NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Astronaut Who Was Stuck on ISS for Months Retires

Butch Wilmore's last trip to space lasted around 275 days longer than planned

(Newser) - One of NASA's two previously stuck astronauts has retired from the space agency, less than five months after his unexpectedly long spaceflight came to an end. NASA announced Butch Wilmore's departure on Wednesday, the AP reports.
  • Wilmore and Suni Williams launched last summer as test pilots on Boeing'
...

Duffy Wants a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon, Fast

Move aims to outpace China as NASA faces budget cuts

(Newser) - Sean Duffy, the interim NASA administrator and Transportation Secretary, is reportedly set to announce an accelerated push to deploy a nuclear reactor on the moon—a move that would mark his most significant step since stepping into the dual role. Documents reviewed by Politico indicate this initiative sets a...

Astronauts Sidelined by Starliner Catch Their Ride

Zena Cardman and Mike Finke see liftoff with SpaceX

(Newser) - Astronauts sidelined for the past year by Boeing's Starliner trouble blasted off to the International Space Station on Friday, getting a lift from SpaceX. The US-Japanese-Russian crew of four rocketed from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They'll replace colleagues who launched to the space station in March as...

It's Kind of Crazy What This $1.5B Satellite Can Do

NISAR, from NASA and India, will track land shifts, ice changes, even soil moisture

(Newser) - A new satellite developed by NASA and India is set to launch this week, promising to map Earth's surface with centimeter-level precision and offer scientists an unprecedented look at our planet's changing landscape. The $1.5 billion satellite, NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar or NISAR for short, is...

Trump Picks Sean Duffy as Temporary NASA Chief

Nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman was withdrawn in May

(Newser) - Sean Duffy has become the latest member of President Trump's Cabinet to take on an extra job. Trump has named the transportation secretary as the interim chief of NASA after withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a close associate of Elon Musk, the New York Times reports. Duffy,...

NASA's Job Reductions Include 2K Senior Employees

Cuts threaten 'managerial and core technical expertise,' one expert says

(Newser) - Most of the NASA employees who are leaving their jobs under the Trump administration's workforce-cutting efforts are in senior roles—a loss of skills and experience that could imperil goals such as landing astronauts on the moon and Mars. Of the 2,694 civil staff members who have agreed...

NASA-Netflix Partnership Is a 'Sci-Fi Dream'

Netflix will livestream launches, spacewalks, and more via NASA+ feeds

(Newser) - Netflix is teaming up with NASA to livestream rocket launches and other space events directly to its subscribers, the companies announced on Monday, "in a move that's equal parts sci-fi dream and Saturday afternoon plan," according to Netflix . Starting later this summer, Netflix viewers will be...

In Historic ISS Moment, a Unique Toast

Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary, as well as astronaut Peggy Whitson, toast with drink pouches

(Newser) - The first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland, and Hungary arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, ferried there by SpaceX on a private flight. The crew of four will spend two weeks at the orbiting lab, performing dozens of experiments, after launching from NASA's...

Why Sally Ride Hid Her Sexuality
Why Sally Ride
Hid Her Sexuality
in case you missed it
Jun 21, 2025 4:25 PM CDT

Why Sally Ride Hid Her Sexuality

Astronaut could've missed out on career opportunities, says partner featured in new documentary

(Newser) - Sally Ride became the first US woman in space in 1983. Two years later, she began the 27-year-long relationship that would define her life, though it was only revealed after her death. Ride's romantic relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy, a childhood female friend, gets full telling in Sally, a...

NASA Captures Image of Lander's Crash Site

Japanese company's craft slammed into the moon last month

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft around the moon has photographed the crash site of a Japanese company's lunar lander. NASA released the pictures Friday, two weeks after ispace's lander slammed into the moon , per the AP . The images show a dark smudge where the lander, named Resilience, and its mini...

Oldest US Astronaut Lands in Time to Celebrate His 70th

Don Pettit spent seven months on space station doing research

(Newser) - Seniors including George HW Bush have marked advanced birthdays by skydiving. Don Pettit, NASA's oldest astronaut still flying, marked his 70th on Sunday by landing safely on Earth after seven months on the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-26 space capsule with Pettit and Russian crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and...

Near-Earth Asteroid Has Surprising Shape

2024 YR4 is more like a hockey puck than the more common potato shape

(Newser) - The asteroid that once had a small chance of striking Earth and now might slam into the moon resembles a spinning hockey puck, scientists said this week. A team of astronomers used the Gemini South Observatory in Chile to observe asteroid 2024 YR4 in multiple wavelengths as it zoomed away...

Wilmore, Williams: We'd Fly on Starliner Again

They weren't 'forgotten in orbit,' Wilmore says

(Newser) - NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Monday that they hold themselves partly responsible for what went wrong on their space sprint-turned-marathon and would fly on Boeing's Starliner again. In their first news conference since coming home, the pair said they were taken aback by all the interest...

NASA No Longer Looking to Put First Woman, POC on Moon

Agency cites Trump's executive order to end DEI initiatives

(Newser) - Perhaps there won't be a woman walking on the moon after all. NASA's pledge to put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface with its Artemis III mission has vanished from NASA webpages "in deference to President Trump's anti-diversity, equity and...

Astronauts' Extra Pay During Long ISS Stay: $5 Per Day

Wilmore, Williams received 'regular 40-hour workweek salaries,' NASA says

(Newser) - NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were in space for 278 days longer than planned but they weren't racking up overtime hours during their long stay on the International Space Station. They received their normal salary—$152,258 a year, according to NASA's 2024 pay rates—but...

Trump Takes Credit for Astronauts' Return

But the particulars are a little fuzzy on that

(Newser) - The safe return to Earth of two astronauts stranded for months on the International Space Station has gotten political in a hurry. President Trump took to Truth Social to blame former President Biden for their stranding and to take credit for bringing them home.
  • "This began when I asked
...

Astronauts Finally Head Home: It's Been 'a Lot of Fun'

NASA's Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore are now hurtling back to Earth after 9 long months at ISS

(Newser) - One of the most "unusual and closely watched [chapters] in spaceflight history" is about to come to a close. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally only supposed to be at the International Space Station for a week when they set off into space on Boeing's Starliner last...

SpaceX Sends Crew to Replace NASA's Stranded Astronauts
Help Arrives for NASA's
Stranded Astronauts
UPDATED
Mar 16, 2025 6:29 AM CDT

Help Arrives for NASA's Stranded Astronauts

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams should finally be on their way home this week

(Newser) - A SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts, per the AP . The four newcomers will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the latter two...

NASA's New Space Telescope Will Map the Entire Sky

SPHEREx will observe glow of 'all light emitted over cosmic history'

(Newser) - NASA's newest space telescope has rocketed toward orbit to map the entire sky like never before—a sweeping look at hundreds of millions of galaxies and their shared cosmic glow since the beginning of time. SpaceX launched the SPHEREx—Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization...

SpaceX Scrubs Launch of Flight to Replace Stuck Astronauts

Flight planned for Wednesday now won't be completed until Friday at the earliest

(Newser) - SpaceX on Wednesday night scrubbed the launch of a flight that was intended to replace the two astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months. The Crew-10 flight was slated to take off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, but a problem with the launchpad'...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser