The International Space Station adjusts its orbit to avoid space debris
There are at least 19,000 pieces of space debris in Earth's orbit, not including active satellites, that the U.S is monitoring.
International Space Station
NASA will bring stranded astronauts back on SpaceX — not Boeing's Starliner
Boeing's troubled Starliner remains docked at the International Space Station as NASA decides it is too risky to bring the astronauts home on the spacecraft. The two astronauts will return in February.
NASA delays next crew launch to buy time at the space station for troubled Starliner
Starliner's test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, should have returned by mid-June. NASA is weighing its options for returning the two, including a ride home in a rival SpaceX capsule.
Opinion: Think you have a rough travel story? Try 52 days stuck in space
Two astronauts have been hanging out on the International Space Station since last month, waiting for the Boeing capsule that got them there to be repaired to bring them home.
NASA still doesn't know when two astronauts will be able to come home
NASA still is not sure when two astronauts might come home in Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft.
NASA says it accidentally sent out an emergency signal meant for training purposes
A NASA simulation accidentally aired on the space agency's livestream. NASA said all crew members are healthy, safe and preparing for a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday.
From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space
We kickoff our series Space Camp with a look at space launches. What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit?
From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space
It feels like this is the summer of space launches. So, it's only appropriate that we kick off our new series Space Camp with a look at space launches. Throughout the series, Regina and Emily will plumb our universe to uncover the strange, wonderful things happening all around us. This episode, that entails answering a series of questions about getting to space: What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit?
Space Camp episodes drop every Tuesday in the Short Wave feed in addition to our regular episodes happening every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For a full explainer of Newton's third law of motion, g-forces and visuals on his cannonball thought experiment, check out our digital story.
Have a particular aspect of space you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
Space Camp episodes drop every Tuesday in the Short Wave feed in addition to our regular episodes happening every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For a full explainer of Newton's third law of motion, g-forces and visuals on his cannonball thought experiment, check out our digital story.
Have a particular aspect of space you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft launch is delayed again
A helium leak pushed back a planned launch to May 25. Boeing's program that would shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station has been plagued with problems.
A hunk of space junk crashed through a Florida man's roof. Who should pay to fix it?
"It was not like anything I had ever seen before," Alejandro Otero says. It turned out his home was hit by debris from the International Space Station that had been circling the Earth for three years.