Are We There Yet?

Getting to Mars isn’t easy, but so far this month two space agencies have delivered payloads to the red planet’s orbit -- China and the United Arab Emirates. A NASA mission is also on course for Mars.

Getting to Mars isn’t easy, but so far this month two space agencies have delivered payloads to the red planet’s orbit -- China and the United Arab Emirates. A NASA mission is also on course for Mars.

The first of three robotic explorers has arrived at the red planet. The United Arab Emirates Hope probe successfully entered the orbit of Mars Tuesday, marking the UAE's first mission to the red planet.

The first of three robotic explorers has arrived at the red planet. The United Arab Emirates Hope probe successfully entered the orbit of Mars Tuesday, marking the UAE's first mission to the red planet.

On the outer edges of our solar system, beyond the orbit of Neptune, objects cluster in weird ways. This clustering led some scientists to search for something that could be acting as a gravitational shepherd, moving and modifying their orbits. That something could be Planet 9, a hypothetical planet at the edge of our solar system that could be tugging and clustering these far-out objects.

On the outer edges of our solar system, beyond the orbit of Neptune, objects cluster in weird ways. This clustering led some scientists to search for something that could be acting as a gravitational shepherd, moving and modifying their orbits. That something could be Planet 9, a hypothetical planet at the edge of our solar system that could be tugging and clustering these far-out objects.

NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine stepped down last week as a new presidential administration took office. After serving in the position for about three years, Bridenstine led the agency during its return to human spaceflight from U.S. soil, saw the launch of a new Mars rover and expanded the public-private partnership of NASA and the commercial industry into deep space.

President Biden will now select the next leader of the civilian space agency -- could that mean a new direction for NASA? To look back on Bridenstine’s tenure and the trajectory of NASA under a Biden White House, we’re joined by Christian Davenport, Washington Post’s space reporter and author of The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos.

NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine stepped down last week as a new presidential administration took office. President Biden will now select the next leader of the civilian space agency -- could that mean a new direction for NASA?

NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine stepped down last week as a new presidential administration took office. President Biden will now select the next leader of the civilian space agency -- could that mean a new direction for NASA?

After spending about a month on the International Space Station, SpaceX’s new Cargon Dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida. It’s a departure from previous versions of the vehicle which splashed down in the Pacific. The new splash zone means scientists can get their hands on their returning equipment faster, meaning they can make critical observations of experiments quicker and opening up more opportunities for space-based science.