The story of how the first American went to space

As NASA fought to catch up to the Soviet Union in the space race, they selected a Navy veteran as the first astronaut. But ...
Dark Space Official on MSN

The Soviet space mission that launched three men into orbit without spacesuits

When Khrushchev demanded the USSR outrun America's Gemini program, engineers were forced to strip out ejection seats and ...

From Alan Shepard to Artemis, celebrating 65 years of Americans in space

On the morning of May 5th, 1961, 37-year-old Alan Shepard woke up, ate a breakfast (consisting of a filet mignon wrapped in ...
Scientific American

What is the Kardashev scale, and can we climb it?

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is in the running to develop a lunar lander, as is Elon Musk’s SpaceX, with an approach using its ...

Rocket Report: Falcon Heavy is back; Russia’s Soyuz-5 finally debuts

Hello to Virgin Galactic’s new rocket plane. Virgin Galactic has completed structural assembly of the first Delta-class SpaceShip and moved the vehicle into an adjacent facility in Mesa, Arizona, to ...

In 1957, a Moscow stray dog was sent into orbit, and her lonely flight paved the way for human space travel

In 1957, a stray dog named Laika became the first living being in orbit aboard Sputnik 2. Her mission, though tragic as she ...