space travel

NASA's Mars 2020 rover has passed it's first and only driving test - at snail speed. Interested in more space news? Check out this week's top ten space photos.

This article was originally reported on Universe Today.

Space is an interesting place, but it can be hard to wrap your head around some of those out-of-this-world concepts. So what better way to learn facts about space than with GIFs? Here are six interesting and educational GIFs made from videos by Dr James O'Donoghue, a planetary scientist based at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Enjoy learning, space cadets. Want to learn more? Check out this article about how the new Mac Pro isn't good at grating cheese. 

The Boeing Starliner capsule, which is planning to transport people to and from the International Space Station in the near future, successfully completed an abort mission - although one of it's three parachutes failed to deploy. At the time, few photos or videos were taken of the capsule's short flight. New video footage has just emerged, and we've made some sweet GIFs so you can view it's journey in GIF form. If you want to know more about the Boeing Starliner capsule, read our comprehensive article about it. Otherwise, enjoy the GIFs!

Well, it appears that we're living in the future now, as the first space crime ever may have just been committed. 

Astronaut Anne McClain has found herself in hot water after being accused of identity theft from her estranged wife Summer Worden. 

Sounds like a fairly regular crime until you learn that McClain had accessed Worden's bank account from outer space, making for an unprecedented case with unclear jurisdiction. 

While the legal authorities try to sort that sh*t out, please enjoy the following Twitter reactions!

When  Hugo-Award winning writer Mary Kowal penned a New York Times essay about gender bias in space, she did not expect a wealth of responses claiming that women we kept from space travel due to a lack of adequate bathroom technology. The concept that only women would face issues relieving themselves was so preposterous that Kowal took to Twitter in hopes of enlightening the masses with some serious space potty history. 

In the thread, Kowal manages to destroy some seriously absurd bathroom-related gender bias and teach us a whole lot about the process of pooping and peeing in zero gravity. It's an informative yet wild and wildly funny ride, and really leaves us with the desire to observe a glove of purple piss floating out of a space toilet. If Kowal schooled you as hard as she did us, give her a follow on Twitter. She's got loads more wisdom to share.