Space

Elon Musk treated Donald Trump to quite the show Tuesday ... as SpaceX's Starship megarocket blasted off into space in an attempt to make a perfect landing back on the launchpad ... though they both had to settle for saltwater splash-downs.

The biggest rocket ever made launched from the company's Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas for Starship Flight 6 ... in a test to see if both stages of the spacecraft -- the Super Heavy booster and the Starship capsule -- would return safely back to Earth ... and Trump had a front-row seat.

After blasting off and travelling into space, the Super Heavy booster essentially flew in reverse back to Earth -- it was supposed to be "grabbed" by the launch and catch tower's "chopstick" arms, but it instead landed in the Gulf of Mexico. A couple minutes into the mission, SpaceX had announced a "no go" for the attempted booster catch. The booster was meant to be reusable, but won't be since it landed in saltwater, which it's not designed to withstand.

Buzz Aldrin says he's voting for Donald Trump for president ... and the famous former astronaut says space exploration is playing a big part in his endorsement.

Buzz, the second man to walk on the moon, says Trump deserves a second term because DT places high importance on space exploration ... praising his first administration for reigniting national efforts to get back to the moon and to travel to Mars.

In a lengthy statement Wednesday explaining his pick for president, Aldrin says he's a big fan of the U.S. Space Force, which was created during Trump's first term ... Buzz says the Space Force is "increasingly important as space becomes a contested domain." BA also applauded Trump for reinstating the National Space Council when he was in office.

This is just astoundingly cool ... SpaceX's Starship megarocket -- the world's most powerful rocket that will take NASA back to the moon -- just flew in reverse, essentially, making a perfect landing back on the launch pad.

The biggest rocket ever made blasted off Sunday morning from Southern Texas for Starship Flight 5, attempting to have both stages of the spacecraft -- the Super Heavy booster and Starship capsule -- return safely back to Earth ... and it was downright incredible to see.

Minutes after the successful launch, spectators and SpaceX engineers cheered and watched in amazement as the Super Heavy booster came back down ... and the launch pad's "chopstick" arms caught it cleanly, holding it safely above the pad ... in one reusable piece.

Elon Musk needs a close encounter before he's ready to say aliens have visited Earth ... arguing UFOs are probably classified government technology, not evidence of extraterrestrial life.

The controversial tech billionaire sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson, posted to X, this week ... and, the two got right down to all the UFOs people have filmed recently -- and, while Elon says he knows the unidentified flying objects are real, he's still yet to see an alien body.

EM says SpaceX alone has around 6,000 satellites out in space ... and, he says they've never had to move out of Marvin the Martian's way. Basically, if aliens exist ... where are they?

9:44 AM PT -- SpaceX's Dragon is up and away ... having just detached from the rocket. Crew-9 is expected to reach the International Space Station tomorrow -- and, should return with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams early next year. Good luck!

A SpaceX mission is set to blast off Saturday with a crucial mission ... to help retrieve 2 American astronauts stranded for months on the International Space Station ... but it's still going to be a while before they're back on Earth.

The launch of SpaceX’s Dragon -- piloted by NASA's Crew-9 is scheduled for 1:17 PM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida ... but weather delays might be a snag given the deadly Hurricane Helene just battered a portion of the state.

Former astronaut Mike Massimino believes all Americans should exercise their right to vote this November ... especially if his peers stuck in space can pull it off.

We caught up with the former NASA employee in NYC, where he weighed in on Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams' plans to vote on Election Day via absentee ballots. As Mike put it, Butch and Suni's situation shouldn't exempt them from their civic duty ... praising the astronauts for setting a "good example."

He noted ... "Everyone should be voting. I'm glad they'll be voting ... Look, if my friends can do it from space then all the rest of us here can certainly do it on Planet Earth."

People who hate on mail-in ballots are going to be howling at the moon after this one ... 'cause a couple astronauts are casting their votes from the International Space Station.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams -- the 2 astronauts who went up to space on the Boeing Starliner, and who are now stuck after safety concerns with their craft arose -- spoke with reporters Friday ... and, they say they still plan on voting.

Wilmore says he sent his request for a ballot down to Earth Friday ... adding that NASA helps all its astronauts secure ballots. Both astronauts touched on how they feel it's their civic duty to cast their votes come the first Tuesday in November.

Astronaut Nicole Stott says folks who are cynical over seeing a billionaire complete the first-ever civilian spacewalk need to cool their jets ... because it's actually to everyone's benefit.

Nicole, who did her own spacewalk in 2009 at the International Space Station, tells TMZ ... billionaire Jared Isaacman bankrolling a historic spacewalk is good for humankind in the long run, and it will help us eventually reach Mars.

The way Nicole sees it ... private space exploration is vital toward our goals of going further into space than ever before, and while the average person can't pay for a trip into orbit right now, it likely will be affordable in the future.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman is feeling outta this world after successfully completing the first-ever civilian spacewalk -- and he spent a pretty penny to get in the history books.

The billionaire CEO of Shift4, a payment processing company, took a ride on SpaceX for its riskiest mission to date ... in which he and another astronaut left the capsule and floated in space in newly designed spacesuits.

The Polaris Dawn mission was bankrolled by Isaacman. He and retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Poteet, SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon orbited 435 miles above Earth.

The troubled Boeing Starliner capsule successfully cruised back down to Earth from the International Space Station Friday evening — but no one was onboard.

As we previously reported ... Butch Wilmore and fellow astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams have been stranded on the International Space Station since June 6, due to Starliner's thruster troubles and helium leaks ... after what was supposed to be a week-long stay. They are now stuck on the station for as many as six more months!

The capsule undocked yesterday at 6:04 PT ET ... then spent six hours flying back to Earth, where it successfully touched down at New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 AM ET, per NASA.

9:02 AM PT -- NASA released a statement on its findings regarding the strange sound heard by astronaut Butch Willmore, stating, "A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner."

The statement continued, "The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback. The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system. The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6."

As if being stranded in space for the foreseeable future wasn't enough ... one of the astronauts stuck aboard the ISS just sent NASA audio of an ominous noise coming from their faulty Boeing Starliner aircraft.

In audio first reported by Ars Technica, astronaut Butch Wilmore can be heard communicating with Johnson Space Center in Houston ... telling mission control, "I've got a question about Starliner. There's a strange noise coming through the speaker ... I don't know what's making it."

Mission control configured a way for Butch to play the sound through the phone ... and after one failed attempt at hearing it, mission control confirmed, "Butch, that one came through. It was kind of like a pulsating noise, almost like a sonar ping."

LeVar Burton is defending space exploration, Angelina Jolie is not dating anyone, and Kyren Williams is previewing the upcoming NFL season ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Babcock break down LeVar's position on space ... now that we're dealing with an astronaut emergency up there.

The mother of Sunita Williams, one of the astronauts stuck in space until 2025, has a surprisingly chill outlook on her daughter's predicament.

We caught up with Bonnie Pandya on "TMZ Live" Monday, where the astronaut's mom explained the situation -- which has left her daughter stranded on the International Space Station. Mom says it's just another day at work for the seasoned astronaut.

As Bonnie put it ... she's doing just fine in the face of this harrowing update, since her daughter has been training for situations like this throughout her 20-year career.

The Boeing Starliner astronauts stranded in space for nearly three months are going to have to be there a little longer ... 'cause they're not going to be earthbound until next year.

During a newsconference Saturday, NASA administrator Bill Nelson explained Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are expected to return in February 2025 ... while the Boeing Starliner will be returned unmanned out of concern for their safety.

That's six more months for the pair in space ... a far cry from the nine days their mission was originally scheduled for.

Two astronauts currently stuck in space are facing a potential wardrobe malfunction -- their spacesuits won't fit on a potential rescue craft.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are still orbiting Earth 'cause of problems on the Boeing spacecraft they went up in ... and they may need a rescue mission from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring them back down to Earth.

The problem is, the pair's spacesuits were made for the interior of the Boeing Starliner -- and literally won't plug into systems on the SpaceX Dragon due to different porting designs.