NASA

Science Historian: Apollo 11 Quarantine after Moon Landing For Show

Dagomar DeGroot's research shows that NASA scientists were aware of the tiny, but potentially catastrophic, risk of moon-earth contamination, and that quarantining the spacecraft and crew would do little to mitigate the risk but could convince the public that authorities were taking precautions. 

The Dark Side of NASA Under James Webb

by Ken Lawrence

Evidence suggests that NASA cut corners on safety to beat the Soviets in the space race; the phrase "the lowest bidder" resonated throughout the space community in the early 1960s.

Amy Shira Teitel: Why is Space Such a Boys' Club?

"Space skews predominantly male, especially Apollo-era space history because that was the era when little boys growing up were being told, 'You can be an astronaut, too'!"

Adulation for Today's Space Race is Misplaced. So is Nostalgia for the First One

by Catherine Devlin

It is impossible not to compare today’s billionaire space race to the iconic celestial competition of the 1960’s. But what if neither is worthy of adulation?

Despite Controversy, NASA Won't Rename Space Telescope

Critics argue the James Webb Telescope honors a NASA administrator who sanctioned employment discrimination against gay and lesbian astronomers during the 1950s and 1960s.

Ike Would Like the New Private Space Race

by Yanek Mieczkowski

Wary of government spending and the entanglement of public money with private contractors, Dwight Eisenhower would find much to like in today's billionaire space race. 

The Exploration of Space as a Project of Humanity

by Joseph Preston Baratta

The exploration of space as an international objective hopefully points the way toward planetary unity beyond nationalism. 

Campaign Urges NASA to Rename the John C. Stennis Space Center

The center, in Mississippi, is named for a former senator who opposed civil rights legislation and the Supreme Court ruling that desegregated the nation’s public schools.

Fly me to the Moon: Covering the Early Space Program

by Ron Steinman

Will people struggling to get through a normal day be inspired by a renewed space program? Will either the government or the media commit for the long haul?  At least I knew there was a time when we all had it in us. For the future, only time will tell.

Katherine Johnson should also be remembered for desegregating higher education

by Crystal R. Sanders

The mathematician’s experience showed how valuable diversity can be for inspiring scientific progress.

Katherine Johnson, ‘hidden figure’ at NASA during 1960s space race, dies at 101

Mrs. Johnson, who died Feb. 24 at 101, went on to develop equations that helped the NACA and its successor, NASA, send astronauts into orbit and, later, to the moon.

NASA Renames Object After Uproar Over Old Name’s Nazi Connotations

Scientists said an object four billion miles from Earth would be given a Native American name: Arrokoth. Its previous, informal name, Ultima Thule, had links to the Third Reich.

Why Soviets Sent Dogs to Space While Americans Used Primates

The goal for the Cold War rivals was the same: to prove that animals could survive in orbit so that people could, too. But why did the Soviets use dogs, while the Americans used primates?

Fifty Years After the Moon Landing, Recalling One Small Misstep

by Tad Daley & Jane Shevtsov

Why did the first humans to set foot off Planet Earth plant the flag of only part of Planet Earth?

Ed Dwight Was Set to Be the First Black Astronaut. Here’s Why That Never Happened.

For a brief moment, the civil rights movement and the space race came together.

Lyndon Johnson’s Unsung Role in Sending Americans to the Moon

As chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, a White House advisory group, Johnson moved quickly to “dominate Washington space activities."

Apollo: America’s Moonshot and the Power of a National Project

by David Carlin

President Kennedy understood that his “goal [would] serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.” We need similar thinking today.

The Amazing Handmade Tech That Powered Apollo 11’s Moon Voyage

A surprising number of the Apollo spacecraft’s critical parts ended up being crafted and assembled by hand, by a vast battalion of little-known and little-heralded workers back on earth.

Jill Lepore Reviews Seven New Books About the Apollo 11 Mission

by Jill Lepore

“At no point before the actual moon landing did any majority of Americans support the mission to land on the moon,” Lepore says in this podcast.

How NASA Sold the Science and Glamour of Space Travel

by Clyde Haberman

At the time of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission in the 1960s, some Americans had reservations about the wisdom of reaching for the stars when troubles swelled on Earth.