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While some question whether Virgin Galactic’s latest SpaceShipTwo test flight actually went into space, a number of government officials and industry organizations have few doubts that it did.

A new video gives a bird’s-eye view of the ancient lake bed that NASA’s next Mars rover will scour for signs of long-dead life.

While some question whether Virgin Galactic’s latest SpaceShipTwo test flight actually went into space, a number of government officials and industry organizations have few doubts that it did.

These are the first-ever seismic recordings of a meteor impact on ice in Greenland.

These are the first-ever seismic recordings of a meteor impact on ice in Greenland.

On Dec. 16, 1962, NASA launched the Explorer 16 spacecraft to study micrometeoroids near Earth. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

A Rocket Lab Electron booster lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula early this morning (Dec. 16), successfully delivering 13 tiny satellites to orbit for NASA.

In mid-December 2018, the 2018 Geminid meteor shower peaked in what was the best meteor shower of the year. See amazing photos of the 2018 Geminids in our photo gallery here.

A NASA spacecraft originally built as part of the previous effort to return humans to the moon is now playing a key role in the new effort at human lunar return, including aiding commercial landers.

Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin directed Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, to lead a study team and come up with recommendations for the “implementation of the Space Development Agency.”

With a first flight to the edge of space under the company’s belt, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson believes commercial flights of SpaceShipTwo could begin some time next year.

Japan’s pioneering Hayabusa2 asteroid hoppers have gotten new names.

Rosetta’s comet sent a magnetic shock wave screaming out in front of it, blazing a trail through the stellar wind. And scientists just found it.

You can expect a ghostly green blob to grow brighter in the sky near Orion in the coming days, as Comet 46P/Wirtanen makes its closest approach to the Earth in 20 years this weekend.

On Dec. 15, 1612, the Andromeda galaxy was seen through a telescope for the first time by a German astronomer named Simon Marius. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

The U.S. Mint has struck its initial coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.

We get to see lots more of Spock in the new full-length trailer for “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 2 plus, we learn a little more about the so-called “red angel.”

On Dec. 14, 1962, NASA’s Mariner 2 spacecraft flew by Venus. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

On Dec. 14, 1962, NASA’s Mariner 2 spacecraft flew by Venus. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

On Dec. 14, 1962, NASA’s Mariner 2 spacecraft flew by Venus. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

Call it a cosmic coincidence: Two probes launched four decades apart, traveled in opposite directions — and ended up using similar instruments to gather milestone data on precisely the same day.

Call it a cosmic coincidence: Two probes launched four decades apart, traveled in opposite directions — and ended up using similar instruments to gather milestone data on precisely the same day.

Call it a cosmic coincidence: Two probes launched four decades apart, traveled in opposite directions — and ended up using similar instruments to gather milestone data on precisely the same day.

For the first split second after the Big Bang, the universe was nothing but an extremely hot “soup” of quarks and gluons — subatomic particles that would become the building blocks of protons and neutrons.

A gaseous alien world is evaporating at a record rate, shedding considerable light on an exoplanet mystery, a new study reports.

The moon lights the way to the Red Planet tonight (Dec. 14) as the two objects make a close approach to each other in the evening sky.

The Geminid meteor shower has already peaked — but you still have time to try to catch sight of what will likely be the best meteor shower of the year.

Virgin Galactic just brought human spaceflight back to American soil after a seven-year hiatus — and other private companies are poised to make some giant leaps of their own.

The Parker Solar Probe is doing well after its first flyby of the sun, and it will soon begin returning groundbreaking data about how our star behaves.

The 2018 Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight tonight (Dec. 13) and Google is celebrating the celestial light show with a Google Doodle that is simply adorable.

Virgin Galactic is conducting the fourth powered test flight of its SpaceShipTwo Unity today and chronicling the attempt – its highest and fastest test flight yet – on Twitter. Check out the awesome updates here. It might even reach space!

For the first time ever, Virgin Galactic has reached space — by one definition, anyway.

Virgin Galactic conducted its fourth powered test flight of the SpaceShipTwo Unity on Dec. 13, 2018, marking the first time the ship reached space, and the photos are incredible. See photos from the test flight here.

Virgin Galactic is conducting the fourth powered test flight of its SpaceShipTwo Unity today and chronicling the attempt – its highest and fastest test flight yet – on Twitter. Check out the awesome updates here. It might even reach space!

A black dwarf is all that is left after a white dwarf star burns off all of its heat, but retains its mass.

Richard Branson, through his company Virgin Galactic, plans to offer flights into space for paying customers by 2015.

Watch the vehicles separate, the engine blaze and the horizon spin in dramatic in-flight video taken from today’s (Dec. 13) flight of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity.

Watch the vehicles separate, the engine blaze and the horizon spin in dramatic in-flight video taken from today’s (Dec. 13) flight of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks the night of Dec. 13-14. This guide tells you the best times and places to see these shooting stars (no equipment necessary).

On Dec. 13, 2012, a Chinese spacecraft flew by the asteroid Toutatis. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

The Geminid meteor shower will provide a shining backdrop for the approach of Comet 46P/Wirtanen on Thursday (Dec. 13), shortly before the object’s closest approach to Earth in 20 years.

Head for dark, clear skies tonight — overnight Dec. 13-14 — to see the shooting stars of the Geminid Meteor Shower overhead.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague is excited to clamber atop a Russian Soyuz rocket 11 weeks from now, even though his first experience with the booster didn’t go so well.

Its main job is to spot the stars, but an ultrasensitive navigation camera on NASA’s Juno spacecraft is returning amazing images of Jupiter’s rings, auroras, lightning, and even its moonlit dark side.

As Virgin Galactic gets closer to its first suborbital flights into space, a potential change in terminology could make it easier for the company to achieve that milestone.

As comets blaze across the night sky, they can bring wonder and excitement to those watching from Earth – or even a sense of impending doom.

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has settled into its new home on Elysium Planitia and is preparing to deploy its instruments — and if all goes well, one device’s work should be complete by March.

“SpaceShipTwo, welcome to space,” reads a triumphant tweet from Virgin Galactic posted during today’s successful test flight after the company’s vehicle reached 51.4 miles (82.7 kilometers) in altitude.

For hundreds of years the Small Magellanic Cloud has provided astronomers with a relatively close-up view of another galaxy.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the InSight lander, as well as the hardware that helped the stationary robot ace its Nov. 26 touchdown on the equatorial plain known as Elysium Planitia.

For those hoping to get a glimpse of tonight’s Geminid meteor shower, the weather across the United States will either be very good or very bad.

A comet is set to pass close to Earth this weekend, providing a treat for skywatchers — and for astronomers hoping to learn more about the building blocks of the early solar system.

Standing beneath a stained glass window embedded with a piece of the moon, Jim Lovell recalled his journey into lunar orbit 50 years ago.

Parallax is a method of measuring the distance to nearby objects in space. It is also a method used to display 3D images.

Virgin Galactic plans to perform the next test flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane as soon as Dec. 13, a flight that could be the first by the vehicle to reach at least one definition of space.

China’s Chang’e 4 lander and rover spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit Wednesday (Dec. 12) following a four-and-a-half-day flight to the moon.

China’s Chang’e 4 lander and rover spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit Wednesday (Dec. 12) following a four-and-a-half-day flight to the moon.

If holiday travel seems daunting, keep in mind that Comet 46P/Wirtanen traveled all the way from Jupiter’s orbit to visit this season.

Bad weather forced the private spaceflight company Rocket Lab to postpone the launch of more than a dozen small satellites, including 10 for a NASA education program, company representatives said late Wednesday (Dec. 12).

Did an exploding star kill the Earth’s biggest sharks?

It’s measuring the highs and lows of our planet.

On Dec. 12, 1967, NASA launched the Pioneer 8 spacecraft on a mission to study the sun. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

2018 has been quite a year for spaceflight, but it’s not over yet, and the OSIRIS-REx mission has one more major task to accomplish before the ball drops: slipping into orbit around the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

NASA’s InSight lander has snapped its first selfie on the Red Planet and photographed the patch of Martian ground that will serve as the mission’s primary workspace.

Yesterday (Dec. 10), National Geographic’s “Mars” Season 2 returned with a heart-pounding fifth episode.

In an effort to better grasp the sun’s past, present and future, Colombian and Spanish researchers made visualizations that meld the last 400 years of recorded solar observations.

NASA wants to show NBA superstar Steph Curry some rock-solid evidence that people have indeed been to the moon.

The California-based startup Rocket Lab will launch 10 tiny satellites into orbit for NASA tonight and you can watch it all live online.

See skywatcher photos of the bright-green, naked-eye Comet 46P/Wirtanen during its close approach to Earth in December 2018.

On Dec. 11, 1972, Apollo 17 became the last mission to launch humans on the moon. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!

NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover has been silent since June 10, a casualty of a mega-dust storm. But the robot’s handlers haven’t given up yet on Opportunity, which touched down on Mars in January 2004.

Voyager 2 has passed an incredible milestone in its journey to explore the solar system by entering interstellar space, but neither its travels nor its science are ending any time soon.

Magnets and the magnetic force are ubiquitous in our everyday lives, helping to guide us in unfamiliar territory and attach our kids’ artwork to the fridge.

The icy Saturn satellites Dione and Rhea do their best impression of a snowman in a newly released photo captured by NASA’s late Cassini spacecraft.

Two Russian cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station today (Dec. 11) to cut into a Soyuz spacecraft and inspect the source of a pressurization leak that briefly plagued the orbiting outpost.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of NASA’s epic Apollo 8 moon mission tonight (Dec. 11), and you can watch the event live.

Edmond Halley is best remembered for predicting the orbit of the comet that was later named after him. Besides astronomy, he also made significant discoveries in the fields of geophysics, mathematics, meteorology and physics.

China’s recently launched mission to land a rover on the far side of the moon will also touch down on toy store shelves.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Dragon CRS-16 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Dec. 5, 2018. Then the booster failed to land and splashed down in the ocean.

The delectably named SPECULOOS project has achieved first light, according to a Dec. 5 statement by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

A summertime sparkle seemed to hint that researchers had found dark matter, but it looks like those scientists were wrong.

And, Elon Musk has a slightly different idea.

Fifty years to the month after some of the items launched with him on the first mission to fly humans to the moon, Frank Borman’s personal space memorabilia collection has gone on public display at the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

On Dec. 10, 1977, the Soviet union launched the first crew to complete a long-duration mission to the Salyut 6 space station. See how it happened in our On This Day In Space video series!