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Representatives from the Polaris Program hold a Ukrainian flag that will fly into space later in 2022. (Image credit: Polaris Program/Twitter) The all-private Polaris Dawn mission publicly shared its support for Ukraine as the nation continues to endure attacks from Russia. The crewed Polaris Dawn, led by Inspiration4 founder and tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, will … Read more
Image 1 of 22 (Image credit: Roscosmos) First woman in space: Valentina Tereshkova The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, blazed a trail for the many female spaceflyers who would follow. Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut, was selected from more than 400 applicants to launch on the Vostok 6 mission June 16, 1963. She was 26 at … Read more
The first woman on China’s space station beamed a message to Earth Tuesday (March 8) to celebrate International Women’s Day from orbit. “Dear fellow women, hello, I’m Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping. I’m currently carrying out a six-month mission in the China space station,” Wang said in the video message from aboard the orbiting Tiangong space … Read more
Refresh 2022-03-08T03:04:05.879Z Russian space chief trades barbs with astronaut Scott Kelly NASA astronaut Scott Kelly gives two thumbs up while resting up from a 340-day mission to the International Space Station. Kelly and two Russian crewmates landed their Soyuz capsule in a remote area of Kazakhstan on March 2, 2016 (Kazakh time). (Image credit: NASA/Bill … Read more
The first reported findings from China’s Mars rover suggest the plain it is exploring was shaped by winds – and perhaps also by water Space 7 March 2022 By Chen Ly China’s first Mars rover Zhurong with the landing platform Xinhua / Alamy China’s Zhurong Mars rover landed at Utopia Planitia – a large plain … Read more
The space partnership between Russia and the U.S. looks shakier and shakier every day. That partnership has been fraying badly since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, spurring the United States and a number of other countries to impose new economic sanctions. Russian space officials have decried these sanctions; in response, they have stopped the … Read more
NASA has awarded a nearly $3.5 billion contract to SpaceX to provide three additional Crew Dragon launches to the International Space Station. The contract covers missions Crew-7, Crew-8 and Crew-9, but NASA says it might order more crew launches in the future. SpaceX began flying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in 2020, marking … Read more
You’ve probably heard of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, but do you know what it’s actually going to do? Webb is the most powerful telescope ever built, and its assorted instruments will give us a clearer view of more stars than we’ve ever seen. The observatory, which is currently undergoing calibration to prepare for the … Read more
About 15 hours into the Apollo 7 mission, Cmdr. Walter Schirra Jr. came down with a head cold, and before long, all three mission astronauts were sick. Mucus collected in their heads without any gravity to weigh it down, which made the astronauts extremely uncomfortable. They even refused to wear their helmets during landing. The … Read more
Telescopes on Earth and in space had the sun safely in their sights when NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made its 11th daring close flyby of the star on Feb. 25, all to understand more about the sun’s behavior. To be clear, the Parker Solar Probe wasn’t directly visible in the various instruments, as the van-sized … Read more