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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Space station crew safe after failed launch
About two minutes after liftoff, the Soyuz vehicle carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin to orbit failed.
The day I caught rocket fever
On February 6, 2018, I found myself shoulder to shoulder with two of my heroes: Bill Nye on the left, Buzz Aldrin on the right. Our eyes were fixed on the first vertical Falcon Heavy rocket. Figuring the world's most powerful rocket might send me flying backwards once the countdown hit zero, I gripped the railing so tightly I started to lose the feeling in my fingertips.
Goodbye, Delta II rocket
This Saturday, the final Delta II rocket will launch NASA's ICESat-2 spacecraft into orbit.
Orion's third flight will haul two pieces of a space station to lunar orbit
NASA is planning for a 30-day mission to lunar orbit in 2024.
If you come at the Space Launch System, you best not miss
Getting NASA out of the rocket business is more complicated than you think.
Clipper Slipper
Will NASA's Space Launch System be ready to launch a Europa mission in 2022?
We choose to go to the Moon and do the other things
Vice President Mike Pence kicked off the National Space Council's first meeting today by declaring Americans will return to the Moon. Casey Dreier and Jason Davis analyze this new direction for NASA's human spaceflight program.
Function over form: NASA's Space Launch System gets a new paint job
Last week, NASA revealed an updated design for the Space Launch System, featuring black-and-white checkerboards streaking down each of the vehicle's solid rocket boosters.
Recap: India's new GSLV-MK3 rocket completes successful test
The first operational launch of the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3 rocket, or GSLV-MK3, developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), was successfully conducted on Monday.
India enters the big league with new, powerful rocket
The countdown has begun for the first fully operational flight of the Indian Space Research Organization’s most powerful rocket to date: the Geostationary Launch Vehicle Mark 3, or GSLV-MK3.
Here's what you need to know about the Electron rocket, which is set to launch from New Zealand
Rocket Lab's Electron, a light-lift launcher for small satellites, is ready to make its debut test flight from a peninsula in New Zealand.
The anatomy of a delay: Here's a timeline of twists and turns for NASA's SLS and Orion programs
The Space Launch System and Orion won't fly until 2019, and NASA is sticking with its original plan not to include astronauts for the maiden mission. Here is a timeline of some of the programs' major twists and turns over the years.
Learn the rocket equation, part 2
In the second and final chapter of our series, we’ll explore what the rocket equation has to say about travel through the solar system, using the example of launching a rocket to Pluto.
Learn the rocket equation, part 1
Have you ever wanted to learn the fundamental physics behind one of the most basic concepts of rocket science? In part one of our two-part series, we explore the foundations of the famous rocket equation.
The first Space Launch System flight will probably be delayed
NASA's new heavy lift rocket is currently scheduled to launch the Orion spacecraft on a test flight next year. But all signs are pointing to a probable delay.
NASA unveiled new plans for getting humans to Mars, and hardly anyone noticed
NASA revealed its most concrete plan yet for sending humans back into deep space, centered around a small lunar space station and a reusable transport ship to carry astronauts to Mars and back.
A repeat of the space shuttle's bold test flight? NASA considers crew aboard first SLS mission
NASA has only flown astronauts aboard a rocket's first flight once, when John Young and Bob Crippen took space shuttle Columbia on the boldest test flight in history. What are the risks of repeating the feat for SLS?
An international outpost near the Moon gets closer to reality
International Space Station (ISS) project partners are inching ever closer toward an agreement to begin the development of a new human outpost in the vicinity of the Moon. If successful, the cis-lunar space station (a space station in the vicinity of the Moon) will be the largest international space project to date, influencing the direction of human space flight for decades to come.
Long March 5 launch blasts China into age of space station and deep space exploration
Today, China launched its largest rocket yet, the Long March 5, from the new coastal launch center on Hainan Island. The launch is a major step forward on the country's path to deep space.
SpaceX and the Blank Slate
SpaceX's plans to colonize Mars differ considerably from NASA's Journey to Mars ambitions. But direct comparison is difficult. SpaceX is able to wipe the slate clean and start fresh with a bold new approach to humans in space. NASA has no such luxury, and must use existing pieces and people to make their goals a reality.