headshot of Associate News Editor Christopher Crockett

Christopher Crockett

Associate News Editor

Christopher Crockett is an Associate News Editor. He was formerly the astronomy writer from 2014 to 2017, and he has a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

All Stories by Christopher Crockett

  1. Planetary Science

    Decades-old idea brought to fruition: a mission to Mercury

    In 1965, engineers proposed sending a spacecraft to Mercury with help from another planet’s gravity – a technique now used in many interplanetary missions.

  2. Planetary Science

    Rosetta reveals a complex comet

    Rosetta finds diverse landscapes on comet 67P, which could provide researchers with clues about how the solar system formed.

  3. Planetary Science

    Mars orbiter locates lost Beagle 2 lander

    The Beagle 2 lander, missing since 2003, has been found on the surface of the Red Planet in images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

  4. Astronomy

    Rocky planets around cool stars may have Earthlike climates

    Small, rocky planets that sit close to cool stars might be able to keep spinning, creating conditions hospitable to life.

  5. Astronomy

    Large rocky planets excel at ocean building

    Rocky planets a few times as massive as Earth may build deeper oceans – and sustain them for longer – than smaller worlds.

  6. Astronomy

    Hubble telescope captures panorama of Andromeda galaxy

    The Hubble Space Telescope captured a panoramic mosaic of the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, mapping the light from over 100 million stars.

  7. Astronomy

    Pair of black holes prepare to take the plunge

    A pair of supermassive black holes in a distant galaxy will likely collide in the next million years.

  8. Astronomy

    Kepler telescope discovers another 554 possible planets

    Extra year of Kepler telescope data adds 554 possible planets and eight confirmed ones that might be able to host life.

  9. Astronomy

    Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet

    NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.

  10. Astronomy

    Year in review: Dust obscures possible gravitational wave discovery

    A possible signal from moments after the Big Bang may be due to dust in the Milky Way galaxy.

  11. Astronomy

    Year in review: Kepler gets second chance at life

    This year, Kepler engineers figured out how to stabilize the almost-defunct Kepler telescope, while astronomers found hundreds more worlds.

  12. Planetary Science

    Year in review: Ocean may power Enceladus’ geysers

    NASA’s Cassini spacecraft builds a stronger case for a subsurface ocean on Enceladus that drives ice geysers on the moon’s south pole.