Missions

Latest about Missions

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft fires its thrusters under green and red lights with a nighttime Earth in the background while docking.

SpaceX Dragon fires thrusters to boost ISS orbit for the 1st time

By Josh Dinner published

SpaceX's Dragon performed an orbital boost maneuver for the ISS; a first for the spacecraft, and a small step toward the space station's ultimate doom.

International Space Station
tiny six-wheel rovers roll around on an orange mat on a concrete floor. A woman in the foreground on the right kneels next to one, her hand reaching toward it. In the background another woman stands holding a rover, while others look on or sit at computer monitors.

Adorable 3D-printed rovers learn to find blue ball in Mars-like environment

By Samantha Mathewson published

University students tested 3D-printed rovers designed to emulate Europe's Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover that is slated to launch to the Martian surface by 2028.

Mars Rovers
a six-wheeled, blue-and-white moon rover sits on a sidewalk in front of a large white airplane

Moon RACER: Intuitive Machines takes lunar rover out for debut drive

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

Intuitive Machines' lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) is not your grandfather's moon buggy. The company's Moon RACER, or Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover, just made its public debut.

Artemis
a man and a woman on the international space station, in a module full of wires, computers and other equipment

Astronaut Suni Williams 'in good health' on the ISS, NASA says, refuting tabloid claims

By Mike Wall published

NASA astronaut Suni Williams is in good health aboard the ISS, despite some speculation in the media to the contrary, agency officials stress.

International Space Station
the thick metal cylinder of a airplane-like turbo fan.

Space stations are loud — that's why NASA is making a quiet fan

By Conor Feehly published

NASA's building a quiet fan to help future astronauts have some peace and quiet.

International Space Station

SpaceX's Dragon is about to do something to the ISS it's never done before

By Elizabeth Howell published

The data from the reboost, scheduled for Nov. 8, will help inform design for a larger Dragon to deorbit the ISS.

International Space Station
two grayish orbs shrink in size as one moves from right to left above the other

Hera asteroid probe 'waves goodbye' at Earth and moon from 2.3 million miles away (image)

By Elizabeth Howell published

The moon is getting smaller in the window.

Asteroid & Comet Missions
SpaceX Dragon CRS-31 docked at the International Space Station on Nov. 5, 2024.

SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrives at ISS on 31st resupply mission (video)

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Dragon completed its docking at 10:04 a.m. EST.

International Space Station
two images: on the left a blue swirl of light on a black background; on the right, an orange swirl of light on a black background

'Vega continues to be unusual:' Lack of planets around young star puzzles astronomers

By Keith Cooper published

A joint Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project to learn more about the dusty disk around the bright star Vega has found a surprising lack of planets.

James Webb Space Telescope
An illustration shows the Einstein Probe as it hunts cosmic X-rays.

Sharp 'lobster vision:' China's Einstein Probe space telescope already making discoveries during commissioning phase

By Andrew Jones published

China's Einstein Probe, an X-ray telescope in Earth orbit, has already made several discoveries during its initial commissioning phase.

Missions
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