Mike Wall

Mike Wall

Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

Articles by: Mike Wall

NASA's Perseverance rover captured this image of a Mars dust devil on Aug. 30, 2023.

Watch a dust devil swirl across Mars in this video from NASA's Perseverance rover

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Perseverance rover captured video of a dust devil moving along the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater on Aug. 30, 2023.

a rocket launches into a dark night sky.

Watch SpaceX launch 22 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida this evening

By Mike Wall published

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 22 Starlink satellites from Florida's Space Coast this evening (Sept. 29), and you can watch the action live.

illustration of a spacecraft flying over a large asteroid with the blackness of space in the background.

NASA delays launch of Psyche asteroid mission by 1 week, to Oct. 12

By Mike Wall published

The launch of NASA's Psyche mission has been delayed by a week to Oct. 12, so the team can deal with a recently detected thruster issue.

a white rocket launches into a blue sky.

Iran launches 3rd military satellite to orbit

By Mike Wall published

Iran sent its 3rd military satellite to orbit on Wednesday (Sept. 27), lofting the Noor 3 spacecraft atop a Qasem rocket.

technicians in white coats work on a shiny silvery spacecraft inside a white-walled room.

SpaceX launch of NASA's Psyche asteroid mission is just 2 weeks away

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Psyche mission is set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Oct. 12.

a space capsule launches away from its rocket atop a pillar of flame, with blue sky in the background.

FAA closes investigation of Blue Origin launch failure

By Mike Wall published

The Federal Aviation Administration has finished investigating the failure suffered by Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle on Sept. 12, 2022.

five skydivers hold each others' arms high above a desert landscape.

Private astronaut sets HALO skydiving record (video, photos)

By Mike Wall last updated

Ax-1's Larry Connor and the rest of the 'Alpha 5' team set a new HALO formation skydiving world record on Thursday morning (Sept. 28).

four people in blue protective equipment handle a metal canister inside a laboratory

NASA opens OSIRIS-REx's asteroid-sample canister (photos)

By Mike Wall published

Scientists removed the outer lid of OSIRIS-REx's sample canister on Tuesday (Sept. 26). But a full reveal of the mission's asteroid sample is still two weeks away.

three men in black polo shirts float aboard the international space station.

Watch a NASA astronaut and 2 cosmonauts return to Earth after 1 year in space on Sept. 27

By Mike Wall published

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and his two Russian crewmates are scheduled to return to Earth Wednesday morning (Sept. 27) after a year in space, and you can watch it live.

workers unload a silver crate from a plane and put it in the back of a truck.

OSIRIS-REx's asteroid sample lands in Houston (photos)

By Mike Wall published

The asteroid sample collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed in Houston today (Sept. 25), a day after arriving on Earth from very deep space.

Starlink rocket launch at night, a black and white rocket ignites against the black sky.

SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites into orbit from California

By Mike Wall last updated

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from California early Monday morning (Sept. 25), carrying 21 Starlink satellites to orbit.

a black-and-white spacex falcon 9 rocket launches into a night sky.

SpaceX rocket launches on record-tying 17th mission

By Mike Wall last updated

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched for a record-tying 17th time Saturday night (Sept. 23), carrying 22 Starlink satellites to orbit.

a woman in a baseball cap examines a mock sample-return capsule in a desert landscape.

OSIRIS-REx probe will bring pristine asteroid samples to Earth today. Watch it live

By Mike Wall last updated

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is set to deliver its asteroid sample to Earth on Sunday morning (Sept. 24), and you can watch the historic action live.

Artist's illustration of space junk orbiting Earth.

FAA proposes rule to reduce space junk in Earth orbit

By Mike Wall published

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a rule that would limit the amount of time that rockets' upper stages stay in orbit.

a black rocket lifts off into a blue sky.

Chinese launch startup's rocket fails during satellite launch

By Mike Wall published

The Chinese launch company Galactic Energy suffered its first failure on Thursday (Sept. 21), resulting in the loss of a remote-sensing satellite.

black-and-white telescope photo of blurry, pixelated stars

Telescope spots NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe as it brings asteroid samples to Earth (photo)

By Mike Wall published

A ground-based telescope in the Canary Islands snapped a photo of NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe on Sept. 16, eight days before its asteroid sample lands on Earth.

photo of a pyramid-shaped asteroid in deep space.

Who will get OSIRIS-REx's asteroid samples after they land this weekend?

By Mike Wall published

NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe is set to deliver its bounty of asteroid samples to Earth on Sunday (Sept. 24). What is the ultimate fate of this space-rock stuff?

earth as seen from virgin galactic's vss unity suborbital space plane.

Virgin Galactic's next flight will take a Pakistani to space for the 1st time

By Mike Wall published

Namira Slim will become the first person from Pakistan to reach space on Virgin Galactic's 'Galactic 04' mission, which is slated to fly on Oct. 5.

a small capsule falls toward earth under an orange and white parachute.

OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe makes final maneuver before Sept. 24 sample delivery

By Mike Wall published

NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe performed one last trajectory-correcting maneuver on Sunday (Sept. 17) to set up the Sept. 24 arrival of its asteroid sample here on Earth.

a rocket carves an arc of flame into a cloudy night sky during a launch.

SpaceX rocket launches Starlink satellites on record-breaking 17th flight (video)

By Mike Wall last updated

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched for a record-setting 17th time Tuesday night (Sept. 19), sending 22 Starlink satellites to orbit.

a shadow of a small drone is seen on sandy ground in a black-and-white photo.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter breaks altitude record on 59th Mars flight

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter soared higher than ever before over the weekend, getting 66 feet (20 meters) above the ground on its 59th Red Planet flight.

side-by-side images showing a spacecraft's robotic arm about to contact a gravelly asteroid (left) and stirring up lots of dirt and rock after contact (right).

How much of asteroid Bennu is NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe delivering to Earth this weekend?

By Mike Wall published

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is delivering a precious haul of asteroid dirt and gravel to Earth this weekend. How much of this space-rock stuff will there be?

a black-and-white rocket launches at night.

Rocket Lab suffers anomaly during launch, Earth-observation satellite lost

By Mike Wall last updated

Rocket Lab suffered an anomaly during the launch of a radar Earth-observation satellite for the California company Capella Space early Tuesday morning (Sept. 19).

a black and white rocket launches into a blue sky.

Watch Rocket Lab launch radar Earth-observation satellite early Sept. 19

By Mike Wall published

Rocket Lab will launch a radar Earth-observation satellite for the California company Capella Space early Tuesday (Sept. 19), and you can watch the action live.

a spacecraft with solar arrays extended is seen against the blackness of space.

Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying 3 spaceflyers arrives at ISS (video)

By Mike Wall published

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut arrived at the International Space Station today (Sept. 15), roughly three hours after lifting off.

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