Author Archive

Tim Fernholz

Tim Fernholz
Tim Fernholz covers state, business and society for Quartz.
Emerging Tech

Watch a Space Robot Capture a Runaway Satellite With its Net

Space debris like an errant satellite can pose a risk to other things in orbit.

Emerging Tech

A Tiny Hole in the Soyuz Spacecraft Could Be a Huge Headache for NASA

This puts more pressure on Boeing and SpaceX to fly astronauts.

Emerging Tech

How Rocket-Makers Ensure 3D Printed Parts Are Strong Enough for Space

X-rays and microscopes are involved.

Cybersecurity

The U.S. Is Worried That a Russian Satellite Is Really a Weapon

American intelligence agencies have reason to believe the satellite may be surveilling U.S. space assets.

Digital Government

Space as a Service: NASA and SpaceX Find a New Way of Putting People Into Orbit

SpaceX could be ferrying astronauts by April 2019.

Policy

How The Space Force Took Over Washington

Blame a potent mix of national security concerns, space spectacle, and pork-barrel spending.

Emerging Tech

A Toxic Fuel Leak on Boeing’s Spacecraft Will Ground U.S. Astronauts a Little Longer

Boeing believes it understands the cause of the leak.

Digital Government

Donald Trump Nominated a Man With No Space Experience To Be NASA’s Second-in-Command

Trump is passing over Dr. Janet Kavandi, an astronaut and respected leader of one of the space agency’s research centers.

Digital Government

NASA’s Chief Wants Former Astronaut Janet Kavandi to Help Run Things. Trump Is Looking at the Senate’s Admin Guy

The wrong person in that job could create new problems for NASA.

Emerging Tech

Drone Technology Is Now Dangerous Enough to Kill For

Advances in consumer electronics are making drones available to armed forces without the resources to hire billion-dollar defense contractors.

Emerging Tech

SpaceX’s Rocket Videos Are Technically Against the Law. The U.S. Government Just Noticed.

There are regulations for videos shot from space.

Digital Government

SpaceX Takes its First Step Toward Selling Americans Internet From Space

SpaceX eventually hopes to have thousands of spacecraft beaming Internet back to Earth.

Emerging Tech

Did SpaceX or Northrop Grumman Screw Up a Secret Satellite Launch? It’s Classified

Anonymous sources say that the satellite has failed or fallen to earth.

Emerging Tech

Watch SpaceX Launch its First Reusable Rocket to the International Space Station

This is the first time NASA has approved the use of a previously flown rocket booster on a mission to the space station.