Space Exploration

We look back on about 11 years of the Gaia spacecraft, now at the end of its mission to create the best map of the Milky Way.

Space scientists within NASA and outside it feel betrayed by the Trump administration’s changes at the agency, which was known for promoting inclusion in science

In partnership with NASA, the Intuitive Machines lander Athena will send a water-seeking drill, a pogo-sticking crater probe and other novel technologies to the moon

Could tiny swimming microbes help us unlock the mysteries of extraterrestrial life?

Elon Musk’s Fork in the Road isn’t just a sculpture—it’s a monument to the tech world’s obsession with civilizational survival, which has its roots in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

A newly confirmed exoplanet around a nearby sunlike star might be astronomers’ best chance yet to look for life beyond the solar system—but it’s still no place like home

Despite a recent request from Trump, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were already scheduled to return to Earth on a Crew Dragon capsule this spring

From space weather to science missions, there’s a lot to be excited about in heliophysics this year.

Orbital junk will become a crisis if we don’t act soon

Space traveler demographics have shifted over time

The seventh test flight of SpaceX’s Starship ended with a successful landing of the rocket’s first stage but also the loss of the Starship vehicle

A little-known chapter of the Hubble Space Telescope’s history is a reminder of the risks of looking at the sun