Popular MechanicsLego The Best Space Lego Sets for NASA, Star Wars, and Sci-Fi Fans verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Don Melanson and Gabrielle HondorpBuild a Saturn V rocket or a Millennium Falcon—the choice is yours. You don’t need a special Lego set to build a space shuttle or a rocket. That’s the beauty of the little bricks—their versatility. But...
Popular MechanicsYuri Gagarin 60 Years Ago, the First Human to Reach Space Also Set This Incredible Record verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanWe rarely talk about Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's other major milestone. Sixty years ago this week, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to pierce Earth’s atmosphere and safely reach...
Popular MechanicsJellyfish No One Knows What to Make of This Mysterious Space Jellyfish verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertAstronomers have never really seen anything like it before. The USS Jellyfish sounds like the strongest ship in the fleet, but in reality, it’s a mysterious and worlds-huge space object that has astronomers...
Popular MechanicsTechnology The Direct Fusion Drive That Could Get Us Past Neptune in 10 Years verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertPlus, we can bring along 1.5 tons. Scientists have outlined the wild way humans could travel past Neptune in under 10 years—with over 1.5 tons of cargo on board. The secret is an in-the-works direct fusion...
Popular MechanicsStarlink Elon Musk Could Help Aliens Notice Humans, Study Says verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertStarlink satellites won't just bring internet to everyone—they'll also tell distant civilizations we exist. Elon Musk has a grand goal for SpaceX’s Starlink: use an eventual 40,000 satellites to blanket...
Popular MechanicsCarbon How NASA's Oxygen-Making Machine Could Change Mars Forever verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanWhether for breathing or sending rockets back home, we'll need to make oxygen on Mars. Soon, we'll know if it's possible. A little more than a month ago, NASA’s Perseverance rover made a daring landing...
Popular MechanicsAstrophotography A Beginner's Guide to Astrophotography verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Michael StillwellWhen taking photos of the Milky Way or creating star trails, a little planning and the right equipment can produce some amazing results. When I was 17, I packed up and left for my first camping trip to...
Popular MechanicsNASA Watch NASA Fire Up Its Moon-Bound Rocket for a Hot Fire Test verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanLet's hope this one goes better than the last. NASA is preparing its massive, moon-bound Space Launch System (SLS) for another hot fire test. The SLS rocket, along with Boeing's crew capsule, is designed...
Popular MechanicsBlack Holes Black Holes May Not Be Black. Or Even Holes. verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Tim ChildersTheir true nature could finally explain the origins of dark matter and fast radio bursts. What if black holes, those all-consuming gravitational behemoths of the cosmos, aren’t actually black at all—or...
Popular Mechanics Shooting at the Moon: The Pioneering Rocketry of Robert Goddard verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By John BradyIn 1929, Popular Mechanics covered the explosive work of Robert Goddard. His liquid propellant-fueled rocket, the first of its kind, carved a path to the stars. In the December 1929 issue, Popular Mechanics...
Popular MechanicsMoon Scientists Are Planning to Build Noah's Ark on the Moon verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Courtney LinderEarth is destined for disaster. This is a good insurance policy. In 2013, a cataclysmic meteor the size of a six-story building broke apart above Chelyabinsk, Russia, and the resulting blast was stronger...
Popular MechanicsWormholes Human-Safe Wormholes Could Exist in the Real World, Study Finds verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanPack your bags. We're going to another galaxy. Sci-fi writers have long leaned on the wormhole as an important plot device. It’s a quick way to get characters from point A to point B, across the vast in...
Popular Mechanics Race to the Moon: A Look at the Space Race a Decade Before Apollo 11 verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Dan Q. PosinIn 1959, Popular Mechanics reported on a steadily growing space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. At the time, things were not looking good for NASA. In the August 1959 issue, Popular Mechanics...
Popular Mechanics Can Magnets and a Giant Claw Save Us From Space Junk? verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanThe International Space Station, 3,300 working satellites, and our very lives depend on it. Last September, a tiny piece of shrapnel from the body of a Japanese H-2A rocket hurtled toward the International...
Popular MechanicsSpace Watch the Jaw-Dropping Moment When Perseverance Lands on Mars verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanIt's the first time we've ever witnessed a spacecraft touch down on another planet. After a nearly 7-month journey, NASA's Perseverance rover safely landed on Mars on February 18. The rover's Entry, Descent,...
Popular MechanicsHelicopters Meet the First Helo on Mars: A Deep Dive Into What Makes Ingenuity So…Ingenious verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanFor the first time ever, a tricked-out helicopter will take to the skies on another world. NASA’s Perseverance rover made its Martian debut this week—and strapped to its underbelly is one of NASA’s most...
Popular Mechanics We’ve Never Heard What Mars Sounds Like. Percy Will Change That. verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanIn a 10-minute audio segment, we talk to two engineers who've been trying to capture the sounds of Mars. On February 18, 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover, the most complex scientific robot to ever journey...
Popular MechanicsPerseverance Rover Success! NASA's Perseverance Rover Has Triumphantly Landed on Mars verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanIt's the start of a beautiful new mission. Update 4:10 p.m. ET: Touchdown! NASA's Perseverance rover has survived its "seven minutes of terror" and safely landed on Mars. It's already taking incredible...
Popular MechanicsMars Rover NASA's Perseverance Rover Is Approaching Mars. Now Comes the Hard Part. verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanPercy takes its first step in a daring decade-long sample return mission. Perseverance is finally ready to land on Mars. Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in July 2020, it's eight-month...
Popular MechanicsNASA NASA Will Pay You $500,000 to Figure Out How to Feed Astronauts verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Kristin Salaky and Courtney LinderThink you can win the Deep Space Food Challenge? When Christina Koch ventured into space for a 328 days between 2019 and 2020, she had to seriously adjust her diet. Koch had Clif Bars for breakfast, MRE...
Popular Mechanics 11,601 Swabs, 2,543 Wipes: How NASA Spent the Last 7 Years Protecting Mars from Humans verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Matt BlitzThe Perseverance rover is the cleanest spacecraft in history. Here on Earth, as we continue to obsess over cleanliness and eradicating microscopic viruses, perhaps we should be turning to NASA for advice....
Popular Mechanics Some Scientists Believe All Life Started on Mars verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertMaybe it's not as crazy as it sounds. Could life as we know it have begun on Mars instead of Earth? A handful of scientists believe so, and even more think we should at least consider the possibility....
Popular MechanicsBlack Holes Yes, It's Possible to Safely Jump Into a Black Hole verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertBut if you're going to try it, you need to know this one small catch. In a new finding ripped from Interstellar, scientists say humans can indeed explore black holes firsthand. The catch? If you're going...
Popular MechanicsSpace The Unusual Rocket Thruster That Will Send Humans to Mars verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Caroline DelbertPlasma + magnets = magic. A Department of Energy (DoE) physicist has a new nuclear fusion rocket concept that uses magnetic fields to make thrust. It’s a far-out idea that could carry astronauts to Mars....
Popular MechanicsChrista McAuliffe The Oral History of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Margaret Lazarus Dean"No! No! No! They don't mean the shuttle! They don't mean the shuttle!" This story originally appeared in the February 2016 issue of Popular Mechanics to mark the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle...
Popular MechanicsWolf Moon January’s Wolf Moon, the First Full Moon of the Year, Will Reach Its Peak This Week verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jake SmithThe cosmic event roughly marks the halfway point of winter. January is a time for new beginnings, both for you and the cosmic calendar. What better way to ring in the changes of 2021 than with the first...
Popular MechanicsMoon The Story of the Moon Rock in Joe Biden's Oval Office verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanHere's how the new president ended up with an actual lunar sample from Apollo 17. As President Joe Biden took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol building on Wednesday, White House staffers...
Popular MechanicsSpace How to Build a Badass Orrery verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jay Bennett and Jennifer LemanMake your very own mechanical model of the solar system. Few things are as captivating as an orrery. First, the craftsmanship required to build this remarkable mechanical model is of the highest order....
Popular MechanicsSpace Travel LIVE: Watch Blue Origin Launch Its New Shepard Rocket verified_publisherPopular Mechanics - By Jennifer LemanThe suborbital rocket is headed straight to the very edge of space. Update 01/14/21 12:45 p.m. EST: After a brief hold, Blue Origin launched its New Shepard rocket from the company's launch facility in...
