A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA's Crew-13 lifts off Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule "Grace" will take NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov to the International Space Station for about six months. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
SpaceX Starship Flight 14 launches from Texas on Monday. Flight 14 was the first to send Starship into orbit around the Earth as well as deploy Starlink satellites. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink speaks during the United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Matt Rourke//Pool AP via AP hide caption
Technicians connect the inner and outer segments of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in 2025 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Jolearra Tshiteya/NASA via AP hide caption
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope on board is seen transiting the sun during its Aug. 30 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Roman telescope, named after the agency's first chief astronomer, will help scientists study dark energy, exoplanets and the evolution of the universe. John Kraus/NASA hide caption
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after NASA's first chief astronomer, will launch on Aug. 30. NASA hide caption
This image traces the orbital paths of all known stars orbiting the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. One of the stars, S301, approaches the black hole very closely. At its closest approach, the star travels over 15,000 miles per second. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics hide caption
The moon completely covers the sun during a total solar eclipse as seen from the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in Arcos de las Salinas, near Teruel, Spain, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Christian Hartmann/Reuters hide caption
The Moon crosses in front of the Sun during a total solar eclipse at Lake Monroe on April 08, 2024 in Indiana, United States. Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images hide caption
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A with a payload of a pair of lunar landers at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. John Raoux/AP hide caption
An AI-generated image showing multiple fires on and near Kharg Island, an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Generated and annotated by NPR hide caption
NASA introduced the four astronauts scheduled to fly on next year's Artemis III mission. (From left to right) NASA commander Randy Bresnik, European Space Agency pilot Luca Parmitano, NASA mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas at a press conference announcing the crew at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 18, 2026. John Raoux/AP hide caption
In this photo provided by NASA and captured by the Artemis II crew from lunar orbit, the moon eclipses the sun on April 6, 2026. NASA via AP hide caption
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Friday, May 22, 2026. Eric Gay/AP hide caption
SpaceX's latest version of it's mega rocket Starship goes through testing as it is prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Eric Gay/AP hide caption
A SpaceX rocket is getting prepared for another attempt to liftoff at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fl., on Sept. 9, 2024. The Elon Musk-controlled company is preparing to go public in what's expected to be the biggest listing in history. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
An image recorded on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 shows the shadows of astronauts, along with a highlighted area above the horizon showing "unidentified phenomena," according to the Defense Department. NASA/via Defense Department hide caption
In the film Project Hail Mary, middle school teacher Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling) goes on a interstellar journey and conducts lab science in space in a quest to save humanity. Jonathan Olley/Amazon MGM Studios hide caption
The Artemis II crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — splashed down in an Orion space capsule Friday after a 9-day mission to the moon and back. Bill Ingalls/NASA hide caption
NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman looks at Earth through Orion's main cabin windows as the crew travels towards the moon. Wiseman and his three crewmates are set to return to Earth on Friday. NASA hide caption
The Artemis II crew — Christina Koch (left), Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman — have to share tight quarters aboard the Orion spacecraft on their way home. But even with limited space, they can still get a solid workout in — thanks to a very special piece of equipment. NASA hide caption
The moon, seen here backlit by the sun during a solar eclipse on Monday, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft's solar array wings NASA hide caption