
Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell was staff reporter at Space.com between 2022 and 2024 and a regular contributor to Live Science and Space.com between 2012 and 2022. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.
Latest articles by Elizabeth Howell

Heat Shield for NASA's Next Mars Mission Breaks During Testing
By Elizabeth Howell published
As for what caused the failture, NASA engineers aren't sure yet.

This Ice Is Nearly As Hot As the Sun. Scientists Have Now Made It on Earth.
By Elizabeth Howell published
For the first time, researchers re-created the high-pressure water ice likely found in the interiors of Uranus and Neptune.

There Is Evidence That a Planet in Our Solar System Was Destroyed
By Elizabeth Howell published
The lost planet was the size of Mercury or perhaps Mars, researchers now say.

How a Football Field-Size Asteroid Caught Us by Surprise
By Elizabeth Howell published
Earth received a cosmic close shave on Sunday (April 15) when a football field-size boulder passed by at half the moon's distance from our planet.

What Is a Blue Moon, Anyway?
By Elizabeth Howell published
Skywatchers tonight (March 31) will be treated to the second and final Blue Moon of 2018, just on the eve of Easter. What is this type of moon, and is it actually blue?

Why Are People Freaking Out About These Boring SpaceX Satellites?
By Elizabeth Howell published

Crashing Chinese Space Station Will Go Down Shooting — Fireballs
By Elizabeth Howell published
Scientists expect that as the station burns up, it will generate huge fireballs visible from the ground.

Chinese Space Station May Crash Like NASA's Skylab
By Elizabeth Howell published
The uncontrolled fall to Earth of China's Tiangong-1 space lab may share some similarities with the end of the Skylab space station in 1979; some of Skylab's pieces rained down on rural Australia.

Why Is China's Space Station Falling to Earth in the First Place?
By Elizabeth Howell published
The one-module station is in an uncontrolled fall and will re-enter the atmosphere somewhere underneath the spacecraft's orbit, but nobody knows exactly when or where that will happen.

If the Falling Chinese Space Station Hits You, Is Anyone Liable?
By Elizabeth Howell published
The crashing space lab's orbital path includes the United States and most of the population of the world. On the off chance a piece of Tiangong-1 hits you, here's who is liable.

Yep, the Earth Is Still Round, Neil deGrasse Tyson Says
By Elizabeth Howell published
"Cosmos" host and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recently shot down the ideas of anyone out there who still thinks the Earth is flat.

Why the Asteroid Approaching Earth Was Only Spotted 5 Days Ago
By Elizabeth Howell published
NASA didn't spot the asteroid, 2018 CB, that will skim by Earth today until a few days ago. Here's why it snuck under the radar.

Asteroid Skimming Past Earth Today May Loom Larger Than Exploding Russian Meteor
By Elizabeth Howell published

When Will SpaceX Lose Connection with Starman?
By Elizabeth Howell published
SpaceX's star dummy, riding in space inside a cushy Tesla Roadster, could lose contact with Earth any time.

What SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Launch Means for Getting Humans to Mars
By Elizabeth Howell published
The launch is a key stepping-stone in the company's quest to bring colonists to Mars.

Fireball Finds! Meteorite Fragments from Dazzling Michigan Meteor Found on Ice
By Elizabeth Howell published
Meteorite hunters in Michigan found six rocks Thursday (Jan. 18) that likely came from a spectacular fireball that lit up local skies earlier this week.

We May Not Be Alone, Former Pentagon UFO Investigator Says
By Elizabeth Howell published
The former head of a secret government program to investigate UFO sightings told several media outlets that extraterrestrial life may exist.

Navy Pilot Was 'Pretty Weirded Out' by Encounter with Unidentified Object in 2004
By Elizabeth Howell published

Spectacular Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight! How to Watch Online
By Elizabeth Howell published

This Ultrathin Craft Could Soon Envelop and Destroy Space Junk
By Elizabeth Howell published
At least 500,000 pieces of space debris threaten satellites and astronauts, but a California-based company says it has a new approach for taking out the garbage.

Help Make an 'Eclipse Megamovie' Using Your Smartphone
By Elizabeth Howell published
If you want to do some science during the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 using nothing but your phone, consider contributing to the Eclipse Megamovie project.
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