New maps of asteroid Psyche reveal an ancient world of metal and rock
The varied surface suggests a dynamic history, which could include metallic eruptions, asteroid-shaking impacts, and a lost rocky mantle.
Charting a safe course through a highly uncertain environment
A new technique can safely guide an autonomous robot without knowledge of its environmental conditions or the size, shape, or location of obstacles it might encounter.
3 Questions: Ariel Ekblaw on building beautiful architecture in space
The TESSERAE project, a design for self-assembling space structures and habitats, has sent prototypes to the International Space Station.
Look! Up in the sky! Is it a planet? Nope, just a star
Among thousands of known exoplanets, MIT astronomers flag three that are actually stars.
Richard Binzel: Eyes on the skies and a passion for planetary science
Over more than three decades at MIT, Binzel developed key insights into the solar system and played a role in multiple NASA missions.
A “hot Jupiter’s” dark side is revealed in detail for first time
The planet’s night side likely hosts iron clouds, titanium rain, and winds that dwarf Earth’s jetstream.
OSIRIS-REx mission carrying MIT student experiment wins Space Foundation award
John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr. Award for Space Exploration honors project team’s success harvesting a sample from asteroid Bennu.
MIT engineers test an idea for a new hovering rover
A levitating vehicle might someday explore the moon, asteroids, and other airless planetary surfaces.
Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds?
A new study shows it’s theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed Venus-bound missions.
“Newer, nimbler, faster:” Venus probe will search for signs of life in clouds of sulfuric acid
Report led by MIT scientists details a suite of privately-funded missions to hunt for life on Earth's sibling planet.
NASA selects three MIT alumni for astronaut training
Marcos Berríos ’06, Christina Birch PhD ’15, and Christopher Williams PhD ’12 make up a third of the 2021 NASA astronaut candidate class.
TESS discovers a planet the size of Mars but with the makeup of Mercury
The boiling new world, which zips around its star at ultraclose range, is among the lightest exoplanets found to date.
One year on this giant, blistering hot planet is just 16 hours long
A newly discovered “ultrahot Jupiter” has the shortest orbit of any known gas giant.
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.
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.