Astronomer Carl Sagan put it best: "We're made of star stuff." The atoms that make up the chemicals of our bodies didn't originate on Earth; they came from deep space. The big bang created hydrogen, helium, and a little bit of lithium, but heavier atoms—the ones essential for life—came from processes related to stars.

Scientists can now probe deeper. Which kinds of stellar processes produce which elements? And which kinds of stars are involved?

A new experiment called TIGERISS, envisioned for the International Space Station, aims to find out. TIGERISS has been chosen as the latest NASA Astrophysics Pioneers mission.

Pioneers are small-scale astrophysics missions that enable innovative investigations into cosmic phenomena. They may include experiments designed to fly on small satellites, scientific balloons, the space station, and payloads that could orbit or land on the Moon.

Earlier this year, the four previous Pioneers mission concepts, chosen in January 2021, were given the green light to move forward with construction and have been approved to fly later this decade.

"The Pioneer missions are an invaluable opportunity for early to mid-career scientists to conduct compelling astrophysics investigations, while gaining real experience in building space-based instrumentation," said Mark Clampin, director of the astrophysics division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Was there ever life on the moon? What about on other planets?

With the U.S. slated to blast off soon to orbit the moon—its first trip there in 50 years—the University of Virginia and NASA's Artemis space missions seek to answer big questions like these, while pushing the scope of what can be analyzed on alien soils.

The new collaborative research will take the form of a roving, ground-level probe. It won't be done in time for this first unmanned launch, of course.

Instead, the technology could be part of a future mission to the moon—and perhaps beyond. The space program is also contemplating putting humans on Mars.

"The basic idea of this NASA-funded project is to obtain biological and elemental signatures, as well to detect surface morphology, to determine whether there was any life," said engineering professor and principal investigator Mool Gupta, in whose laser lab a key portion of the technology will be created.

Engineers have repaired an issue affecting data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft. Earlier this year, the probe's attitude articulation and control system (AACS), which keeps Voyager 1's antenna pointed at Earth, began sending garbled information about its health and activities to mission controllers, despite operating normally. The rest of the probe also appeared healthy as it continued to gather and return science data.

The team has since located the source of the garbled information: The AACS had started sending the telemetry data through an onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago, and the computer corrupted the information.

A team of researchers led by CU Boulder is sending some unexpected hitchhikers to the moon: Twelve bags filled with baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the same kind of hard-working cells that make bread rise and ferment beer and wine.

As early as Friday, a rocket taller than the Statue of Liberty is scheduled to blast off from a launch pad in Florida, carrying NASA's new Orion space capsule into Earth's orbit for the first time. From there, the spacecraft, designed to transport four astronauts, will begin a 42-day journey to the moon and back to Earth.

There aren't any humans aboard this mission, called Artemis 1. But that doesn't mean there won't be passengers. Three human mannequins, named Moonikin Campos, Helga and Zohar, will fly aboard Orion—as will four biological experiments, including one designed by a team at BioServe Space Technologies, a center in the Ann and H.J.

NASA's Artemis 1 mission is poised to take a key step toward returning humans to the moon after a half-century hiatus. The launch was scheduled for the morning of Aug. 29, 2022, but was postponed due to an issue with one of the rocket's engines. The next opportunity to launch the rocket is Sept. 2, 2022. The mission is a shakedown cruise—sans crew—for NASA's Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule.

The spacecraft is scheduled to travel to the moon, deploy some small satellites and then settle into orbit. NASA aims to practice operating the spacecraft, test the conditions crews will experience on and around the moon, and assure everyone that the spacecraft and any occupants can safely return to Earth.

The Conversation asked Jack Burns, a professor and space scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and former member of the Presidential Transition Team for NASA, to describe the mission, explain what the Artemis program promises to do for space exploration, and reflect on how the space program has changed in the half-century since humans last set foot on the lunar surface.