
Brett Tingley
Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett enjoys skywatching throughout the dark skies of the Appalachian mountains.
Latest articles by Brett Tingley

Watch a 5 planet parade today with this free telescope livestream
By Brett Tingley published
The Virtual Telescope Project will be streaming "Five Planets at a glance" on March 28, offering a view of this planetary parade from Rome.

Watch likely Chinese rocket body burn up over Texas (video)
By Brett Tingley published
A video of a fireball streaking across the sky likely shows a Chinese rocket section that burned up in the atmosphere above Texas on March 7.

Win a free copy of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 in this Facebook giveaway!
By Brett Tingley published
Space.com and Paramount are teaming together to offer a chance to win a free Blu-Ray Steelbook edition of the critically-acclaimed first season.

Watch a small asteroid fly by Earth closer than the moon tonight in this free livestream
By Brett Tingley published
The near-Earth asteroid 2023 EY will pass within 149,000 miles (239,800 kilometers) of Earth tonight (March 16), and you can watch it live thanks to a free telescope livestream.

International Space Station fires thrusters to dodge space junk
By Brett Tingley published
The International Space Station (ISS) had to perform a debris avoidance maneuver to dodge yet another piece of space junk on Tuesday (March 14).

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft aced moon mission despite heat shield issue
By Brett Tingley published
NASA's Orion spacecraft performed better than expected on its first deep-space flight despite experiencing unpredicted loss of its heat shield material.

See Jupiter and Venus dance across the twilight sky in this amazing photo collage
By Brett Tingley published
A stunning image shows what the photographer calls "10 Days of Nearness" between Jupiter and Venus, spanning from Feb. 21 to March 2, 2023.

Experience SpaceX's Crew-6 astronaut mission with these amazing photos
By Brett Tingley published
SpaceX's Crew-6 mission for NASA will launch toward the International Space Station on Feb. 27, 2023. See photos of the mission here.

SpaceX on track to launch Crew-6 astronaut mission for NASA tomorrow (Feb. 27)
By Brett Tingley published
SpaceX's Crew-6 astronaut mission is still looking good to launch early Monday morning (Feb. 27), mission managers said during a prelaunch teleconference.

This photo of China's spy balloon taken from a U-2 reconnaissance plane is absolutely bonkers (video)
By Brett Tingley published
The Department of Defense released an image taken from the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that floated over the United States earlier this month.

SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts arrive at NASA spaceport for Feb. 26 launch
By Brett Tingley published
The crewmembers of SpaceX's next astronaut mission to the International Space Station have arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for their upcoming Feb. 26 launch.

1st private Launcher space tug fails after launching on SpaceX rocket
By Brett Tingley published
Space launch startup Launcher said its first spacecraft, which launched on a SpaceX rocket last month, has failed.

Artemis 1 moon launch was as loud as 40 million bowls of Rice Krispies: study
By Brett Tingley published
A new study has found that the launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mega moon rocket created sound levels far more powerful than predicted.

Chelyabinsk meteor explosion over Russia 10 years ago was a planetary defense wake up call
By Brett Tingley published
On Feb. 15, 2003, a meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, showing why we need better methods of detecting and tracking near-Earth asteroids.

What is the U.S. Space Force and what does it do?
By Brett Tingley published
Reference The U.S. Space Force was created as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces in order to protect U.S. space assets as Earth orbit becomes increasingly contested.

Russia releases 1st images of damage to leaky Soyuz spacecraft (photos)
By Brett Tingley published
On Monday (Feb. 13), the Russian space agency Roscosmos released the first public images of a radiator leak aboard a Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station.

Watch green comet near Mars today with free telescope livestream
By Brett Tingley last updated
The Virtual Telescope Project is hosting a free livestream of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) near Mars on Saturday (Feb. 11) starting at 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT).

See the green comet near Mars in the night sky this week
By Brett Tingley published
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be positioned close to Mars in the Taurus constellation from Feb. 9 through Feb. 14, making it easier to locate as it dims in the night sky.

Turkey earthquake prompts United Nations to activate emergency satellite mapping
By Brett Tingley published
The United Nations Satellite Centre has activated its emergency mapping service following a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria to provide imagery that aids in disaster relief.

The Full Snow Moon of 2023: Smallest 'micromoon' of the year rises tonight
By Brett Tingley published
February's Full Snow Moon rises on Sunday (Feb. 5) and will be the smallest full moon of the year due to the current position of the moon in its orbit.

Watch February's Full Snow Moon on Sunday (Feb. 5) with this free telescope webcast
By Brett Tingley published
February's Full Snow Moon rises on Sunday (Feb. 5), and you can watch it shine brightly in the sky from the comfort and warmth of your own home thanks to a free telescope webcast.

Chinese surveillance balloon in US airspace causes international stir
By Brett Tingley published
China's foreign ministry confirmed that a high-altitude spy balloon seen flying over the northern United States this week was a Chinese airship, claiming that the vehicle is a weather balloon.

DARPA's hypersonic HAWC completes final flight test at over Mach 5
By Brett Tingley published
DARPA announced the end of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program with a final successful test flight that reached speeds over Mach 5 and flew for more than 300 nautical miles.

Watch a green comet make its first Earth approach in 50,000 years today with this free webcast
By Brett Tingley published
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is making its closest approach to Earth, and you can watch it pass by without even stepping outside, thanks to a free livestream.

2 big pieces of space junk nearly collide in orbital 'bad neighborhood'
By Brett Tingley published
Satellite monitoring and collision detection firm LeoLabs spotted a near-miss between a defunct Soviet rocket body and dead spy satellite that passed within about 20 feet (6 meters) of one another.