Trump's defunding of NASA would be catastrophic

"This is probably the most uncertain future NASA has faced, maybe since the end of Apollo," Casey Dreier tells me over the phone. Dreier is the chief of space policy at The Planetary Society [...]

Why on Earth would NASA build a nuclear reactor on the Moon?

"Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon" is not a headline I imagined reading before last week. Sure, as a sci-fi loving nerd, I could see a future where nuclear power played a role i [...]

2025 is going to be another big year for commercial moon missions

As soon as late February, a lunar lander will depart from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on its way to the moon carrying instruments that could investigate what’s just beneath the surface. Barely two [...]

Boeing Starliner astronauts finally head home, nine months later

Eight days. That’s how long Boeing Starliner’s mission — its first flight test with crew aboard — was supposed to last. But this mission has been singular in almost every way, and astronauts B [...]

NASA pauses its lunar Gateway plan, a comet reverses its spin and more science news

The first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis moon program may take off in a matter of days, with a launch window that opens on April 1, and as preparations are underway for that, the space agency i [...]

SpaceX is pivoting to focus on a moon base before Mars

Elon Musk says SpaceX has shifted its near-term priorities from Mars settlement plans to building what he called a “self-growing city on the Moon,” arguing the lunar target is faster and more achi [...]

NASA will decide how to bring soil samples back from Mars in 2026

NASA will analyze and explore two different landing options for its Mars Sample Return program, though it will take almost two years to do so and is expected to announce its decision in late 2026. The [...]

NASA used Claude to plot a route for its Perseverance rover on Mars

Since 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover has achieved a number of historic milestones, including sending back the first audio recordings from Mars. Now, nearly five years after landing on the Red Pl [...]

NASA's Curiosity Rover found promising organic chemicals on Mars

The search for signs of life on Mars continues to yield promising data. A first-of-its-kind wet chemistry experiment, published Tuesday in Nature, confirmed the presence of essential ingredients of l [...]