Space exploration

Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX has completed its latest mission, launching the Falcon Heavy rocket into orbit for the third time. In what Musk described as their “most difficult launch ever”, the rocket took 24 satellites into space, carrying NASA’s deep space atomic clock and The Planetary Society’s solar sail, LightSail 2, hoping to develop the technology that will allow humankind to one day explore space further.

Arrrr! Texas senator warns of space pirates, then complains about the inevitable jokes.

Humankind has been dreaming of the stars since legends began, and the mystery of space exploration has cemented itself in popular culture. From the pioneering astronauts in the 1950s to our first glimpse of a black hole this year, we continue to make discoveries that were once the stuff of science fiction.