Spaceflight - News About Space Travel and Exploration

Students can create an Ingenuity helicopter video game with NASA's new learning guide.

Teach your kids to code a Mars helicopter game with this NASA guide

By Samantha Mathewson

NASA has shared a new learning guide for students to create their own video game to explore Mars with a helicopter like Ingenuity, which is expected to make its debut flight this week.

Frank Drake with cosmic equation to gauge the presence of intelligent life in the cosmos. The Drake Equation identifies specific factors believed to play a role in the development of civilizations in our galaxy.

On This Day in Space! April 11, 1960: 'Project Ozma' begins search for alien life

By Hanneke Weitering

On April 11, 1960, astronomers began the first scientific experiment that would search for extraterrestrial life. See how it happened in our "On This Day In Space" series!

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity is seen by the Perseverance rover after unlocking its rotor blades on April 7, 2021.

NASA delays Mars helicopter Ingenuity's 1st flight to April 14

By Meghan Bartels

NASA has delayed the first flight of its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the vehicle's last test ended earlier than planned.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter does a slow spin test of its blades on April 8, 2021, the 48th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover.

The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is about to make history in the skies of another world

By Chelsea Gohd

NASA is about to make history on the Red Planet with the first controlled, helicopter flight on another world.

Artist's illustration of NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flying on the Red Planet.

How NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity can fly on the Red Planet

By Mike Wall

Flying on Mars is far from a breeze, but NASA is confident that its little helicopter is up to the challenge.

NASA shows you how to build your own paper version of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter.

Make your own Mars helicopter Ingenuity out of paper with this NASA guide!

By Samantha Mathewson

NASA is preparing to fly its Mars helicopter Ingenuity on the Red Planet for the first time, and students can join in the excitement by building paper versions of the craft at home.

Tune in to the Yuri's Night 2021 Global Livestream on April 10, 2021.

Yuri's Night 2021: Celebrate 60 years of human spaceflight tonight with Bill Nye, astronauts, OK Go and more

By Chelsea Gohd

Tune in to Yuri's Night virtual party at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT)!

With new processing techniques, NASA's Hubble space telescope has captured the beautiful Veil Nebula in the finest detail ever.

Space photos: The most amazing images this week!

By Doris Elin Urrutia

See the best photos on Space.com this week.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter performs a spin test of its blades on April 8, 2021. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover.

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity is 'go' for historic 1st flight

By Elizabeth Howell

Humanity's first helicopter on Mars has been cleared for a historic takeoff.

NASA's Artemis program is working to return humans to the moon by 2024 and establish a permanent presence there by the end of the decade.

NASA to land 1st person of color on the moon with Artemis program

By Chelsea Gohd

NASA will land the first person of color in addition to the first woman on the moon with the Artemis program, NASA's Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk revealed today (April 9).

President Joe Biden spoke at the White House's Rose Garden on April 8, 2021.

Biden proposes $24.7 billion NASA budget in 2022 to support moon exploration and more

By Meghan Bartels

More than two months after taking office, President Joe Biden has offered a first look at his budget priorities, and the signs for NASA are generally promising.

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity is seen on the surface of the Red Planet by the perseverance rover on April 5, 2021.

How to watch the Mars helicopter Ingenuity's first flight online

By Elizabeth Howell

The first helicopter is expected to attempt the first-ever flight on Mars on Sunday (April 11), with NASA unveiling the results a day later, and you can follow it all online.

The Perseverance rover captured this image of the Ingenuity helicopter during preflight preparations on April 9, 2021.

Watch NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity test its blades! (video)

By Meghan Bartels

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity is warming up its rotor blades as the team's engineers undertake final preparations for the first-ever flight on the Red Planet, scheduled for Sunday (April 11).

Win some SpaceX swag in our latest giveaway!

By Mohamed Mohammed

The Space.com community has a special giveaway going on this week, celebrating the ambitions of SpaceX!

Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, the "Yu.A. Gagarin," launches for the International Space Station from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on April 9, 2021.

Soyuz MS-18 crew launches to space station 60 years after first human spaceflight

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Three astronauts embarked for the International Space Station just three days shy of the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight. The trio launched on Soyuz MS-18, named the "Yu.A. Gagarin."

Citizen scientist Seán Doran created this mosaic of NASA's Mars rover Perseverance and Ingenuity helicopter, using 62 images captured by Perseverance on April 6, 2021.

Helicopter on Mars! NASA webcast teaches kids about Ingenuity's upcoming 1st flight

By Samantha Mathewson

NASA’s education team hosted a special webcast for students on Thursday (April 8) to talk about the Mars helicopter Ingenuity and its upcoming first flight on the Red Planet.

The Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft stands atop its launchpad at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan ahead of an April 9, 2021 launch.

You can watch a Soyuz rocket launch a US-Russian crew to the International Space Station early Friday

By Elizabeth Howell

A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two cosmonauts toward the space station early Friday (April 9) on a last-minute mission. Here's how you can watch it live.

Watch live Friday: Soyuz rocket launching new US-Russian crew @ 3:42 am ET

By Space.com Staff

A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch a joint U.S.-Russian crew to the International Space Station early Friday (April 9) and you can watch it live here courtesy of NASA TV.

Blades on the Ingenuity Mars helicopter during the unlocking process, as seen on Apr. 8, 2021.

Mars helicopter Ingenuity unlocks its rotor blades to prepare for 1st flight on Red Planet

By Meghan Bartels

The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has unlocked its two rotor blades as preparations continue for the vehicle's first flight, due to occur no earlier than Sunday (April 11).

NASA astronaut Philip Chapman undergoes training in a centrifuge in preparation for a possible future spaceflight in 1968.

Philip Chapman, first Australian-born NASA astronaut, dies at 86

By Robert Z. Pearlman

An Apollo-era NASA astronaut who was the first person born in Australia to train for a spaceflight, Philip Chapman died at age 86, having never made it into orbit.