NASA’s Spirit rover, part of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission, is currently spinning its wheels on Mars in an area scientists have named “Troy” after the besieged city in Homer’s Iliad. Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity. Each rover had an anticipated mission span of 90 [...]

The NASA-operated C-9 reduced gravity aircraft, better known as a “Vomit Comet,” acquired its nickname for a good reason. Flying in six-mile-long parabolic arcs, the plane first ascends in altitude before falling with a particular combination of dive-position and propulsion that eliminates all air resistance. The result is a 25-second period of near-perfect weightlessness—an environment [...]