NASA

First light from a super-Earth spottedDetection reveals a searing planet.

A close-up view of MercuryResearchers find the planet may have had a dynamic past.

X-ray monitoring mission comes to an endThe RXTE satellite retires after 16 years.

Mysterious electron acceleration explainedComputer simulation identifies source of aurora-causing high-speed electrons in space

What drove the lunar dynamo?Research supports theory that the moon’s molten core was likely sustained by an alternative power source.

Robots go head to head, 250 miles above EarthThird annual Zero Robotics competition pits robots against each other on the International Space Station.

Two new Earth-sized exoplanets discoveredSome 950 light-years away, team finds smallest exoplanets yet detected.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers receive NASA awardHonored for their role in the Near Earth Object Observation Program

Battered asteroid may have warm coreNew analysis of Lutetia finds evidence for molten interior.

3 Questions: Greg Chamitoff on the final frontierAlum-astronaut relives some of the highlights of his space shuttle career.

MIT’s TESS project awarded $1 million NASA grant

To the moonMIT-led GRAIL mission to map the lunar gravitational field.

To an asteroid, and backMIT students to build imaging instrument to fly aboard mission to an asteroid.

Helping space shuttles achieve liftoffMIT has contributed 27 alumni-astronauts, plenty of earthbound expertise.

3 Questions: Richard Binzel on near-Earth asteroids'2011 MD,' found by a Lincoln Lab team, will pass close to the planet on Monday.

Greetings from spaceAstronaut alumni wish MIT a happy 150th from 200 miles above.

Doc Draper in spaceA letter written by Charles Stark Draper in 1961 hitches a ride on Space Shuttle Endeavour.

New Endeavour for an MIT experimentSpace shuttle propels MIT-led Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.

3 Questions: Jeffrey Hoffman on the Space Shuttle at 30Anniversary of the first shuttle flight comes just as it nears retirement, but the vehicle has changed space travel dramatically.

Video: Remembering astronaut, alum Ron McNairOn 25th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, AeroAstro professor Jeffrey Hoffman remembers his colleague.

Earth’s final growth spurtNASA team suggests that massive projectiles added mass to Earth, Mars and the Moon during final phase of planet formation

Building a list of Earth candidatesMIT researchers increase their odds of detecting an Earthlike planet by working on a combination of satellite missions.

Lending a handMIT researchers may be closer to understanding why spacesuit gloves hurt astronauts’ hands.

MIT-led team’s eco-aircraft receives Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Innovator AwardUnique plane offers significant reduction in emissions, noise and fuel use.

Telling time on the moonNew map of lunar craters sheds light on early solar-system activity and points to oldest parts of the moon’s surface.

Robert J. Butler, former design research engineer at MIT, dies at 89An MIT engineer for 25 years, he helped design instruments for NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.