A rogue planet — also known as an interstellar planet, nomad planet, free-floating planet or orphan planet — is a planetary-mass object which has either been ejected from its system or was never gravitationally bound to any star, brown dwarf or other such object, and that therefore orbits the galaxy directly. Astronomers agree that either way, the definition of planet should depend on its current observable state and not its origin.
Larger planetary-mass objects which were not ejected, but have always been free-floating, are thought to have formed in a similar way to stars, and the I...
I'm a US expat, living in India.
Does the government shutdown affect my rights to live in the country? How about my rights to travel on a US passport? (In the past, I have been able to enter many countries without a visa due to the US passport)
I don't have any immediate plans of travelling, bu...
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) is a planned space exploration mission to send a space probe to orbit Mars and study its atmosphere. It will help determine what caused the Martian atmosphere —and water— to be lost to space, making the climate increasingly inhospitable for life.
Program overview
The mission was spawned by NASA's Mars Scout Program, which although discontinued in 2010, yielded Phoenix and MAVEN, as well as numerous missions studies. Mars Scout missions target a cost less than USD$485 million, not including launch service, which is approximately $187 milli...
colonization
The art and science of planning, building, and running colonies on other planets. Currently we have a fair group of questions on the subject, but I think we could do a lot better. Here's a few of my favorites:
Does Mars contain materials that could be used to build a space colony?...
