Early rising Californians got a glimpse of NASA's InSight mission to Mars earlier this month when the spacecraft spectacularly blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force base at 4:05 a.m. Anyone who decided to sleep in, though, need not fret — The Atlantic reports that California is well on its way to being America's new Space Coast.
For one thing, the industry is returning. While "southern California as we know it would not exist without aerospace," in the words of historian Peter Westwick, "the city's hidden history is now waking up," The Atlantic writes. Of course there is Elon Musk's SpaceX, but there is also the center at Vandenberg and the Mojave Air and Space Port north of Los Angeles.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 10, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and more
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBSCartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipeThe Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beatspeed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammalsSpeed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its preySpeed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant worldSpeed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocketSpeed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brainSpeed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggestsSpeed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
