Space exploration and astronomy
Moon and Mars missions, space telescopes, exoplanets and the commercial space industry.
- WikiArtemis programNASA's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the Moon. Artemis II flew in April 2026; the first landing is now planned for Artemis IV in 2028.Updated
- WikiChang'e lunar program (China)China's Chang'e programme has orbited, landed on and returned samples from the Moon, including the far side. Chang'e-7 slipped from 2026 to later.Updated
- WikiCommercial space stationsPrivate stations from Vast, Axiom, Starlab and others aim to replace the ISS around 2030. Their schedules, NASA's role and the open questions.Updated
- WikiJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)Webb is NASA, ESA and CSA's 6.5-meter infrared space telescope at L2. What it is, what it has found, and the debates it has started.Updated
- WikiMars Sample ReturnMars Sample Return was the NASA-ESA plan to bring Perseverance's rock cores to Earth. Congress declined to fund it in 2026; China's Tianwen-3 is next.Updated
- WikiNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeRoman is NASA's wide-field infrared survey telescope, launched August 30, 2026, to study dark energy and take a census of exoplanets.Updated
- WikiSpaceX StarshipStarship is SpaceX's fully reusable super-heavy rocket and NASA's planned Moon lander. It reached orbit for the first time in September 2026.Updated
- WikiVera C. Rubin ObservatoryRubin Observatory in Chile began its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time in mid-2026, imaging the southern sky every few nights.Updated
- AnalysisSigns of life beyond Earth: how strong is the evidence?K2-18 b and the Cheyava Falls rock on Mars produced the strongest claimed hints of life yet. What the data show, what critics say and what would settle it.Updated
- AnalysisMoon race or science? The fight over NASA's prioritiesThe White House twice proposed cutting NASA science by nearly half while protecting Artemis. Congress pushed back. What is at stake as of October 2026.Updated
- ExplainerHow exoplanets are found, and how we look for signs of lifeTransits, wobbles, microlensing and direct imaging: how astronomers have found more than 6,000 exoplanets, and how they read alien atmospheres.Updated
- ExplainerHow rockets reach orbit, and why reusability mattersWhy getting to orbit is hard: orbital speed, the rocket equation, staging and why reusable boosters like Falcon and Starship change the economics.Updated
- ExplainerHow space telescopes work, and what Webb, Roman and Rubin each doWhy astronomers put telescopes in space or on mountaintops, why infrared matters, and how Webb, Roman and Rubin divide up the sky as of 2026.Updated