Learn about SpaceX, the first private company in history to send a spacecraft, which it named Dragon, to the International Space Station

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

It can take two hours for the Moon to completely pass through the Earth's inner shadow.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The Ocean Cleanup wants to rid the world's oceans of plastic.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

What's inside an atom?

NASA

This animation shows the paths of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, which were designed to explore the outer planets of the solar system. The twin probes, each carrying 10 instruments, provided a wealth of new information about interplanetary space and the four giant gas planets and their moons. The Voyagers were launched in late 1977. In 1979 they reached Jupiter. Passing through the planet's gravitational field, they gathered enough energy to “slingshot” around the planet and head for Saturn. Voyager 1 reached Saturn in November 1980 and then headed out of the solar system. Voyager 2 continued on to Uranus, reaching the planet in January 1986. Changing course again and heading for Neptune, the spacecraft arrived at the outermost gas giant in August 1989. It then continued out of the solar system. In the first years of the 21st century, each craft was still sending back information about the outer reaches of the solar system and had traveled well beyond the orbit of Pluto.

SpaceX (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Video released by spacecraft maker SpaceX celebrating its Dragon capsule, which on May 25, 2012, became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.

© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

What does outer space smell like? Learn about some reported smells of outer space and the chemical causes of these.

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Scientists studying the effects of weightlessness on astronauts.