
Leonard David
Leonard David is an award-winning space journalist who has been reporting on space activities for more than 50 years. Currently writing as Space.com's Space Insider Columnist among his other projects, Leonard has authored numerous books on space exploration, Mars missions and more, with his latest being "Moon Rush: The New Space Race" published in 2019 by National Geographic. He also wrote "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet" released in 2016 by National Geographic. Leonard has served as a correspondent for SpaceNews, Scientific American and Aerospace America for the AIAA. He has received many awards, including the first Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History in 2015 at the AAS Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium. You can find out Leonard's latest project at his website and on Twitter.
Latest articles by Leonard David

NASA or the Space Force: Who should protect Earth from dangerous asteroids?
By Leonard David published
NASA currently leads the nation's planetary defense efforts, but some are calling for the Space Force to take control.

Wild new 'Skyfall' Mars mission would drop 6 scout helicopters onto the Red Planet from the air
By Leonard David published
"With six helicopters, Skyfall offers a low-cost solution that multiplies the range we would cover, the data we would collect, and the scientific research we would conduct."

Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' gives US Space Force $1 billion for secretive X-37B space plane
By Leonard David published
U.S. President Trump's "One, Big Beautiful Bill Act," H.R. 1 includes $1 billion for the U.S. Space Force (USSF) X-37B military spacecraft program.

Could asteroid mining actually work? Maybe if we start with impact sites on the moon
By Leonard David published
"Can humanity enjoy the benefits of both asteroid and lunar mining without compromise, or do we have to choose one at the expense of the other?"

Private lunar landing: How Blue Ghost measured the moon's electric and magnetic fields
By Leonard David published
Private lunar landing: How Blue Ghost measured the moon's electric and magnetic fields

Is the US forfeiting its Red Planet leadership to China's Mars Sample Return plan?
By Leonard David published
"Returning the scientifically selected samples that await us on Mars, as part of a balanced portfolio, will help to ensure the US does not cede leadership in deep space to other nations, such as China."

A failed Soviet Venus probe from the '70s crashed to Earth in May — why was it so hard to track?
By Leonard David published
"Being off even a little bit represents hundreds or thousands of kilometers in distance on the surface of the Earth."

NASA moon orbiter spies grave of crashed Japanese lunar lander (image)
By Leonard David published
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has imaged the crash site of Resilience, a moon lander built and operated by the Tokyo-based company ispace.

Saving Gateway, SLS and Orion? Sen. Ted Cruz proposes $10 billion more for NASA's moon and Mars efforts
By Leonard David published
Sen. Ted Cruz's newly unveiled legislative directives for Senate Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill would dedicate almost $10 billion to win the new space race with China.

Lunar landers and 'Transporter' tankers: Blue Origin unveils its blueprint for the moon
By Leonard David published
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has begun revealing how it plans to establish itself as a provider of hardware that will enable long-term human stays on the moon.

Can we protect historical sites on the moon before it's too late?
By Leonard David published
A number of groups and individuals say there's a need to protect lunar history before it's too late.

Could deciphering dolphin language help us communicate with ET?
By Leonard David published
There are creatures here on Earth that may give us clues about how to communicate with extraterrestrial intelligence — dolphins, which are famously social and smart.

Can we actually build a thriving economy on and around the moon?
By Leonard David published
Building a sustainable economy on the moon won't be easy, but we at least have some ideas about how to get started.

US and China need a space hotline for orbital emergencies, experts say
By Leonard David published
The Council on Foreign Relations released a new report calling for the United States to make space a top national priority.

Trump's proposed 2026 NASA budget cuts will cede our space 'position of leadership to other nations', top scientists say
By Leonard David published
The chairs of several NASA analysis and assessment groups (AGs) issued a statement in response to the Trump administration's proposed budget that would gut science programs.

Trump's 2026 budget plan would cancel NASA's Mars Sample Return mission. Experts say that's a 'major step back'
By Leonard David published
The White House says NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is a waste of money, but experts say the mission could help it achieve its goal of putting humans on Mars.

New Mexico's Spaceport America looks up and into the future
By Leonard David published
Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world — but its executive director has a portfolio of ideas to further grow the launch complex.

'Right now, we are in what has to be a Golden Age of asteroid exploration.' Scientists celebrate NASA's latest space rock flyby
By Leonard David published
Asteroid experts are pondering the scientific output from the NASA Lucy spacecraft after it shot by its celestial destination, the main belt asteroid named Donaldjohanson.

New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out
By Leonard David published
The soon-to-reenter Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus probe is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.

A failed Soviet Venus lander will fall back to Earth after being stranded for 53 years
By Leonard David published
A Venus lander launched by the Soviet Union in 1972 has been predicted to fall back to Earth some time in May.

'We learned so much that we didn't know': Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander mission was full of surprises
By Leonard David published
Firefly Aerospace's CEO Jason Kim says the company's successful Blue Ghost moon lander mission revealed 'so much that we didn't know' about the lunar surface.

'It's very pro-commercial space right now': An industry insider's off-Earth status report
By Leonard David published
Space.com caught up recently with Dave Cavossa, president of the Commercial Space Federation, to discuss the state of the U.S. private space industry.

'Planetary defense is knowing what's out there and what could do harm to us.' Meet the scientist who helped build NASA's asteroid response plan
By Leonard David published
A Q&A with Lindley Johnson, a pioneer in blueprinting warning and response scenarios to any potential impact of Earth by an asteroid or comet.

Vanguard 1 is the oldest satellite orbiting Earth. Scientists want to bring it home after 67 years
By Leonard David published
A team that includes aerospace engineers, historians and writers have proposed retrieving the 67-year-old Vanguard 1 satellite from orbit.

Capturing the cosmos on canvas: How art helps scientists and space agencies communicate with the public
By Leonard David published
Astrophysicist and artist Ed Belbruno explains how art helps scientists communicate their work to the public and even discover solutions to spaceflight and astronomy problems.
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