People, Businesses, Places & Events
Goddard launched first modern rocket 100 years ago
Apollo 11 first landed astronauts on the Moon in 1969, but the journey to the lunar surface actually began 43 years before, in snowy Massachusetts. One hundred years ago, on March 16, 1926, Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket. Liquid-fueled rockets would eventually provide the power to send humans to the Moon. Still, …
Artemis timeline faces questions after Blue Origin rocket explosion
During an evening test fire on May 28, 2026, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded, engulfing the launchpad in a massive fireball. The spectacular fire, caught on video, not only destroyed the rocket but also appears to have significantly damaged Blue Origin’s only launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Fortunately, …
‘Project Hail Mary’ shows how intellectual humility can be a guiding force
Early in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s science fiction blockbuster “Project Hail Mary,” middle school teacher Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, is tasked by an international coalition to uncover the biology of a strange microbe known as an “astrophage” that has been absorbing energy from an ever-dimming Sun. Grace is a molecular biologist by …
Meet the Crew of Artemis II
Meet the four astronauts who will venture on a 10-day mission around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed flight aboard NASA’s human deep space capabilities, paving the way for future lunar surface missions. Artemis II is NASA’s first mission with crew aboard our foundational deep space rocket, the Space Launch System, and Orion …
Successful New Glenn launch and landing to broaden spaceflight market
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket successfully made its way to orbit for the second time on Nov. 13, 2025. Although the second launch is never as flashy as the first, this mission is still significant in several ways. For one, it launched a pair of NASA spacecraft named ESCAPADE, which are headed to Mars orbit …
Carl Sagan’s scientific legacy extends far beyond ‘Cosmos’
On Nov. 9, 2025, the world will mark Carl Sagan’s 91st birthday – but sadly without Sagan, who died in 1996 at the age of 62. Most people remember him as the co-creator and host of the 1980 “Cosmos” television series, watched worldwide by hundreds of millions of people. Others read “Contact,” his best-selling science …
Astronaut Sally Ride’s legacy – encouraging young women to embrace science and engineering
On June 24, 1983, Sally Ride returned to earth after becoming the first American woman to fly into space, riding Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-7 along with four other crew members. Only five years earlier, in 1978, she had been selected to the first class of 35 astronauts – including six women – who …
Pearl Young overcame barriers and ‘raised hell’ at NASA
Thirteen years before any other woman joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics – or the NACA, NASA’s predecessor – in a technical role, a young lab assistant named Pearl Young was making waves in the agency. Her legacy as an outspoken and persistent advocate for herself and her team would pave the way for …
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets to orbit − a feat 15 years in the making
Just past 2 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space company that has big ambitions. As a space policy expert, I see New Glenn’s …
First launch of SpaceX’s Starship was a successful failure
On April 20, 2023, a new SpaceX rocket called Starship exploded over the Gulf of Mexico three minutes into its first flight ever. SpaceX is calling the test launch a success, despite the fiery end result. As a space policy expert, I agree that the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” – the term SpaceX uses when its …