Space

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces.

Neighboring exoplanets may hold water, study finds

Observations and modeling suggest TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets may have held onto water, billions of years after their formation.

August 31, 2017

Several thousand people gathered at MIT to watch the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21.

Experiencing the Great American Solar Eclipse

Thousands attend MIT solar eclipse-watching parties on campus, at the MIT Wallace Observatory, and in Rexburg, Idaho.

August 29, 2017

Danielle Wood spoke at the Media Lab’s space event, Beyond the Cradle, in March. She will join the faculty full-time in January 2018.

Danielle Wood joins Media Lab faculty

MIT alumna is establishing a new research group aimed at harnessing space engineering to improve life on Earth.

August 28, 2017

The Millstone Hill radar facility at MIT Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts

Investigating space weather effects of the 2017 solar eclipse

Atmospheric scientists at the MIT Haystack Observatory will study North American eclipse effects on space weather with radar and navigational satellites.

August 17, 2017

A map of the United States shows the path of totality for the August 21 solar eclipse.

Q&A: Richard Binzel on tips for observing the 2017 solar eclipse

Whether you'll be in the path of totality on Aug. 21 or anywhere else in North America, you should be able to view the eclipse.

August 15, 2017

The path of the International Space Station can be seen from the Observe@MIT rooftop observing platform on Building 37. Participants in the second annual MIT Astronomy Training Camp took to the roof for pointers on night sky observing.

Training students' eyes on the skies

MIT hosts Astronomy Training Camp for student-run national astronomy team.

August 10, 2017

New measurements of lunar rocks have demonstrated that the ancient moon generated a dynamo magnetic field in its liquid metallic core (innermost red shell). The results raise the possibility of two different mechanisms — one that may have driven an earlier, much stronger dynamo, and a second that kept the moon’s core simmering at a much slower boil toward the end of its lifetime.

Lunar dynamo’s lifetime extended by at least 1 billion years

Findings suggest two mechanisms may have powered the moon’s ancient churning, molten core.

August 9, 2017

Engineers test one of the TESS cameras at the Kavli Institute lab.

TESS mission to discover new planets moves toward launch

Satellite’s cameras have been delivered by MIT researchers and passed NASA inspection.

August 4, 2017

John Foster is a senior research scientist at the Haystack Observatory.

MIT Haystack Observatory's John Foster named AGU Fellow

Distinguished atmospheric scientist recognized for lifetime of accomplishments.

July 28, 2017

As principal investigator of the Psyche mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton '87, SM ’87, PhD ’02 is just the second woman to lead a NASA spacecraft mission to a planetary body. The first was her former MIT colleague, Vice President for Research Maria Zuber.

Exploring an unusual metal asteroid

Alumna and former MIT professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton is working with MIT faculty in her role as principal investigator for NASA's upcoming Psyche mission.

July 25, 2017

The Tadpole Galaxy, a disrupted spiral galaxy, shows streams of gas stripped by gravitational interaction with another galaxy. Molecular gas is the required ingredient to form stars in early universe galaxies.

New insights into the early universe’s galaxy clusters

MIT Kavli Institute scientists help conduct one of the largest-ever studies of molecular gas in distant galaxy clusters.

July 25, 2017

The Managed, Reconfigurable, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA), developed by MIT graduate students, recently took first place at NASA's Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum. MARINA is designed as a habitable commercially owned module for use in low Earth orbit that would be extensible for future use as a Mars transit vehicle.

MIT space hotel wins NASA graduate design competition

Module would serve as a commercially owned space station, featuring a luxury hotel as the primary anchor tenant and NASA as a temporary co-anchor tenant.

June 28, 2017

“We now strongly believe that these magnetic fields critically affect structure formation in the universe — they are critical to shaping the world as we see it," says Associate Professor Nuno Loureiro.

Probing the magnetic universe

Nuclear Science and Engineering Associate Professor Nuno Loureiro ponders the origins of magnetic fields.

June 23, 2017

Aerospace engineers from MIT have developed a laser sensing technique that can decipher not only where but what kind of space junk may be passing overhead.

Space junk: The cluttered frontier

New laser technique identifies the makeup of space debris, from painted shards to Teflon.

June 19, 2017

Three from MIT will train as NASA astronauts beginning in August: Raja Chari SM '01 (left), Jasmin Moghbeli '05 (center), and Assistant Professor Warren “Woody” Hoburg '08.

NASA selects three from MIT for astronaut training

Chari, Hoburg, and Moghbeli, all with ties to the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, represent a quarter of NASA's astronaut candidate Class of 2017.

June 13, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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