Can Earthlings Save Our Planet, Achieve World Peace—And Make a Home on the Moon?

Space Exploration Won’t Create the Utopian Society of Star Trek… Unless We Solve Our Problems Here on Earth First

The title question of last night’s Zócalo/ASU Interplanetary Initiative event was “Can Space Exploration Save Humanity?” But it quickly became clear that an inversion was required. According to a panel of women who work in and study space exploration, humanity must solve our many problems—from international relations to sustainability—on Earth, and then use our terrestrial solutions to create a more equitable, just, and peaceful world on the moon, Mars, and beyond.

“I like to say, ‘Solving for space solves for Earth,’” said analog astronaut and geoscientist Sian Proctor, who has lived …

Confessions of an Eclipse Chaser

For Four Decades I've Traveled the World, Tracking the 'Eye of God'

On August 21st this year, I will log my 26th solar eclipse and my 17th total solar eclipse. August 21st is when parts of the contiguous United States will fall …

NASA’s Other Moonshot Helped Revolutionize Marketing

The Apollo Moon Landing Wasn't Supposed to Be Broadcast, Until a Team of Ex-Reporters Pushed for Live TV

On July 20, 1969, an estimated 600 million people watched and listened in real time as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the surface of the moon. …

What Do Raindrops Look Like in Outer Space?

How Arizona’s Monsoons Got Me Chasing Storms on Titan

Living in Tucson, Arizona—a Sonoran desert city surrounded by tall mountains—can make you obsess about rain. In 1993, I had just moved into a new office at the University of …