The Latest from Emily Calandrelli
2016 is the new hottest year on record – how NASA takes the planet’s temperature
NASA announced on Wednesday that in 2016, Earth experienced the hottest surface temperatures in modern history. Separate, independent analysis at NOAA provided the same conclusion. This makes the thir
Moon Express raises $20M in Series B-1, fully funds trip to the Moon
Moon Express, a company competing in the Google Lunar X-Prize, has raised $20 million in a Series B-1 round and announced that they’ve now fully financed their maiden mission to the moon. With the l
John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth, has died at 95
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and the oldest human to travel into space, died today at 95 years old. Today, we join the world in mourning the passing of legendary astronaut, senato
NSF may shut down West Virginia’s Green Bank Telescope and people aren’t happy
Tight budgets have forced the National Science Foundation to consider shutting down and deconstructing the Green Bank Telescope, the largest steerable telescope in the world. This consideration has ca
This Indian team plans to be the first private company to land on the moon
TeamIndus, a private company located in Bangalore, India, is the one and only Indian entrant into the Google Lunar X-Prize, the international competition to land a private spacecraft on the moon. For
What we learned about Elon Musk’s Mars plan in his Reddit AMA
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, hosted a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” this afternoon. He noted that the AMA should focus on SpaceX’s plans for Mars, which Musk revealed during the Internationa
A failed lander and a working orbiter – everything we know about ESA’s ExoMars mission
Update (October 21st 11:30 am PT) With the help of NASA, ESA has located their failed Schiaparelli lander. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a Mars-orbiting satellite equipped with cameras, wa
China’s longest human spaceflight mission begins on the Chinese space station
Two taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) have docked to the Chinese space station, Tiangong-2, kicking off the nation’s longest human spaceflight mission to date. Watch LIVE: #Shenzhou11 and #Tiangong2 s
Orbital ATK returns to flight with successful Antares launch to the space station
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket – the same rocket that exploded on its way to the International Space Station two years ago – returned to flight today with a much-anticipated launch. Lifting of
Obama wants to go to Mars, but will the next administration?
President Obama released an op-ed on CNN today, praising the accomplishments of NASA to date and encouraging the nation to keep its sights set on Mars. While it was an inspiring endorsement for NASA a
Blue Origin conducts in-flight escape test and unexpectedly lands rocket for a fifth time
Today’s Blue Origin flight was a unique one. Upon testing their rocket’s in-flight escape system (a means of bringing passengers to safety if something were to happen during launch), Jeff Bezos’
Everything you need to know about SpaceX’s plan to colonize Mars
All eyes were on Elon Musk today as he gave a keynote speech at the International Astronautical Conference in Mexico. Musk said he was going to detail SpaceX's plans to colonize Mars and make humans a
Jeff Bezos announces Blue Origin’s first orbital rocket, the New Glenn
Early this morning, Jeff Bezos revealed plans for the next Blue Origin rocket, the New Glenn. Unlike their New Shepard rocket, which is only capable of up-and-down suborbital launches, New Glenn wil
NASA has successfully launched OSIRIS-REx, their first asteroid sample return mission
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has successfully launched from Cape Canaveral with the help of 1.2 million pounds of thrust provided by an Atlas V rocket. The spacecraft will journey to a near-Earth as
Here’s what we know about the SpaceX explosion
This morning around 9:07 am ET, SpaceX experienced a devastating explosion while completing a routine static test-fire in preparation for a launch on Saturday. Luckily, no injuries were reported, but
It’s official, SES will be first company to launch on a used SpaceX rocket
Luxembourg based satellite company SES announced today that they’ve made an agreement with SpaceX to be the first company to launch a payload on a used Falcon 9 rocket. The re-flight, scheduled t
ET is that you? Astronomers detect intriguing signal 95 light-years away
Are we alone in the universe? An international group of astronomers has detected an interesting radio signal spike, one that could possibly be of alien origin, from a star system located 95 light-yea
NASA completes another splashdown test on Mars-bound Orion spacecraft
NASA today tossed into a pool a mock-up of their Orion spacecraft with two crash-test dummies sitting inside to simulate a return-to-Earth splashdown scenario. The test lasted all of about 10 seconds
Astronomers have found the closest exoplanet to Earth
For the first time, astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting our sun’s nearest neighbor. The newly identified exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system) is officially the closest kno
After nearly two years, NASA regains contact with lost spacecraft
After attempting to regain contact for nearly two years, NASA has finally reestablished communications with the sun-studying satellite, STEREO-B. At 6:27 p.m. ET, NASA received a downlink signal from