astronaut

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Why Sally Ride Hid Her Sexuality
Why Sally Ride
Hid Her Sexuality
Jun 16, 2025 9:32 AM CDT

Why Sally Ride Hid Her Sexuality

Astronaut could've missed out on career opportunities, says partner featured in new documentary

(Newser) - Sally Ride became the first US woman in space in 1983. Two years later, she began the 27-year-long relationship that would define her life, though it was only revealed after her death. Ride's romantic relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy, a childhood female friend, gets full telling in Sally, a...

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly
DC's New Feud
Pits Elon Musk
vs. Mark Kelly
the rundown
Mar 11, 2025 12:03 PM CDT

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly

Face of DOGE called the senator and former astronaut a 'traitor' for trip to Ukraine

(Newser) - Elon Musk has picked a fight with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and the former astronaut and ex-Navy pilot seems happy to oblige. Coverage:
  • The sniping began when Kelly posted a photo of his recent trip to Ukraine, writing that "what I saw proved to me we can'
...

NTSB: Ex-Astronaut Did a Flyby Just Before Fatal Crash

William Anders routinely did such flybys in the San Juan Islands, a friend tells government agency

(Newser) - A preliminary report in the investigation into the plane crash last month that killed William Anders, the 90-year-old former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo from space, has determined that Anders was doing a flyby past a friend's home right before his aircraft plummeted into...

Women Seem Less Affected by Stresses of Space
Space Travel Hits Men
Harder Than Women
NEW STUDY
Jun 11, 2024 3:51 PM CDT

Space Travel Hits Men Harder Than Women

Women also recovered faster after returning to Earth, researchers say

(Newser) - Women appear to be better suited to spaceflight than men, researchers say. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications , researchers say women were better able to withstand the stress spaceflight puts on the body, including the disruption of gene activity, the Guardian reports. They also recovered faster than...

Astronaut Who Took 'Earthrise' Pic Dies in Plane Crash

Former Apollo 8 crew member William Anders, 90, killed when plane went down in San Juan Islands

(Newser) - William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was...

Tomato Mysteriously Lost in Space Turns Up 8 Months Later

Astronaut Frank Rubio, who'd been accused of eating it, is vindicated

(Newser) - In late March, astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully harvested a batch of space-grown tomatoes, and each astronaut was given a plastic baggie with a sample. One of those tomato bags ended up floating away, with the tiny tomato still inside, and now, nearly nine months later, the missing...

Buzz Aldrin Celebrated 2 Happy Occasions on Friday

Astronaut marked his 93rd birthday, also got married

(Newser) - Astronaut Edwin "Buzz” Aldrin announced on social media that he has married his "longtime love" in a small ceremony in Los Angeles. Aldrin, who made history along with Neil Armstrong as the first humans to set foot on the surface of the moon, said the wedding took place...

Last Surviving Apollo 7 Astronaut Dies
'The World Has Lost
Another True Hero'
OBITUARY
Jan 3, 2023 8:01 PM CST

'The World Has Lost Another True Hero'

Walter Cunningham, last surviving Apollo 7 astronaut, dies at 90

(Newser) - Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA's Apollo program, died Tuesday in Houston. He was 90. His family said through a spokesman that Cunningham "died in the hospital of natural causes," the AP reports. Cunningham was one of three...

The World’s First Disabled Astronaut Has Been Selected

European Space Agency chose former Paralympic sprinter John McFall

(Newser) - A British man who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was 19 is going to become the world's first disabled astronaut—or "parastronaut," as the European Space Agency terms it. John McFall, 41, became a Paralympic sprinter after the accident and later trained...

After Safe Trip to Space, Cosmonaut Hits Co-Worker With Car

It's advised astronauts not drive for 3 weeks once home; Oleg Artemyev hit victim 19 days after return

(Newser) - Not even three weeks after he set foot back on Earth, a Russian cosmonaut is having a rough time adjusting back to terra firma. According to the nation's Roscosmos space agency, Oleg Artemyev, who returned from trip No. 3 to the International Space Station at the end of last...

Russian Astronauts Board ISS Wearing Surprising Outfits

Were they wearing Ukraine's colors on purpose, or was it a coincidence?

(Newser) - For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine last month, a trio of Russian astronauts arrived at the International Space Station. But when the ISS hatch opened to let them in, their appearance raised some eyebrows, reports Space.com . Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, and Sergey Korsakov blasted off in their...

This Is a First for China's Space Program

First female Chinese astronaut conducts spacewalk

(Newser) - Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country's space station, per the AP . Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station's main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside installing equipment...

'No One’s Ever Sent Me a Spaceship for My Birthday Before'

Ice cream delivery arrives on astronaut Megan McArthur 50th birthday

(Newser) - A space station astronaut is celebrating her 50th birthday with the coolest present ever—a supply ship bearing ice cream and other treats. SpaceX’s latest cargo delivery showed up Monday at the International Space Station after a day in transit. Overseeing the automated docking was NASA astronaut Megan McArthur....

Scott Kelly's Body Endured Another Surprise in Space

Astronaut's heart didn't have to work as hard in zero gravity and so it shrank 27%, scientists say

(Newser) - They called it the "perfect nature versus nurture" experiment : Astronaut Scott Kelly was sent to the International Space Station for nearly a year, while his identical twin, astronaut and now Sen. Mark Kelly, remained on Earth. When Scott Kelly came back home in March 2016, scientists compared his DNA...

Boeing Astronaut Pulls Out of First Starliner Mission

Chris Ferguson doesn't want to miss daughter's wedding

(Newser) - The commander of the final space shuttle mission has decided against becoming one of the first "corporate astronauts." Chris Ferguson tells the Washington Post that he has stepped aside as commander of the first crewed mission of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft because he has a "lot of...

She Accused Astronaut of a Space Crime. Now, a Twist
She Accused Astronaut of
a Space Crime. Now, a Twist
in case you missed it
Apr 11, 2020 2:00 PM CDT

She Accused Astronaut of a Space Crime. Now, a Twist

Summer Worden, ex-wife of astronaut Anne McClain, accused of making false statements

(Newser) - It was an unprecedented accusation , and now there's a twist: In what's been described as the first allegation of a crime in space, astronaut Anne McClain was accused of improperly accessing the personal bank account of estranged spouse Summer Worden on two occasions in January 2019 while McClain...

Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden Dies
Man Who Circled the Moon
Alone in 1971 Has Died
OBITUARY
Mar 19, 2020 3:40 AM CDT

Man Who Circled the Moon Alone in 1971 Has Died

Al Worden was on Apollo 15

(Newser) - Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, who circled the moon alone in 1971 while his two crewmates test-drove the first lunar rover, died Wednesday at age 88. Worden died in his sleep at a rehab center in Houston following treatment for an infection, says friend and colleague Tom Kallman. "Al...

Always Wanted to Be an Astronaut? This May Be Your Chance

NASA has put out a call to the general public for applications

(Newser) - Calling all Buzz Aldrin wannabes—NASA is looking for you. Florida Today reports that the space agency will soon be accepting applications from the general public to vie for a spot in the next class of Artemis Generation astronauts, with a chance to possibly fly to the International Space Station...

Astronaut's Scary Rare Event, 200-Plus Miles Above Earth

Astronaut was found to have potentially dangerous blood clot, sending doctors scrambling

(Newser) - If "venous thrombosis" sounds menacing, that's because it can be—but even more so if you're an astronaut hovering more than 200 miles above the Earth at the International Space Station. Gizmodo reports on just that frightening scenario, as documented in a new paper in the New ...

2 Female Astronauts Just Made History
2 Female Astronauts
Just Made History
Oct 18, 2019 12:12 PM CDT

2 Female Astronauts Just Made History

Christina Koch, Jessica Meir are first to make women-only spacewalk to fix the ISS power grid

(Newser) - For the past 50 years, the guys have gone out into space to carry out all needed repairs. On Friday, that all changed, thanks to Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. The two NASA astronauts became the world's first all-female team to do a spacewalk when they were sent out...

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