Space Time
Space Time is an Inverse series that remembers the most important moments in humanity’s exploration of outer space.
First
50 years ago: Mars 3 taught us to turn failure to success on Mars
Mars 3 accomplished the first soft landing on Mars. Then it died.
50 years ago, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. joined forces to ensure astronauts could survive in space
Could this happen today?
10 years ago, one SpaceX launch showed NASA they could work with Elon Musk
“This mission heralds the dawn of a new era of space exploration.”
70 years ago, the world united for a monumental scientific project — and kicked off the Space Race
This week marks the 70th anniversary of a landmark scientific collaboration across the world.
60 years ago, a forgotten shiny balloon in space changed how we watch TV forever
The echoes of this NASA mission continue to reverberate today.
50 years ago, a Soviet spacecraft spent a critical 50 minutes and 11 seconds on Venus
Venera-8 made a photo of Venus’ surface possible.
30 years ago, an international space mission radically changed how we see Earth
The predecessor the ISS still gets its day in the Sun.
50 years ago, NASA sent a message to aliens — and sparked a Solar System mystery
A mere fifty years ago, Pioneer 10 launched and became the first unmanned mission to Jupiter. The mission revealed new details about the Solar System — and sent a message to aliens.
55-years-ago, the world wrote the prime directives for outer space
Almost six decades ago, the world sat down and wrote the rule book for solving potential conflicts in outer space.
30 years ago, astronomers found a planet where it shouldn’t be — and made history
It got weird, fast.
50 years ago, Richard Nixon made a radical decision that changed NASA forever
Richard Nixon wanted a cost effective, routine way to put stuff in space. And with the Space Shuttle, he sort of got it.
30 years ago, the fall of the USSR stranded a cosmonaut in space
Sergei Krikalev had a God's eye view of the fall of the Iron Curtain. He wasn't given much choice in the matter.
How amateur radio fanatics launched the world's first private communications satellite
Before the CubeSat, there was OSCAR 1.
50 years ago: Mars 3 taught us to turn failure to success on Mars
Mars 3 accomplished the first soft landing on Mars. Then it died.
60 years ago, a space chimpanzee made history — and left a dark legacy
Enos the chimpanzee orbited the Earth before John Glenn. Neither Enos or John were happy about that.
50 years ago, a NASA spacecraft revealed Martian volcanoes
After a series of underwhelming Mars missions suggest Mars might be, well, boring, Mariner 9 revealed the Red planet it all its dusty and gargantuan glory.
Look: 55 years ago, NASA took ‘the picture of the century’
Lunar Orbiter 2 showed us the Moon in a whole new light.
Hubble Telescope captures rare sight of a “smiling” space object
Say cheese!
50 years ago, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. joined forces to ensure astronauts could survive in space
Could this happen today?
NASA plans to launch an unexpected organism to space to study cosmic radiation
Cosmic radiation remains a significant danger to spacefarers.
The first congressional hearing on UFOs in 50 years shows America’s interest in aliens will never fade
In the 1960s, just as now, the US military expressed great interest in UFOs.
Astronomers find an Einsteinian hack to image black holes
Researchers from Columbia University announced a new and potentially easier way to study black holes.
70-year-old astronomy photos may be clues to alien visitors — study
The plates, taken prior to the launch of Sputnik, show satellite-like objects near Earth.
The most controversial alien sci-fi movie on Amazon Prime explores a murky theory on the origin of life
Is it problematic to suggest aliens are the origin of life on Earth? Let's explain.
Voyager 1 is sending bizarre, glitchy signals back to NASA
The puzzling signal is coming from onboard the spacecraft, but there’s a challenge in diagnosing from afar.
New picture answers many questions about our galaxy's black hole — and reveals some mysteries
The recently-released image shows how Sagittarius A* is both mundane and very strange, all at once.
These galaxies have no dark matter — and astronomers may finally know why
A galaxy 65 million light years away holds secrets to an ancient traffic jam, which may have kicked out dark matter in the process.
Look: ESA captures remarkable images of a “hedgehog” structure on the Sun
A hedgehog on the Sun? It’s more likely than you think.
Boeing Starliner OFT-2 launch date, specs, and timeline for the ISS flight
The second launch of the Starliner will take place Thursday, with Boeing's ISS abilities on the line.
70 years ago, the world united for a monumental scientific project — and kicked off the Space Race
This week marks the 70th anniversary of a landmark scientific collaboration across the world.
NASA announces the end of its Marsquake-hunting lander
Martian dust is bringing a unique Martian mission to an end.
Blood Moon 2022: 8 breathtaking images of May’s total lunar eclipse
We now have an image of the Milky Way’s central black hole — here’s how it happened
The recently-released image invovles a whole lot of technical work from stations across the world.
