Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Space journalist and author

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. Currently, she writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society and Ad Astra.

Her latest book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who helped make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs.

Latest Articles

The James Webb Space Telescope is almost ready for launch

Webb is the largest, most powerful, most complex and most expensive space telescope ever built.

NASA Mission to Venus in 1978 May Have Detected Phosphine, a Gas Related to Life

The data come from NASA’s Pioneer Venus Multiprobe mission, which deployed a series of probes into the planet’s clouds.

The Quest for Life on Venus

Did scientists detect a signature of life in Venus' clouds? Or will the bombshell finding be proven false?

Latest Planetary Radio Appearances

A Deep Dive into Asteroid Bennu With Dante Lauretta

The leader of the OSIRIS REx asteroid sample return mission shares more details of last week’s encounter in an exclusive interview, while we also learn about the proposed mission to look for life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Nancy Atkinson’s Incredible Stories from Space

The longtime editor of outstanding online space news source Universe Today has just written about nine robotic missions of exploration in