"I'm feeling a lot of emotions": NASA's Ingenuity engineers are getting antsy for their helicopter's first flight.

If the risks posed by equipment malfunction, micrometeorite impacts, and solar radiation were not enough for anyone planning a trip to Mars, here is another one to contend with. Long periods spent in space can cause a shrinking heart. Humankind ventured into space sixty years ago this month. Since April 1961, our astronauts and cosmonauts have been confined to low Earth orbit, together with eight missions to the Moon, six of which landed people there. At some stage, serious planning will begin regarding a trip to Mars.

I was born a mere four months after the final Apollo astronauts brushed gray dust from their spacesuits and lifted off from the Moon. As my interest in space grew over the years, and writing about this industry became my profession, I felt a deepening sense of regret for missing that glorious moment of triumph in our shared space history. I lived with that regret for decades—right up until April 8, 2016.

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Rations of gouda are being shipped to the International Space Station for cheese-loving...

NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter has survived its first night alone on the frigid surface of Mars, the US space agency said, hailing it as "a major milestone" for the tiny craft as it prepares for its first flight.

More than a year into a pandemic that has killed nearly 3 million people worldwide, NASA estimates that COVID-19 will cost the agency perhaps as much as $3 billion.

NASA has plenty of experience operating wheeled rovers on Mars, but it's never tried to fly a helicopter on the red planet before. The Ingenuity rotorcraft will get a chance to make history this month by flying the Martian skies, but first the Perseverance rover had to drop it off on the ground.

Companies are rapidly designing private space stations that could one day dominate operations in orbit around Earth. Why it matters: NASA is hoping private industry will start to take over operations in low-Earth orbit once the International Space Station comes to an end, creating a robust commercial market in that part of space.

Mars is a haven for meteorites, and it's always notable when a rover comes across one of these emissaries from space. Scientists are scrutinizing a holey rock spotted by NASA's Perseverance rover that bears a resemblance to meteorites seen elsewhere.

In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew a plane for 12 seconds, 120 feet in the air, on what is now known as the first powered-controlled flight on Earth. Now, 118 years later, the first powered-controlled attempt at a flight on another planet is about to take place.

NASA this past week unveiled the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) project, with plans to award up to $400 million in total to as many as four companies.

NASA announced this week that Earth will remain safe from the threat of a specific asteroid's impact for at least the next 100 years.

NASA is shifting direction in its effort to support development of commercial space stations, with plans to issue a series of awards for initial studies.

NASA completed an engine test firing of its moon rocket Thursday, after the first attempt in January ended prematurely.

The United States is unlikely to build anything like the Space Launch System ever again. But it’s still good that NASA did.

Apparently, the Perseverance rover makes quite a racket while driving on Martian terrain. NASA has released an audio recording of the rover's 90-foot drive in Jezero Crater on March 7th, which was captured by its entry, descent and landing (EDL) microphone. You'll hear the rover's wheels crunching over the surface of the red planet as it moves, along with the bangs and creaks made by its mobility system.

A pallet of batteries was released from the International Space Station, becoming the heaviest single piece of junk ever jettisoned from the station. Mission controllers in Houston commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release an external pallet loaded with the 2.9 tons of nickel-hydrogen batteries into Earth's orbit Thursday morning.

A NASA astronaut flying to the International Space Station in April could spend up to a year on the station, an extended stay that he said he was “enthusiastic” about.

Although orbiting astronauts are safely isolated on the International Space Station, the coronavirus has still impacted spaceflyers, according to a conversation between NASA astronauts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).