Mental Floss

SPACE

Wikimedia Commons

In late 1908, the scientific community in St. Petersburg and Moscow was galvanized by vague reports filtering out of Siberia, telling of a gigantic, mysterious explosion that summer witnessed only by a handful of native Evenki tribesmen and Russian settle

Erik Sass
New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto

On March 14, 1930, 11-year-old Venetia Burney and her family were eating breakfast at their home in Oxford, England, discussing the biggest news of the day: The discovery of a new planet. As they talked about what the new planet's moniker should be, Venet

Daven Hiskey


Getty Images

A longstanding urban legend goes like this: During the space race of the 1960s, NASA spent millions developing a fancy "space pen" that could be used in zero gravity ... but the Soviets just used a pencil. This story resonates with us because NASA did act

Chris Higgins


Have you ever seen the moon floating above the horizon of your city, and noticed that it looked oddly huge? I sure have. In fact, I've seen the effect in lots of popular media, including that one iconic shot from E.T. and other "supermoon" photos. But

Chris Higgins


From Star Trek to Ren and Stimpy to Van Der Graaf Generator’s “Pioneers Over C,” pop culture and fiction are filled with men, women, and animals who have gone excitedly beyond the bounds of the Earth ... only to lose their grips on reality and mentally br

Matt Soniak


NASA has been waking up astronauts using music since the Apollo Program. Sometimes those wakeup calls get pretty weird. 1. STS-111 - "I Got You Babe" from Groundhog Day On June 19, 2002, the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour awoke to a tinny rendit

Chris Higgins

Wired has a cool article in the new issue about commercial space travel. "The first private launches could happen next year for up to $250,000 a ticket," they say. So let's see... the down payment on my new home, or the trip to space? Hmmm. That's a tough

David K. Israel