Neutron star collisions are a “goldmine” of heavy elements, study finds
Mergers between two neutron stars have produced more heavy elements in last 2.5 billion years than mergers between neutron stars and black holes.
Q&A: Lucy mission launches to study ancient Trojan asteroids
Co-Investigator Scientist Professor Richard Binzel discusses NASA’s latest interplanetary mission, which is co-led by Cathy Olkin ’88, PhD ’96.
Scientists find evidence the early solar system harbored a gap between its inner and outer regions
The cosmic boundary, perhaps caused by a young Jupiter or an emerging wind, likely shaped the composition of infant planets.
Rover images confirm Jezero crater is an ancient Martian lake
The findings include signs of flash flooding that carried huge boulders downstream into the lakebed.
TESS Science Conference II draws nearly 700 virtual attendees
Not just an exoplanet-finder anymore, TESS yields diverse astrophysics results at second science conference.
With the HUMANS project, a message that space is for everyone
A student-run project is collecting messages from around the world, using nanotechnology to etch them on a disk, and sending the disk to the International Space Station.
Pathfinder satellite paves way for constellation of tropical-storm observers
Lincoln Laboratory’s TROPICS satellites will help scientists study extreme tropical weather once all six are launched next year.
Physicists observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for the first time
Study offers evidence, based on gravitational waves, to show that the total area of a black hole’s event horizon can never decrease.
Professor Emeritus Gordon Pettengill, radio astronomy pioneer, dies at 95
Planetary physicist and former director of the MIT Center for Space Research and the Arecibo Observatory helped repurpose military radar technology for science and space exploration.
Astronaut Michael Fincke ’89 offers students out-of-this-world advice
In a virtual event, Fincke discussed his time studying at MIT, learning the Russian language, and flying on both Russian and American spacecraft.
Aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover, MOXIE creates oxygen on Mars
Thanks to an MIT-designed instrument, a NASA mission has produced oxygen on another planet for the first time.
MIT astronomers discover new galaxy clusters hiding in plain sight
Lesson learned from the CHiPS survey must inform future cluster searches, researchers say.
Researchers improve efficiency of next-generation solar cell material
Reducing internal losses could pave the way to low-cost perovskite-based photovoltaics that match silicon cells’ output.
With Perseverance, MIT teams prepare for Mars rover landing
Following touchdown, MOXIE will brew up oxygen while geologists comb for sediments to sample.
Space for all is this student’s goal
Maya Nasr’s work on the Mars 2020 mission has led her to become an advocate for expanding international cooperation in space.