The Rocket Motor of the Future Breathes Air Like a Jet Engine
This theoretical engine could drastically reduce the cost of getting to space. Now two companies are trying to make it real.
Why NASA Designed a New $23 Million Space Toilet
Later this year, astronauts on the American module of the ISS will be able to test out the toilet before NASA puts it on crewed vehicles for deep-space missions.
A Rocket Built by Students Reached Space for the First Time
A USC team won the collegiate space race by sending a rocket above the Kármán line, the imaginary boundary that marks the end of Earth’s atmosphere.
Moondust Could Cloud Our Lunar Ambitions
It's superfine. It's sharp. It sticks to everything. Before we return to the moon, we'll have to conquer one of the weirdest substances in the solar system.
Inside Swamp Works, the NASA Lab Learning to Mine the Moon
NASA's Swamp Works may be humans' best hope for figuring out how to live and work on other planets.
The Mystifying Case of the Missing Planets
There's a puzzling lack of planets slightly bigger than Earth, which is making astronomers rethink how planets form in the first place.
SpaceX Is Banking on Satellite Internet. Maybe It Shouldn’t
The first satellites of Elon Musk's mega-constellation Starlink are heading to space, but the satellite internet project faces tough economics on Earth.
NASA Needs $1.6 Billion More to Send a Human to the Moon
The space agency's new budget amendment has been called a "down payment" on what will be needed in future years to fund the program.
A Bizarre Form of Water May Exist All Over the Universe
A new experiment confirms the existence of superionic ice, a black and hot form of water that might make up the bulk of giant icy planets.
The Obsessive, Tumultuous Lives of SpaceX Rocket Chasers
In 2017 Ryan Chylinski quit his job and hit the road in a camper to photograph rockets. A full-time rocket chaser, he's helping dig up details on how SpaceX really works.