Space on ZME Science

First 'growth chart' developed for the Milky Way

The Milky Way has been around for at least 13.7 billion years, but it has its younger and older areas.

3-D printed rocket engine made by NASA passes test with flying colors

Over the last three years, NASA engineers have been exploring using additive technology, like 3D printing, to manufacture key rocket engine parts. Tests on individual parts had worked well. Now, the space agency fitted all the parts onto a special test bench that behaves like a real rocket engine and fired it up for a test. The engine fired at 90,000 RPMs for 10 seconds to produce 22,000 pounds of thrust, with all performance test parameters showing 'green'.

This is what a simulation of the universe looks like

The image above is a timeline with each frame showcasing a stage in our Universe's evolution, from humble beginning to present date (left to right), as simulated by the Argonne National Laboratory. Called the Q Continuum simulation, this is the most complete cosmological simulation to date covering a volume of 1300 Mpc on a side (one Mpc = 3.08567758 × 1022 meters) where half a trillion particles evolved for a mass resolution of ~1.5x108 Msun.

How 2016 Presidential Candidates See Space Exploration

I know you don't like it, but the truth is science is politicized since, ultimately, serious research depends on funding. That doesn't mean, though, that politicians aren't sympathetic or that they do not understand the importance of science. Some seem to do, anyway. But perhaps the most vulnerable area of science to politics, however, is space exploration. Year after year, it seems like NASA's budget keep thinning. Although NASA is still the most resourceful space agency in the world and despite some amazing achievements (Curiosity rover on Mars or New Horizon's flyby past Pluto, just to name a few), things could be a lot better. Arguably, if NASA kept its stellar budget during the Apollo era, we would've likely been on Mars by now, maybe even with a permanent outpost.

Blue Origin makes space history: first controlled landing for a rocket

Jeff Bezos just announced a historical feat: Blue Origin, his space company, successfully launched its New Shepard rocket to 329,839 feet — or sub-orbital space — then safely landed the used rocket just a feet away from the launch pad. This is the first time a controlled landing was demonstrated for a rocket, beating Elon Musk's similar efforts to safely land his Falcon 9 rocket. This monumental milestone suggests reusable rockets will shortly become a reality, revolutionizing space flight in the process.

What makes a planet? Finally a simple formula that includes exoplanets as well

There is only one clear set of official criteria by which we class or not a cosmic body as a planet. These criteria introduced in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union saw Pluto demoted to the status of dwarf planet. Oddly enough, though, these rules were made for classing planets only in our solar system, meaning the 5,000 exoplanets (what should be planets outside our solar system) identified so far are now in a "definitional limbo," according to planetary astronomer Jean-Luc Margot at UCLA. Luckily, Margot has come up with a solution which seems to work marvelously.