Human Spaceflight
NASA announces major changes to Artemis lunar mission Plans
At a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center press site held on February 27, 2026, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced sweeping changes to Project Artemis – increasing the flight cadence for the SLS and Orion moon rocket by adding another test flight to improve resiliency and reliability, as well as changing the goals of …
2026 is poised to be an exciting year for space exploration
In 2026, astronauts will travel around the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era, powerful new space telescopes will prepare to survey billions of galaxies, and multiple nations will launch missions aimed at finding habitable worlds, water on the Moon and clues to how our solar system formed. Together, these launches will mark …
Artemis II sending a crew around the Moon to lay groundwork for a future landing
Almost as tall as a football field, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and capsule stack traveled slowly – just under 1 mile per hour – out to the Artemis II launchpad, its temporary home at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. That slow crawl is in stark contrast to the peak …
Water recycling is key for ISS and Mars missions
When you’re on a camping trip, you might have to pack your own food and maybe something to filter or treat water that you find. But imagine your campsite is in space, where there’s no water, and packing jugs of water would take up room when every inch of cargo space counts. That’s a key …
How does the International Space Station stay in low Earth orbit?
“How is the International Space Station able to orbit without burning up?” — Mateo, age 8, New York, New York Flying through Earth’s orbit are thousands of satellites and two operational space stations, including the International Space Station, which weighs as much as 77 elephants. The International Space Station, or ISS, hosts scientists and researchers …
Nuclear rockets are twice as fast – but designing them isn’t easy
NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled …
Humanity needs nuclear-powered rockets to explore Mars and beyond
With dreams of Mars on the minds of both NASA and Elon Musk, long-distance crewed missions through space are coming. But you might be surprised to learn that modern rockets don’t go all that much faster than the rockets of the past. There are a lot of reasons that a faster spaceship is a better …
How high could I jump on the Moon?
“How high could I jump on the Moon?” — Miles, age 5, London, United Kingdom If you were lucky enough to go to the Moon, you’d be able to jump six times as high there as you can here on Earth. Try it: jump up and imagine you’re on the Moon. Six times further up …
Axiom-4 commercial astronaut mission to ISS scrubs due to LOX leak
Everything had been looking good for a liftoff of the Axiom Mission 4 carrying a quartet of astronauts to the International Space Station last Wednesday, June 11, until SpaceX engineers discovered a liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel leak in the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket upon further review of data from a static fire …
Tiangong station gives China continuous presence in orbit
The International Space Station is not the only place where humans can live in orbit. On Nov. 29, 2022, the Shenzhou 15 mission launched from China’s Gobi Desert carrying three taikonauts – the Chinese word for astronauts. Six hours later, they reached their destination, China’s recently completed space station, called Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace” …