Before, scientists have held the belief that we'll need to send a lander to dig on the surface of other celestial bodies to figure out what their subsurfaces are composed of. Recently though, they figured out a way for explorers to retrieve this information without even having to land. Details after the "read more" link below.

If you've ever wondered how the guys over at NASA could take all those awesome pictures of Saturn and its rings, you should know that it's all thanks to the little space probe that could, Cassini-Huygens. And in this update, we catch wind about this spacecraft getting an extra two years up in space to further explore Saturn. All the details in the full article.

Humans are making large developments toward the realization of their outer space dreams. There is one thing that stands in the way, however: cosmic rays. Created from many elements including hydrogen and uranium, there's a possibility that cosmic rays may pose a great health risk to astronauts. More in the full article.

Today's Astronomy picture from NASA is a beautiful view of the Earth's horizon during a sunset over the Pacific Ocean. If you've brushed up on your Astronomy (and possibly history, too), you probably know what today is. If you haven't the slightest idea, find out at the full article.

If you were wondering just why we haven't yet stepped foot onto Mars, here's quite the revelation: it seems that a certain dangerous element that all astronauts are exposed to whenever they reach orbit is stopping NASA from getting there. And no, it's not space gremlins or anything like that. All the perplexing details in the full article.

A few months ago, the Spirit rover was able to discover a habitable niche environment in Mars. Today, the HiRISE camera which currently orbits around the planet has revealed a sediment-filled crater.

This crater is evidence that the planet once had an ancient lake which could add more information on the probability that Mars was once habitable. Details on this evidence after the jump.

Ever wonder if there's life outside planet Earth? If so, then you might probably be interested by the new found information by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Ideally, this planet should be filled with carbon monoxide, but in reality the astronomers were able to detect water vapor. More information in the full article.

NASA is aiming high with several new missions planned out after forwarding its request for the fiscal budget of 2009. These include three new robotic missions to the Moon, two new Earth science missions, and an ambitious mission to the outer solar system. You can take a look at more details on these ambitious new plans in the full article after the jump!

Now before you all start blowing extraterrestrial theories, please hear us out first: new information regarding the planet nearest the sun in our solar system were finally released during NASA's press conference, and the scientific community now had a clearer picture of the planet Mercury. NASA's Messenger, the spacecraft sent to gather new data from Mercury, transmitted images of a crater - yes, crater - now dubbed the "Spider". More of this mysterious find at the full story.

As the first planet of our solar system, Mercury usually doesn't get the same level of attention as, say, the more loved dwarf planet Pluto. But once we consider that Mercury is also the closest planet to the Sun, we won't argue the point of actually going there - unless, of course, the Sahara Desert's your kind of Bora Bora. But NASA's braved the effort, and right after Messenger flew around Mercury this January 2008, they're willing to share the experience.