Brett Tingley
Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett enjoys skywatching throughout the dark skies of the Appalachian mountains.
Latest articles by Brett Tingley

Night sky for tonight: Visible planets, stars and more in this evening's sky
By Jamie Carter last updated
Find out what you can see in the night sky for tonight, from planets and stars to dazzling meteor showers.

See Mars next to a nearly full moon in the sky Feb. 9
By Brett Tingley published
The moon makes for an excellent guide to see Mars in the night sky on the evening of Sunday, Feb. 9.

Perseverance Mars rover finds 'one-of-a-kind treasure' on Red Planet's Silver Mountain
By Brett Tingley published
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover found a 'one-of-a-kind treasure' on the rim of Jezero Crater, a rock that could help reveal the ancient history of the Red Planet.

Comet G3 (ATLAS) looks breathtaking above future home of world's largest telescope (photos)
By Brett Tingley published
Stunning photos show bright comet lighting up the dark skies above ESO's Paranal Observatory, future home of the world's largest telescope.

Trump administration's funding freeze attempt could have stalled $1.2 billion in NASA spending
By Brett Tingley published
A memo issued by the Trump administration has frozen $1.2 billion in funding for NASA programs ranging from science to space operations.

Happy Lunar New Year 2025! Chinese astronauts send Year of the Snake greeting from Tiangong space station (video)
By Brett Tingley published
As billions of people worldwide celebrate the Lunar New Year, astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station sent home a holiday greeting.

Boom Supersonic XB-1 jet breaks sound barrier on historic test flight (video)
By Brett Tingley published
Boom Supersonic made history today (Jan. 28) when its XB-1 jet broke the sound barrier for the first time on a test flight over the American desert.

NASA's new supersonic X-59 jet hits the afterburner (photos)
By Brett Tingley published
NASA and Lockheed Martin recently released photos of the X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet conducting tests of its afterburner, blasting out a column of fire while in the hangar.

Blue Ghost moon lander sees Earth as a 'blue marble' from orbit (photo)
By Brett Tingley published
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander caught haunting images of Earth as it prepares to make its way towards lunar orbit.

Watch Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander witness an eclipse from space (video)
By Brett Tingley published
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander is healthy on its way to the moon, and even witnessed a solar eclipse from space when Earth passed in front of the sun as seen from the spacecraft.

Watch SpaceX Starship explode over Atlantic Ocean on Flight Test 7 (videos)
By Brett Tingley, Mike Wall published
The upper stage of SpaceX's Starship megarocket exploded over the Atlantic Ocean during the vehicle's Flight 7 test today (Jan. 16), and lots of people saw the sky show.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket into orbit on 1st flight (video)
By Brett Tingley, Josh Dinner published
Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket reached orbit on its first-ever flight early this morning (Jan. 16).

Mars hides behind the Full Wolf Moon in gorgeous photos from around the world
By Brett Tingley published
People across the world captured awesome views of a large Full Wolf Moon and a mini Mars.

Venus and the moon light up the night sky in gorgeous photos from around the world
By Brett Tingley published
Venus and the moon made quite a pair during a conjunction on Jan. 3, 2025, and we've got the photos to prove it.

SpaceX launch of private Blue Ghost moon lander set for Jan. 15
By Brett Tingley published
SpaceX and NASA are targeting Jan. 15 for the launch of the private Blue Ghost moon lander from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX launches 1st Falcon 9 rocket of 2025, sends Thuraya 4 communications satellite to orbit (video)
By Brett Tingley last updated
SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket of 2025 as it sent the Thuraya 4 communications satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday (Jan. 3).

US Space Force 5 years later: What has it accomplished so far, and where does it go from here?
By Brett Tingley published
As the U.S. Space Force celebrates its fifth anniversary, the service's leadership looked back on its accomplishments so far while looking ahead to the future.

Watch Russian cosmonauts install new X-ray detector during ISS spacewalk today (video)
By Brett Tingley published
Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner will perform a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk on Dec. 19 to install new equipment outside the ISS. Watch it live here, courtesy of NASA.

Private Japanese rocket explodes after liftoff in its 2nd launch failure of 2024 (photos)
By Brett Tingley published
Japanese startup Space One lost its second Kairos 2 rocket shortly after liftoff due to an unknown failure.

December full moon shines bright this weekend: How to see the last full moon of 2024
By Brett Tingley last updated
The December full moon, the final full moon of 2024, rises overnight on Dec. 14 during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower.

After accident on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter could live on as a weather station for 20 years
By Brett Tingley published
Ingenuity may never fly above the surface of Mars again, but the downed helicopter is otherwise healthy and could serve as a weather station for decades, JPL says.

NASA will fly F-15s through supersonic shock waves behind its experimental X-59 jet
By Brett Tingley published
NASA has developed special probes that will fly aboard F-15B jets trailing closely behind its X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet in order to measure the shock waves it produces.

Iran launches military satellite, sending nation's largest-ever payload to orbit: reports
By Brett Tingley published
Iranian state media claimed one of the country's Simorgh rockets launched its largest payload yet, sending three spacecraft into low-Earth orbit on Dec. 6.
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