Awesome Space

While we’re most familiar with planets which are bound to a solar system, there are countless rogue planets out there which float in the darkness of space. It turns out that those frozen conditions might actually provide a home to lifeforms. Kurzgesagt explains.

No, Kurzgesagt’s latest video isn’t about building a fancy vacuum cleaner. Instead, it’s an explanation of how we might go about creating a megastructure in space, capable of harnessing the power of a star, by containing it. Basically, it would be the largest task every undertaken.

During his journey on the International Space Station, astronaut Alexander Gerst captured thousands of images to create time-lapse footage of sunrises, auroras, cloud movements, and other amazing sights that can only be seen from space.  See more of Alex’s images here.

Divided By Zero’s Gamma series includes 8 stunning geometric designs, each inspired by a famous space scientist or astronaut. We’re most excited by the blue and white NASA-approved designs, but the luminous black models suit the space theme well.

To celebrate the International Space Station’s 20 years, the ESA released this 15-minute continuous time-lapse video captured by astronaut Alexander Gerst, as the ISS orbits the Earth two times over. The clip is comprised of 21,000+ images captured over about 3 hours.

Designer Duncan Shotton makes some very cool stuff, like pencils that leave rainbow-colored shavings. He also makes a teensy-tiny solar system with meticulously hand-painted pushpins, along with an optional cast-concrete moon pin.

For all of our efforts to explore space – and maybe someday colonize other planets – humans have been creating lots of space junk, which will make it harder to leave the Earth over time. Kurzgesagt explores the dangers of filling up the low Earth orbit with stuff.

The European Space Agency shared this stunning time-lapse footage captured from the vantage point of the International Space Station, as astronaut Alexander Gerst watched a Russian Soyuz rocket take flight and head towards the ISS with fresh supplies.

Accompanied by the familiar voice of Dirty Jobs and The Deadliest Catch announcer Mike Rowe, NASA offers up a truly inspiring video that both looks back on its many achievements, and looks forward to pioneering with many new missions. We choose to go to the moon… again!

There was a time when each of our worlds was only as big as we could see with our own eyes. These days, our knowledge of the world, our galaxy, and the universe keeps growing. It’s Okay to Be Smart explores the ever-expanding notion of “the edge of the map.”

Vans and NASA commemorate the space agency’s 60 years of exploration with the Space Voyager collection. Largely inspired by space suits, the collection features shoes, jackets, a hoodie, t-shirts and bags adorned with NASA’s logo and patches. Drops 11/2/18.

Corridor Crew wanted to give us a better way to visualize the scale of the size of the universe. So they shrunk Earth down to the size of a tennis ball (1:190,000,000) and compared it to the planets in our Solar System, as well as some of the biggest stars in our galaxy.

Given the insane amount of heat generated by rocket engines, NASA was looking for ways to quickly reduce the temperature at a launch site. They’re currently testing a new cooling system that basically floods the place with 450,000 gallons of water, very quickly.

We can think of no better outfit to wear when go see the movie First Man than this space suit hoodie from GearHumans. It features a 3D photographic print of the suit astronaut Neil Armstrong wore during his Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

Getting spaceships and satellites into orbit requires powerful rockets and all of the challenges that come with them. But would it be possible to use a giant cannon of sorts to shoot these objects safely into orbit instead? Curious Droid explores the possibilities.

Nissan’s UK division worked with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build this special Navara pickup, which tows an observatory-grade telescope to the darkest corners of the planet, providing amazing views of the night skies anywhere the truck can go.

The thought of setting up shop and living on the surface of the moon seems like a far away sci-fi dream, but we actually have the technology and smarts to do it in the next decade – assuming we had the funding. Kurzgesagt explains, in part one of their series about space colonization.

Our best look yet at Damien Chazelle’s biopic about astronaut Neil Armstrong (played by Ryan Gosling), and the trials and tribulations of the years leading up to his landing on the moon. It’s no coincidence it’s being released in October, in time for year-end Oscar noms.

Pablo Carlos Budassi created this incredible image, which attempts to illustrate the entirety of the observable universe, from our solar system, to distant galaxies and beyond. It’s interesting that that the whole thing also resembles a giant eye. Prints available here.

Back in the 1980s, car salesman Dennis Hope started selling plots of land on Earth’s moon, and has since expanded to other lunar and planetary bodies. We’re pretty sure he and his buyers own absolutely jack squat, but it’s a nice dream anyhow. Zach Christy’s video explains.

Portholes that can instantly transport us between different areas of space and time are a staple of science fiction and fantasy. But are wormholes really a thing, and if they are, how might they work, and where could we find one? Kurzgesagt explores.

“Dreams are maps. Let the best ones point the way.” The amazing documentary series Cosmos is getting a new season. In Cosmos: Possible Worlds, host Neil deGrasse Tyson will take us to hopeful explorations of both inner and outer space. Premieres Spring 2019 on FOX.

The idea of visiting far-off worlds is the stuff of science fiction, and sadly it’s likely to remain that way for a very long time. You see, the big problem is that we humans just don’t live long enough to travel very far. RealLifeLore explains some of the many challenges we face.