Moonshot: a NASA Astronaut's Guide to Achieving the Impossible (Common Text 2025-2026)

Astronaut Mike Massimino floated next to the Hubble Space Telescope’s cylindrical body and began to remove the screws that fastened a handrail to one of the telescope’s instrument panels. The first three screws came out easily, but when he put his power tool to the final screw, the bit began to spin.

It’s hard not to believe in the power of dreams seeing a family photo of a kid in an Easter bunny costume altered to be an astronaut flight suit, holding a Snoopy plush toy standing in for Buzz Aldrin.During his 1970s childhood on Long Island, N.Y., his mom worked ...

wo Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan on Wednesday after undocking from the International Space Station and flying back to Earth in a historic mission that came amid mounting tensions over the war in Ukraine.The Soyuz spacecraft touched down under a parachute right on time, at 7:28 a.m. Eastern, and rescue crews descended on the capsule and erected a medical tent to assess the astronauts' health before flying them home.

The Apollo program ended in the '70s, and humans have not left low Earth orbit a single time since Apollo 17 in 1972. We made immense progress and did what no one thought was possible, but we have betrayed that legacy. The shuttle trapped humanity in low orbit, and a chronic underfunding of NASA did even more damage. In a better world, humanity would be much farther into the stars. So, I got excited when I first heard of a company called SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. Its stated mission, from day one, has been to "make life interplanetary." By the time I learned of it, it was no longer the scrappy underdog of an industry that barely existed - it was vertically landing rocket boosters on ships and pads and rapidly scaling up its production.

A team of Binghamton students -- Eunji Hong, Brendan Hurley, Krystal Facey and Saiprakash Nalubolu -- placed second in the xFoundry Horizons Challenge, hosted by xFoundry -- a university-based innovation program -- in collaboration with NASA and supported at Binghamton through a partnership between the Fleishman Career Center and the Watson Career and Alumni Connections Office.
The nationwide competition challenges university teams to tackle critical technology gaps that will help humanity establish a sustained presence on the Moon by 2040 -- and eventually reach Mars.

Three veteran Chinese astronauts are home after being stuck for more than a week longer than planned aboard the Tiangong space station. Their return capsule was hit and damaged by space debris fragments.China's space agency has not revealed how badly damaged the capsule was, and it’s not known if the craft was hit by debris while in flight or while docked at the station. No one was injured. The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft remains attached to Tiangong, a permanently crewed space station operated by China Manned Space Agency.

Blue Origin's all-female flight proves that women are now free to enjoy capitalism's most extravagant spoils alongside rich men.This morning, Jeff Bezos' private spaceflight startup, Blue Origin, launched six well-known women into space. The company documented the event with a livestream hosted by the sportscaster Charissa Thompson. The celebrities Kris Jenner, Orlando Bloom and Oprah Winfrey watched from the ground. Bezos himself escorted the crew to the capsule. As the rocket blasted into the sky, live audio from inside the ship was broadcast down to Earth. One of the occupants could be heard screaming: ''Oh my goddess!''

Space tourism sounds like science fiction, but in 2026, it is a real market. Tourists can book short rocket hops, multi-day orbital missions, or even a high-altitude balloon ride with a picture-perfect view of Earth. Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Space Perspective, and Axiom Space are selling seats. Tickets are still very expensive, and only a small share of people can go.