Calla Cofield, staff writer at Space.com. discusses some of the biggest stories in space from 2017. They include the end of the Cassini mission and the first interstellar object discovered in our solar system.
We also discuss Peggy Whitson's historic year, in which she solidified herself as the record-holder for most time in space for any U.S. astronaut. Cofield discusses the 7 Earth-sized planets found around the TRAPPIST-1 star and what future research of those planets might tell us about their atmospheres. We also talk the fascination behind 2017's Solar Eclipse.
The planet's temperature spiked on Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer, and Wednesday could become the third straight day Earth unofficially marks a record-breaking high, the latest in a series of climate-change extremes that alarm but don't surprise scientists.
The only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smoke from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly, forecasters say.
