Human spaceflight

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Project Mercury: America's 1st crewed space program

By Tariq Malik last updated

Project Mercury was NASA's program that launched the first American astronauts into space, completing a total of six crewed spaceflights.

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earth rising below a black space sky, with the docking hatch of a spacecraft in the foreground.

China's Tianzhou 7 spacecraft burns up in Earth's atmosphere to end cargo mission (video)

By Andrew Jones published

The Tianzhou 7 spacecraft undocked from China's Tiangong space station on Nov. 10 and reentered Earth's atmosphere at around 8:25 a.m. EST (1325 GMT) on Nov. 17.

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In this illustration, NASA astronauts drill into the Mars’ subsurface. The agency is creating new maps that show where ice is most likely to be easily accessible to future astronauts.

How does spaceflight affect astronauts' brains? There's good news and bad

By Victoria Corless published

Long-duration spaceflight affects some aspects of astronauts' cognitive health, but the observed impairment was not found to be lasting, a new study finds.

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a bald man in a light blue shirt and dark blue pants scrunches his body into a ball around a white piece of metal machinery, floating in a busy spacecraft.

How do astronauts weigh themselves in space?

By Keith Cooper published

Space mysteries In microgravity, astronauts must measure their mass, not their weight, which they can do with two devices on the ISS.

Space mysteries
Photo of a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launching the NS-20 space tourist mission in March 2022.

Blue Origin space tourist launches: Live mission updates

By Mike Wall last updated

Blue Origin's next space tourist mission hasn't yet been announced yet. Here are live updates of what we know.

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a smiling woman in an orange flight suit kneels next to a young girl

Documentary director redefines astronaut Eileen Collins as the 'Spacewoman' (interview)

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

The dictionary defines "spacewoman" as simply "a woman astronaut." In the case of its latest usage, though, the term carries more meaning. "Spacewoman" is a new film about Eileen Collins.

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Artemis 2's Orion capsule goes into altitude chamber to prep for 2025 moon mission (photo)

By Elizabeth Howell published

Today, an altitude chamber. Next year, the moon.

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China and the U.S. both have big plans for the Moon, but there are a number of reasons why no country could actually claim ownership of any land there.

The US is now at risk of losing to China in the race to send people back to the Moon’s surface

By Jacco van Loon published

In all, 12 Americans landed on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. Now, both the US and China are preparing to send humans back there this decade.

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photo of a small monument featuring the number 7 amid bushes and grass

At 60 years, monument to NASA's Project Mercury still stands, but what of its time capsule?

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

A 60-year-old tribute to America's first human spaceflight program is standing up to the test of time, but what about the contents of its time capsule not to be opened until 2464?

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European Space Agency reserve astronaut John McFall takes part in a parabolic flight on April 6, 2023 sponsored by the agency and Novespace, in Bordeaux, France. McFall is the first reserve astronaut with a disability.

Recruiting the world’s first disabled astronaut doesn't mean space travel is inclusive – here’s how to change that

By Sean Cullen, Ezgi Merdin Uygur, Vanja Garaj published

How can space agencies and “space tourism” companies make spaceflight more inclusive for disabled astronauts?

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