Scale models of rockets at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s booth at the International Astronautical Congress.
FOCKE STRANGMANN/EPA
Naming features on other worlds is a trickier issue than you might think.
If you went to Mars, you’d need to be able to survive an extremely punishing environment. This picture, taken by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, gives you an idea.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
I've worked with NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project for 16 years. If you got yourself a ticket to Mars, here's how I'd advise you to prepare. And by the way, any mistake could kill you.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station in 2012.
NASA
Could Canadian technology play a part in the newly announced U.S. Space Force? A team at McMaster University has developed an instrument that could keep Space Force troops safe from radiation.
Astronauts traveling to Mars and beyond would face serious psychological challenges. A well-designed media program – based on an old-fashioned schedule – might help make life at least a bit easier.
Spend many months attached to the ISS and see how well you grow.
NASA
If you want to live on Mars, you're going to need to grow food. Seeds are naturally equipped to handle challenging Earth environments, but how well can they survive what they'll encounter off-planet?
The star TRAPPIST-1 with three of its planets.
ESO/M. Kornmesser/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)
To get us to Mars and beyond, a team of students from around the world has a plan involving lunar rovers mining ice and a space station between the Earth and the moon.
Every moment of life on our planet has had the force of gravity in the background. But the prospect of long-distance space travel means it's time to figure out what happens to our biology in its absence.