Leonard David
Leonard David is an award-winning space journalist who has been reporting on space activities for more than 50 years. Currently writing as Space.com's Space Insider Columnist among his other projects, Leonard has authored numerous books on space exploration, Mars missions and more, with his latest being "Moon Rush: The New Space Race" published in 2019 by National Geographic. He also wrote "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet" released in 2016 by National Geographic. Leonard has served as a correspondent for SpaceNews, Scientific American and Aerospace America for the AIAA. He has received many awards, including the first Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History in 2015 at the AAS Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium. You can find out Leonard's latest project at his website and on Twitter.
Latest articles by Leonard David
![A nameplate for the Galileo Project](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ECuM7Y9do24fZejqFNcCij-320-80.jpg)
On the trail of unidentified aerial phenomenon: the Galileo Project looks ahead
By Leonard David last updated
The Galileo Project is the first systematic scientific research program in a search for artifacts or remnants of extraterrestrial technological civilizations.
![Rocket Lab plans to launch a private mission to probe Venus' clouds.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3EsexdeT6eCew8qDHT6pib-320-80.jpg)
Rocket Lab planning to launch private Venus mission in May 2023
By Leonard David last updated
Rocket Lab aims to send a probe to Venus soon, and a new paper lays out the details of the ambitious mission.
![Where best to set up Artemis Base Camp? Researchers are homing in on sites that feature long-duration access to sunlight, direct-to-Earth communication and gentle slopes and also offer access to permanently shadowed regions that may contain water ice.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Hny7Jk8DaFwHC4WxFSAQVU-320-80.jpg)
Where will NASA set up its moon base?
By Leonard David last updated
Artemis Base Camp will be established in the moon's south polar region, in a to-be-determined spot that features plentiful sunlight, direct-to-Earth communications and good access to water ice.
![An aerial view of Jezero Crater on Mars](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5sA9kTxtUYXKicqQm87uk-320-80.jpg)
Probing the Red Planet: Finding past life at Jezero Crater
By Leonard David last updated
Perseverance Mars rover is gathering up samples of Martian rock and soil that could help tease out an answer concerning past life on Mars.
![Titanic expedition patch reading "Titanic: the Ultimate Dive 2022. 110th anniversary."](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dFZauZh55zphCvxRTumapD-320-80.jpg)
Pluto explorer deep dives to the Titanic
By Leonard David published
For planetary scientist Alan Stern, witnessing the 20th century deep sea sarcophagus that is the Titanic serves up analogies to spaceflight.
![Earth as seen from the surface of the moon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7EpyVxJRS5nVNgxgUytwRb-320-80.jpg)
Space philosopher Frank White on 'The Overview Effect' and humanity's connection with Earth
By Leonard David published
Frank White's "overview effect" has increasingly become iconic for explaining a very human condition attached to the space travel experience.
![The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) will study the moon up close for a year.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kzi8pNePyPp7cMRB3hpTse-320-80.jpeg)
South Korea is ready to launch its 1st moon mission
By Leonard David last updated
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket next Tuesday (Aug. 2).
![NASA photographer Bill Ingalls stands in front of a space shuttle.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bjX9c5q43UhFiXvZnyeXFN-320-80.jpg)
The amazing eye and insight of NASA space photographer Bill Ingalls
By Leonard David published
Bill Ingalls has been a professional photographer for three decades and has served as the Senior Contract Photographer for NASA Headquarters since 1989.
![An adult and a child are silhouetted against a solar system map.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PeimDtCy8VSXfhEUYbLWVT-320-80.jpg)
Interstellar probe: Has its time finally come?
By Leonard David last updated
Launching an interstellar probe sounds exceedingly lofty, ambitious, and tough to do. But there's no need to wait for new technology, say advocates.
![This photo shows several cities in the American Midwest at night as seen by an astronaut on the International Space Station on Sept. 29, 2011. The artificial light from human settlements appears with a characteristic yellow tinge. The green light of the aurora borealis also shines brightly in this view—even seeming to reflect off Earth's surface in Canada. Part of the ISS appears across the top of the image. \](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jSo845awzLnTB8g7AhymeW-320-80.jpg)
Alien hunters should look for city lights from 'urbanized planets,' study suggests
By Leonard David published
Scientists searching for signs of extraterrestrial technology should keep an eye out for city lights on exoplanets, a new study suggests.
![A huge canyon can be seen on the face of Mars. Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of this huge feature on the Red Planet.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/86aEH2rRcmK38WAFxfmYAj-320-80.jpg)
How can astronauts explore Mars' Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris
By Leonard David last updated
Valles Marineris, the Grand Canyon of Mars, is ripe for human exploration that can uncover the planet's history and its capacity to sustain microbial life.
![U.S. Navy videos of alleged UFO sightings were previously available but had not been officially declassified.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tSYaBe2x7K4mJhUide3eoW-320-80.jpeg)
How big a deal is NASA's new UFO study?
By Leonard David published
Space.com reached out to UFO groups and leading experts in the field to get their thoughts on NASA's new endeavor.
![Artist's illustration of astronauts on the moon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PrhKgMzY9tqM5gsnWLpTRc-320-80.jpeg)
'Rebooting' the moon: NASA's Artemis program aims for lunar sustainability
By Leonard David published
Artemis moonwalkers will need innovative technologies in order to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and forge the first long-term presence on the moon.
![Pluto, as seen by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of the dwarf planet in July 2015.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DA6c9nKCb9u384QntxgtNP-320-80.jpeg)
Far beyond Pluto: What's next for NASA's New Horizons probe?
By Leonard David last updated
New Horizons is still on duty in extended mission mode, diving ever deeper into the Kuiper Belt to examine ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region beyond the orbit of Neptune.
![A general engineering model of NASA's proposed Mars Life Explorer spacecraft, with solar panels, drill and science payload on the lander deck.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/azmoAAdm8Qoq3QMS8vDBZj-320-80.jpg)
NASA's Mars Life Explorer mission would dig deep to hunt for Red Planet life
By Leonard David published
A NASA concept mission called Mars Life Explorer would dig into Red Planet ice, hunting for signs of living organisms.
![The Mars sample return campaign features a menagerie of machines to collect, transfer and then rocket back to Earth select pieces of the Red Planet for laboratory study.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PspnzMTPopCRjabins9vzT-320-80.jpg)
How NASA will launch Mars samples off the Red Planet
By Leonard David published
The 10-foot-tall (3 meters) Mars Ascent Vehicle will blast rock, sediment and atmospheric samples off Mars in the early 2030s, in the first-ever rocket launch from the surface of another planet.
![The U.S. Space Force's robotic X-37B space plane is shown here in a 2009 photo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fourth X-37B mission launched into Earth orbit on May 20, 2015 and is still going.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RcHSZGn5vSiZbMNnAvDpxD-320-80.jpg)
US military's mysterious X-37B space plane zooms toward orbital record
By Leonard David published
The Space Force's X-37B has now been aloft for 773 days, just a week shy of the program record.
![The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in southwest China's Guizhou Province.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CovDikGpD6UWLPKQH3tcs6-320-80.jpeg)
Did China just detect signals from an alien civilization?
By Leonard David published
The internet is abuzz with rumors that China may have picked up signals from an alien civilization. But the pings are probably just Earthly interference, experts say.
![Following a lengthy flight to Mars, crewmembers will surely require rest and reconditioning time before making that "one small step" onto the surface of the Red Planet.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ndaQe8SLnhXcR7MP4swLvB-320-80.jpg)
Mars Base 101: How astronauts could make the most of a 30-day Red Planet stay
By Leonard David published
Mars astronauts could get a lot of science work done in 30 days on the Red Planet, even if they have to spend most of their time working to stay alive and stay healthy.
![China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts entered the Tiangong space station on June 5, 2022. From left to right: Cai Xuzhe, Chen Dong and Liu Yang.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aQp6ZDBxSfrgc6o4THy9cg-320-80.jpg)
3 Chinese astronauts settling in for 6-month stay on Tiangong space station
By Leonard David published
The three Shenzhou-14 astronauts — commander Chen Dong and Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe — are settling in for a lengthy stay aboard China's Tiangong space station.
![CAPSTONE will be the first cubesat to fly in Earth-moon space, settling into a near rectilinear halo orbit around the moon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C8zyxVQhHguwoHzG9jfSg4-320-80.jpg)
Tiny cubesat launching next year to blaze trail for NASA moon-orbiting space station
By Leonard David last updated
A high-tech pioneer for NASA's moon-orbiting Gateway space station is being readied for liftoff early next year.
![CAPSTONE will be the first cubesat to fly in Earth-moon space, settling into a near rectilinear halo orbit around the moon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C8zyxVQhHguwoHzG9jfSg4-320-80.jpg)
CAPSTONE, a small cubesat bound for the moon, is preparing for an October launch
By Leonard David last updated
NASA's plan to "reboot" human exploration of the moon will get kick-started soon by a spacecraft the size of a microwave oven.
![Artist's illustration showing the CAPSTONE spacecraft in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7v4g6fAnNv5MxVrgspc2wD-320-80.jpeg)
Little CAPSTONE cubesat ready to launch on big moon mission next month
By Leonard David last updated
Early next month, Rocket Lab is slated to launch a pathfinding cubesat mission that supports NASA's Artemis return-to-the moon program.
![White Sands Missile Range personnel supporting NASA and Boeing's Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) landing and recovery of the Starliner spacecraft participated in a mission dress dehearsal on May 18, 2022 at White Sands Space Harbor.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q6mTZ6L86FtvtdghLT7zNV-320-80.jpg)
Teams in New Mexico gear up for Wednesday landing of Boeing Starliner capsule (photos)
By Leonard David last updated
Boeing's Starliner capsule is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday (May 25), and teams on the ground have been gearing to welcome the spacecraft home.
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