An errant bit of space debris approached the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this week—with the possibility of a deadly impact on the station. Although ground controllers considered this an low-probability event, they acted cautiously. They instructed the crew to move into the Soyuz spacecraft (which is docked at the ISS), for a possible emergency [...]

Five years after SpaceShipOne, created by Scaled Composites, won the X Prize—flying a private spaceship on two manned flights within two weeks—the private space industry may be poised for it’s next big step: paying passengers on private spaceships. Conceding that private spaceflight has taken longer than expected, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis says “as many [...]

Nikolai Kibalchich worked as chief technician for a revolutionary group that killed Emperor Alexander II in 1881. And, he was imprisoned for it. His mark on history—helping to kill the Emperor—for better or worse…was made. But, even as he awaited execution, he wasn’t yet done. During the 17 days leading up to his execution, Kibalchich [...]