NASA’s Stranded Astronauts Will Fly Home on SpaceX’s Dragon
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched to the International Space Station in June and expected eight days in space. Now these stranded astronauts finally have a ride home
Polaris Dawn Is the Most Ambitious—And Risky—Private Spaceflight Yet
The Polaris Dawn mission—a partnership between SpaceX and billionaire Jared Isaacman—will soar to historic heights and attempt the first-ever commercial spacewalk
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John McFall Is Breaking Barriers as the World’s First Parastronaut
Paralympian and surgeon John McFall is redefining the astronaut image and proving that space travel is achievable for people with physical disabilities
SpaceX Set to Launch First-Ever Crew over Earth's Poles
Launching in late 2024, the Fram2 mission will be the first human spaceflight to explore the planet's polar regions
No, You Can’t See the Great Wall of China from Space
Reports of Earth-orbiting astronauts glimpsing the Great Wall of China and many other artificial structures are wildly exaggerated, but humanity’s planetary influence isn’t entirely invisible from afar
How NASA’s Stranded Starliner Astronauts Could Fly Home with SpaceX
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the ISS since they launched to the station in early June. Now the space agency is close to deciding how to bring them back
Scientists Sound Alarms on New Surge in Cancers, and a Private Spacewalk Is Pushed Back
A new blood test for cancer, helpful cat parasites and a new kind of wood are featured in this week’s news roundup.
NASA Losing VIPER Rover Defangs the Science from Planned Moon Landings
A former space agency official argues that cutting a robotic explorer pulls the scientific teeth from the Artemis program
Scientists Race to Map Dangerous Ultrasmall Space Junk
An ambitious U.S. government program is working to detect and track millions of tiny space junk pieces—down to the size of a sand grain—throughout low-Earth orbit and beyond
NASA May Spend $800 Million to Not Send This Revolutionary Rover to the Moon
The VIPER lunar rover promised a revolution in our understanding of the moon’s precious deposits of ice. Then NASA cancelled the mission
How SpaceX Will Turn a Workhorse Vehicle into a Hulking Destroyer of Space Stations
SpaceX will supercharge its Dragon capsule to send the International Space Station to a watery retirement
China’s Fresh Samples from the Lunar Far Side Could Explain Earth’s Two-Faced Moon
Material from the moon’s far side collected by China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft could solve a long-standing lunar mystery