Crosby Beach, Liverpool, England: The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, glow on the horizon at Another Place by Anthony Gormley. Peter Byrne /PA Images/Getty Images hide caption
Space NPR coverage of space exploration, space shuttle missions, news from NASA, private space exploration, satellite technology, and new discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics.
Space
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a strong solar flare on May 8, 2024. The Wednesday solar flares kicked off the geomagnetic storm happening this weekend. NASA/SDO hide caption
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of solar flares early Saturday afternoon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there have been measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm. Solar Dynamics Observatory hide caption
The huge solar storm is keeping power grid and satellite operators on edge
Venus and Earth used to look like 'twin' planets. What happened?
Photographers capture the Boeing Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket as it is rolled out to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Terry Renna/AP hide caption
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the space agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Elizabeth Gillis/NPR hide caption
NASA's chief is worried about China getting back to the moon first. Here's why
Actor Mark Hamill, wearing a pair of aviator shades he said he got from President Biden, makes a surprise appearance in the White House daily press briefing on May 3. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
Deer are expanding north. That could hurt some species like boreal caribou
This illustration shows the Milky Way, our home galaxy. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
The mysterious 'Great Attractor' pulling the Milky Way galaxy off course
A Long March rocket carrying a crew of Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou-18 spaceship lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on Thursday. Andy Wong/AP hide caption
Ed Dwight poses for a portrait in February to promote the National Geographic documentary film The Space Race during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP hide caption
In March 2021, mission controllers in Houston used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release an external pallet packed with old nickel-hydrogen batteries from the International Space Station. Three years later, part of that assembly struck a house in Naples, Fla. NASA hide caption
Members of the Voyager team celebrate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory after receiving data about the health and status of Voyager 1 for the first time in months. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
A Leonid fireball is shown during the storm of 1966 in the sky above Wrightwood, Calif. NASA/Getty Images hide caption
COMIC: Our sun was born with thousands of other stars. Where did they all go?
An artist's rendering shows the T Coronae Borealis star system, which contains a white dwarf and a red giant. Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA hide caption
A new lunar time zone has been pitched for the moon. John Raoux/AP hide caption
NASA has been asked to create a time zone for the moon. Here's how it would work
Junior Espejo looks through eclipse glasses being handed out by NASA in Houlton, Maine. Used correctly, eclipse glasses prevent eye damage. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
People visit a NASA information booth to grab solar eclipse glasses in Russellville, Arkansas. The space agency has debunked a number of myths about the total solar eclipse — including ideas about food going bad, or unborn babies being harmed. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
Amos Yew, right, uses a lens on an iPhone to record video in the first stages of the total solar eclipse Monday August 21, 2017 in Madras, Oregon. AFP Contributor/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Hundreds of balloons are being launched into the path of the eclipse as part of a program to educate students. Meredith Rizzo for NPR hide caption
A person uses a pair of binoculars to watch the moon pass infront of the Earth's star marking a total eclipse in Vigo, northwestern Spain on March 20, 2015. MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Storms moving across the United States will make it hard for eclipse chasers to get a clear view of totality — the moment when the moon fully blocks the sun, creating a brilliant crown-like effect. Mark Humphrey/AP hide caption
Pinhole shadows show crescent shapes in 2019 as the moon moves in front of the sun — one of several unique phenomena we can see during a solar eclipse. Louis Kwok /AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A group of children don eclipse glasses to watch the 2017 solar eclipse at Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption