Ben Evans

Recent articles by Ben Evans

US president John F Kennedy addresses Congress on 25 May 1961, announcing his administration's intention to put human beings on the Moon. Credit: AFP via Getty Images

Astronomy History How JFK kickstarted the race to the Moon

An artist's impression of NASA's Space Launch System lifting off. Credit: NASA/MSFC

Space 2021 The biggest missions to look out for this year

Story Musgrave during the first of five spacewalks to repair Hubble in 1993. Credit: NASA

‘How we fixed Hubble’: An interview with former astronaut Story Musgrave

Astronaut Story Musgrave prepares to be elevated to the top of Hubble to install protective covers on its pointing control system, during the mission to repair Hubble. Credit: NASA

What was wrong with Hubble’s mirror, and how was it fixed?

Diagram of the Hubble Space Telescope from 1981. Credit: Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (Lockheed Martin).

How did the Hubble Space Telescope come about?

Astronaut Steven L. Smith, payload commander, prepares to use a 35mm camera during the final space walk of the STS-103 mission. Credit: NASA/ESA

Why did astronauts service the Hubble Space Telescope?

Astronaut Mike Massimino at the commander's station on Space Shuttle Atlantis. Credit: NASA

‘How we serviced Hubble’: astronaut Mike Massimino on fixing the famous space telescope

A view of the rising Earth as seen by the Apollo 8 astronauts as they emerged from the far side of the Moon. Credit: NASA

Apollo astronauts: the original social distancers?

Launch of Apollo 4 atop the first Saturn 5 Moon rocket. Credit: NASA

The history of the Saturn V rocket

An artist's concept showing NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in front of an infrared image of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope: the legacy of a Universe in infrared

An artist's impression of the Galileo spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA

What did the Galileo mission discover at Jupiter?

Space shuttle Columbia launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, carrying the first United States Microgravity Laboratory, June 25, 1992. Credit: NASA

NASA’s Space Shuttle: the history of the reusable spacecraft

Astronomer James Christy pictured with the photographic plate on which he and Robert Harrington discovered Pluto’s largest moon Charon, in 1978. Credit: U.S. Naval Observatory

How Pluto’s moon Charon was discovered