Nell Greenfieldboyce

The four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II lunar mission are set to return to Earth Friday evening. The crew is wrapping up a journey around the moon with a planned splashdown off San Diego, Calif.

The four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II lunar mission are set to return to Earth Friday evening. The crew is wrapping up a journey around the moon with a planned splashdown off San Diego, Calif.

Most of the world's population was not alive during the days of the Apollo moon program. What do young people make of this latest moonshot?

The Artemis II astronauts are readjusting to life on Earth after their historic mission around the moon.

Covering the Artemis II mission was a dream assignment for one NPR science correspondent. Copyright 2026 NPR

NPR's Scott Detrow talks with Regina Barber and Nell Greenfieldboyce about the Artemis moon missions, the "seismic quiet" during a solar eclipse, and the origins of a mysterious interstellar visitor.

J. Craig Venter, a scientist who played a critical role in the sequencing of the human genome, has died at the age of 79, according to his namesake research institute.

A Devils Hole pupfish is pictured at the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility in Nevada. Scientists recently took captive-bred pupfish from this facility and introduced them into the species' natural habitat in Death Valley National Park.

Wade Hanicker lives near Tampa, Florida, and he started making countertops about 15 years ago.

Health experts warn silica dust from cutting engineered quartz may be causing widespread, underdiagnosed lung disease among thousands of countertop fabricators across the United States.