391 Items Tagged

Space Exploration

Latin for “nobody,” Point Nemo—pictured in this map—has a fitting name.

space exploration

The Most Remote Place on Earth Has Space Junk and a Sea Monster

Eerie things happen at Point Nemo.

Frank Jacobs August 8, 2026

Dunbar, West Virginia

Hidden Figures Monument

This campus monument honors Katherine Johnson, who hand-calculated the trajectory for America’s first human spaceflight and safely land Apollo 11 on the moon.

Kourou, French Guiana

The Guiana Space Centre

Europe’s only spaceport is in South America.

Perhaps due to Japan's temperate climate, the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu is more gentle and benevolent than some other sun deities.

space exploration

How Can Myths Help Us Understand the Stars? AO Wants to Know.

Astrophysicist and folklorist Moiya McTier teaches science through storytelling.

Andrew Coletti March 20, 2025

An artist's rendering of NASA's Europa Clipper passing over the ice-covered moon Europa as it orbits Jupiter. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Jupiter in 2030.

How Many Other Oceans Exist in Our Solar System?

Some of the moons orbiting Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus may hide deep saltwater expanses beneath their icy crusts.

Robin George Andrews March 18, 2025

Turns out the Pacific Ocean and Utah desert have a lot in common.

space exploration

How Cold War Spying From Space Connected the Galaxy to Utah

NASA and the private space sector are now turning to technology used for a top-secret 1960s mission.

Danny Robb February 27, 2025

Barstow, California

NASA Goldstone Visitor’s Center

A small space-exploration exhibit hidden in a hotel.

Tukwila, Washington

The Museum of Flight

An extraordinary collection of aircraft and spacecraft on display at the original site of the Boeing Company.

Shrine to Hachikō.

11 Graves of Famous Animals

From spacefaring monkeys to celebrity dogs to Antarctic-exploring cats.

Roxanne Hoorn November 8, 2024

Ithaca, New York

Carl Sagan's Grave

It's common to find the famous science communicator's grave adorned with pale blue marbles.

The Moon now has, essentially, its own time zone, which will allow for precise navigation in the years and decades to come.

space exploration

Moon Time Is a Thing Now—Here's Why It Matters

Physicists recently created Coordinated Lunar Time, a time zone for our Moon.

Rebecca Boyle August 28, 2024

In the SQuARE experiment, archaeologists trained International Space Station astronauts how to document the ISS using standard archaeological methods, including creating square-meter study areas.

On the ISS, Archaeologists Conduct the First 'Space Excavation'

The International Space Station is the first permanent human settlement in space—and the perfect setting to understand how our species might create culture off-planet.

Justin St. P. Walsh and Alice Gorman August 26, 2024

Bethesda, Maryland

Grosvenor Estate Moon Tree

Residing quietly in suburban Maryland, this tree has a star-powered history and was grown from a seed that journeyed to space on Apollo 14.

Monterey's Moon Tree

10 Places That Bring Space Down to Earth

From trees grown from space-seeds to a wheel of cheese that's been to orbit and back, slices of space are everywhere.

Roxanne Hoorn June 21, 2024

space exploration

Podcast: A Rogue Trip with Amir Siraj

Travel with us to the Atacama Desert in search of a unique observatory.

The Podcast Team May 22, 2024

Gila Bend, Arizona

Space Age Lodge and Restaurant

A lingering bit of Space Race nostalgia lies in the middle of the desert.

In March 2024, author and poet Christopher Cokinos joined three other artists in a simulated lunar mission named Imagination 1.

space exploration

A Poet’s Guide to the Moon and Eclipse

Author Christopher Cokinos can’t get enough of the moon.

Jonathan Feakins April 5, 2024

Artist's impression of the Milky Way.

Podcast: Marching Through the Galaxy With Moiya McTier

The award-winning astrophysicist and folklorist takes us on a tour of the Milky Way.

The Podcast Team March 21, 2024