part…
If an astronaut “loses it” in space, part of the protocol is to restrain them with duck tape.
The Minnesota Vikings are building a stadium…
The Minnesota Vikings are building a stadium that costs more than sending a space probe to Pluto.
The light of galaxies greater than 14.7 billion light years away…
The light of galaxies greater than 14.7 billion light years away will never reach us, because those parts of the universe are receding away from us at faster than light speed.