NASA’s done a good job getting us into space, but should it work harder on convincing people why that’s a good idea? NASA photo Chances are you’ll recognize the phrase, “To boldly go,” as part of the monologue introducing each episode of Star Trek . I’ve heard it called the most famous split infinitive in the English language, and whatever a person’s science knowledge or familiarity with Star Trek , they’ll usually recognize “To boldly go — where...

In this artist’s illustration, an orbiter works together with blimps and rovers to explore an unfamiliar landscape. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory photo Wolfgang Fink has a dream straight out of science fiction: Instead of sending a paltry robot or two to distant planets, scientists should send multiple expendable robots. Robots that can talk to one another and adapt to unexpected events. Robots that can think. Creepy as that might sound to some,...

Three days ago, Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds wrote his first in what will be a series of blogs about meteorites and meteorite collecting . While we talked with Mike about that first piece, we learned that he was going to attend the Ares I-X launch . In this entry, he shares what it was like to witness Wednesday’s successful test flight. Mike also took photos of the event, and we'll post those with this entry soon. Ares I-X lifted off from...

Smartbean lists images from the Hubble Space Telescope like this one of the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) as a reason kids will love astronomy. NASA photo Cultivating children’s interest in astronomy is a goal for professional scientists, planetarium directors, schoolteachers, and astronomy clubs alike. So it’s nice to see when parents are encouraged to get involved in astronomy with their kids. In a recently published article, SmartBean is doing just that...

Astronomy Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds presented a talk at the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show about meteorite collecting. During the talk he passed around some great examples. Reynolds is going to share his expertise about meteorites periodically with Astronomy.com blog readers. While chatting with Astronomy magazine Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds the other day, he proposed a (roughly) monthly series that focuses on meteorites....

Stewart David Nozette, later arrested by the FBI for attempted espionage, worked on the LRO’s Mini-RF hardware. NASA Phot o We here at Astronomy magazine try to stay out of politics as much as we can because, after all, astronomy can be plenty controversial on its own — Pluto , anyone?. But sometimes, we just can’t help it. Take, for instance, the case of Stewart David Nozette (pictured at right), the former NASA scientist who was arrested October...

Like Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), renowned Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) had blue eyes, according to genetic tests that identified his remains. This paints a much different picture than the ones I grew up with. Researchers announced the findings last November and published them in July. They suggest that Copernicus most likely had blue eyes, fair skin, and light hair color. In 2005, a team led by Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski...

Official Galilean Nights poster Another International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project kicks off tomorrow night around the globe. The goal of Galilean Nights , October 22-24, is to allow hundreds of thousands of people all around the world to experience their own “Galileo moment” when they look up at the sky through a telescope for the first time. Currently there are more than 1,000 public observing events in more than 70 countries to help...

STS-125 astronauts Mike Massimino (lower left) and Mike Good (right, on arm) rehearse Hubble Space Telescope repairs in NASA’s NBL in this IMAX footage from Hubble 3D . NASA photo Toni Myers is my kind of big-time Hollywood director. She’s worked on such famous space-themed IMAX movies as Space Station 3D , Destiny in Space , and 1985’s The Dream is Alive . I remember seeing Dream is Alive when I was just a kid, and it played no small role in my fascination...

This 5-minute exposure shows Stuart Parker’s latest supernova discovery in spiral galaxy PGC 17517. Stuart Parker photo New Zealand amateur astronomer Stuart Parker just sent me an e-mail in which he announced his fourth supernova discovery. Parker routinely surveys numerous galaxies as part of a regular search program. He discovered the magnitude 17.1 object October 18 in PGC 17517, a magnitude 13.6 galaxy in Pictor. PGC is an acronym that designates...