Archives for NASA | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

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The Legend of the NASA Gargoyle

By Jef Rouner
Oct 24, 2023

There was allegedly a living gargoyle that haunted the Johnson Space Center in the 1980s. I was hanging out at the annual Zine Fest last year, chatting with local artist Jessi Jordan about her book of cryptid doodles. As we talked, a woman named Alexandra Constantinou joined us and asked...
SpaceX's Rocket Launches: Laudable Progress or an Environmental Hazard ?

By Dianna Wray
Apr 24, 2023

In assuring the public that Thursday’s brief launch was a win, SpaceX officials have underscored that they were well aware Starship might explode in the air or even right on the launchpad, without ever referring to the fact that the rocket shrapnel would likely be landing in a complicated, delicate...
SpaceX and Elon Musk Take Starship’s Explosion (Mostly) in Stride

By Dianna Wray
Apr 21, 2023

Based on everyone’s reactions, you’d almost think Starship’s flight ending in flames only minutes after it began Wednesday was part of SpaceX’s plan. And maybe it was, in a way. After all, SpaceX is no stranger to exploding rockets and clunky rocket failures, so why wouldn’t they be bracing for...
SpaceX's Starship Blows up After a Brief Flight

By Dianna Wray
Apr 20, 2023

Well, this was a good start. On Thursday morning after a brief hold to clear two final issues SpaceX’s Starship—at 394 feet tall, the largest rocket ever constructed—went into its final countdown. Then at least 31 of the 33 engines on the Super Heavy booster fired up and amid plumes...
SpaceX’s Set to (Maybe) Launch Starship, the Most Powerful Rocket On Earth Next Week

By Dianna Wray
Apr 13, 2023

It looks like Elon Musk could very possibly get one step closer to his goal of colonizing Mars now that the gargantuan Starship launch vehicle is ready for launch sometime in the coming days and only “awaiting regulatory approval,” as Musk has relayed via Twitter. ...
NASA Announces First Lunar Crew in More Than 50 Years

By Dianna Wray
Apr 4, 2023

More than half a century after the Apollo 17 crew left the lunar surface, NASA has announced the four astronauts who’ve been tapped to be the next crew headed to the moon, and the federal space agency did it with an eye toward ensuring that this momentous event—the next crucial...
NASA Debuts Stylin’ New Spacesuits from Houston-based Axiom

By Dianna Wray
Mar 16, 2023

When NASA astronauts finally start exploring the lunar South Pole for the Artemis III mission, they’ll be doing so clad in the stylish spacesuits designed by Axiom, the Houston-based company behind plans to build a space hotel and plans to build a commercial space station, as we’ve noted before. Although...
Neil deGrasse Tyson Takes On Space Exploration Delusions

By Sam Byrd
Mar 3, 2023

Everyone’s favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, is returning to Houston courtesy of Performing Arts Houston to deliver a talk titled “Delusions of Space Enthusiasts” Monday evening at Jones Hall.
Apollo Chamber Players Goes Celestial With MoonStrike

By Sam Byrd
Jun 23, 2022

This Friday, Apollo Chamber Players will make good on their astronomical name during MoonStrike by celebrating the Apollo space program and NASA through multicultural new music and art inspired by American Indian moon legends, Turkish folk music, and poetry. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. at Miller Outdoor Theatre.
Ukraine: How Tensions on Earth Have Invaded the Space World

By Dianna Wray
Mar 21, 2022

Despite NASA administrator Bill Nelson’s reassurances on Friday morning that his Russian counterpart Dmitry Rogozin’s recent statements about the United States—including the particularly catchy line that the United States will have to use broomsticks to get to space once Russia stops supplying U.S.-based companies with rocket engines—were just a bunch...
Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks Down Bizarre Astronomy

By Sam Byrd
Jan 13, 2022

Neil deGrasse Tyson will drop by, thanks to Society for the Performing Arts, on January 17 at Jones Hall for Astronomy Bizarre to help walk us through some of astrophysics complexities - or at least try to help us understand them.
NASA is Offering You the Chance to Live Like You're in Outer Space — on Earth

By Dianna Wray
Aug 13, 2021

If you’re the type who has come to embrace the pandemic world of virtual meetings, rare social outings, and telecommuting, NASA may have just the gig for you. As you’ll know unless you’ve been living under a moon rock, the federal space agency is under presidential orders to send the...
10 Best Bets This Weekend: Robert Frank on Film, Jeff Goldblum, and the Moon

By Susie Tommaney
Sep 19, 2019

Jeff Goldblum in concert, Bill Maher on satire, and the late Robert Frank on film are just a few of the stellar events this weekend in Houston. There's a two day jazz festival, experimental film by female artists, and the world premiere of a new dance by Houston Ballet's Oliver Halkowich...
Best Bets This Weekend in Houston: Dog Show, Moor Fest and GONZO247's Jet

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 17, 2019

Imagine this weekend in Houston is a massive interactive scavenger hunt. Before Sunday is over, we'll have seen bar crawlers wearing Santa hats, dogs groomed to look like lions, a Hawker jet tricked out in 1960s colors, the first Moorish American festival in more than a century, and a simultaneous...
50 Years After Apollo 11: Earthrise, A Giant Leap, and Mission Splashdown

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 16, 2019

This week we continue our citywide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. There's tons to see and do, plus discover more events in the first two stories in our series (shown below). This week we've got massive celebrations at Discovery Green, stormtroopers at the Children's...
50 Years After Apollo 11: Sky Fest, 50th Live and Space on Screen's Armstrong

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 9, 2019

As Houston continues its massive countdown to the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20, we've been celebrating the historic occasion with all sorts of space-themed activities, including live music and art, a 50th Live celebration at Space Center Houston, a screening of the new documentary...
50 Years After Apollo 11: Mission Tours, Moon Gazing and Conquering Gravity

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 1, 2019

Ten, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Liftoff! As Houston counts down to the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing (July 20), we're ramping up with all sorts of space-themed activities, including art, film, music and virtual reality experiences. Have you ever wondered what it...
Trailblazing Houstonians Who Helped Get Us On the Moon

By Susie Tommaney
Jun 11, 2019

Raise your hand if your boss ever promised a project that was so absurdly ambitious that, knowing what it would take to make it happen, you let out a groan of despair but also found yourself oddly excited at the challenge. And so it went for President John F. Kennedy's...
10 Best Bets This Weekend in Houston: Motown, Broadway and Deep Listening

By Susie Tommaney
May 23, 2019

Music is the common thread that runs through this Memorial Day weekend. We've got Motown's finest at Miller, Broadway's best with Houston Symphony and a couple of tributes to the late, great Pauline Oliveros. Film buffs can choose between a cerebral bicycle flick that follows the great migration and a...
Ray Viator Knows How Houston Earned the Name Space City

By Susie Tommaney
May 20, 2019

Almost 50 years ago, as those glued to television sets were collectively holding their breath while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin completed their lunar module landing tasks, we heard those now famous words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." The Apollo 11 lunar landing forever cemented Houston as Space City in...
The Weather Doesn't Stop Houston From Coming Out For Comicpalooza 2019

By DeVaughn Douglas
May 11, 2019

The overnight weather may have shuttered other businesses in the city, but it didn’t stop Houston’s annual Comicpalooza from touching down at the George R Brown Convention Center Friday morning. The event, first started to highlight the works of local creators, has come a long way since its beginnings in...
Visit The Red Planet With SPA's Exploring Mars

By Sam Byrd
May 2, 2019

Society for the Performing Arts will present Kobie Boykins, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory mechanical engineer, for Exploring Mars as part of its National Geographic Live partnership at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Wortham Center's Cullen Theater.