Astronauts

Sending materials into space is expensive, so the more astronauts can make on-site, the better. Engineers have now demonstrated how crushed Martian rock could be mixed with a titanium alloy to make 3D-printable building materials.

Microgravity wreaks havoc on astronauts' biology, which is bad news for future space travel. A NASA experiment housing fruit flies on the International Space Station has now shown that artificial gravity can help reduce some of those health problems.

The Moon isn’t the most hospitable place, but that’s not stopping NASA from sending humans back there soon. Thankfully, an orbiter has now found a region of the Moon with year-round jeans-and-jacket weather – underground caves.

Sleeping while wired up with an EEG cap would be hard enough here on Earth, but can you imagine trying to do so in the zero-gravity environment of outer space? It could be quite awkward, which is why an earbud has been designed to do the same job.

New research has found that during a six-month stay on the International Space Station, astronauts were destroying 3 million red blood cells every second. That's 54 percent more than the 2 million our bodies destroy and replace every second on Earth.

When astronauts stay in outer space for extended periods, they frequently develop a vision problem known as spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). Scientists are now trying to keep that from happening, via a vacuum-sealed sleeping bag.

Blood samples taken from Russian cosmonauts before and after long stints on the ISS have revealed elevations of biomarkers that could indicate brain damage, adding to a growing body of research highlighting the deleterious effects of space travel.

If there are two things that are essential to human life, they're water and oxygen – neither of which are easily available on the moon. Thanks to a new technique, though, astronauts may someday be able to harvest those elements from lunar soil.

In another landmark moment for China's fledgling space exploration program, three astronauts sent to work on the country's under-development space station safely returned to Earth on Friday, after spending three months in orbit.

Are Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos astronauts? Though both billionaires flew to at least the edge of space, they may not qualify for official astronaut wings according to recently revised FAA rules.

China has taken another step forward with its ambitious space program, with the crew aboard the Tiangong space station conducting the mission's first spacewalk and the first for the nation in 13 years.

Blue Origin has announced 82-year-old space pioneer Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk will fill the fourth seat on New Shepard's first passenger flight. A participant in the 1960s Woman in Space program, she will be the oldest person to ever fly into space.