A U.S.-French satellite that will map almost all of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers rocketed into orbit Friday. The predawn launch aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California capped a highly successful year for NASA. Nicknamed SWOT — short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography...
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Takes Flight, 1st for Another Planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet. The triumph was hailed as a Wright brothers moment. The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter even carried a...
SpaceX Launches 2nd Crew, Regular Station Crew Flights Begin
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on Sunday on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company. The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from Kennedy Space Center with three Americans and one Japanese, the second crew to be launched...
NASA Craft Making Daring Grab for Asteroid Rubble Today
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft descended Tuesday toward the surface of an asteroid 200 million miles away to collect a handful of rubble for return to Earth. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft dropped out of orbit around asteroid Bennu right on time, beginning a 4 1/2-hour plunge to the rough,...
Russian-US Crew Welcomed Aboard the Space Station
MOSCOW — A trio of space travelers blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, using for the first time a fast-track maneuver that allowed them to reach the orbiting outpost in just a little over three hours. NASA’s Kate Rubins along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of...
2020's Final Mars Mission Poised for Blastoff From Florida
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The summer’s third and final mission to Mars — featuring NASA's most elaborate life-hunting rover — is on the verge of liftoff, with the launch is scheduled for Thursday at 4:50 a.m. The rover Perseverance will follow China’s rover-orbiter combo and a United Arab Emirates orbiter,...
Astronauts Squeeze in Last Spacewalk Before SpaceX Returns to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts squeezed in one last spacewalk Tuesday before turning their attention to the all-important end to SpaceX’s first crew flight. NASA’s Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy floated out of the International Space Station on their fourth and final spacewalk in under a month. Instead of swapping...
Look Out, Mars: Here We Come With a Fleet of Spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Mars is about to be invaded by planet Earth — big time. Three countries — the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates — are sending unmanned spacecraft to the red planet in quick succession beginning this week, in the most sweeping effort yet to...
Comet Streaking Past Earth, Providing Spectacular Show
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A newly discovered comet is streaking past Earth, providing a stunning nighttime show after buzzing the sun and expanding its tail. Comet Neowise swept within Mercury’s orbit a week ago. Its close proximity to the sun caused dust and gas to burn off its surface and...
SpaceX Captures the Flag, Beating Boeing in Cosmic Contest
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first astronauts launched by SpaceX declared victory Monday in NASA’s cosmic capture-the-flag game. They quickly claimed the prize left behind at the International Space Station nearly a decade ago by the last crew to launch from the U.S. “Congratulations, SpaceX, you got the flag,” NASA...