Astronaut Ron Garant answers the question: So we have routine travel between Earth and its nearest neighbor. By doing that that would open up the entire solar system. That enables us to use the resources that are on the moon. It enables us to launch in a much lower gravity field than Earth. It opens

How big can they get? What's the largest so far detected? Where does an 18 billion solar mass black hole hide? We've never seen them directly, yet we know they are there. Lurking within dense star clusters or wandering the dust lanes of the galaxy. Where they prey on stars. Or swallow planets whole....

Have you ever wondered why some telescopes are launched into space while others are built on remote mountain tops? What is actually the best for astronomy? Here we provide a ringside view of the fight for the elusive photons from deep space - is it a battle of the telescope giants?

A total solar eclipse is moving its way across North America Monday. CBS News' Norah O'Donnell, Tony Dokoupil and Bill Harwood are watching the celestial event from Indianapolis as totality takes over Mazatlán, Mexico. Also, astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz explains how scientists are using the opportu

The Nasa rover called ‘Curiosity’ has finally arrived at Gale Crater on planet Mars after a 154 million miles journey, hurtling towards the Mars at over 13,000 mph. The main aim of Curiosity is to see whether the environment of Mars once held the ingredients of life and so Curiosity will drill into

Another giant leap towards a mission to Mars: expendable structures could be the next extraterrestrial breakthrough, as they weight less to launch and are more compact on the rocket. On arrival, they can be inflated to provide safe and sustainable living quarters, work spaces and laboratories for pe...

Solar car companies like Aptera, Lightyear and Sono all say they plan on releasing their commercial solar-assisted EVs over the next few years. These vehicles offer the prospect of less frequent plug-in charging by using the solar panels to charge the batteries. So why aren’t solar panels on all new

The Grand Finale - NASA's Cassini spacecraft will dive through the unexplored space between Saturn and its rings. What we learn from these ultra-close passes over the planet could be some of the most exciting revelations ever returned by the long-lived spacecraft. This animated video tells the story...

In the early hours of May 17, 2011 a beautiful filament erupted from the Sun and sent a cloud of plasma into space. This Coronal Mass Ejection was not aimed at Earth but most likely will interact with Earth's magnetic field two days later, creating some of these beautiful auroras. The second segment...

Benefits of space surround us. Exploration fuels innovation. Groundbreaking technologies we develop to explore space keep us close and safe right here at home.