NASA - The Atlantic

NASA

A Red Sprite Gives Astronauts an Incredible Light Show

July 4, 2025

A nighttime view of the Earth, from orbit, with a bright blue-and-red bolt of electrical energy shooting up from a lightning strike in a storm below.

America Is Killing Its Chance to Find Alien Life

July 4, 2025

With the Big, Beautiful Bill, You Can Now Sponsor a Billionaire of Your Choosing

Alexandra Petri

June 30, 2025

DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data

Charlie Warzel, Ian Bogost, and Matteo Wong

February 19, 2025

Stairs lead to computer code in the clouds.

So About That Asteroid That Could Hit Earth ...

Robin George Andrews

February 12, 2025

An asteroid in a grid

Elon Musk Gets His Mini-Me at NASA

December 5, 2024

a close-up photo of Jared Isaacman, in black and white

When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk

December 2, 2024

a photo of the Vera Rubin Observatory with a colorful sky

What to Expect From Elon Musk’s Government Makeover

November 13, 2024

In a red image, Elon Musk claps and looks at the camera.

MAGA Goes to Mars

November 5, 2024

collage of trump tower placed on top of a planet in space

The Scariest Spacewalk in 50 Years

September 10, 2024

An astronaut floating in space, facing away from the viewer, with a long tether trailing out of the frame like a lasso

Elon Musk to the Rescue

August 25, 2024

Elon Musk's head is framed in a bright quadrilateral figure cut into a dark background.

Boeing Has Created the Flight Delay to End All Flight Delays

August 8, 2024

Starliner launches to space

NASA Should Ditch the Spin

July 24, 2024

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams walk out of a NASA building in their blue Boeing spacesuits

One Satellite Crash Could Upend Modern Life

June 14, 2024

A satellite breaking apart in orbit around Earth, cast in black and white on the right and color on the left

The Long View of the Challenger Disaster

June 7, 2024

Side-by-side images of the smoke given off by the Challenger explosion

NASA Finally Has an Alternative to SpaceX

June 5, 2024

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test is launched from the coast of Florida, with blue water creating a backdrop for the flames and the clouds of smoke along the ground.

Boeing Was This Close to Launching Astronauts

May 31, 2024

Blurred image of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft

Scientists Are Very Worried About NASA’s Mars Plan

May 21, 2024

An illustration of the red planet Mars with the "pause button" symbol on its face

Apollo’s Sequel Will Be a Gold Rush

February 24, 2024

A picture of the moon with a giant orange "Welcome" sign sitting on top

Another ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ for Elon Musk

November 18, 2023

Spectators watch as SpaceX's Starship lifts off in a cloud of fire and smoke from the Gulf Coast

NASA Learns the Ugly Truth About UFOs

June 1, 2023

A short animation of a UFO, in the shape of a flying saucer, skipping around the sky

Not Your Grandfather’s Moon Mission

April 3, 2023

A New Age of UFO Mania

February 15, 2023

A black-and-white photograph of several men holding binoculars up to their faces to look at something far away

The ‘Small Self’ Effect

Shannon Stirone

February 14, 2023

A green leaf floating on water, over which a blue-and-gold image of a galaxy has been laid

The Most Mysterious Part of the Moon Isn’t Where You Think

February 6, 2023

An image of the moon's south pole, slate-colored and covered in shadows

Asteroid Measurements Make No Sense

January 26, 2023

An illustration of a penguin with a small, rocky asteroid in front of its torso, with a mustard-yellow background

If You Must Cry Over a Space Robot, Make It This One

December 28, 2022

An illustration of NASA's InSight lander, with its wing-like solar panels, on the surface of Mars

‘The Universe Doesn’t Care That We Have Holidays’

Caroline Mimbs Nyce

December 27, 2022

In this handout provided by NASA, then–NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan looks through a telescope with a solar filter at NASA headquarters to see Mercury as it transits across the face of the sun, while Kelly Fast of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate looks on.

The Luckiest Rover

December 17, 2022

A white, billowy dust devil against the rust-colored, bumpy backdrop of Mars

NASA’s Plan to Bounce People Off the Atmosphere

December 11, 2022

A gumdrop-shaped spacecraft, charred from the heat of reentry, coasts through blue sky beneath a trio of red-and-white parachutes.

The Atlantic Daily

How We Could Discover Alien Life

December 5, 2022

Jupiter and two of its moons, Io (left) and Europa (right)

NASA’s Overshadowed Moon Launch

November 16, 2022

NASA's new moon rocket, the Space Launch System, lifts off from the launchpad, its engines blazing bright

Well, That’s One Way to Save a Space Telescope From Falling Back to Earth

September 30, 2022

A picture of the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, shining against the darkness of space

Should We Be Searching for Smart Aliens or Dumb Aliens?

September 12, 2022

A Hubble Ultra Deep Field image of space overlaid with a GIF of concentric circles expanding outward, representing radio signals

The Moon Will Have to Wait

September 6, 2022

Why Is NASA’s Hold Music So Catchy?

August 30, 2022

A red telephone receiver against a backdrop of stars and galaxies