Museum of Science and Industry

Catch any of the Mars rover Curiosity’s landing over the past few weeks? Did you wonder why there were jars of peanuts all over mission control? You may not believe it, but our very own NASA has a whole list of traditions that they like to follow when launching things into space. From peanuts to

For the past eight months, the Mars Science Laboratory has been hurtling through outer space carrying a very “curious” passenger. Part chemist, part geologist, part meteorologist, the large six-wheeled Curiosity Rover is the newest in

Last year, in the grand tradition of families around the globe, NASA was given two spy satellite hand-me-downs from the National Reconnaissance Office. Never launched into orbit, these satellites' Hubble-rivaling optics had been peering into nothing but the dark recesses of their upstate New York storage facility. In the year since NRO offered them up,...

After a few delays, the launch of the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station is scheduled for 3:55 a.m. CDT tomorrow morning. This mission is designed to verify that the Dragon capsule, built by the private firm SpaceX, can interface with the docking systems of the ISS in a safe and reliable way, and that the capsule is up to the task of maneuvering in

I’ve always suspected that the sun was up to something. Have you ever noticed that you can’t look directly at it? It hurts. Which means that it can get away with whatever it wants! For now. Soon we’ll be able to see what that sneaky old star is up to, thanks to a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency launching in 2017.

The mission will send a Solar Orbiter,...