human spaceflight
Op-ed | An Orbital Address for All
For the sake of Earth and humanity, it’s time for private enterprise and governments to co-invest to expand human activity in low Earth orbit.
Op-Ed | It’s Time to Rescind the Moratorium on Regulation of Commercial Spaceflight
As commercial human spaceflight enjoys a breakout 2021, it doesn't make sense for Congress to keep safety regulators handcuffed through 2023, argues the author of "Bringing Columbia Home."
Is Netflix’s Inspiration4 docuseries a new era in Space Age media relations?
While the exclusive footage and the interviews were fascinating, Netflix's "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space" docuseries lacks drama. By the time the final episode was released, the crew had been safely back for a week and a half.
Op-ed | Private industry spacesuit advancements are the solution to OIG report findings
The recent Office of Inspector General report that concluded NASA's spacesuit program is out of sync with with a 2024 lunar landing excluded any consideration of the substantial privately led work that has already been accomplished by industry.
Op-ed | The Last Shuttle Flight — A 10-Year Lesson
July not only saw the successful launch of two private industry human spaceflight operations. It also marked the 10th anniversary of the last space shuttle flight.
Europe considering concepts for human spaceflight
A bumper crop of applications for the European Space Agency’s astronaut corps is providing a boost to proposals for Europe to develop its own human spaceflight capability.
Op-ed | Honor Our Fallen Space Pioneers This Memorial Day
This Memorial Day, as we remember American servicemen and women who gave their lives for their country, we should also recognize another group of patriots who also paid the ultimate price in service to the nation — our fallen astronauts.
Op-ed | Build a Robot Base on Mars
The triumphant landing of the Perseverance rover has inspired all Americans, and indeed much of the world. President Biden should follow it up by launching the program to send humans to Mars.
Op-ed | Artemis will accelerate the commercial space sector
“The critics of NASA’s Artemis program are correct about one thing,” writes Christian Zur of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “the commercial space sector is an emerging juggernaut. However...the economic growth will come once new capabilities become cost effective and accessible.”
‘Parastronaut’ sought as ESA recruits its first new astronauts in more than a decade
The European Space Agency announced Feb. 16 that its first call for new astronauts in more than a decade will be open to candidates with physical disabilities.
Commentary | A critical mission for human spaceflight: a quest for value
The next goals for human spaceflight should be industrialization and settlement, writes aerospace engineer Gary Oleson.
NASA human spaceflight directorate reorganization on hold
A planned reorganization of the NASA mission directorate responsible for human spaceflight programs has been put on hold after its leader abruptly resigned last month.
NASA’s new human spaceflight chief is determined to make 2024 deadline
In this excerpt from a “fireside chat” at the third annual SpaceNews Awards for Excellence & Innovation Dec. 10, Doug Loverro discusses why he took on this new challenge and Jim Bridenstine explains why he believes Loverro is the right person for the job.
China developing new launch vehicle for human spaceflight, future moon missions
China unveiled a heavy-lift launch vehicle it is developing to carry a next-generation crewed spacecraft and power human spaceflight missions beyond low Earth orbit.
United Arab Emirates to establish human spaceflight program
The United Arab Emirates plans to establish its own astronaut corps in the next year, seeking to fly its citizens into space on other nations’ vehicles starting in the early 2020s.
Russia’s post-ISS plans a mystery at best
With the end of the International Space Station program looming just over the horizon, the national space agencies that back the project are scrambling to make plans for what comes next. Nowhere is this discussion more fraught than in Russia, where the issue of post-ISS efforts are wrapped up in questions about Russia’s entire future in space.
China’s long march to the moon
Chinese engineers are wrapping up work on the Chang’e-5 lunar mission for a targeted November launch atop a Long March 5 booster. It will depart from the newly completed Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province. If successful, this robotic mooncraft would carry the first lunar samples returned to Earth in over 40 years.
Industry committee to start work on human spaceflight safety standards
With the FAA restricted from developing safety regulations for people on commercial human spacecraft, an industry standards organization is moving ahead with plans to establish a committee to develop a voluntary set of standards.
NASA Considers Uses for Cislunar Habitat
As NASA works on plans to fly humans on long-duration missions between the Earth and moon in the 2020s, the agency is also starting to think about what astronauts would do on those flights.
NASA Begins Effort To Find Landing Sites for Human Mars Missions
With the first NASA human mission to Mars still at least two decades away, the space agency and planetary scientists have started looking for potential landing sites, a search motivated by both long-term planning requirements and urgency to take advantage of spacecraft already there.
