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  • Morning fog lifts as NASA’s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket sits at launch pad 39-B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

    NASA delays SLS Moon rocket test due to safety concerns

    NASA has delayed a critical test of its next-generation Space Launch System.

    Igor Bonifacic
    04.03.2022
  • NASA Artemis I rocket rollout at launch pad

    NASA's SLS Moon rocket arrives at launch pad for the first time

    NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft have rolled out to the launch pad for the first time ahead of a last test before the Artemis I Moon mission.

    Jon Fingas
    03.18.2022
  • NASA Orion capsule stacked on SLS rocket for Artemis I Moon mission

    NASA plans to launch Artemis I Moon mission in February 2022

    NASA expects to launch its Artemis I mission in February 2022 aboard an SLS rocket, provided testing goes according to plan.

    Jon Fingas
    10.23.2021
  • NASA SLS Core Stage

    Watch NASA's SLS Core Stage fire for eight minutes

    NASA's Moon mission rocket completed an important test on Thursday.

    Richard Lawler
    03.18.2021
  • NASA

    NASA's SLS rocket will go through a second and longer hot fire test

    It will be part of the rocket’s Green Run series of tests meant to assess the core stage and ensure it’s ready for the Artemis I mission, which will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft to the Moon. What was supposed to be an eight-minute burn lasted for only 67 seconds — NASA wants the second go to last longer than that to be able to collect more data. According to NASA’s announcement, though, the Green Run team analyzed data from the first test firing and determined that four minutes would be enough to provide significant data that can help verify if the core stage truly is ready for flight.

    Mariella Moon
    01.29.2021
  • The new Formlabs SLS 3D printer is shown in a work enivironment.

    Formlabs launches its first SLS 3D printer for in-house prototyping

    It's for professionals only, with a professional price-tag.

    Daniel Cooper
    01.26.2021
  • This NASA photo released on January 6, 2020 shows NASAs powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), which will send astronauts a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. - The agency is committed to landing American astronauts, including the first woman and the next man, on the Moon by 2024. Through the agencys Artemis lunar exploration program, we will use innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the Moon than ever before.On January 1, 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted: "Making progress! The massive @NASA_SLS core stage is moving to Building 110 at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. There it will be readied for the Pegasus barge and its trip to @NASAStennis. Thank you to the @NASA team for working through the holidays!" (Photo by Jude Guidry / NASA / AFP) (Photo by JUDE GUIDRY/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)

    Watch NASA's historic Moon mission rocket test at 4PM ET (update: cut short)

    NASA is conducting a historic first hot fire test for SLS's core stage on January 16th at 4PM ET — here's how to watch live.

    Jon Fingas
    01.16.2021
  • Artemis I Booster Segments Uncap

    NASA will fund six more Artemis missions as it plans return to the moon

    NASA has started preparing for the possibility of launching six more Artemis missions on top of the three it has already confirmed. The space agency has revealed that it has agreed to “provide initial funding and authorization to Northrop Grumman to order long-lead items” for the construction of twin boosters for the next six Space Launch System (SLS) flights. The SLS is slated to become become NASA’s most powerful rocket yet, designed to enable human exploration beyond the Lower Earth Orbit.

    Mariella Moon
    07.01.2020
  • NASA

    NASA unveils 'the most powerful rocket ever built'

    NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, aims to carry astronauts to the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis project. This weekend at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine gave the public its first up-close look at the system, which he described as "the most powerful rocket ever built."

    Georgina Torbet
    12.10.2019
  • Boeing

    Boeing's lunar lander pitch promises 'fastest path' to the moon

    Boeing wants to make one of the Artemis program lunar landers that will take humans to the surface of the moon. The aerospace company has submitted a proposal to NASA for an integrated Human Lander System (HLS), which it says will be designed to reach the moon in the "fewest steps" possible. NASA has been accepting proposals from private space corporations and is expected to choose at least two of them by January next year for development. Blue Origin announced its own take on a lander called "Blue Moon" -- which it will develop in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper -- earlier this year.

    Mariella Moon
    11.06.2019
  • NASA / SpaceX

    NASA's upcoming Moon mission may use commercial rockets

    Today, in a surprising move at a Senate hearing, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine proposed that Orion, NASA's upcoming crew vehicle, may fly aboard a commercial rocket. This was the first time that the possibility had been broached by the NASA administrator.

    Swapna Krishna
    03.13.2019
  • Nicola Branson via Getty Images

    Our moon is the hottest property in the solar system right now

    The space race is heating up again in ways we haven't seen since the end of the Cold War. We haven't been to the moon since 1972 but a number of private companies and national agencies have begun looking to our nearest celestial neighbor with renewed interest, not only as a site of scientific study but also as a fuel resource and potential staging area for trips further out into the solar system.

  • David Neff via Getty Images

    NASA's Orion crew capsule will have over 100 3D printed parts

    It's not just revolutionary start-ups like Rocket Lab that are using 3D printing to create their rockets and spaceships. NASA's new crew capsule Orion will have over 100 3D printed parts specially developed by prime contractor Lockheed Martin, in cooperation with 3D printing experts Stratasys and the engineering firm PADT.

    Swapna Krishna
    04.18.2018
  • NASA

    NASA insists its Mars rocket will still launch in 2019

    NASA is aiming to launch its deep space-bound Space Launch System (SLS) in December 2019, even though a review has suggested it's not likely to fly until mid-2020. The launch date has already been pushed back once due to technical issues, but NASA is confident it will hit its 2019 target and has taken steps to "protect" the launch date.

    Rachel England
    11.09.2017
  • Formlabs

    Formlabs makes high-quality, automated 3D printing more affordable

    Your basic hobbyist 3D printer (technically known as Fused Deposition Modeling or FDM) is great for rapid prototyping because, while the objects it prints are a bit rough, the system and its associated printing costs are relatively inexpensive. However, if you want a more polished and professional-looking product, selective laser sintering (SLS) is the way to go. Problem with that is, of course, that the average SLS 3D printer is roughly the size of a small car and costs anywhere from $200,000 to $5 million. But, there's now a third option. 3D Printer manufacturer Formlabs announced on Monday that it will begin selling a scaled down SLS system that fits on a tabletop and costs 20 times less than other comparable printers.

  • NASA

    NASA study finds first SLS launch should be unmanned for safety

    It's an exciting time for spaceflight, for sure. Both NASA and SpaceX have plans in place to send rockets and humans into our solar system. Elon Musk's company wants to use the moon as a pit stop on its way to Mars, and NASA wanted to include a human crew on its now-delayed launch to test a new rocket and companion capsule. Today, however, a study by NASA has concluded that sending astronauts on the first flight is not feasible as the costs of keeping them safe are just too high.

    Rob LeFebvre
    05.12.2017
  • Getty Images/iStockphoto

    NASA pushes first launch of its Mars rocket to 2019

    The Space Launch System (SLS), the heavy rocket NASA plans to send humans to Mars with, won't get its first launch until 2019. Tech problems have delayed the project years later than Congress' originally estimated it would debut, but space agency officials have confirmed that the big lifter's initial flight will be pushed back again from late 2018 to sometime in 2019.

    David Lumb
    04.28.2017
  • NASA

    Watch NASA's Mars rocket tests in 360-degree video

    NASA will eventually use the Space Launch System to send humans to Mars -- it might even carry a crew the very first time it launches. Unfortunately the world's most powerful rocket is a tad behind schedule (it was originally supposed to launch this year) and over budget. However, NASA has released an interesting 360-degree video of a hot-fire test of the main RS-25 engine, one of four shown above. From one vantage point, you're standing in a place you really wouldn't want to be in person -- near the flame trench directly behind the 512,000-pound-thrust rocket.

    Steve Dent
    03.13.2017
  • Getty Images

    New NASA budget focuses almost exclusively on space

    Congress has finally passed a bill authorizing NASA's new budget that gives the agency annual funding of$19.5 billion. The paperwork remains mostly unchanged from when it was passed in the Senate last December, with only minor alterations being made. The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 was passed without opposition and focuses almost exclusively on space travel and science. Details about the agency's more contentious Earth-based research, however, will have to wait another day.

    Daniel Cooper
    03.09.2017
  • NASA wants to send humans aboard the first SLS flight

    The first Space Launch System flight scheduled for 2018 was supposed to be unmanned, designed to test the new rocket and its companion Orion capsule. But now NASA has grander plans for its maiden flight: acting administrator Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. has announced that the agency is considering adding a crew on board. While authorities already expect the SLS debut to be delayed by a year, its first manned flight wasn't supposed to take place until 2021 at the earliest.

    Mariella Moon
    02.16.2017