Missions

Latest about Missions

Four humans in blue jumpsuits sit in a spacecraft.

NASA, SpaceX targeting July 31 for launch of Crew-11 astronaut mission to ISS

By Josh Dinner published

NASA and SpaceX are targeting July 31 for the launch of the four-astronaut Crew-11 mission, which will fly a mix of rookies and spaceflight veterans to the ISS.

International Space Station
A picture of Earth's surface at night captured from the International Space Station. An electrical phenomenon known as a sprite, featuring a tree-like column and red, branch-like tendrils can be seen reaching into the upper atmosphere above lightning-illuminated clouds.

ISS astronaut captures a rare phenomenon from orbit — a giant 'sprite' above a thunderstorm

By Anthony Wood published

Sprites have been known to form above intense thunderstorms.

International Space Station
a white and black winged spacecraft is seen on display within a museum hangar

Trump's signing of 'One Big Beautiful Bill' includes $85 million to move space shuttle Discovery from Smithsonian to Texas

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

The "One Big Beautiful Bill," now enacted, directs that space shuttle Discovery be removed from the Smithsonian and placed on display at Space Center Houston by January 2027.

Space Shuttle
seven men and women wearing blue flights stack hands while floating in a half-circle formation around an airlock hatch aboard a space station.

Seeing 'fireworks' on Earth from space | On the ISS this week June 26 - July 4, 2025

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

The Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 crews spent their first of two weeks together conducting science aboard the International Space Station.

International Space Station
A large machine digs into reddish dirt with a drill

Was ancient Mars habitable? NASA's Perseverance rover is grinding into a 'weird, uncooperative' rock to find out

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA's Perseverance rover is digging deeper into Mars' geologic past as it begins grinding into rock surfaces to expose material that could hold clues to the planet's ancient environment and habitability.

Mars Rovers
two women in dark clothing float beside each other inside a windowed module of a space station

The ups and downs of life in space | On the ISS this week June 23 - 27, 2025

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

The Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4) crew flying aboard SpaceX's Dragon "Grace" docked to the International Space Station beginning a two-week stay on the orbiting laboratory with the Expedition 73 crew.

International Space Station
a rocket engine from the left spews blinding fire to the right

Nozzle blows off rocket booster during test for NASA's Artemis program (video)

By Josh Dinner published

A solid rocket engine for NASA's Space Launch System rocket experienced an anomaly during a static fire test at the booster's Northrop Grumman facilities June 26.

Artemis
a bright flash of lighting as seen from orbit illuminates a city at night

When it comes to auroras, pink is the new white, astronaut says | On the ISS this week June 16 - 20, 2025

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

With the arrival of a visiting crew still delayed, science and maintenance work on board the International Space Station continued to fill the Expedition 73 crew's week.

International Space Station
The ispace Resilience lunar lander crash on June 5, 2025 created a dark smudge surrounded by a subtle bright halo, as imaged here by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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.

Missions
A gray rock sits on a gray surface

50 years later, Apollo 17’s moon samples are still revealing secrets about lunar volcanoes

By Keith Cooper published

The beads are over 3.3 billion years old, and date from the formation of the "Man in the Moon."

Apollo
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