Space & Spaceflight

Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io Continues to Surprise Scientists

Scientists have published five years of observations of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, revealing just how strange the world is. They even describe one volcano that might be influenced by the moon’s orbit. Io is the solar system’s fourth-largest moon and most volcanically active object. The five years of infrared observations go against scientists’ models of the…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Former NASA Intern Scores $1.82 Million for Moon Landing Tapes He Bought at Auction

Former NASA intern Gary George sold off three of the agency’s videotapes of the Apollo 11 moon landing for $1.82 million at auction house Sotheby’s on Saturday, the 50th anniversary of the event, CNN reported. Sotheby’s claims the videos have not been enhanced, restored, or otherwise altered and are the “earliest, sharpest, and most accurate…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

European Space Agency Chief Urges Humanity to Protect Apollo 11, Lunokhod 1 Landing Sites

July 20, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the date when Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface, and the chief of the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to give their landing site, Tranquility Base, special heritage status. Per the Guardian, ESA director general…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

This Moon Machete Didn’t Turn Me Into an Astronaut, But It Did Murder My Boss’s Weeds

When NASA sent humans to the Moon for the very first time, it wanted its astronauts prepared for anything. So in addition to food, maps, and medical supplies, Apollo 11 carried a giant, 17-inch knife into space. Yes, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins headed to the Moon with a machete on board. The…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

NASA and ESA Reach Critical Decision on How the First Lunar Outpost Will Orbit the Moon

Mission planners for the lunar Gateway project have decided how the lunar outpost should orbit the Moon—and it’s actually quite brilliant. They’ve chosen a near-rectilinear halo orbit. This highly elliptical orbit should solve a bunch of problems, making it easy for astronauts to embark on missions to the lunar surface and for the outpost to…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

The Weird Ways NASA Thought Moon Dust Might Kill Apollo Astronauts

Prior to the first Moon landing, scientists had good reason to believe the lunar surface was covered in a fine layer of dust. While this might not sound like a big deal, it presented a host of concerns to the Apollo mission planners. In 1955, pioneering Cornell scientist Thomas Gold controversially theorized that the lunar…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Breathtaking Simulation Recreates Neil Armstrong’s View of the Apollo 11 Landing

Choppy video taken by a camera next to Buzz Aldrin’s window is the only visual record we have of the first Moon landing. Using archival data and new high-res images, a team from NASA has recreated the Apollo 11 landing, showing Neil Armstrong’s perspective for the very first time. The visual record of the Apollo 11…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Here Are the Bad Things NASA Thought Might Happen to the First Astronauts on the Moon

Fifty years ago this week, humankind landed on the Moon for the first time. It was one of the most impressive technological feats ever pulled off, filled with peril and uncertainty. Given that, it’s fair to wonder just what exactly NASA scientists were worried could have happened to the astronauts during and after their lunar…

Space & Spaceflight Ed Cara

This Asteroid Will Not Hit Earth

Breaking news for all you doomsday lovers out there: The 20-50 meter asteroid 2006 QV8 will NOT hit the Earth on September 9th. There was a one in 7,000 chance (this is fleetingly small) that asteroid 2006 QV89 would impact Earth in two months, according to a European Space Agency and European Southern Observatory release.…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

SpaceX Says a Faulty Valve Triggered Crew Dragon Explosion

Investigators looking into the cause of the SpaceX Crew Dragon explosion back in April are now blaming a faulty valve for the anomaly, which allowed leaking fuel to come into contact with titanium. Officials with SpaceX say they’ve already got a fix, but it’s still not clear when the company will be able to resume…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Scientists Develop Material to Create Habitable Areas on Mars

Mars’ surface, as far as we can tell, is not habitable to humans—it’s far too cold. But eventually, humanity would like to put an outpost on the planet. That will require warming things up a bit, but how? Scientists now propose using an insulating material called silica aerogel to make parts of the Martian surface…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Astronomers Think They’ve Spotted a Moon Forming Around an Exoplanet

Scientists have detected a signal around an exoplanet that might be the signature of a circumplanetary disk—a disk of debris that could one day form into exomoons. Astronomers theorize that in Jupiter and Saturn’s early days, the massive planets would trap debris into these orbiting circumplanetary disks. The mass from the disks could then do…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Japan Makes History as Hayabusa2 Attempts to Collect Underground Samples From Asteroid

Earlier today, Japan’s Hayabusa2 may have become the first probe in history to collect material from beneath the surface of an asteroid—a mission that could yield important new insights about the early stages of our solar system. The attempt alone is an exciting achievement, but we won’t know for sure whether the probe successfully gathered…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

NASA Abruptly Reassigns Top Human Exploration Program Officials as Trump Moon Mandate Looms

NASA’s longtime associate administrator for its human exploration program, William Gerstenmaier, has been re-assigned to be a special adviser to NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard in what seems like a fairly clear demotion, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Gerstenmaier, who has worked for NASA since 1977, had overseen “some of NASA’s most high-profile programs…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

UAE Spy Satellite Crashes Into Atlantic Ocean After Rocket Failure

The United Arab Emirates lost a spy satellite after a failed rocket launch from the South American country of French Guiana late Wednesday. It’s still unclear what caused the failure, which became evident about two minutes after liftoff. First reported by Spaceflight Now, the 98-foot-tall European Vega rocket was carrying a satellite built by Airbus…

Space & Spaceflight Matt Novak

Virgin Orbit Carries Out Its First Successful Rocket Drop Test From Modified Boeing 747

Virgin Orbit, the sister company of spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, nailed its first-ever drop test on Wednesday using a dummy LauncherOne rocket deployed from a Boeing 747 carrier named Cosmic Girl, Space.com reported. The test didn’t involve an actual rocket launch—the Boeing 747 carrier just dropped its 70-foot (21-meter) rocket some 35,000 feet (about 10,670…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Blasting Rich People Into Space Is Better Business Than Uber, Somehow

Virgin Galactic is preparing to become the first publicly traded spaceflight company, and the venture is setting a course to be profitable by August 2021, which would put it lightyears ahead of the profitability projections of another transportation-based company that simply moves people around on Earth: Uber. The Wall Street Journal reports that Virgin Galactic…

Space & Spaceflight Jennings Brown

How NASA Will Prolong the Lives of the Voyager Probes, 11 Billion Miles From Earth

Launched 42 years ago, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes are now exploring the outer realms of our solar system. Sadly, the end of the mission is now firmly in sight, but NASA has a plan to keep the probes operational for as long as possible before their power finally runs out. Voyager…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Keeping Up With SpaceX, Amazon Seeks to Launch More Than 3,200 Internet Satellites

In its attempt to keep pace with SpaceX and other competitors, Amazon is seeking FCC approval to put 3,236 interconnected broadband satellites into orbit. Amazon’s prospective broadband satellite constellation, called Project Kuiper, was announced back in April, as first reported by GeekWire. Not much was known about the project, aside from the number of satellites…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Asteroid Orbits So Close to the Sun, Its Year Lasts Just 151 Days

Introducing 2019 LF6, an asteroid so close to the Sun that a year lasts only 151 days. Known as an “Atira” asteroid, its orbit falls entirely inside Earth’s orbit, making it one of only a small handful of these objects ever discovered. A team of astronomers led by Quanzhi Ye from Caltech University found 2019 LF6…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io Continues to Surprise Scientists

Former NASA Intern Scores $1.82 Million for Moon Landing Tapes He Bought at Auction

European Space Agency Chief Urges Humanity to Protect Apollo 11, Lunokhod 1 Landing Sites

This Moon Machete Didn’t Turn Me Into an Astronaut, But It Did Murder My Boss’s Weeds

NASA and ESA Reach Critical Decision on How the First Lunar Outpost Will Orbit the Moon

The Weird Ways NASA Thought Moon Dust Might Kill Apollo Astronauts

Breathtaking Simulation Recreates Neil Armstrong’s View of the Apollo 11 Landing

Here Are the Bad Things NASA Thought Might Happen to the First Astronauts on the Moon

This Asteroid Will Not Hit Earth

SpaceX Says a Faulty Valve Triggered Crew Dragon Explosion

Scientists Develop Material to Create Habitable Areas on Mars

Astronomers Think They’ve Spotted a Moon Forming Around an Exoplanet

Japan Makes History as Hayabusa2 Attempts to Collect Underground Samples From Asteroid

NASA Abruptly Reassigns Top Human Exploration Program Officials as Trump Moon Mandate Looms

UAE Spy Satellite Crashes Into Atlantic Ocean After Rocket Failure

Virgin Orbit Carries Out Its First Successful Rocket Drop Test From Modified Boeing 747

Blasting Rich People Into Space Is Better Business Than Uber, Somehow

How NASA Will Prolong the Lives of the Voyager Probes, 11 Billion Miles From Earth

Keeping Up With SpaceX, Amazon Seeks to Launch More Than 3,200 Internet Satellites

This Asteroid Orbits So Close to the Sun, Its Year Lasts Just 151 Days

Tesla Goes Ahead and Admits Its Robotaxis Are Sometimes Fully Human-Controlled

School Forced to Replace Toilets After Kids Flush Vapes

‘Scream 7’ Just Won’t Stop Making Money as ‘Scream 8’ Gets Started

The Curtain Has Closed on Meta’s Movie Rating-Inspired Content Filters

Good News! You Can Finally Change That Ridiculous Gmail Address

ExpressVPN Just Launched ExpressAI: Your Prompts Are Now Invisible

VR Just Took Another Massive Body Blow

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

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