Nancy Atkinson is a science journalist and author who works to tell the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She has written two books about the people behind NASA projects like the Apollo missions and the robotic rovers exploring our solar system, and hosted/worked on several astronomy
podcasts. A writer for Universe Today since 2004, Atkinson's work can also be found at The Planetary Society and Ad Astra, the magazine of the National Space Society. Other work can be found at Seeker, New Scientist, Wired.com, Space.com, NASA’s Astrobiology Magazine, Space Times Magazine, and several newspapers in the Midwest.
Latest articles by Nancy Atkinson

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Dark matter is thought to account for 25 percent of the mass of the universe, but it has never been observed. Berkeley Lab researchers hope to change that with a new approach.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
The Xinjiang Qitai 110-meter Radio Telescope — QTT, for short — could help advance research on dark matter, gravitational waves, and extraterrestrial intelligence.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Astronauts can lose 2 percent of their bone mass each month, and experiments on the International Space Station are testing a method for countering bone loss in orbit — and back on Earth.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Sky watchers discovered 11 new streams of stars that are the remnants of nearby galaxies and star clusters absorbed by the Milky Way.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Astronomers observed two 13-billion-year-old galaxies spinning in whirlpool motions, which was thought to be characteristic of mature galaxies like ours.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Physicists have a new scenario of the universe's expansion at the Big Bang that may explain why our universe has three large spatial dimensions.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Previously undetected matter was found in the form of gas filaments between galaxies, which is a major step toward explaining the structure of the cosmos.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
A new estimate of our planet's chemical composition will help scientists understand how the Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Micrometeorite fossils embedded in the cliffs could help explain events that took place as many as 98 million years ago.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
The discovery could help scientists better understand how the sun formed 4.6 billion years ago.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Astronomers looking at how intergalactic gas and dust moves across great distances found that up to half of the matter surrounding us comes from galaxies far, far away.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
The latest research suggests with even more certainty that Mars was once habitable, while revealing striking mineralogical diversity on the Red Planet.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Some have cast doubt about the existence of black hole event horizons from which nothing, not even light, can escape the gravitational pull.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
KELT-11b will help astronomers develop the best tools for assessing habitability or possible life on distant exoplanets.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
The finding shows that oxygen can be generated in space without the need for life, and could influence how researchers search for signs of life on exoplanets.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
Researchers have produced what they say is the first composite image of a dark matter filament that connects galaxies across the cosmos.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
A new study pursues a kind of “paleontology” for gravitational waves in an attempt to explain how and why black holes collide and merge.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
A team of astronomers has mapped distortions caused by the dust that pervades our galaxy in order to begin measuring how quickly the universe is expanding.

By Nancy Atkinson Published
The Atacama Desert in Chile offers an unparalleled approximation of the conditions on Mars — which also makes it a good place to practice looking for life on the Red Planet.
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