Q&A with Sara Seager, deputy director of science on NASA’s TESS mission (members only)

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk announced Monday plans to send two paying “private individuals” on a week-long flight around the moon and back to Earth by the end of next year.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 22 Starlink satellites, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 12:59 a.m. PST (3:59 a.m. EST, 0859 UTC). The rocket lifted off after multiple delays and was the fourth SpaceX mission of 2024.

NASA has formally approved plans — a year ahead of schedule — for an infrared space telescope launching around 2024 to record unique wide-angle views of the cosmos, seeking answers to questions about mysterious dark energy and searching for habitable worlds around other stars.