Space Exploration

Europe rejoins the new space race with the launch of its long-awaited Ariane 6 rocket

Scientific American sat down with Nicola Fox, head of NASA science, to talk about her LEGO-building hobby, the agency’s massive Space Launch System rocket and the NASA science she’s most excited about

The world will be watching—literally—as SpaceX tackles possibly what might be its highest-stakes endeavor to date: safely destroying the beloved International Space Station

On its first crewed flight, troubling technical glitches with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft have left two astronauts in limbo onboard the International Space Station

Despite an eye-watering price tag, bringing pieces of Mars back to Earth promises to revolutionize our understanding of life’s place in the early solar system

China’s Chang’e 6 mission has successfully returned samples from the moon’s far side, opening a new phase of the nation’s lunar space race with the U.S.

A new film details the history of Ed Dwight and NASA’s first Black astronaut candidates

NASA’s venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft has resumed normal science operations with all four functioning instruments for the first time in more than six months

We should—and must—take careful measure of what we name cosmic objects and the terms we use throughout science

The Hubble Space Telescope’s woes, moon rocks and antibiotic candidates discovered with AI are all in this week’s news roundup.

A space technology company CEO explains how growing competition in the commercial space industry may help boost climate science

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made a much-anticipated fourth test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket, Starship, a vehicle designed to power human flight to the moon and Mars