Antares Rocket, Bound for Space Station, Explodes

By KENNETH CHANG

NASA

A video showed Orbital Sciences Corporation’s unmanned Antares rocket exploding Tuesday just after its launch in Virginia.

A cargo rocket carrying supplies exploded soon after it rose into the sky from a NASA site in eastern Virginia, but no one was injured.

The members of NASA's Hi-Seas team are staying in a dome on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii for the next eight months.

In a Dome in Hawaii, a Mission to Mars

By KENNETH CHANG

In a dome on a Hawaiian volcano, NASA is financing a study to see how astronauts might deal with the stress and isolation of an interplanetary trip.

Comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, passed 87,000 miles from Mars on Sunday — or 10 times closer to the planet than any known comet has come to Earth, NASA said.

A Comet’s Brush With Mars

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

A comet the size of a small mountain whizzed past Mars on Sunday, dazzling space enthusiasts with the once-in-a-million-years encounter.

The universe is conjured into existence by an omnipresent creator. The 1573 image is the creation of the Portuguese artist Francisco de Holanda and one of hundreds in the book

Cosmos as Masterpiece

By MICHAEL BENSON

Over thousands of years, humans have tried to represent the universe in graphic form, whether in manuscripts, paintings, prints, books or supercomputer simulations.

Observatory

Solar Systems With Their Own Rule Books

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA

Large planets with surprisingly sharp orbital angles can exert gravitational forces on other planets, a new study reported.

The moon glowing red over Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday during a total lunar eclipse. Known as a “blood moon” because of the coppery color, it was the second of four such eclipses over a two-year period that will end next September. The first was in April.

Lunar Eclipse in Asia and the Americas

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Evening viewers in much of Asia and early risers in parts of the Americas were treated to a stunning lunar eclipse on Wednesday, though clouds obscured it for some.