Business
February 22, 2024
Texas Finally Reclaims the Moon
A Houston company’s vessel returns America to the most remote portion of our state for the first time since 1972.
Space
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1-50 of 73 Articles
Business
May 3, 2023
It’s No Surprise SpaceX Blows Up Rockets in Texas. That’s Why It Came Here.
Environmentalists have filed a suit looking to block Elon Musk’s company from doing what state leaders invited him to do at Boca Chica.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Commercialization of Space: The Final Frontier
How the aeronautical industry’s profit motive achieved escape velocity.
Film & TV
March 14, 2022
Richard Linkater’s ‘Apollo 10½’ Continues a Winning Streak From America’s Most Successful Experimental Filmmaker
The light-on-plot, heavy-on-nostalgia animated feature is Linklater at his Linklaterest.
Art
January 26, 2022
An Awe-inspiring Space Odyssey Lifts Off in Houston
A new virtual reality experience launches you to the International Space Station, where you join the crew and see Earth like you’ve never seen it before.
Business
December 15, 2021
Can This UT Professor Clean Up Outer Space?
Moriba Jah, a self-proclaimed “space environmentalist,” has joined a new effort to map the millions of bits of discarded debris orbiting the Earth.
News & Politics
December 15, 2020
When SpaceX Rockets Take Flight (Or Blow Up), LabPadre Is Watching
South Padre Island resident Louis Balderas’s around-the-clock monitoring of the Elon Musk company has attracted a worldwide following of space enthusiasts.
Travel & Outdoors
August 20, 2019
Exploring the Cosmos at Space Center Houston and Beyond
Fifty years after humans first walked on the moon, you too can play astronaut for a day.
Music
July 16, 2019
Premiere: Robert Ellis is ‘Gone to the Moon’ in New Video
To mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo’s 11 launch, Ellis covers Nina Simone’s classic version of “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon.”
Film & TV
July 8, 2019
NASA Pioneer Poppy Northcutt Reflects on Her Role in the Apollo Program
New PBS space-race documentary ‘Chasing the Moon’ highlights her challenges as the only woman in Mission Control.
Texas History
June 25, 2019
The Space Issue
This summer marks the fiftieth anniversary of the trip that changed the world: the Apollo 11 moon landing. Texas Monthly has written about Texas’s role in the space program for decades, and our July collector’s issue combines the best of our archives with new perspectives on the final frontier.
News & Politics
June 25, 2019
From the Archives: Can a New Generation of Texans Revive the Dream of Space Exploration?
With NASA’s ambitions trimmed, private space companies come to Texas, dreaming of Mars.
Business
June 25, 2019
Talking With a Leader of the Next Generation of Rocketry Companies
Tom Markusic, the founder and CEO of Cedar Park’s Firefly Aerospace, explains how the next generation of rocketry companies is different from NASA—and from SpaceX and Blue Origin too.
Texas History
June 25, 2019
Was Apollo 11 a Beginning or an End?
Fifty years after man walked on the Moon, mankind is still stranded on Earth. That’s not the way it was supposed to be.
Texas History
June 25, 2019
From the Archives: After the Apollo Program Ended, NASA Settled on a New, Less Glamorous Mission
The shuttle age commences, becomes routine, and draws to a close, while Mars beckons.
News & Politics
June 25, 2019
Moon Rocks, Megabytes and Fruit Flies: Space, By the Numbers
A numerical gathering of space data.
Texas History
June 25, 2019
From the Archives: During the Space Race’s Early Days, Americans Dared to Do the Impossible—and Did.
America finds inspiration and salvation on the moon—and then keeps going.
News & Politics
June 25, 2019
A Time Line of Space Exploration
Two and a half millennia of innovation, from Archytas’s wooden pigeon to Neil Armstrong’s giant leap to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Moon.
News & Politics
June 25, 2019
She Couldn’t Go to Space Because She Was a Woman. But She Hasn’t Given Up on Her Dream.
Nearly sixty years ago, Funk and twelve other women proved that they could be astronauts too. But they never got to walk on the moon.
News & Politics
June 25, 2019
Why Does Presidio Have One of the Best High School Rocketry Clubs in the Country?
The West Texas border town of Presidio is one of the poorest places in the state. So why does it have one of the best high school rocketry clubs in the country?
The Stand Up Desk
June 21, 2019
From the Editor, July 2019
A letter from our editor.
The Texanist
May 5, 2019
The Texanist: Have Texans Played a Big Role in the Space Program?
A Dallas man knows all about the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. It’s the people he wonders about.
Arts & Entertainment
January 5, 2019
Al Reinert, Who Chronicled Houston’s Space Age in Magazines and Film, Passes Away at 71
For the Renaissance man—a baseball player, a features writer, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker—the sky posed no limit.
Food & Drink
April 18, 2018
Tacos in Space! How NASA Feeds Its Astronauts
NASA’s food scientists in Houston keep the astronauts on the International Space Station healthy and well fed. Thermostabilized seafood gumbo, anyone?
Style & Design
March 22, 2018
The Old World Charms of Houston’s Isabella Court
Art dealer Arturo Palacios relishes the creative environment at this 1920s apartment building—especially its romantic courtyard.
Style & Design
March 14, 2018
Retired Couple Goes Modern in San Marcos
The artists and former Texas State professors completely overhaul their home of 30 years, adding a studio and gallery for their work.
The National Podcast of Texas
February 9, 2018
The ‘National Podcast of Texas,’ Episode 6
The engine that might get us to Mars and the unexpected pressures of taking a break in the music industry.
January 23, 2018
The Astronaut Who Might Actually Get Us to Mars
As an eighteen-year-old immigrant to the U.S., Franklin Chang Díaz dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Now, decades after tying the record for most spaceflights, he might be the best bet to get us to Mars.
Business
July 20, 2016
Countdown to Liftoff
Sleek, shiny rockets on sleepy, shifty sands: as SpaceX prepares to build in South Texas, I wonder if my old stomping grounds can handle the inevitable collision of cultures. I sure hope so.
The Daily Post
April 13, 2016
Look At These Amazing Photos Of SpaceX’s Rocket Cargo Ship Returning Safely To Earth
The space exploration company achieved a big milestone—and took the pictures to prove it.
The Daily Post
November 25, 2015
Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos Are Comparing Whose Rocket Is Bigger On Twitter
If you know what we mean.
Space
July 31, 2015
Galaxy Quest
When my wife, Sonia Van Meter, was chosen as one of the Mars One finalists, I realized that my potential loss was humanity’s gain.
The Daily Post
April 16, 2015
A Teenage Girl From Houston Wrote Her Astronaut Dad a Note He Could See From Space
More like awwwstronaut, right?
The Daily Post
November 10, 2014
What Was That Bright Green Thing in the Sky on Saturday Night?
Most likely a meteor, but if, 30 years from now, a mysterious alien superhero in red and blue tights and a cape starts flying around, you can say "I remember when..."
Style & Design
October 2, 2014
San Antonio Architects Reimagine Houston’s Rocket Park
This isn't a real proposal, but it is really neat.
Business
September 23, 2014
SpaceX Plans To Send People From Brownsville To Mars In Order To Save Mankind
Elon Musk has some big plans.
Politics & Policy
April 11, 2014
The Battle of Boca Chica
With support from the Legislature, SpaceX may soon be launching rockets from Texas’ southernmost beach. That doesn’t mean a few nature lovers aren’t still ready to fight.
The Culture
April 2, 2014
Honey, I Want to Move to Mars
My wife is a semifinalist to board a one-way mission to the Red Planet. I’m proud, happy, and thrilled for her. Now, do you want to know how I really feel about it?
Business
November 25, 2013
How Do We Feel About Space Exploration Companies Buying Up A Bunch Of Cheap Texas Land?
Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin have both bought up a lot of land along the border. Brownsville and Van Horn are not exactly where you'd expect to find the cutting-edge vanguard of private, high-tech space exploration.
Politics & Policy
March 20, 2013
NASA Presentation on Asteroid Detection “Not Reassuring”
Ten thousand "city killers" pass by the Earth unnoticed every year, said a NASA official.
The Culture
January 31, 2013
E.T. Fills His Tank In Eagle Ford
More talk about UFO sightings near the oil play in South Texas.
The Culture
January 30, 2013
Remembering the Space Shuttle Columbia
Ten years ago, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
January 21, 2013
Take a Tour on the Moon Come 2020, Private Spaceflight Company Says
Only $750 million per person. Five things to know about the Golden Spike Company's hopes and plans.
The Culture
January 21, 2013
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of JFK’s Moon Speech
On September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy explained why “we choose to go to the moon” to a crowd of 40,000 at Rice University.
January 21, 2013
RIP, Sally Ride
What people are saying about NASA's first woman in space, who died of pancreatic cancer Monday at the age of 61.
January 21, 2013
Has Voyager I Exited the Solar System?
Readings from the spacecraft indicate it may have left the solar system some 34 years after it launched.
January 21, 2013
Ross Perot Jr. Invests in Asteroid Mining
The Dallas-based billionaire is investing in Planetary Resources, a company that aims to begin mining asteroids for valuable metals by 2020.
January 21, 2013
John Glenn’s Historic Orbit, 50 Years Out
On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.
January 21, 2013
NASA Called. It Wants Its Historic Space Artifacts Back.
Some Apollo-era astronauts, including Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell, had their hands slapped by NASA for putting space artifacts on the auction block.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Lost in Space
Ten years after the Challenger disaster, there are still dark clouds on the horizon for NASA’s space shuttle program.