Historic snowfall chills Madrid slum to the bones
Days after its heaviest snowfall in 50 years, Madrid woke to its lowest temperatures in decades “We’re not animals but dogs live better than us,” sighs Lidia Arribas, who lives without electricity in a vast slum near Madrid where temperatures hit historic lows this week. Days after its heaviest snowfall in 50 years, Madrid woke […]
China launches historic Chang’e 5 mission to collect the first moon samples since 1976
The first lunar sample-return mission since the 1970s is underway. China’s robotic Chang’e 5 mission launched today (Nov. 23) from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, rising into the sky atop a Long March 5 rocket at about 3:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT; 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 24 local time in Hainan). If all […]
SpaceX Crew Dragon launches 4 astronauts to space station in historic flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched its first operational space taxi flight for NASA Sunday (Nov. 15), as a shiny white Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies above Kennedy Space Center here in Florida. The rocket lifted off from NASA’s historic Pad 39 here at 7:27 p.m. EDT (0027 GMT on Nov. 16) […]
Long-hidden ‘selfie’ of a medieval mason found in historic Spanish cathedral
During the 11th century, an unknown, lowly medieval mason held an important job: helping to build the grand Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in northern Spain, now one of the country’s most famous churches. That craftsman’s identity has been lost to time, but he left behind a tribute to himself in stone — a cleverly concealed […]
Arctic sea ice goes through ‘historic’ loss in 2020
Arctic sea ice has been in decline for a while now, but 2020 is turning out to be — by far — one of the worst years ever. Every year, like clockwork, the northern ice cap, or sea ice, shrinks in the spring and summer — reaching its minimum extent in September — and then […]
NASA spacecraft makes historic attempt to snag samples of asteroid Bennu
For the first time ever, a NASA probe has performed a sample-snagging operation on an asteroid in deep space. The agency’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft spiraled down to the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 20) to grab material that mission team members hope harbors clues about the solar system’s early days and the […]
