NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab still has "multiple IT security control weaknesses" that expose "systems and data to exploitation by cyber criminals", despite cautions earlier this year. Following up on a strongly worded letter sent in March warning that NASA as a whole was suffering cybersecurity problems, the NASA Office of the …

RoundupWhat price a boot on the Moon? Or maybe six robot wheels? There's a number for the former in this week's round-up of all things spacey. NASA slaps a price tag on Trump-To-The-Moon Speaking to CNN Business, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed that getting boots on the Moon by 2024 is going to cost a bit more than the …

Surviving in zero gravity takes its toll on the human body. Muscular atrophy sets in, and astronauts should not only exercise regularly but consider taking testosterone shots too, according to new research. In a NASA-funded project, 24 fellas were ordered to stay in bed for 70 days. That may sound nice and relaxing at first, …

RoundupPresidential frothing over NASA's direction was swiftly wiped from the walls last week while ESA continued quietly progressing towards new rockets and vehicles. ESA Rider While space fandom continues to breathlessly anticipate Boeing and SpaceX's latest and greatest reusable capsule, ESA has continued to plough its own furrow …

NASA on Friday said it is opening the International Space Station for commercial business, a policy change expected to lead to employees of private companies working aboard the ISS as early as next year, with tourists to follow. "We are announcing the availability for private astronauts to visit the space station on US …

RoundupLast week NASA finally issued an update on the SpaceX Crew Dragon anomaly while Northrop Grumman enjoyed one all of its very own. Northrop Grumman 'successfully' complete rocket test. Bits fly off the fiery end Northrop Grumman experienced "something strange" with the nozzle of the CASTOR 600 first stage of its upcoming OmegA …

RoundupLast week the Champagne corks were popping as SpaceX flung Starlink into orbit and the achievements of Apollo 10 were celebrated. There was, however, plenty of other space news to go around. Boomtime for China (and not in a good way) China's launch programme sputtered once again with the failure of a Long March 4C rocket …

NASA is giving you the chance to send your name off into space. It will be engraving millions of names onto a tiny silicon chip by using an electron beam over a ready-made stencil and booting it off to the Red Planet onboard its Mars 2020 rover. Any extraterrestrial life will have a hard time trying to read the ruddy thing …

Part twoAs you sup your evening pint or enjoy some lunchtime refreshment, depending on your timezone, cast your mind back 50 years to when Apollo 10 did the "everything" part of "everything but land" and nearly ended NASA's lunar ambitions for good. Apollo 10 (pic: NASA) It's 50 years to the day since Apollo 10 blasted off: America's …

Part OneToday marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 10, the mission that would do pretty much everything except land on the Moon. Flushed with success following Apollo 9's shakedown of the Lunar Module in Earth orbit (despite a poorly astronaut for much of the trip), NASA pressed ahead with the first mission to send the complete Apollo …

RoundupPull up a chair and tuck into a sachet of dried astro-nosh with a round-up of space news you might have missed. You spend years waiting for a Deep Space Habitat and then two turn up at once NASA's Johnson Space Center cheerfully trumpeted the arrival of two very early mock-ups as part of the agency's NextSTEP Habitat effort, …

US President Donald Trump has put at least some money where his mouth is and requested an additional $1.6bn to land US astronauts on the Moon by 2024. The cash (subject to approval) comes in the form of an amendment (PDF) to the president's initial $21bn FY 2020 budget request for NASA and, as one would expect, the agency has …

Japanese space agency JAXA has been given the all clear from eggheads to attempt a landing on Mars' largest moon, drill into it, and bring a sample back to Earth without an Andromeda Strain incident. The mission, dubbed MMX and scheduled for 2024, will involve a robot arm attached to a spacecraft boring a hole into Phobos. It …

RoundupSpaceX moved on from the exploding Crew Dragon and Rocket Lab celebrated a fifth launch last week while NASA's five-year Moon plan looked in ever more danger of unravelling. Reality check for Moon Trump 1 NASA spent the last week tying itself in knots as observers rightly challenged the agency for details as to how exactly it …

Scientists at NASA have accused one of their metal suppliers of lying about the strength of its aluminium in a 19-year scam that caused $700m in satellites and other parts to go up in smoke. The space agency eggheads pointed the finger of blame at the aluminium manufacturer after probing two failed science missions: the …

An asteroid bigger than the size of three football fields is hurtling towards Earth – and will pass so close to our planet, it'll be visible to the naked eye and may pass through the band of human satellites in geostationary orbit. Before you all panic and start hoarding food, guns, and Mad Max-style clothing, it should be …

Hubble boffins have confirmed that the universe is expanding about 9 per cent faster than expected thanks to new measurements taken by the venerable space telescope. Readers might remember the team from Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute, led by Nobel Laureate Adam Riess, came up with the …

VideoNASA’s InSight lander has detected seismic waves on Mars for the first time and the space agency is letting everyone else listen in too. Scientists working with the InSight’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument Have recorded four of the so-called ‘marsquakes’ since the instrument came online but the …