Seeing Space Shuttle Atlantis Fills Reporter with Inspiration ... and Regret

Seeing Atlantis on public display is both exhilarating and sad. The retired space shuttle orbiter officially went on view Saturday (June 29) at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as part of a new $100 million exhibition.

The mighty spaceship, which traveled to space and back 33 times over 26 years, is an awe-inspiring sight, especially when you're standing just feet away. The new exhibition displays space shuttle Atlantis as if she were in flight soaring over Earth, tilted at an angle with cargo bay doors open and robotic arm extended. The effect made me feel almost as if I was in space too.

Radiation Fears Shouldn't Hold Back Mars Colonization

Bas Lansdorp, Mars One co-founder and CEO, contributed this article to SPACE.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Mars One aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars in 2023, requiring no return mission.

New names of the moons of Pluto fourth and fifth

The fourth and fifth moon of Pluto was officially called by popular vote Kerberos and Styx, respectively, said today the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The moons, discovered in 2011 and 2012 were known at first as P4 and P5, but the team leader responsible for the discovery, made by Hubble telescope observations from NASA, decided to organize a contest to baptize.