#space
- Perseverance's Empty Drill Hole and the Long Road to Mars Sample Return
After Perseverance's first coring attempt came up empty, here's where the Mars Sample Return campaign goes from here.
- The Billionaire Space Race Has an Air Pollution Problem
As Branson, Bezos, and Musk ramp up launch cadence, scientists are starting to ask what all that rocket exhaust is doing to the upper atmosphere.
- SpaceX Is Back in Action, and It's Warming Up for Something Bigger
SpaceX resumes its Falcon 9 cadence after an unusually long pause, while Starship prep at Boca Chica hints at what's coming next.
- Blue Origin Takes NASA to Court Over the Moon Lander
Blue Origin has escalated its fight over NASA's SpaceX-only Artemis lander contract from a GAO protest to an actual lawsuit.
- This Year's Perseids Might Be the Best Show in Years
The Perseid meteor shower peaked this week, and a new moon plus dark skies made 2021 an unusually good year to watch.
- Perseverance's First Drill Attempt Comes Up Empty, and That's Fine
NASA's Perseverance rover drilled its first Martian rock sample, but the tube came back empty — here's why that's not actually a failure.
- Ingenuity Just Won't Quit: Flight 11 Sends It Scouting Over South Séítah
NASA's Mars helicopter flew its 11th mission on August 5, covering roughly 1,250 feet to scout South Séítah for the Perseverance rover.
- Perseverance Is About to Drill Its First Hole in Mars
NASA's $2.7 billion rover is set to attempt its first rock core sample in Jezero Crater within days, using the percussive drill on its 7-foot arm.
- The Month Space Got Weird (In a Good Way)
A look back at July 2021's dense run of space milestones, from Tiangong's first spacewalk to Ingenuity's new altitude record.
- Webb Slips Again — Now Eyeing a December Launch
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has slid to a November-December launch window, the latest delay in a saga that's been going on for years.
- Ingenuity Just Flew Higher and Smarter Than Ever on Mars
NASA's Mars helicopter hit a record 40-foot altitude on its 10th flight, hitting 10 waypoints while scouting the Raised Ridges region.
- Jeff Bezos Just Flew to Space, and the Flight Had No Pilot
Blue Origin's NS-16 mission carried Bezos, his brother, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen past the Kármán line on a fully autonomous flight.
- Starlink's Beta Is About to Get a Lot Bigger
SpaceX is nearing completion of its first satellite shell, setting up a major Starlink beta expansion later this year.
- A New Look at M87's Black Hole — Now With Its Jet
The team behind the first black hole photo has published a new image showing M87*'s particle jet alongside its event horizon shadow.
- Branson Beat Bezos to the Edge of Space, and the Billionaire Space Race Is Officially On
Richard Branson flew aboard VSS Unity to 86 km, edging out Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin flight by nine days.
- Where Does Space Actually Begin? Depends Who You Ask
The Kármán line sits at 100 km, but the US has long used 50 miles for astronaut wings — and that gap is suddenly very relevant.
- Four Months In: Perseverance and Ingenuity Are Still Going Strong
A check-in on NASA's Mars 2020 mission as Perseverance eyes its first rock-coring attempt and Ingenuity keeps flying well past its planned lifespan.
- China's Astronauts Just Pulled Off Their First Tiangong Spacewalk
Shenzhou-12 crewmates completed a roughly seven-hour EVA outside the Tianhe core module, China's first spacewalk since 2008.
- SpaceX's Transporter-2 Just Proved the Rideshare Model Works
SpaceX flew 88 satellites to orbit on its 20th mission of 2021, sticking a ground landing at Cape Canaveral.
- SpaceX Closes Out June With an 88-Satellite Rideshare and a Homecoming Landing
Transporter-2 launched 88 satellites and stuck SpaceX's first onshore booster landing of 2021, capping an eventful month.
- China's Shenzhou 12 Crew Is Settling Into Its New Space Home
Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo are into their first days aboard Tianhe, on what's set to be China's longest crewed mission yet.
- Astronomers Just Named the Largest Comet Ever Found
Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, spotted in archival survey data, dwarfs any comet we've catalogued and is still 29 AU out.
- A Busy Day in Orbit: GPS III and Shenzhou 12 Launch Hours Apart
SpaceX launched a GPS III satellite for the Space Force while China sent three astronauts to its new Tianhe space station core.
- Hubble Goes Dark: Inside the Payload Computer Failure
Hubble's payload computer stopped responding on June 13, halting science operations while NASA engineers chase down the fault.
- Ingenuity Isn't a Demo Anymore — It's Perseverance's Scout
Mars helicopter Ingenuity's seventh flight marks its shift from tech demo to an operational aerial scout guiding the Perseverance rover's route.
- Jeff Bezos Is Putting Himself on the Rocket
Bezos announced he'll fly on Blue Origin's first crewed New Shepard launch July 20, with his brother Mark and an auctioned fourth seat.
- NASA Is Finally Going Back to Venus
NASA picked two new Discovery Program missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI+, to head to Venus by roughly 2030.
- SpaceX Sends CRS-22 Dragon to the ISS, and the Launch Cadence Keeps Climbing
SpaceX's uncrewed Cargo Dragon lifted off for the ISS carrying new solar arrays, part of a packed June launch schedule.
- Perseverance Starts Its First Real Science Campaign on Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover has wrapped its post-landing checkout and begun hunting for signs of ancient life on the floor of Jezero Crater.
- Another Month, Another Starlink Launch
SpaceX closes out May with a Falcon 9 Starlink mission as the constellation passes 100,000 user terminals across 14 countries.