Articles tagged as Space Travel | Smithsonian Magazine

Astronaut Rick Mastracchio poses with the bacteria grown with antibiotics on the International Space Station

New Research

Why Bacteria in Space Are Surprisingly Tough to Kill

Learning how space changes microbes might help fight antibiotic resistance here on Earth

September 14, 2017

This illustration shows NASA's Cassini Spacecraft above Saturn's northern hemisphere.

After 13 years of exploration, one of NASA’s most successful probes will crash into Saturn’s atmosphere

September 13, 2017

With a successful test of the Skybolt 2 rocket, Starchaser Industries takes a step towards sending tourists into space

September 12, 2017

A development test model of the Voyager spacecraft looms large in the Air and Space Museum's Exploring the Planets gallery.

Forty Years Later, the Voyager Spacecraft Remain Beacons of Human Imagination

Remembering the mission that opened Earth’s eyes to the vastness and wonder of space

September 1, 2017

Neil Armstrong's lunar spacesuit had a life expectancy of about six months. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum wants to exhibit it for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

A Moonwalk Did Not Destroy Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit. Now Time Won’t Either

Conservators are bringing new innovations to save the 80-pound suit that allowed the first astronaut on the moon to take that giant leap

August 28, 2017

New Research

This Is the Best Image of a Star Beyond Our Solar System (Yet)

A detailed convection map of the red supergiant Antares is spectacular, but it also shows we don’t know everything that’s going on

August 24, 2017

Astronauts traveling to Mars may be able to pack a little lighter with microbes that could make nutrients and the building blocks of plastic.

New Research

Could Astronauts Harvest Nutrients From Their Waste?

A new study suggests that modified yeast feeding on human waste can make useful byproducts for long missions in space

August 24, 2017

Scott Kelly’s Journey Home After His Year in Space

America’s longest-orbiting astronaut describes his rocky return to Earth in this adaptation from his book ‘Endurance’

September 2017

Astronaut Sunita Williams enjoying ice cream the last time it was sent to the International Space Station in 2012

ISS Astronauts Get a Sweet Taste of Real Ice Cream

The latest shipment to the station includes some frozen goodness for the crew

August 18, 2017

Voyager 1 is currently zipping along at around 38,000 miles per hour nearly 13 billion miles from Earth.

Send a Birthday Message to Voyager 1, Humanity’s Most Distant Traveler

To mark its 40th anniversary, NASA is asking for your help crafting a message

August 9, 2017

The LEM model missing from the Armstrong Museum

The five-inch model was created by Cartier as tribute from French newspaper readers to the Apollo 11 astronaut

July 31, 2017

The Aurora Australis as seen from the International Space Station in 2011

Cool Finds

Astronaut Captures ‘Awesome Sauce’ of Aurora From Space

Humans have been amazed for millennia by these atmospheric events

July 28, 2017

There are mind-bogglingly vast quantities of alcohol in outer space. Sadly, it's so dispersed you’d have to travel half a million light years to make a pint of beer.

Guess What? Space is Full of Booze

We’ll toast to that

July 28, 2017

Colors on this satellite image show areas where water was detected in ancient pyroclastic flows on the Moon's surface

New Research

Water May Lurk Beneath the Moon’s Surface

The surprising abundance of water could help future lunar settlers survive in the barren landscape

July 25, 2017

Looking out at Earth from the Cupola Observation Module of the International Space Station on Google Street View

Cool Finds

Explore the International Space Station With Google Street View

An astronaut and Google mapped the ISS for Street View with a DSLR and a lot of patience

July 24, 2017

NASA waged an unsuccessful legal battle to retrieve the bag, which contains traces of lunar dust, from a private collection

July 21, 2017

The Mars Rover Concept Vehicle was created as a traveling exhibit to inspire future space explorers.

A Vehicle Like This Will One Day Go to Mars

For now, the prototype rover—part tank, part Batmobile—is destined for Washington, D.C.

July 20, 2017

An artist's rendering of a star colliding with the surface of a supermassive sphere. In recent years some scientists have surmised that black holes may be hard objects rather than a region of intense gravity and compressed matter.

Could You Crash Into a Black Hole?

Probably not, but it’s fun to think about

July 19, 2017

Adorable Drone Helps Document Experiments on the International Space Station

Cute as a button, the Int-Ball is taking over astronauts’ photographic duties

July 18, 2017

Researchers tested the fungus that grew in this isolated habitat as four people lived in it for a month.

Space-Bound Humans Bring Fungus Aboard—And the Stowaways Could Cause Trouble

Microscopic life is everywhere, but it could be dangerous for future astronauts bound for Mars

July 12, 2017