Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

NASA's Orion spacecraft makes progress, but are the agency's lunar plans on track?

Orion's service module arrived in Florida, but some space industry experts question whether NASA's human spaceflight plans are realistic.

Lunar Gateway artist's concept (Feb. 2019)

Orion's third flight will haul two pieces of a space station to lunar orbit

NASA is planning for a 30-day mission to lunar orbit in 2024.

If you come at the Space Launch System, you best not miss

Getting NASA out of the rocket business is more complicated than you think.

Clipper Slipper

Will NASA's Space Launch System be ready to launch a Europa mission in 2022?

We choose to go to the Moon and do the other things

Vice President Mike Pence kicked off the National Space Council's first meeting today by declaring Americans will return to the Moon. Casey Dreier and Jason Davis analyze this new direction for NASA's human spaceflight program.

Function over form: NASA's Space Launch System gets a new paint job

Last week, NASA revealed an updated design for the Space Launch System, featuring black-and-white checkerboards streaking down each of the vehicle's solid rocket boosters.

Artist's concept of the Space Launch System lifting off

The anatomy of a delay: Here's a timeline of twists and turns for NASA's SLS and Orion programs

The Space Launch System and Orion won't fly until 2019, and NASA is sticking with its original plan not to include astronauts for the maiden mission. Here is a timeline of some of the programs' major twists and turns over the years.

The first Space Launch System flight will probably be delayed

NASA's new heavy lift rocket is currently scheduled to launch the Orion spacecraft on a test flight next year. But all signs are pointing to a probable delay.

Orion approaches the Lunar Gateway (old artist's concept)

NASA unveiled new plans for getting humans to Mars, and hardly anyone noticed

NASA revealed its most concrete plan yet for sending humans back into deep space, centered around a small lunar space station and a reusable transport ship to carry astronauts to Mars and back.

A repeat of the space shuttle's bold test flight? NASA considers crew aboard first SLS mission

NASA has only flown astronauts aboard a rocket's first flight once, when John Young and Bob Crippen took space shuttle Columbia on the boldest test flight in history. What are the risks of repeating the feat for SLS?

An international outpost near the Moon gets closer to reality

International Space Station (ISS) project partners are inching ever closer toward an agreement to begin the development of a new human outpost in the vicinity of the Moon. If successful, the cis-lunar space station (a space station in the vicinity of the Moon) will be the largest international space project to date, influencing the direction of human space flight for decades to come.

SpaceX interplanetary transport system on launch pad

SpaceX and the Blank Slate

SpaceX's plans to colonize Mars differ considerably from NASA's Journey to Mars ambitions. But direct comparison is difficult. SpaceX is able to wipe the slate clean and start fresh with a bold new approach to humans in space. NASA has no such luxury, and must use existing pieces and people to make their goals a reality.