Space Time

Space Time is an Inverse series that remembers the most important moments in humanity’s exploration of outer space.

Buzz Aldrin and the U.S. Flag on the Moon, 1969. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot of the fi...
Heritage Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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.

by Jon Kelvey
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images
Space Anniversary

40 Years Ago, NASA Tested Out a Radical Rehaul of an Iconic Technology

By Allie Hutchison

Witness the reinvention of the humble EVA suit.

Space Anniversaries

50 Years Ago, NASA Sent an Ambitious Mission to Saturn — and To Interstellar Horizons

By Jon Kelvey

The Pioneer 11 probe would serve as a metaphorical blueprint for the Voyager missions.

Space History

15 Years Ago, Exoplanet Astronomers Made a Breakthrough in the Hunt for Life

By Jon Kelvey

Detecting methane on a distant exoplanet paved the way for the hunt for organic chemistry in the cosmos.

Space Anniversaries

75 Years Ago, an Astronomer Found the Weirdest Moon in the Solar System

By Allie Hutchison

The high cliffs of Miranda barely scratch the surface of why Uranus' moon is so unique.

Science

5 Years Ago, SpaceX Launched Its Silliest Payload Yet — And It's Still in Orbit

By Jon Kelvey

The space-faring Tesla roadster set a speed record unlikely to ever fall to another car, even another Tesla.

Space History

60 Years Ago, Astronomers Cracked the Mystery of the Brightest Objects in the Universe

By Allie Hutchison

No one was sure what quasars were and how they connected to galaxies. Then it all changed.

Science

65 Years Ago, America Launched Its Most Pivotal Space Mission Ever

By Jon Kelvey

Explorer 1 marked the entry of science into what had been a military affair.

Science

40 years ago, NASA launched the space telescope that proved JWST could work

By Jon Kelvey

IRAS is a sometimes forgotten spacecraft that proved that infrared astronomy had a bright future.

Science

15 years ago, a spacecraft swung by Mercury to beat the Sun's gravity

By Allie Hutchison

The MESSENGER mission needed a few gravitational assists to enter orbit around the smallest planet.

Inverse Awards

Inside NASA's monumental effort to deliver the first Webb Telescope images

By Jon Kelvey

After 20 years and $10 billion, here’s how the NASA team scrambled to make the first images happen.

Space Time

50 years ago, NASA’s final Apollo mission left the Moon — are we ready to return?

By Allie Hutchison

Can the Artemis mission pick up where Apollo 17 left off?

Science

60 years ago, one space mission crushed hopes for life around Earth's twin planet

By Allie Hutchison

The Mariner 2 mission proved Venus was too hot to have present-day life.

Science

65 years ago, a street dog paved the way for human spaceflight — with a grim outcome

By Allie Hutchison

A Soviet street dog went up to space, but the USSR was ill-prepared for her stay in space.

Science

55 years ago, Russia changed spaceflight forever — and lied about it a little

By Allie Hutchison

The Venera 4 mission sent a probe into Venus' atmosphere, but played loose with whether or not it actually survived a landing.

Science

65 years ago, astronomy's most colorful character made a bold interplanetary claim

By Allie Hutchison

Did Fritz Zwicky's ballistic experiment reach solar orbit, or was it all a bunch of hot air?

SpaceTime

65 Years Ago, “Simple Satellite” Sputnik Redefined Space Science — And Sent A Sinister Message

By Allie Hutchison

There was more to this launch than met the eye.

Go deeper

Science

How Pseudoscience Obscures The Real Dangers Found In Meteor Showers

By Mark Boslough and The Conversation

How a meteor shower could, one day, pose a troubling scenario.

Space

The Webb Telescope Found A Planet Orbiting A Star 35 Light Years Away — Its Data Is Just Plain Odd

By Kiona Smith

A recent study suggests an exoplanet orbiting daringly close to its small star may have a thick atmosphere, but there's reason to be skeptical.

Science

A NASA Psychologist Reveals 3 Mental Health Hacks Astronauts Use In Space

By Doris Elín Urrutia

Here’s how astronauts maintain their mental mettle.

Space

The International Space Station Has A Pesky Leak — Not Even NASA Has A Solid Plan For It

By Kiona Smith

NASA can keep the station in orbit until 2030, but it's not going to be easy.

Space

Aurora Alert! These 9 Northern States Could See the Aurora Borealis Tonight

By Kiona Smith

The Solar Maximum is really lighting up the skies.

Science

The World’s First Wooden Satellite Could Be the Key To Solving the Space Debris Problem

By Doris Elín Urrutia

Welcome to space, LignoSat!

Science

Webb Telescope Discovered An Ancient Black Hole With A Voracious Appetite

By Doris Elín Urrutia

How did galaxies get their hearts?

Space

The Debris From An Ancient Space Catastrophe Will Pelt Earth This Entire Week

By Kiona Smith

Its Taurid Season!

Science

The Most Powerful Telescopes Suggest the Cosmos Is Surprisingly Simple

By Neil Turok and The Conversation

The universe may actually be far less complex than we thought.

Space

Voyager 1 Spacecraft Just Shut Off Its Main Transmitter And Switched To A Long-Abandoned Signal

By Kiona Smith

The old transmitter sends home a faint, almost ghostly signal from 15 billion miles away in the dark.