
Liz Kruesi
Liz Kruesi is a freelance science journalist who focuses on astronomy. She is based in Colorado. She has written about astronomy and space since 2005, and received the AAS High-Energy Astrophysics Division science journalism award in 2013. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc.

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All Stories by Liz Kruesi
- Space
Artemis 1’s Orion capsule returned safely to Earth. What’s next?
The first test flight in NASA’s return to the moon Artemis program ended well with the uncrewed capsule splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
- Space
Artemis I finally launched. Here’s what it means for human spaceflight
The launch of NASA's Artemis I is a giant step toward sending humans back to the moon and heading beyond.
- Astronomy
Mini-Neptunes may become super-Earths as the exoplanets lose their atmospheres
Starlight is eroding the atmospheres of a handful of gassy exoplanets that are a bit smaller than Neptune, gradually exposing the rocky cores within.
- Planetary Science
Astronauts might be able to use asteroid soil to grow crops
Researchers grew romaine lettuce, chili pepper and pink radish plants in mixtures of faux asteroid soil and peat moss.
- Space
Six months in space leads to a decade’s worth of long-term bone loss
Even after a year of recovery in Earth’s gravity, astronauts who’d been in space six months or more still had bone loss equal to a decade of aging.
- Astronomy
An otherwise quiet galaxy in the early universe is spewing star stuff
Seen as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang, the galaxy churns out a relatively paltry number of stars. And yet it’s heaving gas into space.
- Astronomy
Seven newfound dwarf galaxies sit on just one side of a larger galaxy
Seven newly found dwarf galaxy candidates are stick to just one side of the large galaxy M81. Astronomers don’t know why.
- Planetary Science
Samples of the asteroid Ryugu are scientists’ purest pieces of the solar system
Samples Hayabusa2 brought to Earth from asteroid Ryugu are far fresher than similar types of meteorites that scientists have found.
- Astronomy
A newfound, oddly slow pulsar shouldn’t emit radio waves — yet it does
The highly magnetic neutron star rotates three times slower than the previous record holder, challenging the theorical understanding of these objects.
- Astronomy
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft spotted a ‘hedgehog’ on the sun
In its closest flyby yet of the sun, the Solar Orbiter came within 48 million kilometers of our star, revealing new details.
- Astronomy
Pulsars may power cosmic rays with the highest-known energies in the universe
Earth is pelted by energetic particles from space. The source might be the magnetic remains of massive stars, a new study suggests.
- Science & Society
Why some scientists want serious research into UFOs
Science grapples with unknown phenomena all the time. Investigating UAP and whether they're related to aliens shouldn't be different, researchers say.