Leonard David

While ambitious plans to return Red Planet samples to Earth are in development, some scientists argue that we should instead find ways to analyze Mars samples on the planet itself.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently bounced a laser off India's Vikram moon lander, marking a space-communications first.

Scientists are investigating the possible forms that alien languages might take — and whether we might be able to understand them.

NASA's Mars Sample Return program is the agency’s highest priority in planetary science, but projected multibillion-dollar overruns have some calling the plan a 'dumpster fire.'

Landing on the moon may soon be much easier thanks to NASA's Lunar Retroreflector Array network being carried to the lunar surface on international and commercial landers.

A new study has found that amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — remain stable in concentrated sulfuric acid, the stuff that Venus' clouds are made of.

Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic is gearing up for the Jan. 8 launch of its Peregrine lander, which will try to become the first private spacecraft to land on the moon.

The first-ever private mission Venus is slated to launch in 2025. and aims to search for signs of life in its clouds by detecting organic chemistry.

A group has been formed to study and promote a space-based sunshade as a method to help fend off global climate change.

A new study calls for humanity to prepare for an encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence and examines the social consequences of such contact.

Scientists have discovered that many asteroids have the consistency of piles of rubble. Knowing this, how could we defend Earth against one of these asteroids?

Honeybee Robotics has a plan to build massive lighthouses on the moon to provide light, power and communications infrastructure as part of a plan to develop a lunar economy.

The United States' use of military agencies such as DARPA to develop emerging technologies for the moon could be sending a wrong message.

For the first time, NASA-funded researchers can apply for access to lunar samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 mission.

Amid uncertainty over space agencies’ plans for future Venus exploration, enthusiasm for a private-sector mission grows.

China will launch an extension module at an appropriate time and upgrade the basic configuration of the space station from the current 'T' shape to a cross shape.

Russia kicked off another one of its simulated missions this week, this time a 360-day isolation of individuals to imitate flight conditions of a deep space journey.

While landing humans on the moon was indeed historic and the boot-kicked lunar dust has settled, perhaps that achievement had more of an impact on society than we realized.

Japan's planned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft mission involves drilling and sampling Mars' moon Phobos, then rocketing the samples to Earth.

NASA's Perseverance rover is scurrying around on the Red Planet, wheeling and dealing around Jezero Crater and inspecting the site of this former lake up close.

For many anxious to throw light on unidentified anomalous phenomena, it's all about reliable, truth-revealing, and scientifically rigorous data collection.

China's upcoming Xuntian, or Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), will orbit near the nation's Tiangong space station and provide high-definition panoramic views of the universe.

Based on the valuable scientific contributions microphones have made aboard the Perseverance Mars rover, it's time to turn up the volume on microphones for extra-planetary exploration.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will see a sample of an asteroid return to Earth on Sept. 24. Here's how the mission's head scientist feels about the chances of success.

Space debris is becoming a major issue for both private companies and space agencies. But estimates of how much troublesome litter is actually in orbit are daunting and tricky to make.