Missions

The latest news from the spacecraft helping us explore the cosmos, and the historical missions that paved the way.

17 astronaut candidates were selected for the European Space Agency's Astronaut Class of 2022. Credit: ESA - P. Sebirot

UK astronauts selected as ESA unveils 17 new astronaut candidates

Artist's impression of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube just before impact at the Didymos binary system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

Was NASA’s DART mission a success?

James Webb Space Telescope's image of the Pillars of Creation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI).

James Webb Space Telescope See the latest images

Onlookers captured the moment NASA's Artemis I mission lifts off for the Moon from Kennedy Space Center, 16 November 2022. The launch marks the first step of a new programme that will eventually return human feet to the surface of the Moon for the first time since the Apollo missions. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA’s Artemis I lifts off, beginning a new era of lunar exploration

NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on the launchpad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 6 November 2022. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA looks set to launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon tomorrow morning

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Pad 39B NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 17 August 2022, ready for the Artemis I launch. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Artemis I mission See the launch this week

Artist's impression of NASA's Lunar Gateway in orbit around the Moon, with the Orion spacecraft approaching. Credit: NASA/Alberto Bertolin

All you need to know about NASA’s Lunar Gateway

Artemis I upper stage separation of Orion module. Credit: NASA/Liam Yanulis

How the Artemis Orion spacecraft will make its first flight to the Moon

A secondary payload to Artemis I, Lunar IceCube will map water on the Moon. Credit: NASA

How Artemis I’s CubeSats will photograph and analyse the Moon

Félicette, the first cat in space, is strapped into a launch seat to be loaded into the Veronique rocket. Credit: ina.fr/youtube.com

The story of Félicette, the first cat in space

Astronaut Clayton C. Anderson training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, USA. Credit: NASA

How to train an astronaut

hubble space telescope. Credit: NASA

NASA and SpaceX to study boosting Hubble Space Telescope into higher orbit

On the Moon, the 60m-wide Marius Hills pit floor stays a comfy 17°C day and night. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Temperate Moon pits could be perfect location for human lunar bases

A close-up view of Jupiter’s Moon Europa captured during the Juno spacecraft’s flyby on 29 September 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures close view of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

The impact of NASA's DART mission into asteroid moonlet Dimorphus, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope (left) and the Hubble Space Telescope (right)

Webb and Hubble capture moment DART spacecraft crashes into its asteroid target