
Mike Wall
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.
Latest articles by Mike Wall

China's Shenzhou 19 astronauts return to Earth after 6 months aboard Tiangong space station (video, photos)
By Mike Wall published
China's three-person Shenzhou 19 mission came home on Wednesday (April 30) after six months in orbit.

See photos snapped in space by Europe's 1st private reentry capsule
By Mike Wall published
A European reentry capsule notched some important milestones on its first-ever spaceflight last week — and took some photos to commemorate the trip.

Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket fails during launch, falls into the sea near Antarctica
By Mike Wall published
Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket suffered an anomaly during its sixth-ever launch today (April 29), resulting in the loss of its payload, a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration.

New record! 6 rockets launch in less than 24 hours
By Mike Wall published
Six different rockets launched toward orbit during an approximately 17.5-hour stretch, topping by two the previous record for most liftoffs in a 24-hour span.

Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket suffers 'mishap' during launch of prototype Lockheed Martin satellite (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket for the sixth time ever on April 29, but the rocket experienced an anomaly during stage separation and did not reach its intended orbit.

Vega-C rocket launches European forest-monitoring 'Biomass' satellite to orbit (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
The European Space Agency's Biomass forest-monitoring satellite headed toward orbit early Tuesday morning (April 29) on the fourth-ever launch of the Vega-C rocket.

Brand-new Falcon 9 rocket sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on SpaceX's 2nd launch of the day (video)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX sent another batch of Starlink satellites to orbit tonight (April 28), its second liftoff of the day.

Amazon launches 27 satellites to begin building huge 'Project Kuiper' internet constellation (video)
By Mike Wall published
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the first big batch of satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation to low Earth orbit today (April 28).

'I didn't look too good because I didn't feel too good': NASA astronaut Don Pettit explains why he seemed so unwell after landing (video)
By Mike Wall published
Seventy-year-old NASA astronaut Don Pettit looked pretty peaked shortly after returning to Earth from the ISS this month. And he was pretty peaked — he'd just thrown up on the Kazakh steppe.

Watch Atlas V rocket launch 1st big batch of Amazon's Project Kuiper internet satellites today afer delay
By Mike Wall last updated
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch Amazon's first big batch of Project Kuiper broadband satellites today (April 28), and you can watch it live.

SpaceX launches 250th Starlink satellite mission, lands rocket at sea (video, photos)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX launched its 250th dedicated Starlink mission on Sunday night (April 27), sending 23 of the broadband satellites to low Earth orbit.

Senators press Jared Isaacman, Trump's pick for NASA chief, on his ties to Elon Musk
By Mike Wall published
Multiple Democratic senators have expressed concern about the business relationship between Jared Isaacman, President Trump's pick for NASA administrator, and SpaceX chief Elon Musk.

Mars orbiter snaps 1st image of Curiosity rover driving on the Red Planet (photo)
By Mike Wall published
A NASA Mars orbiter recently spotted the Curiosity rover driving across the Red Planet's surface, capturing an unprecedented off-Earth action shot.

China's Shenzhou 20 astronauts arrive at Tiangong space station (video)
By Mike Wall published
The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 20 mission arrived at the nation's Tiangong space station today (April 24), about 6.5 hours after lifting off.

Could astronauts visit the Hubble Space Telescope again?
By Mike Wall published
Astronauts repaired and upgraded NASA's Hubble Space Telescope over the course of five servicing missions from 1993 to 2009. Could yet another astronaut visit be in the cards?

SpaceX launches 3 rockets from 3 pads in less than 37 hours (photos)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX continues to keep up its torrid launch pace, sending three missions to orbit from three different pads over the course of a day and a half.

SpaceX CRS-32 Dragon cargo capsule arrives at the ISS with 6,700 pounds of supplies (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station this morning (April 22), docking to the orbital lab after more than a day catching up in orbit.

SpaceX launches European reentry capsule on 'Bandwagon-3' rideshare mission (video)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX sent a pioneering private reentry capsule to space today (April 21) on a rideshare mission called Bandwagon-3.

Don Pettit, NASA's oldest active astronaut at 70, arrives in Houston after 7-month space mission (photo)
By Mike Wall published
NASA's oldest active astronaut, the 70-year-old Don Pettit, has returned home to Houston after a seven-month stint aboard the International Space Station.

SpaceX launching Dragon cargo capsule to ISS early April 21: Watch it live
By Mike Wall published
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a robotic Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station early Monday morning (April 21), and you can watch the action live.

SpaceX launches 10th batch of 'proliferated architecture' spy satellites for US government (video)
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX launched the 10th batch of "proliferated architecture" spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today (April 20).

Watch NASA astronaut Don Pettit and 2 cosmonauts return to Earth today
By Mike Wall published
NASA astronaut Don Pettit and two cosmonaut colleagues will return to Earth from the International Space Station this evening (April 19), and you can watch it live.

'Take care of our station. It's our everything.' Russian cosmonaut hands control of ISS over to Japanese astronaut (video)
By Mike Wall published
Russia's Alexey Ovchinin handed the keys of the International Space Station to Japanese spaceflyer Takuya Onishi in a change-of-command ceremony today (April 18).
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