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
