Future of Space

Future space exploration could have a profound effect on society (even more than it already has). A better understanding of our place in the universe could change long standing beliefs. Space mining could help replenish Earth's resources or provide new minerals. Colonization of other worlds might even save society itself.

Mission to Mars

satellite over earth

NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s

Mars Exploration

The Pros and Cons of Space Exploration

space station freedom

Pros

Drives innovation of smaller computers, digital equipment, new forms of fuels, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing.

Gaining knowledge of the universe, discovering new resources.

Zero gravity experiments.

Monitoring the sun, earth, and weather patterns for changes that could affect the planet.

Averting catastrophe from a comet or asteroid

Finding a habitable world.

Finding alien life.

Creates jobs.

It's an adventure.

Countries cooperate on missions.

Cons

High risk for the health and safety of astronauts.

The cost is enormous.

Difficult to service if something goes wrong.

Creates space junk.

Countries could compete for space resources.

Possibility of bringing dangerous organisms back to Earth, or infecting other worlds with our germs.

Is the Space Station Flying Over Your City?

satellite over earth

Watch the International Space Station pass overhead.

You enter your location and you find out when and where the International Space Station and other orbiting satellites can be seen from your view.

ISS sighting times and locations

Future Space Exploration Articles and Web Sites

Listed by most recent first, dating back to 2005. Hit NEXT button for more articles
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A bug in SpaceX’s communication system kept the company in the dark about potential satellite collision - theverge.com
A European Satellite Had to Fire Thrusters to Avoid Colliding With a SpaceX Satellite - time.com
NASA's Multiple Views of Hurricane Dorian from Space - jpl.nasa.gov
NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock Is Ready for Its 12-Month Tech Demo - geek.com
14 Space Enthusiasts Predict Our Future In The Cosmos - interviewmagazine.com
Astronomers Have Detected a Whopping 8 New Repeating Signals From Deep Space - sciencealert.com
NASA Tests Water Powered Spacecraft in Orbit - universetoday.com
What Will Happen to the Brain in Deep Space? - technologynetworks.com
Taking Nasa's space buggies for a spin - BBC News
Small but mighty: A mini plasma-powered satellite under construction may launch a new era in space exploration - Princeton University
This Biotech Makes Food for Space Missions Using Bacteria - labiotech.eu
Onward To Mars: What Our Journey To the Red Planet Might Look Like - Popular Mechanics
Mystery solved: astronomers find missing gas in distant galaxy - Cosmos Magazine
If humans gave birth in space, babies would have giant, alien-shaped heads - Business Insider
6 Challenges We Need To Conquer on Our Way to Mars - Popular Mechanics
Five reasons future space travel should explore asteroids - Qrius
NASA Mission to Study Earth’s Atmosphere by Forming Artificial Night-time Clouds over Marshall Islands - NASA
Former Astronaut Michael Fossum Reflects On Apollo 11, The Future Of Space Travel - Texas A&M University
Building a rocket in a garage to take on SpaceX and Blue Origin - CNET
ESA confirms asteroid 2006 QV89 will miss Earth in 2019 - ESA
Leaky component led to SpaceX explosion - BBC
China's space lab set for fiery return on Friday - Ecns.cn
There Should Be More Iron In Space. Why Can’t We See It? - Universe Today
India’s first moon lander stacked for launch - Spaceflight Now
Organic solar cells will last 10 years in space - EurekAlert
3D printed skin and bones for humans going to Mars - ESA
Robots, Not Humans, Are The New Space Explorers - WGBH
As NASA Aims For The Moon, An Aging Space Station Faces An Uncertain Future - NPR
Five reasons future space travel should explore asteroids - The Conversation
How Humans Will Bring the Internet to Space - Vice
Baking cookies on a space station - Youtube
This Startup Wants To Use A Hypersonic Catapult To Throw Satellites Directly Into Space By 2022 - Forbes
SpaceX launches hefty rocket with 24 satellites - Youtube
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch tonight from Cape Canaveral will be company’s ‘most difficult launch ever’ - Orlando Sentinel
NASA Spacecraft to use 'Green' Fuel for the First Time - Space Daily
Robotic asteroid mining spacecraft wins a grant from NASA - Universe Today
India Plans to Launch Its Own Space Station - Gadgets 360 NDTV
Cool NASA Tech Will Launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Soon - Geek.com
India set to launch second lunar mission; land rover on the moon - Reuters
US Astronauts Look Forward to New Space Mission - VOA News (Learning English)
SpaceX Falcon Heavy's first night flight to carry Bill Nye's solar sail - CNET
Watering space plants is hard, but NASA has a plan - Popular Science
Five Things to Know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock - JPL
Cracker-sized satellites demonstrate new space tech - Cornell Chronicle
NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Finds a Clay Cache - JPL
Flashes on the moon - Phys.org
What to wear on Mars: A look at the future of spacesuit technology - CNN
The 'Forbidden' planet has been found in the Neptunian Desert - Phys.org
A month after SpaceX’s capsule explosion, NASA releases plan for the future of the program - Orlando Sentinel
SpaceX's Starlink Could Change The Night Sky Forever, And Astronomers Are Not Happy - Forbes
Video of the SpaceX Starlink satellite deployment - SatTrackCam
Soyuz Rocket Struck by Lightning During Launch - Youtube
SpaceX reveals more Starlink info after launch of first 60 satellites - Tech Crunch
How Will People Behave in Deep Space Disasters? - Slate
The results of the NASA Twin Study provide breakthroughs in the future of human space travel - The Knight News
China Focus: Chinese lunar rover's "lucky" find could unlock secrets of moon & earth - Xinhua
Elon Musk's Starlink Could Bring Back Net Neutrality and Upend the Internet - Inverse
Aeolus: Wind-mapping space laser is losing power - BBC
Building Better Life Support Systems for Future Space Travel - Astrobiology
Winter is coming to destroy Pluto's atmosphere by 2030, study says - CNN
Space junk is a huge problem—and it’s only getting bigger - NatGeo
NASA Crowns Winner in Mars Habitat Competition - Popular Mechanics
Space-tourism enters ‘home stretch’ toward commercial flight - AP News
Going to space to benefit Earth - Blue Origin
Before We Ruin the Universe, We Should Follow Some Space Sustainability Guidelines - Universe Today
Now That We've Seen a Black Hole, Here's What Future Photos Could Look Like - Popular Mechanics
Stop aging in space - Phys.org
Japan’s private rocket reaches outer space for first time - Associated Press
Infrared Video Shows SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Falling Back to Earth - Inverse
Astronauts might soon grow SPACE tomatoes - University of California, Riverside
Test fire of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft ran into problems, sending up thick clouds of smoke - CNN
Engineers explain why Beresheet crashed into the moon - Heritage Florida Jewish News
Israel's Moon probe snaps a final photo before crashing - Engadget
The Electrifying Mission of the First Private Lunar Spacecraft - Singularity Hub
NASA sent mice into space, and the results are unintentionally hilarious - BGR
A new super-Earth may orbit the star next door - National Geographic
NASA twins study reveals space flight can cause genetic changes - CBC
NASA Scientist Using Comedy to Bring Awareness to Climate Change - NBC LA
April 2019 Skywatching Tips from NASA - Youtube
This technology would place human traveling to Mars in a 'sleep-like state' - Yahoo! Finance
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch targeted for Tuesday - Orlando Sentinal
Autonomous spacecraft being developed for planetary defence - ESA
We just discovered a scorched planet that outlived its sun - Mother Nature Network
Updates from NASA on 3D-Printed Habitat Competition - NASA
The Planet Four project needs your help to explore the climate of Mars. - Zooniverse
Springs may flow on Mars every year - Cosmos
Future of Spacecraft Propulsion: How Fast (and How Far) Could We Go? - Geek
Is Space Mining a Viable Future? - Space Daily
Strange Earth Organisms Have Somehow Survived Living Outside The ISS - Science Alert
Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi - Aeon
NASA ScienceCasts: A Super Start to 2019 - Youtube
The first woman to fly commercial to space describes what it’s like to see Earth from 55 miles up - The Verge
Which Habitable Zones are the Best to Actually Search for Life? - Universe Today
Citizen science - Help astronomers to find elusive muons disguised as gamma rays - Zooniverse
Japan to make crater on asteroid to get underground samples - Associated Press
The Space Shuttle (Narrated by William Shatner) - Youtube
NASA Mars Helicopter prepares for flight – and UAVs on Earth could benefit - SlashGear
NASA’s LRO Sheds Light on Lunar Water Movement - NASA
What would it take to blow up an asteroid? The force of 10 million atomic bombs - Vox
Elon Musk's SpaceX capsule splashes down off Florida coast - Reuters
2 astronauts are scheduled for the first all-female spacewalk in history - CNN
Future Space Exploration and Astronomy Web Site Links
Mars InSight Lander's 'Mole' Pauses Digging - NASA
Would you want to stay in a space hotel? - Cosmos
SpaceX mission: Watch Crew Dragon return to Earth from the ISS - CNET
New Video Shows Japanese Probe Shooting Asteroid With Bullet - Futurism
'Hard Capture Is Complete': SpaceX Capsule Docks With International Space Station - NPR
Nasa/JPL's Moogega Stricker on the Mars 2020 mission and girls in stem - SyFy
OneWeb wants to rebuild internet in space, connecting billions who are not online - SentinelSource.com
SpaceX Crew Dragon to test sending astronauts to ISS - NASA
First evidence of planet-wide groundwater system on Mars - ESA
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 has landed on an asteroid, shot it with a special bullet and returned to space - Tech Crunch
NASA ScienceCasts: Big Questions About Small Worlds - Youtube
Harpoon successfully captures space debris - Youtube
Mars One is dead - Engadget
After making history, NASA’s tiny deep-space satellites go silent - The Verge
Steam-Powered Spacecraft Could Explore the Asteroid Belt Forever, Refueling Itself in Space - Universe Today
The Plan to Make Artificial Meteor Showers - BBC
Imagine Giving Birth in Space - The Atlantic
Exploring Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule - NASA New Horizons
China Moon mission lands Chang'e-4 spacecraft on far side - BBC
A winter wonderland on Mars - ESA
What will the sun do next? - EarthSky
NASA spacecraft reaches asteroid Bennu, plans to send 4 pounds of rock back to Earth - Mashable
New Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now? - National Geographic
Startup That Makes Food Out Of Thin Air Working to Feed Future Colonies on Mars - The Spoon
Setting off to Mercury with BepiColombo - Youtube (8:46)
China to launch artificial 'moon' into orbit to light up city - The Telegraph
The reality and dangers of getting to space - CBC
A Future Made of Mars - SETI
Hubble Space Telescope is in trouble after gyroscope failure - Engadget
NASA's Star Trek dreams aren’t so crazy after all - CNET
You've Been To Mars And A Comet; Japan's Space Agency Invites You To An Asteroid - NPR
AI detects 72 fast radio bursts from a distant, unknown source - Astronomy
How Space Exploration Can Teach Us to Preserve All Life on Earth - Space.com
The Parker Solar Probe - A Mission to Touch the Sun - NASA
NASA wants you to build your own Mars rover - CNET
New InSight into the Red Planet - Youtube
New South African Telescope Releases Epic Image of the Galactic Center - Gizmodo
More Clues That Earth-Like Exoplanets Are Indeed Earth-Like - Georgia Institute of Technology
GRACE-FO Launch - The twin satellites of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on, or GRACE-FO, will track the movement of water around Earth. Youtube video (2:37)
NASA ScienceCasts: Cool Science on the International Space Station - Youtube (4:12)
NASA ScienceCasts: New Science from Jupiter - Youtube (4:47)
The second data release of ESA’s Gaia mission - Youtube (3:47)
Replay of Blue Origin New Shepard Mission 8 - Youtube (52:56)
Exoplanets May Help Us Understand How Venus Turned Into a Hell Planet - Motherboard
Closer to the Sun - Wichita State University - Youtube (2:12)
The next Friday the 13th in April (2029), Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth - NASA
Asteroid as big as a warehouse is freakiest near miss in years - CNET
Scientists hope harpoons can skewer space junk crisis - Reuters
NASA ScienceCasts: The Power of Studying Combustion on the ISS - Youtube
FCC Accuses Stealthy Startup of Launching Rogue Satellites - IEEE
'Billions and Billions': Space Exploration is Not Just for Billionaires - Space.com
Astronaut Ron Garan on Falcon Heavy and the future of space exploration - WikiTribune - 02/18
Astronauts Vs. Robots: The Case Against Sending Human Crews Beyond Low-Earth Orbit - Forbes
Future spacecraft can use pulsars to navigate completely autonomously - Astronomy
The SpaceX Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth Looking Like a Toasted Marshmallow - Inverse
Large sheets of ice may have been spotted on Mars - Ars Technica
This Unbelievable Research on Human Hibernation Could Get Us to Mars - Singularity Hub - 12/17
Five years on, Curiosity is still capturing amazing images of Mars - New Atlas - 12/17
Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years - NASA - 12/17
How humans might outlive Earth, the sun...and even the universe - NBC - 12/17
Black hole twist may eliminate the need for a Big Bang - News Limited - 12/17
Want to learn how to mine in space? There’s a school for you - Wired - 11/17
Humans traveling to Mars may soon be possible but survival is a complete unknown - CNBC - 11/17
Humans traveling to Mars may soon be possible but survival is a complete unknown - CNBC - 11/17
Astronomers complete 1st global asteroid tracking drill - EarthSky - 11/17
Next Mars Rover Will Have 23 'Eyes' - NASA - 10/17
Good news for future moon bases. There’s water inside the moon - Universe Today - 07/17
The Making of an Astronaut - MACH - 07/17
NASA Plans to Deflect an Asteroid by Crashing a Satellite Into It - Interesting Engineering - 07/17
India successfully launches its most powerful rocket into space - CBC - 06/17
NASA Tests Flexible Roll-Out Solar Array on Space Station - Space.com - 06/17
Satellite catcher will use magnets to clean up space junk - CNN - 06/17
ScienceCasts: NASA's Sounding Rockets - NASA - 05/17
Mission:ISS Lets You Explore Space Station and Spacewalk in Virtual Reality - Space.com - 03/17
The future of space colonization – terraforming or space habitats? - Universe Today - 03/17
The Race to Put Robots in Space Has Begun - The Motley Fool - 03/17
India puts record 104 satellites into orbit - Yahoo! News - 02/17
Will Interstellar Travel Ever Be Possible? - Wall Street Pit - 02/17
SpaceX successfully launches and lands first rocket since explosion – video - The Guardian - 01/17
US publishes Near Earth asteroid defense plan - Next Big Future - 01/17

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References
Artist's Conception of Space Station Freedom - Public Domain

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