European Space Agency

A European spacecraft destined to land on Mars detached from its mothership on Sunday (Oct. 16), setting the stage for a daring descent to the Red Planet's surface later this week.

Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has captured dramatic imagery of a comet outburst that may have been caused by a landslide on the icy body.

The envisioned colony will be a permanent base for science, business, mining and even tourism on the moon, European Space Agency officials said.

The new Hubble image depicts the star cluster Trumpler 14, a collection of about 2,000 young stars that lies 8,000 light-years from Earth, near the center of the Carina Nebula.

A stunning image of more than 15,000 airplane flights around the world shows that satellite tracking of commercial aircraft is moving closer to reality.

The Aral Sea is shrinking, leaving a dried-up white lakebed where there used to be blue water. But in the eyes of a radar satellite, the sea's shores look like a colorful abstract painting.