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

By Leonard David Published
Lunar scientists have started plotting out photographic objects of interest for the four-person Artemis 2 crew to consider during their flyby of the moon.

By Leonard David Published
While ambitious plans to return Red Planet samples to Earth are in development, some scientists argue that we should instead find ways to analyze Mars samples on the planet itself.

By Leonard David Published
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently bounced a laser off India's Vikram moon lander, marking a space-communications first.

By Leonard David Published
Scientists are investigating the possible forms that alien languages might take — and whether we might be able to understand them.

By Leonard David Published
NASA's Mars Sample Return program is the agency’s highest priority in planetary science, but projected multibillion-dollar overruns have some calling the plan a 'dumpster fire.'

By Leonard David Published
Landing on the moon may soon be much easier thanks to NASA's Lunar Retroreflector Array network being carried to the lunar surface on international and commercial landers.

By Leonard David Published
A new study has found that amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — remain stable in concentrated sulfuric acid, the stuff that Venus' clouds are made of.

By Leonard David Published
Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic is gearing up for the Jan. 8 launch of its Peregrine lander, which will try to become the first private spacecraft to land on the moon.

By Leonard David Published
The first-ever private mission Venus is slated to launch in 2025. and aims to search for signs of life in its clouds by detecting organic chemistry.

By Leonard David Published
A group has been formed to study and promote a space-based sunshade as a method to help fend off global climate change.

By Leonard David Published
A new study calls for humanity to prepare for an encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence and examines the social consequences of such contact.

By Leonard David Published
Scientists have discovered that many asteroids have the consistency of piles of rubble. Knowing this, how could we defend Earth against one of these asteroids?

By Leonard David Published
Honeybee Robotics has a plan to build massive lighthouses on the moon to provide light, power and communications infrastructure as part of a plan to develop a lunar economy.

By Leonard David Published
The United States' use of military agencies such as DARPA to develop emerging technologies for the moon could be sending a wrong message.

By Leonard David Published
For the first time, NASA-funded researchers can apply for access to lunar samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 mission.

By Leonard David Published
Amid uncertainty over space agencies’ plans for future Venus exploration, enthusiasm for a private-sector mission grows.

By Leonard David Published
China will launch an extension module at an appropriate time and upgrade the basic configuration of the space station from the current 'T' shape to a cross shape.

By Leonard David Published
Russia kicked off another one of its simulated missions this week, this time a 360-day isolation of individuals to imitate flight conditions of a deep space journey.

By Leonard David Published
While landing humans on the moon was indeed historic and the boot-kicked lunar dust has settled, perhaps that achievement had more of an impact on society than we realized.

By Leonard David Published
Japan's planned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft mission involves drilling and sampling Mars' moon Phobos, then rocketing the samples to Earth.

By Leonard David Published
NASA's Perseverance rover is scurrying around on the Red Planet, wheeling and dealing around Jezero Crater and inspecting the site of this former lake up close.

By Leonard David Published
For many anxious to throw light on unidentified anomalous phenomena, it's all about reliable, truth-revealing, and scientifically rigorous data collection.

By Leonard David Published
China's upcoming Xuntian, or Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), will orbit near the nation's Tiangong space station and provide high-definition panoramic views of the universe.

By Leonard David Published
Based on the valuable scientific contributions microphones have made aboard the Perseverance Mars rover, it's time to turn up the volume on microphones for extra-planetary exploration.

By Leonard David Published
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will see a sample of an asteroid return to Earth on Sept. 24. Here's how the mission's head scientist feels about the chances of success.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!