Moon base plans suffer early setback after Blue Origin rocket explosion
The space company founded by billionaire Amazon entrepreneur Jeff Bezos has a key role from the outset in establishing a lunar outpost. Source link
All posts tagged: spaceflight
Could aliens ever visit Earth? An aerospace scientist unpacks the challenges of interstellar spaceflight.
This article was originally featured on The Conversation. On May 22, 2026, the Pentagon released a second batch of previously classified photos and videos showing what appear to be unexplained flying objects. These file dumps were the culmination of a process that was set in motion back in July 2023, when a group of government whistleblowers testified before Congress that the U.S. government was secretly in possession of extraterrestrial spacecraft and suspected alien body parts. That congressional hearing marked the beginning of a cultural shift in which UFO reports are increasingly treated as a matter for serious discussion, both within the government and the scientific community. The Pentagon released over 200 previously classified UFO files in May 2026. Image: Department of Defense But is this newfound legitimacy deserved? As an aerospace scientist who studies aircraft and spacecraft design, I approach this question using math, physics and the principles of engineering. To assess the plausibility of alien visitors, it’s necessary to understand the obstacles that an extraterrestrial vessel would need to overcome to reach Earth. The tyranny of distance There is no evidence …
Why do astronauts still act like gravity exists in space?
An astronaut can hold a tool in space, loosen their fingers, and watch it stay put. Nothing drops. Nothing tugs downward. Yet the brain does not simply forget gravity because the body has left Earth. That mismatch sits at the center of a new study on how people grip and move objects in orbit. The research found that even after months in weightlessness, astronauts still handled objects as if gravity might interfere. Their hands applied too much force, especially during movement, suggesting the brain kept predicting a pull that was no longer there. The work, led by Philippe Lefèvre and colleagues at Université catholique de Louvain and Ikerbasque, looked at one of the most ordinary actions people perform, picking up and moving an object, and placed it in one of the least ordinary environments possible. A habit the nervous system does not easily erase On Earth, the brain constantly coordinates two related forces when a person handles an object. One is grip force, the pressure from the fingers. The other is load force, the force …
Artemis II isn’t the farthest human spaceflight, and it’s not even close
Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed mission of the Artemis era, sent four astronauts on a sweeping journey around the Moon before bringing them safely back to Earth. The mission carried the crew farther from Earth than any humans had traveled before, using a free-return trajectory that looped around the Moon and set up a fiery return through Earth’s atmosphere. It ended with Orion splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after nearly 11 days in space, closing out a mission designed to test the spacecraft, its life-support systems, and the agency’s readiness for future lunar expeditions. According to NASA, the mission reached a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth, passed within about 4,070 miles of the lunar surface, and covered 695,081 miles from launch to splashdown. By the measure of how far humans had ever gotten from home, Artemis II set a new record. That is not the same record as longest trip. A simple everyday comparison helps. A former job might have been 20 miles from your house. A new one could sit only …
Artemis II sets human spaceflight record during historic lunar fly-by
The crew of Artemis II has entered its return phase after completing a landmark lunar fly-by that pushed human spaceflight farther from Earth than ever before. The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft reached a peak distance of approximately 252,756 miles, surpassing the long-standing record set by Apollo 13. The milestone was achieved during a critical segment of the mission, when the spacecraft passed behind the Moon, temporarily cutting off communications with NASA for about 40 minutes. The blackout, a planned consequence of the Moon obstructing signals to Earth, coincided with the mission’s maximum distance from the planet. Lunar fly-by delivers scientific observations and rare views The six-hour lunar fly-by provided the crew with extended opportunities to observe and document the Moon’s surface, including regions of the far side that remain largely unseen from Earth. Using handheld digital cameras, the astronauts captured high-resolution imagery of geological features under varying lighting conditions. At closest approach, the Orion spacecraft passed roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface. The data gathered during this phase, including imagery, telemetry, and …
Bavaria invests €78m in new hub for human spaceflight
Germany is laying the groundwork for the next chapter of human spaceflight with a major investment in a new mission control facility near Munich. The Human Exploration Control Center (HECC) will be built at the German Aerospace Center site in Oberpfaffenhofen, expanding Europe’s capabilities for crewed and robotic missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars. Backed by €58m from the Free State of Bavaria and an additional €20m from Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) institutional funding, the project signals a long-term commitment to strengthening Europe’s independent role in space exploration. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2028, with operations expected to start by 2030. Commenting on the landmark facility, Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, commented: “Bavaria’s gateway to the stars is on its way. The Free State, DLR and ESA form a strong alliance. With innovation and pioneering spirit, we promote research, freedom and the future. “Bavaria is investing €58m in a new building, as well as €5m in the development of an orbital gateway and an AI project to support astronauts. The Moon …