Well, it’s still a planet of sorts. Since 2006 Pluto has been classified by the International Astronomical Union as a ‘dwarf planet’. In recent decades, powerful telescopes have enabled astronomers to discover several Pluto-sized objects beyond Neptune’s orbit, and there are probably lots more out there. So, either they had to expand the list of planets (which would mean you’d have to remember a lot more for your science exams) or it was time to come up with an official definition of what counts as a planet. After some ...

Phobos, Mars' small rocky moon, has been imaged closer than ever before by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft. In the latest of its five month period orbital flybys, the Mars Express passed the moon at a distance of 67km, the closest any probe has managed in history. The results are equally as stunning, with these 4.4-metres per pixel images clearly showing the far side of Phobos, illuminating its crater-heavy, rocky nature. The images also helped show where the Russian-led 2011 Phobos-Grunt mission to land on the ...

This video acts as a basic introduction to how NASA's Ares 1 launch system will carry Orion crew exploration vehicles into space. The Ares 1 and Orion are part of NASA's Constellation program, which upon the termination of its outgoing Space Shuttle fleet (currently scheduled for September 2010), will take over as the main spacecraft for human spaceflight. The Ares 1-X, which can be seen modeled in this video, was the prototype for the project and ...