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Moiya McTier finds unique ways to combine her expert knowledge of both folklore and astrophysics.
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.
science

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.
List

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.
science

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

In suburban Maryland, a tree grown from seed flown to the moon stands almost forgotten.
Monterey's Moon Tree
List

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.
science

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
The solar eclipse over Zhengzhou in central China on January 15, 2010.
space exploration

Why the April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse May Blow Your Mind

How a jaw-dropping experience like this one can change the rest of your life.
Sarah Laskow March 11, 2024
Latin for “nobody,” Point Nemo 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 March 8, 2024
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was a test—and a first in the history of aviation
space exploration

Where the Little Helicopter on Mars Fits in the History of Aviation

If the past is any guide, things are going to take off quickly.
Robin George Andrews February 13, 2024