Awesome Space

Alfonso Cuarón wants us to feel like we are realistically floating in space in the theatre; this extended featurette on his latest film Gravity gives a behind the scenes look at just how that will happen. Guess we need to see it in IMAX.

Visually stunning concept renders from the upcoming crowdfunded space shooter, Elite: Dangerous. If the finished gameplay looks this good, please sign us up now. £30 (~$48 USD) reserves a digital copy of the game.

Every time we see more of Gravity, we want to see it even more. With incredible visuals, an amazing sense of realism, and buzzworthy performances, even James Cameron recently called it “The best space film ever done.”

The Space Shuttle may be gone, but that doesn’t make this footage shot from the perspective of the booster rockets on Atlantis and Endeavour any less amazing, as they travel into the upper atmosphere, then plunge back to the Earth.

A space exploration game for Windows, Mac & Linux. Build your own spaceship and if – if! – you don’t crash and burn, you can build space stations and erect bases in various planets. Buy now and get beta access. Free demo here.

If an asteroid was on its way to Earth, what can we do to stop it? Bill Nye The Science Guy dropped by ASAP Science to talk about possible solutions. None of them involve oil drillers. Because this is serious business.

This clip from Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming movie Gravity shows rookie astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) get separated from astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) as their space shuttle is destroyed by debris.

A film about the Solar System by Stephen van Vuuren. In Saturn’s Rings was made by stitching together over one million photographs taken by various satellites as well as from spacecraft, observatories and more. Best watched in HD.

Ever wanted to float in space like an astronaut? It turns out that it’s less like floating, and more like a free-fall in orbit around the Earth. Watch and learn in this short TedEd lesson from Matt J. Carlson, animated by Josh Harris.

When he’s not making Teslas, Elon Musk is running his private space exploration company, SpaceX. Here’s footage of their Grasshopper vertical-take-off/landing rocket flying to 1066 feet, then smoothly landing back on the pad.

Chris Hadfield may already have returned to Earth, but before he left the ISS, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage designed a zero-G game for the astronauts for their rare bit of downtime. Care for a round of Space Darts?

Yes, we know we just posted a clip of Chris Hadfield earlier today, but we couldn’t resist posting this emotional clip sung by the Canadian astronaut on his final day on the International Space Station before returning to Earth.

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are astronauts drifting alone in space, attempting to return to Earth after their space shuttle is destroyed in Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity.

Whether you’re a kid, or just a kid at heart, looking up at this satin nickel ceiling fixture will remind you of your dreams of being an astronaut. And just think, someday you really might live on Mars.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield performs an experiment suggested by a couple of 10th grade students: what happens when you wring a wet washcloth in space? One of the most bizarre things we’ve ever seen.

Minute Physics tackles a head-scratching topic. As expected, we don’t get a straight answer, but it’s quite interesting nonetheless. For instance, it turns out Ptolemy’s assumption was right. Kind of.