William Harwood – Spaceflight Now

Astronauts ‘operate’ on space station’s broken robot arm

June 30, 2026 William Harwood

On May 27, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston noticed one of the Canadian-built arm’s seven joints was drawing more current than expected and not moving properly.

NASA chief defends selection of all-male Artemis 3 crew

June 10, 2026 William Harwood

During an event Tuesday at the Johnson Space Center, NASA revealed the astronauts who had been selected for next year’s Artemis 3 mission, a flight to test rendezvous and docking procedures in low-Earth orbit with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

NASA names four-man crew to Artemis 3 mission

June 9, 2026 William Harwood

The crew of NASA’s next Artemis moon program mission was announced Tuesday, setting the stage for a flight to Earth orbit next year to test rendezvous and docking procedures with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin, a critical milestone before sending astronauts back to the moon for landing in 2028.

Blue Origin vows to resume New Glenn flights by year’s end

June 3, 2026 William Harwood

Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, in an overnight post on the social media platform X, said propellant tanks at launch pad 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station made it through the blast in good shape, as did a nearby processing hangar. The main support gantry, while damaged, can be repaired in place.

Musk praises “epic” Super Heavy-Starship launch

May 23, 2026 William Harwood

The Starship upper stage was equipped with six third-generation Raptor engines and one of three optimized for operating in vacuum shut down early during the climb to space. The flight computer kept the other five engines running longer than originally planned to make up for the shortfall, putting the craft on an acceptable sub-orbital trajectory.

Blue Origin launches third New Glenn rocket, but payload ends up in wrong orbit

April 20, 2026 William Harwood

Blue Origin launched the company’s third New Glenn rocket Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket’s payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, ended up in the wrong orbit, the company said.

NASA confident Artemis 2 heat shield will protect crew during re-entry

April 10, 2026 William Harwood

When the Artemis 2 Orion crew capsule returns to Earth after flying around the moon, it will hit the discernible atmosphere some 75 miles above the Pacific Ocean at a blistering 24,000 mph, fast enough to fly from New York to London in less than 10 minutes.

Artemis astronauts send down Easter message, prep for lunar fly around Monday

April 5, 2026 William Harwood

Taking time out to send Easter greetings down to Earth, the four Artemis II astronauts closed in on the moon Sunday, already seeing unexpected detail on the surface and giving scientists a taste of things to come during a pass over the lunar far side Monday evening.

Artemis 2 crew blasts off on historic moon mission

April 2, 2026 William Harwood

A three-man one-woman crew blasted off on a voyage to the moon Wednesday, riding atop the world’s most powerful operational rocket as it roared away on a trail-blazing flight to help pave the way for upcoming lunar landings and an American moon base.

NASA outlines ambitious $20 billion plan for moon base

March 25, 2026 William Harwood

Along with plans for a moon base, senior NASA managers also outlined work to develop nuclear power systems for use on the moon and Mars to keep astronauts, habitats and other equipment warm while providing the electricity needed for research, construction and daily operations.