MSNBC Space News

Rocket flies into the aurora

A rocket experiment samples the stuff of the northern lights.

Cosmic hurricane: Black hole has 20 million mph winds

Scientists have measured the fastest winds yet observed from a stellar-mass black hole, shedding light on the behavior of these curious cosmic objects.

See a solar eclipse from outer space

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: A sun-watching NASA satellite sights a partial solar eclipse from space, which serves as a warmup for earthly solar alignments to come.

New breed of steamy alien planet found

Scientists have discovered a new type of alien planet — a steamy waterworld that is larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus.

Rolling rocks hint at strong quakes on Mars

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Geologists see signs that seismic shocks as powerful as magnitude-7 quakes on Earth have rumbled on the Red Planet recently.

Moon's crust hints at recent tectonic activity

the Moon's crust was apparently active far more recently than previously believed, scientists say.

How much would the Death Star cost?

There are plenty of world-ending scenarios to keep us up nights, but the idea that an Earth government will build the Death Star from "Star Wars" isn't really one of them.

Armstrong honors Glenn 50 years after his orbit

John Glenn says being able to speak live with the International Space Station was a "great surprise" as he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his historic spaceflight.

John Glenn's spaceflight risky as 'Russian roulette'

Search continues for secret John Glenn stamp

Fifty years ago today (Feb. 20), John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, relied on ground stations located across the planet to communicate with his control team. But after his Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7, safely splashed down, it was another type of station that took over trackin...