SpaceX reaches for milestone in spaceflight – a private company launches astronauts into orbit

SpaceX's launch of astronauts to the International Space Station will make it the first private company to launch humans to space. The effort has ramifications for NASA and spaceflight in general.

Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies • conversation
May 22, 2020 • ~7 min

Tags:  space  nasa  space-travel  space-shuttle  spacex  iss  space-tourism  international-space-station  boeing  elon-musk  virgin-galactic  blue-origin  project-artemis

To safely explore the solar system and beyond, spaceships need to go faster – nuclear-powered rockets may be the answer

An update of 50-year-old regulations has kickstarted research into the next generation of rockets. Powered by nuclear fission, these new systems could be the key to faster, safer exploration of space.

Iain Boyd, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
May 20, 2020 • ~10 min
Tags: space nasa mars space-shuttle moon voyager space-exploration donald-trump future rockets darpa nuclear-fission apollo-11

Touching the asteroid Ryugu revealed secrets of its surface and changing orbit

It is a pretty spectacular achievement to not only rendezvous with an asteroid as it is whizzing around the Sun but also collect a sample. Here's what the researchers learned.

Paul K. Byrne, Associate Professor of Planetary Science, North Carolina State University • conversation
May 7, 2020 • ~6 min

Tags:  astronomy  space  nasa  asteroid  hayabusa

How the Hubble Space Telescope opened our eyes to the first galaxies of the universe

Thirty years ago the Hubble Space Telescope began snapping photos of distant stars, providing a time machine that has taken astronomers back to when the universe was less than a billion years old.

Rodger I. Thompson, Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona • conversation
April 24, 2020 • ~9 min

Tags:  astronomy  nasa  hubble-space-telescope  james-webb-telescope  infrared  universe-expansion  star-formation  galaxies

7 lessons from 'Hidden Figures' NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson's life and career

NASA scientist Katherine Johnson was instrumental in getting people to the moon. Here are some of the lessons one mathematics professor believes she taught us all.

Della Dumbaugh, Professor of Mathematics, University of Richmond • conversation
Feb. 26, 2020 • ~7 min

Tags:  space  feminism  nasa  mathematics  space-shuttle  race  racism  science  moon-landing  civil-rights  segregation  scientist  hidden-figures  apollo-11  katherine-johnson

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