Take the orbits of any two planets and draw a line between the two planet positions every few days. Because the inner planet orbits faster than the outer planet, interesting patterns evolve. Each planetary pairing has its own unique dance rhythm. For example, the Earth-Venus dance returns to the original starting position after eight Earth years. Eight Earth years equals thirteen Venus years.
Mars was once on track to become a thriving Earth-like planet, yet today it is an apparently lifeless wasteland. A NASA spacecraft named MAVEN will soon journey to Mars to find out what went wrong on the Red Planet.
The most exciting things in science are not the things we know, but those we don’t. After all, if science knew everything, it would have stopped a long time ago. Some questions remain unanswered longer than others, awaiting the right technology, genius, or simply luck to come along. And it should come as no surprise that we’re solving mysteries that have puzzled science for many years — nearly every day.
The US and Russia are hardly the only big names in space exploration. Right now more countries than ever are making their way to space. Trace looks at which countries are joining up to become interstellar explorers and where they’re headed.
There has been much news of late about space. The images we are receiving daily from our outer space vessels seems to be getting better and better. For that reason it seemed appropriate to create a second list of stunning images of space.
The U.S. Air Force considered trying to detonate a nuclear device on the moon during the late 1950s. A physicist who worked on the project said a single explosion would have been “microscopic,” with little impact. But what if the plans had been bigger—do we have enough nuclear weapons to push the moon out of orbit?