SpaceX's successful launch Tuesday morning proves that NASA is no longer the only game in town, and may inspire a new generation of rocketeers.

SpaceX's successful launch: 4 predictions for what's next

The first privately owned spacecraft is making its inaugural delivery trip to the International Space Station, ushering in a new era of space travel

 
If NASA goes into business with SpaceX, the private space company will be expected to make 12 cargo deliveries to the International Space Station over the next several years.

SpaceX's historic launch: By the numbers

On Tuesday the first privately owned spacecraft ever will (again) attempt to blast off and deliver goods to the International Space Station

 
A model of the Starship Enterprise: The iconic Star Trek spaceship may take flight in the real world by 2032 if one determined engineer has his way.

The ambitious plan to build Star Trek's USS Enterprise

One adventurous engineer makes a compelling case to boldly build what no man has built before. Could the crazy thing actually work?

 
The Dragon spacecraft and its Falcon 9 rocket are rolled to the Cape Canaveral, Fla., launchpad for tests ahead of the landmark liftoff scheduled for May 19.

SpaceX: Should we cheer private space flight?

With the first privately-owned spacecraft heading for the International Space Station on May 19, space enthusiasts argue that it's time to stop mourning NASA's decline

 
Tracy Flick, the desperately ruthless overachiever in the 1999 movie "Election," may have just suffered from too much dopamine in her brain, at least judging from new research.

Dopamine: The difference between slackers and go-getters?

A brain neurotransmitter also known as "the pleasure chemical" may play a crucial role in determining a person's work ethic

 
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of inferred dark matter that has been tinted blue shows the concentration of dark matter at the center of a galaxy.

The dark matter pelting your body right now: A guide

Groundbreaking research suggests the universe's most mysterious substance is hitting the human body at a much higher rate than previously thought

 
President Obama autographs a banner in Washington, D.C.: The president is part of a small minority of people, only 10 percent, who are left-handed.

Why so few people are left-handed

Right-handers have long accounted for 90 percent of the population, and scientists may have figured out why

 
In the mid-'60s, 4 percent of tax revenue flowed to NASA. Today, that number is one-half of 1 percent.

NASA's dwindling budget: Why has America stopped reaching for the stars?

Space travel inspires us to dream about tomorrow, says Neil deGrasse Tyson. So why did we give up?

 
A special protective coating for paper, created by Italian scientists, could help keep old photos from deteriorating from moisture damage.

Coming soon: Waterproof magnetic paper?

Thanks to a breakthrough from Italian scientists, your wallpaper might one day be magnetic, and you might even be able to swim with your favorite book

 
Artist's conception of an asteroid belt: A new company is looking to space for the next big source of natural resources.

Asteroid mining: Is there money to be made in space?

James Cameron, Google's top brass, and Ross Perot's son are betting big that there's platinum in the heavens. Are they delusional or brilliant?

 
The Discovery space shuttle hitches a ride aboard a 747 airplane to its final home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The space shuttle Discovery's bittersweet final flight over D.C.

NASA's oldest surviving shuttle, mounted on top of a Boeing 747, cruises at low altitude over cheering onlookers in the capital as it makes its last journey

 
The Titanic's bow and railing 12,600 feet below the surface: Do bodies decomposed into mud constitute "human remains"?

Are there human remains at the Titanic wreck site?

About 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank 100 years ago. Most of the bodies were never recovered, but some say there are remains near the ship

 
An artist's illustration of SKA dishes, part of a proposed supercomputer radio telescope that would be tasked with studying the farthest corners of space.

Coming soon: A telescope that crunches more data than the entire internet?

An international team of astronomers imagines an enormous system of space telescopes stretching for thousands of kilometers above the Earth

 
Only 35 percent of conservative voters have a "great deal of trust in science," compared to 48 percent in 1974.

Why conservatives increasingly distrust science: 4 theories

The Right has far less faith in the conclusions of scientists than it did in the 1970s. What's making conservatives so skeptical?

 
Caught on camera: A mass of super-heated gas swirling through the sun's atmosphere at 186,000 miles per hour.

The gigantic solar tornado that could devour five Earths

Solar Dynamics Laboratory videotapes a twister — large enough to destroy our planet — stretching out from the sun's surface

 

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