Space

Study Says 40 Billion Planets In Our Galaxy Could Support Life

6:19pm November 05, 2013

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that roughly 1 in 5 stars, like our own sun, have an Earth-like planet orbiting around it. That's about 40 billion planets that could support life in the Milky Way galaxy. Melissa Block talks to co-author Geoff Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California-Berkeley, about the latest numbers.

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This is an artist's illustration of Kepler-62f, a planet in the "habitable zone" of a star that is slightly smaller and cooler than ours. Kepler-62f is roughly 40 percent larger than Earth.

Science

Galaxy Quest: Just How Many Earth-Like Planets Are Out There?

11:36am November 05, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

About 22 percent of sun-like stars in our galaxy may have planets orbiting them that are about the size of Earth and bathed in similar amounts of sunlight, according to a new analysis of data from the Kepler Space Telescope.

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Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has spent a total of six months in space. In his new book, he writes that getting to space took only "8 minutes and 42 seconds. Give or take a few thousand days of training."

Books
Arts

Astronaut Chris Hadfield Brings Lessons From Space Down To Earth

2:30pm October 31, 2013

The former International Space Station commander achieved Internet stardom with his in-space rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." After three missions and a total of six months in space he shares what he's learned in a new book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

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Science

How To See Forever On Your Dirty Car

12:15pm October 29, 2013

by Adam Frank

When you fall in love with science, ordinary, everyday stuff can suddenly seem extraordinary. That's how NPR Blogger and astrophysicist Adam Frank sees it — today he sees it in dust.

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This artist's illustration shows the Voyager 1 space probe. The spacecraft was launched on Sept. 5, 1977, and as of August 2012, it is outside the bubble of hot gas, known as the "heliopause," that radiates from the sun.

Science

See Ya, Voyager: Probe Has Finally Entered Interstellar Space

9:34pm September 12, 2013

by Richard Harris

"This is the real deal. Voyager 1 has finally reached interstellar space; the first time a spacecraft has been in the space between the stars," says one project scientist. Launched in 1977, the probe has been surveying the solar system.

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This image highlights the outer atmosphere of the sun, called the corona, as well as hot flare plasma. Hot active regions, solar flares and coronal mass ejections appear bright here. The dark areas, called coronal holes, are places where very little radia

Science

Coronal Holes: The (Rarely Round) Gaps In The Sun's Atmosphere

5:21pm September 10, 2013

by Joe Palca

Scientists aren't sure exactly why holes form in the hot and glowing outermost layer of gas surrounding the sun. But one theory is that the dark blotches we see on images of the sun could be the remnants of the (relatively) cool splotches called sunspots.

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Science

Physicists Find New Particle, Look for Answers

10:42am August 23, 2013

Researchers say that they've discovered a new subatomic particle - one that appears to contain four quarks bound together. Physicist Sean M. Carroll describes the significance of the find, and talks about the ongoing effort in physics to explain why the universe is the way it is.

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This NASA diagram shows the two Voyager spacecraft inside the magnetic bubble around the sun. But Marc Swisdak believes it's already crossed the heliopause into interstellar space.

Has Voyager 1 Left The Solar System?

2:52pm August 19, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

For the past decade or so, scientists have been waiting for the Voyager 1 spacecraft to cross into deep space. New research suggests it already has — over a year ago.

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Science

Black Holes One Of Space's Great Paradoxes

5:48pm August 07, 2013

by Joe Palca

Late summer tends to be a slow month for news. But at All Things Considered, we put on a two hour program, no matter what. So — without a trace of irony — one of our science correspondents offered to help fill some holes in the show with a series of stories about holes. In this edition: Black holes.

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The moon, seen from the International Space Station, on July 31.

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Lunar Park For The U.S.?

6:50pm July 20, 2013

by NPR Staff

Two members of Congress want to preserve artifacts from American lunar missions with a national park on the moon, but there are some international hurdles to jump. Still, Space Policy Institute director Dr. Scott Pace says the bill raises intriguing questions about what the future of human-space interaction will look like.

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