SUNSET: 
NASA Keeps Focus on Mars
NASA announced this week that its next Discovery mission will follow Curiosity to the Red Planet, but the project — named InSight — has a much different assignment than the rover’s.
Curiosity Zaps Its First Martian Rock
A rapid-fire burst of 30 laser pulses from the rover's ChemCam instrument created an incandescent hotspot on a fist-sized rock about 10 feet away.
Mount Sharp or Aeolis Mons?
Scientists associated with the Curiosity mission have two names for the towering peak inside Gale crater. SkyandTelescope.com readers told us which one they liked best.
Curiosity's Name Game
Scientists associated with the Curiosity mission have two names for the towering peak inside Gale crater. Sky & Telescope wants to know: Which name do you prefer?
Watch Curiosity Descend onto Mars
See through Curiosity's eyes as it descends to the surface of the Red Planet.
Orbiter Spies Curiosity's "Crime Scene"
As seen from orbit, Curiosity is surrounded by wrecked pieces of the capsule that accompanied it to the floor of Gale crater.
Messenger Hits Eighth Birthday
NASA's emissary to Mercury just celebrated the eighth anniversary of its launch from Cape Canaveral in 2004. Here's a recap of some of the stuff we've learned about Mercury since Messenger arrived at the Iron Planet.
Curiosity Lands in Gale Crater
After a perilous and complicated descent to the Red Planet's surface, Curiosity has radioed "A-OK" to an anxious mission team waiting back on Earth.
Martian Landings, Then and Now
Curiosity is the latest in a string of Martian landers (and landing attempts) that stretches back more than 40 years.
What Happened to the Flags On The Moon?
It's a question that still gets asked: "Can you see the six flags left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts?" The surprising answer is "Yes".
Do-It-Yourself Space Science
A California startup seeks to democratize space research by putting a tiny, custom-built satellite into orbit — and letting the public decide how to use it.
Pluto's Moons: Five and Counting
When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reaches Pluto in three years, it'll have one more object to check out: a tiny fifth moon discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Waves Might Heat Solar Atmosphere
Astronomers are working to unravel the mystery of the Sun's superhot corona, but new work implicating magnetic waves isn't the final word on the matter.
Titan's Latest Twist: A Hidden Ocean
Saturn's biggest moon already boasts a dense atmosphere, vast dune fields, and lakes full of hydrocarbons. Now scientists have evidence for a deep ocean beneath its icy crust.
B612 Debuts Its Asteroid-Seeking Sentinel
Astronomers warn that it's not a question of "if" Earth will be hit by an asteroid, but "when." If a private group of space veterans has its way, a Sun-orbiting spacecraft will find threatening objects decades before they can strike us.
Titan's Tropical "Oases"
With a surface temperature hundreds of degrees below zero, Saturn's biggest moon is hardly a vacation paradise. But new Cassini results suggest that future visitors might be able to splash around in some liquid-methane lakes near Titan's equator.
NASA’s New Spy Scopes
Out of the blue, NASA finds itself the new owner of two new Hubble-class space telescopes sitting in a warehouse, courtesy of a spy agency that didn't want them. But like many gifts, they aren't exactly free.
GALEX Gets New Lease on Life
NASA decided to shut down its Galaxy Evolution Explorer in Februrary. But now Caltech has stepped in with private funding to keep the mission going.
Dawn Confirms Vesta's Link to Meteorites
Spectral mapping by NASA's Dawn spacecraft has confirmed what planetary scientists have suspected for decades: hundreds of meteorites on Earth are rocks blasted from the surface of the second-largest asteroid.
Streaking Snowballs in Saturn's F Ring
Self-destructing clumps of ice particles are changing the face of Saturn's bizarre F ring. No longer unseen ghosts, these theoretically predicted objects are putting on quite a show for NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
