This close-up look at an active region taken on July 9, 2010, shows a hotbed of magnetic activity, including a small solar flare bursting out into space. (NASA Solar Dynamics Laboratory) Our sun keeps us going, but in this age of advanced technology, it could also cripple our electronic devices. According to SPACE.com, the sun is approaching the peak of its 11-year cycle, and , creating temporary radio blackouts and shutting down GPS navigation. However, this would require the coronal...

The contest invites LEGO fans to design and build future NASA air- and spacecraft. (LEGO/collectSPACE.com) NASA is challenging the next generation of aerospace engineers to toy with ideas for the future by using LEGO bricks to launch their concepts for advanced aircraft and spacecraft. The U.S. space agency and Danish toy company, which recently ended a partnership to fly the iconic plastic construction , are now jointly presenting the "NASA's Missions: Imagine and Build" competition. The contest, which is open...

For the first time since 1975, a NASA spacecraft has captured fresh images of Mercury, shedding new light on a planet that's mostly been in the dark because of its close proximity to the sun. (MORE: Go Inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis) (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) Thanks to the MESSENGER spacecraft, the first to orbit Mercury, , according to an io9.com report. The article also states the craft intends to take another 80,000 photos or...