Four astronauts are getting ready to travel to the Moon and back for NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, and the space agency is making sure that the crew is well-prepared in case things go wrong during the 10-day journey through space.
A Martian moons mission, a plethora of private lunar landers, probes to Venus and Jupiter, and reusable heavy-lift rocket tests are among the many highlights we’ll be watching in the coming 12 months, in what looks to be an extraordinary year in spaceflight. Here’s your 2024 calendar.
The bright star Betelgeuse, a prominent member of the Orion constellation, is set to be occulted by the asteroid Leona on December 11. This occurrence, expected to last no more than 10 seconds, will cause the star to temporarily vanish from sight, a phenomenon visible along a narrow path on Earth.
SpaceX is actively preparing for the third test of its Starship launch system, a mission that may feature the inaugural attempt at in-flight propellant transfer. This capability is essential for enabling deep space missions and is a crucial component of NASA’s Artemis Moon plans.
Fresh footprints on the Moon aren’t likely to happen in 2025 as NASA hoped. A new report warns of significant delays to the Artemis 3 mission, the result of two key contractors—SpaceX and Axiom Space—not being able to deliver the goods on time.
Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are embarking on a pioneering venture to construct the first permanent human outpost on the Moon, a critical component of NASA’s Artemis program.
Nearly a year after an uncrewed Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, NASA anticipates it still needs a few more months to resolve a lingering issue with the capsule’s heat shield before a crew can ride on board.
From capturing precious asteroid samples and exploring volcanic moons to navigating mysterious toxic blobs and portraying fictional Space Force battles, October was a captivating month in spaceflight and space exploration, as these images attest.
As part of the next phase of human spaceflight beyond Earth, one question remains when it comes to the exploration, and possible colonization, of another world: Can we have babies in space?