Articles, essays, and commentary about all facets of space exploration
This week, as NASA marks the 20th anniversary of the loss of Columbia, the agency says it's redoubling its efforts to learn from that and past accidents to avoid another. Jeff Foust reports that those efforts come as human spaceflight shifts to the private sector, creating a new set of issues to ensure safety.
4d
The US military raised concerns last year that China may be developing fractional orbital bombardment systems and other space-to-ground weapons. Christopher Stone argues that the best way to counter such weapons is for the US to develop similar ones.
4d
The recent success of NASA's DART mission might suggest that scientists have figured out how to deal with a potentially hazardous asteroid. Fred Jourdan and Nick Timms explain their research that shows that asteroids like the one DART hit might actually be difficult to handle.
4d
Many astronaut memoirs follow similar paths recounting experience before, during, and after NASA. Jeff Foust reviews a book that offers a different approach, looking at the post-NASA life of an Apollo-era astronaut as remembered by his stepdaughter.
4d
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NASA officials have emphasized that operations of the ISS remained unaffected. Jeff Foust reports that was put to the test when a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station was damaged last month.
2w
During the final Skylab mission, astronauts photographed a secretive base in Nevada, creating a headache for the CIA. Dwayne Day revisits that incident to explore the issue of secrecy and classification.
2w
The United States is a leader in space, but that future leadership is not assured. Namrata Goswami argues that the US needs to revise its space priorities to address growing interest in using space for economic development.
2w
Rwanda and Nigeria became the first African nations to sign the Artemis Accords last month. Nico Wood discusses why, despite this milestone, the United States needs to do more to work with African nations in space diplomacy.
2w
At a conference last week, astronomers celebrated the James Webb Space Telescope as it continued to surpass expectations. Jeff Foust reports that they also discussed how to develop future space telescopes, including a series of new "great observatories" that may take decades to launch.
3w
Shortly before the first Gulf War, Iraq embarked on an effort to launch its own satellite. Dwayne Day examines what we know about efforts to build a satellite and small launch vehicle, and potential ties to missile development.
3w
Follow RSS Feeds, Blogs, Podcasts, Twitter searches, Facebook pages, even Email Newsletters! Get unfiltered news feeds or filter them to your liking.
Get Inoreader