Astronauts spot an ancient heart-shaped oasis in Egypt just in time for Valentine’s Day

Soaring 250 miles (400 kilometers) over Earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) looked down on our planet last May and saw a heart-shaped oasis blooming in the Egyptian desert. Today (Feb. 14), our friends in space are sharing the striking image as a special Valentine for the whole planet, courtesy of NASA’s Earth … Read more

Meet the four private Polaris Dawn astronauts SpaceX will launch into orbit this year

The billionaire commander of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission is flying back to space again with a set of new crewmates. Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman and SpaceX jointly announced Monday (Feb. 14) the creation of Polaris Dawn, a mission set to fly a Crew Dragon to high Earth orbit in late 2022. The mission will be the … Read more

Chinese astronauts celebrate lunar new year on Tiangong space station, a first

Festive red adorns China’s Tiangong space station in new footage celebrating the lunar new year in orbit. The Shenzhou 13 astronauts are the first to celebrate the holiday in orbit, according to the China National Space Administration, and were given ample supplies to do so. “They have decorated the space station core module with traditional … Read more

New NASA video honors fallen astronauts of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia

NASA released a new video today (Jan. 27) to remember the three crews and other fallen astronauts who lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. The agency’s annual “Day of Remembrance” falls this year on the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire of Jan. 27, 1967. The week that follows includes two … Read more

NASA honors fallen astronauts with Day of Remembrance

NASA will pause today (Jan. 27) to remember the lives lost in the pursuit of space exploration, during the agency’s annual “Day of Remembrance.” This year’s edition coincides with the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire of Jan. 27, 1967. The following six days include two other somber anniversaries: the Challenger shuttle disaster of … Read more

Astronauts become archaeologists to document space station ‘dig sites’

In a recent scene familiar to many, even those not well-versed in the discipline, a researcher marked off square areas in order to catalog the layers of contents buried within. These “test pits,” which were similar to the squares made at the sites of ancient cities and bygone civilizations, were based on a basic technique … Read more

We Finally Know The True Extent of Space Destroying Astronauts’ Red Blood Cells

The human body did not evolve to handle life in space, and it shows in our very blood. Since our species first started to spend extended periods of time beyond our planet, researchers have noticed a curious and consistent loss of red blood cells among astronauts.   The phenomenon is called ‘space anemia’, and until … Read more

China’s Shenzhou 13 astronauts manually fly cargo ship for emergency docking test

China’s Shenzhou 13 astronauts conducted a manual rendezvous and docking test over the weekend to test emergency procedures for spacecraft visiting the Chinese space station. The complex test involved the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft undocking from the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station. The astronauts aboard Tianhe then teleoperated Tianzhou 2, guiding it … Read more

NASA may need more astronauts for space station, moon missions, report says

NASA may need more astronauts to meet its human spaceflight goals over the coming years, according to a new report from the agency’s investigative office. Currently, NASA only flies astronauts to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules and Russia’s Soyuz vehicles. But the agency’s ambitious Artemis program to return humans to the … Read more

Last astronauts to visit Hubble Space Telescope sign coins for AMF fundraiser

As the world’s eyes turn to the deployment of a new space telescope, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) is shining light on the last astronauts to visit one. The foundation, which maintains the Space Mirror Memorial and operates the Center for Space Education, both at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, has revealed … Read more