Space & Physics: What Will It Take for U.S. Astronauts to Return to the Moon?

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September 19—This week, we're bringing you stories about NASA's complex and costly plans for returning U.S. astronauts to the moon, a major milestone on the path to new physics, how kidney stones could stifle crewed missions to Mars, and much more. Enjoy! --Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Why Is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? NASA's Artemis moon program faces challenges the Apollo missions never did

What's Standing in the Way of a U.S. Lunar Return? More than a half-century ago—and with less than a decade of development time—NASA's Apollo program managed to send 10 crews of astronauts to the moon and back, catapulting the U.S. to 20th-century spaceflight preeminence. Today, however, the space agency is struggling to return humans to the moon with its Artemis program, having spent some 20 years (and counting) to develop the infrastructure to get there. Our top story this week, from Scientific American's latest print edition, unpacks some of the major reasons why. And a related op-ed suggests that an executive-branch rethinking of NASA's budget-busting Space Launch System mega-rocket may be necessary to get the nation's lunar aspirations back on track. --Lee Billings

In Other News

The Next President Should End the 'Senate' Launch System Rocket Rather than building an obsolescent, obscenely-over-budget jumbo rocket, NASA should turn to building truly innovative space technologies and plan a realistic lunar landing program Daniel Vergano

Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment Kamala Harris has plans to improve health, boost the economy and mitigate climate change. Donald Trump has threats and a dangerous record The Editors

Ultra-Precise Particle Measurement Narrows Pathway to 'New Physics' A long-awaited calculation of the W boson's mass agrees with theory, contradicting a previous anomaly that had raised the possibility of new physics beyond the Standard Model Elizabeth Gibney; Nature magazine

Mars Missions May Be Blocked by Kidney Stones Astronauts may have the guts for space travel—but not the kidneys Max Springer, intern writer

Polaris Dawn's First Private Space Walk Was a Stellar Success The world's first commercial space walk, performed by billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, tested new technology and was practically flawless Lee Billings

Elon Musk Owes His Success to Coming in Second (and Government Handouts) The world's richest man, Elon Musk, owes his superstar success to self-satisfied competitors who blew obvious opportunities Daniel Vergano

Was Life on Earth Inevitable or Incredible? We can't yet tell how life got its start on Earth. That's one great reason to keep looking for life elsewhere Mario Livio, expert writer; Jack W. Szostak, expert writer

The Strange Story of the Algorithm Meant to Solve Life, the Universe and Everything Some researchers dream of solving all mysteries with a common method—but a mathematical paradox may keep such solutions out of reach Manon Bischoff

There's Nothing 'Super' about a Supermoon Supermoons are popular in the media, but are they really so different from how our extraordinary moon ordinarily appears? Phil Plait

Book Review: A Bold Profile of the James Webb Space Telescope In Pillars of Creation, Richard Panek gets up close to the JWST Maddie Bender

Quantum 'Ghost Imaging' Reveals the Dark Side of Plants Entanglement lets researchers watch plants in action without disruptive visible light Rachel Berkowitz

See the Skies Differently with Astronaut and Photographer Matthew Dominick NASA flight engineer Matthew Dominick's astrophotography helps us see our world—from space Rachel Feltman; Kelso Harper; Fonda Mwangi; Jeffery DelViscio

What We're Reading

A rare close encounter with an asteroid may have given Earth a globe-cooling Saturn-like ring system nearly a half-billion years ago, in the Ordovician Period. | Monash University Pundit criticisms of Scientific American's presidential endorsement—only the second in the magazine's 179-year history—are misguided about the interplay of science, politics and the media. | Sequencer Weeks before it was scheduled to ship to the launchpad, NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft showed potentially fatal flaws. Here's how engineers brought it back from the brink. | The New York Times

From the Archive

Can Scientific Thinking Save the World? A physicist, a philosopher and a psychologist are working together to bring better, smarter decision-making to the masses Lee Billings

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