Tech

The Mission NASA Doesn’t Want to Postpone

So far, the pandemic isn’t stopping the space agency from moving forward with a historic SpaceX launch next month.

Tech

How to Survive Pandemic Re-entry

Astronauts have given us some useful tips for surviving isolation, but we’ll need more to weather a pandemic.

Tech

The Coronavirus Has Tied Us to Earth

Space missions around the world are on hold—a poignant reminder of how the pandemic has upended civilization.

Defense

100 U.S. Soldiers to Transfer into Space Force in 2021

The Army is the first branch outside the Air Force to announce initial plans regarding the new branch of service.

Tech

NASA Will Only Tolerate So Much Danger

An investigation into what really went wrong with Boeing's last space mission turned up serious issues.

Tech

NASA Mission Finds Its First Exoplanet that May Be Habitable

Thanks to NASA's TESS spacecraft, scientists have discovered two amazing new worlds: A potentially habitable exoplanet and one with two suns.

Defense

Space Force Is Go for Launch, But ‘Thousands’ of Decisions Remain

The 2020 defense authorization act ushers in the first new service branch in 72 years.

Tech

The Next Big Milestone in American Spaceflight

This was supposed to be the year NASA astronauts launched into space from U.S. soil again.

Tech

The Mystery at the Center of the Solar System

A spacecraft has finally gotten close enough to the sun to gather clues about some lingering questions.

Tech

NASA's TESS Spacecraft Is Finding Hundreds of Exoplanets – and Is Poised to Find Thousands More

Beyond the outer edge of the Solar System, mysterious, unknown worlds await by the thousands. Astronomers can now finally find them and explore them - but will we find another Earth?

Tech

A Hitch at NASA Headquarters

NASA has carried out its first all-female spacewalk, but hints of outdated thinking about women in space remain.

Tech

NASA Hands Elon Musk a Reality Check

A shared effort to deliver NASA astronauts to space recently got a little awkward.

Tech

Why is the Pentagon Interested in UFOs?

During a military mission, whether in peace or in war, the inability to identify an object within an area of operation represents a significant problem.

Tech

Why Soviets Sent Dogs to Space While Americans Used Primates

Researchers didn’t know how people would react to weightlessness. So they sent animals first.

Tech

The Aging Spacecraft of Deep Space

NASA is rationing watts to keep its oldest mission going.

Tech

The Great NASA Bake-Off

High-tech agriculture would keep far-flung astronauts alive, but making something delicious would keep them happy.

Tech

The Apollo Engineer Who Almost Wasn’t Allowed in the Control Room

JoAnn Morgan stood out against the sea of men in skinny ties and glasses. But she was right where she belonged.

Tech

A Giant Leap For Humankind – Future Moon Missions Will Include Diverse Astronauts And More Partners

The new era of space exploration is characterized by an emphasis on diversity and international cooperation. But there's a lot of work to do before there's gender equality in STEM fields and at NASA.

Tech

The Fraught Effort to Return to the Moon

NASA wants to put people back on the lunar surface in 2024, but it doesn’t have the budget.