By Jon Kelvey
April 1, 2024
NASA and DARPA think nuclear thermal propulsion could be the best way to get humans to Mars. Elon Musk is keeping his faith in the brute force of burning hydrocarbons. Who is right? It turns out either could work, but there are a lot of “ifs” for both strategies. Jon Kelvey has the analysis.
By Moriba Jah
April 1, 2024
By Cat Hofacker
February 1, 2024
Tom Jones, author and former NASA astronaut
By Jonathan O'Callaghan
February 1, 2024
As it stands, unregulated medical experiments could be conducted aboard the coming class of privately run space stations and capsules. A cadre of scientists and ethicists is sounding the alarm and suggesting solutions. Jonathan O’Callaghan looks at the issue.
By Cat Hofacker
October 1, 2023
Per Wimmer, a founding astronaut at Virgin Galactic
By Ben Iannotta
April 1, 2023
By Jon Kelvey
April 1, 2023
Hardly a day goes by without a space visionary somewhere promising to expand humanity into outer space for good, and billions of dollars are being spent in the belief that this is possible. Among the challenges lies one that is most fundamental: Our human biology cannot survive the radiation for long. Jon Kelvey looks at a possible solution that is struggling for funding.
By Cat Hofacker
March 1, 2023
By Cat Hofacker
February 1, 2023
Steven Wallace, Columbia Accident Investigation Board
By Debra Werner
January 3, 2023
Since the Apollo program concluded 50 years ago, NASA’s astronaut corps has accumulated thousands of hours of flight time in low-Earth orbit. As the agency now prepares to send astronauts back to the moon under the Artemis program, Apollo veterans told Debra Werner that a new set of skills — and a new mindset — may be needed.
By Debra Werner
November 1, 2022
When Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt rode their rover back to the Lunar Module on Dec. 14, 1972, they knew they would be the last humans on the moon for a while. The Nixon administration had removed the final three missions from the Apollo plan. Now, after what has grown into a half-century hiatus, the moon is back in play under the Artemis program. As the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17 approaches, Debra Werner posed this question to four of those involved:
By Jon Kelvey
September 30, 2022
We’ve all heard of the Sea of Tranquility where the Eagle touched down in the historic Apollo 11 mission. In a few years, if things go as NASA plans, another region could become world famous as the place where the United States made its human return to the moon. Jon Kelvey spoke to scientists who aim to help NASA choose a safe but scientifically exciting area to land.
By Paul Brinkmann
September 1, 2022
Ryan Hartman, president and CEO of World View
By Cat Hofacker
July 1, 2022
Caryn Schenewerk, Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Relativity Space
By Paul Brinkmann
May 1, 2022
Taber MacCallum and Jayne Poynter, co-CEOs of Space Perspective
By Keith Button
January 1, 2022
The next version of NASA’s expendable Space Launch System rockets will likely rely on adhesive film rather than metal fixtures to join sections of composite in parts of the structure. Keith Button tells us how engineers earned the trust of designers to incorporate the technique into rockets that will carry astronauts.
By Keith Button
November 1, 2021
High up the stack of NASA’s first Space Launch System rocket is a component that will play a critical role in proving the rocket’s safety during the upcoming Artemis I mission. This is its story as told by Keith Button.
By Moriba Jah
August 24, 2021
By Cat Hofacker
July 1, 2021
By Cat Hofacker
July 1, 2021
Bill Nelson
April 1, 2021
Returning to the moon to stay will require making rocket propellant on site, so that crews can rotate back to Earth. As it turns out, mining water ice may not be the fastest or easiest way to produce lunar rocket propellant.
By Cat Hofacker
January 1, 2021
Matt Ondler
By Sarah Wells
January 1, 2021
Virgin Galactic is getting ready to send its first paying customers to the fringes of space. NASA and European space leaders are talking about establishing a Moon Village for scientists, miners and tourists. Elon Musk famously wants to establish colonies on Mars. What kind of psychological training will people need for these and other bold endeavors? Sarah Wells spoke to psychologists and a space travel veteran to find out.
By Debra Werner and Cat Hofacker
November 1, 2020
Expanding civilization off Earth will require incredible breakthroughs. Resources must be mined on site and turned into fuel, drinking water and other supplies for settlers, who can’t carry adequate food and health care infrastructure with them. The transportation challenges will be enormous. Also, linking future settlers to each other and Earth will require high-throughput communications that today do not exist in deep space.
By Cat Hofacker
July 1, 2020
Now that SpaceX has proven it can launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, Boeing is preparing for its turn, likely early next year. When astronauts climb inside Starliner, space enthusiasts and casual viewers alike will notice some differences that could help future passengers decide which capsule they’d rather book for a trip to space.
By Cat Hofacker
February 1, 2020
Robert Cabana
By Amanda Miller
January 1, 2020
Janet Kavandi arrived at the Space Systems headquarters of Sierra Nevada Corp. in September to lead its space work as senior vice president of programs. Space Systems is in the midst of a growth plan as it prepares to launch cargo to the space station and is vying for roles in human spaceflight. In an interview at headquarters, Amanda Miller asked Kavandi about these initiatives, how she became an astronaut and about milestones for women in aerospace.
By Tom Jones
November 1, 2019
The current International Space Station spacesuit, designed 40 years ago for extravehicular activities from space shuttle orbiters, would frustrate any moonwalker. Veteran spacewalker Tom Jones looks at how NASA will build a moon suit in time for the planned 2024 lunar return.
By John M. Logsdon
October 1, 2019
The Apollo program proved to be unsustainable. If NASA and the Trump White House want to avoid the same fate for their Artemis lunar program, they should learn from Apollo’s history. Space historian John Logsdon shares some of the lessons he sees.
By Tom Jones
September 2, 2019
For 50 years, Americans have taken the moon for granted. Planetary scientist and former astronaut Tom Jones argues that returning there soon is an essential step toward other worlds, and continued leadership on this one.
By John M. Logsdon
July 1, 2019
The Apollo 11 moon landing still amazes, not just as a technological achievement but as a feat of political will by a democratic society. Space scholar John Logsdon has spent a good part of his career thinking about why and how this bold mission succeeded. Logsdon depicts how the U.S. made what is arguably humanity’s greatest achievement.
By Adam Hadhazy
July 1, 2019
Gene therapy could one day make it possible to biologically enhance humans to live and work in deep space. Adam Hadhazy checks in on this nascent idea.
By Ben Iannotta
June 1, 2019
By Amanda Miller
May 1, 2019
U.S. astronauts on the moon or Mars will need a spacesuit that won’t injure or exhaust them. One hurdle is that no one knows exactly what goes on in a physical sense when an astronaut inside one of today’s spacesuits moves his or her limbs. Amanda Miller visited with student researchers in Colorado who think they know how to find the sore spots in today’s suits, a breakthrough that could point the way to better designs, perhaps including one of their own.
By Tom Jones
May 1, 2019
Beyond the moon, sending astronaut explorers to near Earth asteroids in the 2030s would open intriguing, resource-rich objects to in-depth inspection and exploitation, smoothing the daunting path to Mars. Former astronaut Tom Jones makes the case.
By Adam Hadhazy
March 1, 2019
An easily overlooked, yet critical element of long-duration lunar or Martian missions will be dealing with all of the garbage we humans inevitably produce.
By Tom Jones
March 1, 2019
NASA is testing technologies to bring nuclear fission power to human spaceflight. Former astronaut Tom Jones explains why the move is long overdue.
By Amanda Miller
January 31, 2019
Boeing and SpaceX are poised to make 2019 the breakthrough year in the nearly decadelong effort to get the U.S. back in the business of launching astronauts to the space station and bringing them home. Amanda Miller looks at the stakes and steps ahead for the Commercial Crew program.
January 2, 2019
Assuring safety to the maximum extent possible for a human mission to Mars depends in large part on proving technologies and procedures through human exploration of the moon. Once those techniques and procedures are proven, there should be no need for a human precursor orbital mission to Mars. Mike Helton, a retired risk management expert who once worked on the Apollo missions, explains.
By Tom Jones
January 2, 2019
In spaceflight, failures are inevitable. If a commercial launch vehicle fails while flying NASA astronauts, how would NASA and the service provider return their systems to flight and assure astronaut safety? Veteran astronaut Tom Jones examines how NASA might cope with catastrophe.
October 31, 2018
Russia’s botched launch last month of an astronaut and cosmonaut to the International Space Station was good news in that no one died, and in another sense too. NASA and Roscosmos received a non-fatal wake-up call about spaceflight safety. Those involved in this brush with tragedy should dig below the proximate technical causes of the failure of the Soyuz rocket to examine cultural factors. James Oberg, a Houston-based space expert, explains.
By Adam Hadhazy
October 31, 2018
Mission planners are now fully coming to grips with the twin hazards posed to astronauts by long durations in weightlessness and exposure to cosmic radiation. Scientists and engineers are working on faster propulsion technologies to cut down on trip time, as well as a suite of countermeasures, aimed at bringing the red planet safely within human reach.
By John M. Logsdon
September 27, 2018
The circumstances that led the U.S. to undertake the Apollo 11 lunar mission 50 years ago next July, and the five landings that followed, were unique, and they won’t be repeated. Even so, space historian John M. Logsdon sees reason to anticipate that U.S. astronauts will in the next decade return to the moon.
By Amanda Miller
September 27, 2018
Precise navigation will be a necessity for safe human exploration of Mars and other celestial bodies in deep space. A pair of experiments about to get underway could change the way this navigation is done, and for the better.
By Ben Iannotta
August 31, 2018
By Tom Jones
August 31, 2018
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is intended to fly astronauts into lunar orbit on regular visits to a planned deep-space platform called the gateway. Veteran astronaut Tom Jones recently visited the Orion assembly line at Kennedy Space Center to assess the craft’s progress and path into translunar space.
By Amanda Miller
July 1, 2018
If all goes as Sierra Nevada Corp. hopes, you’ll soon be hearing a lot more about Dream Chaser, the spacecraft with a history of ups and downs. Amanda Miller toured the new Colorado facility where the first spaceflight version of Dream Chaser will be built.
By Tom Jones
May 31, 2018
Astronaut John W. Young died at age 87 on Jan. 5. He was the ninth human to walk on the moon, flew six space missions, and served as an astronaut for over four decades. Veteran astronaut Tom Jones, who trained and flew (aircraft) with Young, remembers his personality and character.
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
Michael Benson chronicles the making of the Oscar-winning film 50 years later
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON
By Tom Jones
March 30, 2018
Advice for avoiding a third failed attempt to get Americans back to our celestial neighbor
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
The White House wants to steer the launch of NASA’s proposed Europa Clipper spacecraft to a commercial rocket
By Ben Iannotta
February 28, 2018
By Tom Risen
February 28, 2018
By Tom Risen
February 28, 2018
Johann “Jan” Wörner
By Debra Werner
February 1, 2018
Eric Joyce, 31, project manager, Made in Space
By Ben Iannotta
February 1, 2018
DAVID E. BOWLES
By Tom Jones
January 2, 2018
Lessons drawn from Columbia accident reinforce culture of flight safety
By Ben Iannotta
January 2, 2018
By Debra Werner
October 31, 2017
Mike Lewis, 38, chief technology officer and chief engineer at NanoRacks
By Tom Risen
October 30, 2017
By Tom Jones
September 28, 2017
Astronauts in Mars orbit could orchestrate complex exploration of the surface
By Tom Risen
August 31, 2017
“The Martian” author Andy Weir weaves science with more complex characters living in a city on the moon.
By Tom Jones
June 27, 2017
A look at new egress options for NASA astronauts on launch pad
By Keith Button
June 27, 2017
By Tom Risen
May 31, 2017
Some advocates say species survival is best reason for mission
By Debra Werner
May 31, 2017
Tim Hinerman, deputy BE-4 engine lead
By Tom Risen
May 31, 2017
Andy Weir
By Tom Jones
May 1, 2017
Important research planned at the ISS
By Tom Risen
May 1, 2017
Scientists and policymakers talk about the best path ahead for human space exploration
By Ben Iannotta
April 17, 2017
By Adam Hadhazy
April 17, 2017
How to counteract the effects of years in microgravity
By Keith Button
April 17, 2017
Engineers to test a solution to re-entry communication problem
By Tom Jones
April 17, 2017
It would be a mistake to rush a crew aboard untried NASA vehicles
By Debra Werner
April 17, 2017
By Ben Iannotta
January 27, 2017
William H. Gerstenmaier
By Tom Jones
January 27, 2017
While we should expect a hard look at NASA from his administration, President Donald Trump should give NASA the tools and resources it needs to open space to explorers and commerce.
By John Elbon
November 22, 2016
Boeing’s space exploration chief on mission planning
By Tom Jones
November 22, 2016
NASA prepares its deep-space module to fly past the moon
By Tom Jones
November 21, 2016
NASA planners see opportunities for robotic and human exploration
By Debra Werner
October 18, 2016
Work to include a motor for module’s first astronaut mission
By Kristin Davis
September 13, 2016
Leonard David’s “Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet”
By Ben Iannotta
September 13, 2016
Tony Antonelli, Lockheed Martin’s chief technologist for exploration
By John Cook
August 31, 2016
Lessons for exploration from the International Space Station
