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NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has broken the record for longest US human spaceflight, a title former astronaut Scott Kelly has held since 2016. Tuesday marks 341 consecutive days in space for Vande Hei, surpassing Kelly’s record-breaking 340-day stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But the achievement comes amid volatile relations between the US and … Read more
When NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei launched into space 11 months ago, he did not know how long he would be off the planet, let alone that he would be up there long enough to set any records. But when the clock strikes 12:24 p.m. EDT (1624 GMT) today (March 15), Vande Hei will claim … Read more
Falcon. Dragon. Starlink. Starship. Starman. SpaceX has contributed a lot to our spaceflight vernacular, showing just how far the company has come in its first 20 years. Elon Musk founded SpaceX on March 14, 2002, with big dreams of creating reusable rockets, commercial spacecraft and other advanced technology. Musk has said that few believed it … Read more
Scott Kelly has found another way to protest Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The former NASA astronaut has been a vocal opponent of the invasion, expressing his displeasure with Russian aggression frequently via Twitter, and in Russian to boot. (All astronauts who visit the International Space Station must speak English and Russian, and Kelly has … Read more
Blue Origin wants to double the number of people it flew to space in its first year of operations, a plan that can be accomplished “easily” by bringing in a second rocket, a media report indicates. So far, the space tourism company has flown 14 people to space across three flights in July, October and … Read more
The United States’ human spaceflight program got a much-needed shot in the arm 60 years ago today. On Feb. 20, 1962, NASA astronaut John Glenn launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral inside a tiny capsule named Friendship 7. The Mercury spacecraft circled Earth three times, ultimately splashing down near the Turks and Caicos Islands four hours … Read more
“Top Gun” star Tom Cruise and NASA astronaut Victor Glover bonded virtually over fast planes and SpaceX spaceships in a wide-ranging conversation about astronaut training. NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center posted the hour-long conversation on YouTube on Friday (Jan. 28), rebroadcasting a November 2021 conversation during the World Extreme Medicine conference. Cruise is the one … Read more
The drive from Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex to the launch facilities that line the Atlantic coast offers spectators a beautiful glimpse into American innovation: the gargantuan Blue Origin facility, the SpaceX landing zones and multiple NASA launch complexes. It’s on this path that the now-deserted Launch Complex 34 sits, “ABANDON IN PLACE” spray-painted in … Read more
Being in space causes the human body to destroy about 50% more red blood cells, leading to a potentially dangerous condition known as anemia. The effects persist even after astronauts return to Earth, according to a new study. The study, led by researchers at the Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, … Read more
Dylan Taylor is a “space angel,” an investor in NewSpace, and in December he reached a new career high — literally. He flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft on its NS-19 mission. That mission, which took place on Dec. 11, was Blue Origin’s third human spaceflight but its first to carry six passengers. … Read more