Mental Floss

SPACE

The Royal Mint

The late theoretical physicist is gone, but not forgotten. A 50-pence coin is the latest tribute to his life and legacy.

NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann at an event in August 2018

The human-led mission isn't expected to happen until at least 2030, but when it does, a woman will likely be the first person to set foot on the Red Planet.

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If you live in a northern state like Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Maine, you have a good chance of catching the Northern Lights on Wednesday, February 27.

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He sat on his heliocentric theory of the universe for 30-some years, and only published his ideas on his deathbed.

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It's our closest neighbor in the solar system, but we still have a lot to learn about the Moon—from how it formed to what's on its dark side.

Galileo Galilei in an oil painting by an Italian painter, 18th (?) century.

Galileo Galilei, the father of modern astronomy, probably never dropped anything off the leaning tower of Pisa, and he didn't actually invent the telescope. But he did change history with his discoveries about the cosmos.

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The next supermoon will light up skies on Tuesday, February 19. This one will be a snow moon, a full moon that comes only at this time of year.

NASA

In 2004, the rover Opportunity landed on Mars. Originally intended to serve a mere 90-day mission, the rover instead beamed back scientific discoveries for more than a decade—and now its groundbreaking mission is over.

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In 1969, the government shut down its infamous study into UFOs—and people have been talking about it ever since.

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Few space stations want a body stinking up the place. Fortunately, there's always the garbage room.

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Though it's freezing on its surface, primitive life might be lurking somewhere below.

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Over the course of his life, Aldrin has learned a lot, and he’s shared his wisdom in a number of books and interviews.

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From the first manned Moon landing to Monty Python, here are 50 things marking a half-century on this planet (and beyond).

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When you really think about how recent some discoveries we take for granted are, Pluto and Clint Eastwood have a lot in common.

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Don't miss the first meteor shower of 2019.

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To infinity and beyond, Astrocat.

A blood moon as seen from Sydney, Australia on July 28, 2018

Here's when to see it.

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They formed when a crater hit the spot 15 million years ago.

An artist's rendering of the dwarf planet Eris

Eris was once thought to be larger than Pluto.

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Don't miss one of the best meteorological events of the year: The Geminid meteor shower is famous for its bright, frequent shooting stars.

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It comes around every November.

ESO/M. Kornmesser

It was the first known interstellar object to enter our solar system.

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Look up!

NASA, Getty Images

NASA technologies have dozens of applications outside of space exploration.