Solar system

Despite an eye-watering price tag, bringing pieces of Mars back to Earth promises to revolutionize our understanding of life’s place in the early solar system

China’s Chang’e 6 mission has successfully returned samples from the moon’s far side, opening a new phase of the nation’s lunar space race with the U.S.

NASA’s head of heliophysics explains how we weathered the worst solar storm of a generation—and discusses the challenges we face in preparing for the next one

The massive sunspot region that gave Earthlings stunning auroral displays earlier in May is back from its trip around the far side of the sun

Instruments may fail, but humanity’s most distant sentinel will keep exploring, and inspiring us all

A new theory tested on Apollo-era data suggests that high-speed moon dust could pose engineering hazards—and diplomatic headaches

A supernova showering Earth with radioactive debris is a surprisingly common cosmic occurrence

The radioactive unit will help to deliver Europe’s first Mars rover to the planet’s surface

Years of careful planning helped safeguard against last weekend’s severe space weather, but we still don’t know how we’d cope with a monster event

Veteran spacefarer Don Pettit is set to launch this summer on a half-year mission to the International Space Station to perform novel science experiments, snap unique orbital photos, and much more

The same massive sunspot cluster that gave Earth multiple nights of stunning aurora displays has now produced the largest flare of the current solar cycle

An exploding star is a catastrophe on a cosmic scale, but here on Earth we’re safe from such astral disasters—for now