The alarming finding forced China’s space agency to delay the affected crew’s return, triggering a convoluted game of musical chairs as the cracked spacecraft was deemed not safe enough for crewed flight. Fortunately, a replacement spacecraft that was sent to the station without a crew on board allowed the astronauts to safely return to the ground.

NASA and the U.S. Space Force have been tracking a one in 4,200 chance that remnants from spacecraft can survive re-entry and harm someone on Earth. (NASA.gov photo)

A launch vehicle’s ascent battles gravity to gain orbital velocity, while re-entry is a controlled struggle against the atmosphere to systematically shed that immense kinetic energy through aerobraking,

One of NASA’s spacecraft could reenter the atmosphere at approximately 7:45 P.M. EDT tonight. When the 600-kilogram Van Allen Probe A reenters Earth’s atmosphere, it will largely burn up, but there

Much of spacecraft engineering is centered on mitigating the risks that come along with that re-entry process, but there’s one particular aspect of it that has remained a challe

A cargo spacecraft that delivered critical supplies and scientific equipment to the International Space Station (ISS).