Space, astronomy and planetary science

NASA-JPL director Charles Elachi talks about latest Mars missionCuriosity is the most ambitious planetary rover mission ever, but it’s just one of the many exploratory projects JPL is undertaking.

Explained: Near-miss asteroidsWhat to do in the event of an asteroid streaking toward Earth? Activate the asteroid ‘fire drill.’

Researchers calculate size of particles in Martian clouds of CO2 snowMars’ carbon dioxide ‘snowflakes’ are about the size of red blood cells.

Zuber wins faculty’s Killian AwardPlanetary trailblazer recognized for ‘extraordinary skills and talent.’

A close-up view of MercuryResearchers find the planet may have had a dynamic past.

Marwan Hussein SDM '12: Complexity and Interplanetary Space Systems

X-ray monitoring mission comes to an endThe RXTE satellite retires after 16 years.

Mysterious electron acceleration explainedComputer simulation identifies source of aurora-causing high-speed electrons in space

An element that's rare on Earth is found far, far awayTellurium detected for the first time in ancient stars.

Robots go head to head, 250 miles above EarthThird annual Zero Robotics competition pits robots against each other on the International Space Station.

Battered asteroid may have warm coreNew analysis of Lutetia finds evidence for molten interior.

3 Questions: Greg Chamitoff on the final frontierAlum-astronaut relives some of the highlights of his space shuttle career.

MIT’s TESS project awarded $1 million NASA grant

To the moonMIT-led GRAIL mission to map the lunar gravitational field.

Stellar eclipse gives glimpse of exoplanetNew data reveals a ‘super-Earth’ next door, astronomically speaking

Helping space shuttles achieve liftoffMIT has contributed 27 alumni-astronauts, plenty of earthbound expertise.

3 Questions: Richard Binzel on near-Earth asteroids'2011 MD,' found by a Lincoln Lab team, will pass close to the planet on Monday.

Greetings from spaceAstronaut alumni wish MIT a happy 150th from 200 miles above.

Doc Draper in spaceA letter written by Charles Stark Draper in 1961 hitches a ride on Space Shuttle Endeavour.

New Endeavour for an MIT experimentSpace shuttle propels MIT-led Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.

Exploring explorationFrom deep space to deep sea, two-day symposium examined MIT’s impacts and innovations.

3 Questions: Jeffrey Hoffman on the Space Shuttle at 30Anniversary of the first shuttle flight comes just as it nears retirement, but the vehicle has changed space travel dramatically.

Cold asteroids may have a soft heartPartially molten small bodies may be abundant in space, and may have given the Earth its oceans.

Explained: Transiting exoplanetsHow astronomers learn whether a planet is habitable by observing slight changes in light emanating from its parent star.

And then there was lightAstronomers probe ancient radio waves for clues about the universe’s first light.

Earth’s final growth spurtNASA team suggests that massive projectiles added mass to Earth, Mars and the Moon during final phase of planet formation

The final frontierNow that an Earthlike planet has been discovered, the key to confirming that it can host life will be to study its atmosphere in detail

Learning from hot JupitersBy studying how massive planets may have formed, MIT astrophysicist sets the stage for studying smaller, more Earthlike planets.