Spaceflight

Latest

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is seen in early 2022 on its way to the vacuum chamber at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA's Psyche asteroid spacecraft passes shake-and-bake test and meets the press

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Psyche is scheduled to launch in August to journey to a metal asteroid.

The Iceland Space Agency supported the MS2 ERE1 project, which was done in partnership with AdventureX to test and further develop a spacesuit simulator.

Iceland emerging as popular practice site for moon and Mars exploration

By Leonard David published

Iceland is an increasingly popular testing zone for spacesuits, habitats and off-world vehicles.

NASA astronaut Victor Glover celebrates after returning to Earth on SpaceX's Crew-1 Crew Dragon capsule Resilience with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, Florida on May 2, 2021.

Watch NASA astronaut Victor Glover talk life in space and more from the Smithsonian

By Tariq Malik published

Today (April 28), astronaut Victor Glover will host a live discussion from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Artist's impression of an asteroid and Earth.

China could launch an asteroid deflection test mission in 2025: report

By Elizabeth Howell published

China is planning a kinetic asteroid defense mission no earlier than 2025 as part of a larger set of planetary shielding planning initiatives.

Russian comonaut Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos waves to a camera during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on April 18, 2022.

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts spacewalk outside the International Space Station today

By Tariq Malik published

Two Russian cosmonauts will spend hours spacewalking outside the International Space Station. Watch it live

SpaceX Crew-4 pilot Bob Hines and mission specialist Samantha Cristoforetti let their daughters select their zero-g indicators, a plush turtle named Zippy and small monkey named Etta.

SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts fly plush turtle and monkey as zero-g indicators

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

What do you get when you cross a turtle with a chimp and send both into outer space? A whole lot of shenanigans. Or at least that is the story behind SpaceX Crew-4's plush turtle and small monkey.

Boeing's Starliner OFT-2 spacecraftis mated to a new service module on March 2022 ahead of its planned test flight on May 19, 2022.

Boeing to launch 2nd test flight of Starliner spacecraft for NASA on May 19

By Elizabeth Howell published

Boeing is finally ready to test its Starliner again in space, with an uncrewed launch set for May 19.

Artist's illustration showing the CAPSTONE spacecraft in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon.

Little CAPSTONE cubesat ready to launch on big moon mission next month

By Leonard David published

Early next month, Rocket Lab is slated to launch a pathfinding cubesat mission that supports NASA's Artemis return-to-the moon program.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins talks to family and friends as she and her Crew-4 crewmates head to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead for their launch to the International Space Station on April 27, 2022.

Apollo 17 moonwalker hails launch of fellow geologist-astronaut Jessica Watkins

By Tereza Pultarova published

The last man to have set foot on the moon watched today as Crew-4 blasted off to the International Space Station atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Freedom is seen docked at the space-facing port on the International Space Station's Harmony module after a smooth arrival with four Crew-4 astronauts aboard on April 27, 2022.

SpaceX's Freedom Dragon capsule arrives at space station with Crew-4 astronauts

By Mike Wall published

For the second time in less than three weeks, SpaceX has delivered an astronaut crew to the International Space Station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Crew-4 astronaut mission for NASA on the new Crew Dragon Freedom from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before dawn on April 27, 2022.

My DNA just launched to orbit with SpaceX's Crew-4 mission

By Chelsea Gohd published

Strapped into a SpaceX Dragon capsule, a crew of four astronauts blasted off from Earth this morning (April 27) on a mission to space. Also on board? My DNA.

The backshell and parachute that helped NASA's Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity helicopter land on the Red Planet in February 2021, as photographed by Ingenuity on April 19, 2022.

Ingenuity Mars helicopter snaps amazing photos of Perseverance rover's landing gear (video)

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter continues to give us Red Planet views we've never seen before.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins puts on a spacesuit ahead of underwater training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins to become first Black woman on ISS crew

By Chelsea Gohd published

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is making history as the first Black woman to be on an International Space Station crew.

Michael Zanetti, a NASA planetary scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, testing the Kinematic Navigational and Cartography Knapsack (KNaCK) in late 2021. Zanetti was at the Cinder cone in Portillo volcanic field in New Mexico.

This NASA 'lunar backpack' will help Artemis astronauts explore the moon

By Elizabeth Howell published

As Artemis astronauts walk on the moon, these NASA backpacks will chronicle lunar features in context.

SpaceX's Starship on the launch pad at Starbase on March 18, 2022.

SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company

By Elizabeth Howell published

Reference SpaceX is the maker of Starship and a private space company known for its International Space Station missions.

Reference
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 143 small satellites into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Jan. 24, 2021 to mark the Transporter-1 rideshare mission.

Falcon 9: SpaceX's workhorse rocket

By Elizabeth Howell published

Reference The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is the vehicle that launches satellites, Dragon cargo spacecraft and Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit.

Reference
This screenshot from a Rocket Lab video shows the company catching a dummy booster using a helicopter during a recent test.

Rocket Lab catches dummy booster with a helicopter in dramatic new video

By Mike Wall published

Rocket Lab aims to catch a falling booster with a helicopter for the first time ever this week, and a new video shows us how the action is supposed to go down.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren waves to family and friends as he and crew mates, NASA astronauts Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-4 mission launch, Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In pictures: Amazing launch photos of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission

By Mike Wall published

See photos of Crew-4, the fourth operational astronaut mission that SpaceX is flying to the International Space Station for NASA.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches four astronauts to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Station in Florida on the Crew-4 mission on April 27, 2022.

SpaceX launches Crew-4 astronauts to space station on a Dragon named Freedom

By Josh Dinner published

SpaceX has launched its fourth mission to the International Space Station for NASA, bringing the company's total crewed flight tally to seven.

NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission stack rolls toward the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early morning hours of April 26, 2022.

NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket rolls off the launch pad for repairs (photos)

By Josh Dinner published

NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission has returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center following incomplete "wet dress rehearsal" attempts earlier this month.