Chances are small that space junk will destroy property or harm a person, and existing space law could deal with such an event. But current law doesn’t address the bigger problem of space pollution.
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson on the International Space Station with a view many more are likely to see soon.
NASA/Tracy Caldwell Dyson/WIkimediaCommons
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are offering trips to the stars for those who can pay.
Space tourism has been slow to get off the ground.
Nadia Bormotova/iStock via Getty Images Plus
The first space tourist left Earth 20 years ago aboard a Russian rocket. Now, private companies are on the cusp of offering trips off Earth for those who can pay.
The Perseverance Rover’s first image sent back to NASA from Mars shows the surface of the Jezero crater.
NASA/JPL
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission has arrived and landed the Perseverance Rover on the red planet. The rover’s goal is to collect rock and soil samples to be brought back to Earth in the future.
We’ve already sent probes to land on Mars. The challenge now is to get people there and bring them home again.
Over the last 50 years, a lot has changed in rocketry. The fuel that powers spaceflight might finally be changing too.
CSA-Printstock/DIgital Vision Vectors via Getty Images
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.
An artist’s conception of WASP-18b, a giant exoplanet that orbits very close to its star.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I.Pillitteri et al; Optical: DSS
Sometimes it is difficult to take a photograph of an exoplanet because the star illuminating it is too bright. Now there is a new ‘deluminator’ telescope that can block out the extra light.
Spaceports close to the equator are ideal for low-orbit launches. Currently there are only two, both in South America.
Shutterstock
India may soon follow in the footsteps of Asian space giants China and India, after the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) announced a plan to build a spaceport in Papua.
China is the NBA’s second-biggest market.
AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
The National Basketball Association’s difficulty dealing with a tweet in support of Hong Kong protesters shows the challenges of having values and expanding into new markets.
In the future, people may be able to go to Mars.
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com
While the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing is an opportunity to celebrate a remarkable technological achievement, it’s worth reflecting upon the creative vision that made it possible.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
Neil Armstrong/NASA
Michael Milford, Queensland University of Technology and James Mount, Queensland University of Technology
They’re back! Pacific Rim Uprising sees more giant robots with humans inside, fighting giant monsters. But does the rocket science add up in this action-packed blockbuster sequel?
The ability to land rocket boosters makes them reusable, substantially reducing the cost of launches.
SpaceX
Automatic feedback control is what enabled the Falcon Heavy rocket boosters to land. It also drives most of our technology – and even describes the fundamentals of how humans and animals behave.
A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Moscow, Russia.
Shutterstock/VLADJ
In the early 20th century a Russian scientist – regarded as the father of rocketry – made some novel predictions on where we would be in space in the 21st century. So how accurate was he?
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.