Alan Boyle

Science journalist Alan Boyle is the creator of Cosmic Log, a veteran of MSNBC.com and NBC News Digital, and the author of "The Case for Pluto." He's based in the Seattle area, but the cosmos is his home.

Recent Articles

After Awesome Launch, SpaceX's Starship Spins Out of Control

May 27, 2025

SpaceX's Starship super-rocket got off to a great start for its ninth flight test, but the second stage ran into a host of issues and made an uncontrolled re-entry.
Dazzling Pictures Celebrate Hubble Space Telescope's 35 Years in Orbit

April 23, 2025

This week brings the Hubble Space Telescope's 35th birthday — but instead of getting presents, the Hubble team is giving out presents in the form of four views of the cosmos, ranging from a glimpse of Mars to a glittering picture of a far-out galaxy.
NASA's Lucy Probe Snaps Its Closeup of a Weirdly Shaped Asteroid

April 21, 2025

NASA's Lucy spacecraft made a successful flyby of the second asteroid on its must-see list over the weekend, and sent back imagery documenting the elongated object's bizarre double-lobed shape. It turns out that asteroid Donaldjohanson — which was named after the anthropologist who discovered the fossils of a human ancestor called Lucy — is what's known as a contact binary, with a couple of ridges in its narrow neck.
Is There Life on an Alien Planet? Fresh Findings Revive the Debate

April 17, 2025

Two new studies have sparked fresh debate about a faraway planet with a weird atmosphere. One of the studies claims additional evidence for the presence of life on the planet K2-18 b, based on chemical clues. The other study argues that such clues can be produced on a lifeless world.
Asteroid 2024 YR4 Won't Hit Earth, But There May Be a Lunar Light Show

April 07, 2025

Although astronomers have ruled out a smash-up between Earth and an asteroid known as 2024 YR4 in the year 2032, the building-sized space rock still has a chance of hitting the moon. In fact, the chances — slight as they are — have doubled in the past month.
Fresh Findings Strengthen the Case for Dark Energy's Evolution

March 20, 2025

It's looking more and more as if dark energy, the mysterious factor that scientists say is behind the accelerating expansion of the universe, isn't as constant as they once thought. The latest findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI, don't quite yet come up to the level of a confirmed discovery, but they're leading scientists to rethink their views on the evolution of the universe — and how it might end.
How Humans Can Reinvent Themselves to Live on Other Worlds

March 08, 2025

Let's face it: Space is a hostile environment for humans. Even on Mars, settlers might have a hard time coping with potentially lethal levels of radiation, scarce resources and reduced gravity. In "Mickey 17" — a new sci-fi movie from Bong Joon Ho, the South Korean filmmaker who made his mark with "Parasite" — an expendable space traveler named Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is exposed over and over again to deadly risks. And every time he's killed, the lab's 3D printer just churns out another copy of Mickey.
SpaceX's Starship Flight Test Falls Short for the Second Time in a Row

March 06, 2025

For the second time in a row, SpaceX lost the second stage of its Starship launch system during a flight test, while recovering the first-stage Super Heavy booster.