Polaris Dawn’s First Private Space Walk Was a Stellar Success
The world’s first commercial space walk, performed by billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, tested new technology and was practically flawless
Starliner Spacecraft Safely Returns to Earth, sans Astronauts
Starliner’s first crewed test flight has concluded with a successful touchdown—and two astronauts still in orbit awaiting a different ride home
Read all the stories you want.
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
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
Poem: ‘Rocket Launch Laconic’
Science in meter and verse
A Close Encounter with SpaceX Debris Teaches an Astronomer about Space Junk
The space junk polluting low-Earth orbit sometimes makes its way to Earth. Here’s how one astronomer responded when SpaceX debris fell on a nearby farm.
Olympic Athletes Swim the Murky Seine, and Astronauts Are Stuck on the Space Station
We cover the science stories of the Olympics, concerns about artificial sweeteners and a new theory of how the pyramids were built in this week’s news roundup.
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
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