CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX was on the cusp of launching NASA astronauts into orbit Wednesday, a first for a private company and a giant leap forward for the booming business of space travel. The planned afternoon liftoff to the International Space Station will be the first of Americans from...
Stormy Weather Puts Damper on SpaceX’s 1st Astronaut Launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Stormy weather is threatening to delay SpaceX’s first astronaut launch. A SpaceX rocket is scheduled to blast off Wednesday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, carrying a Dragon capsule with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. It will be the first time astronauts launch from...
Astronauts Arrive for NASA’s 1st Home Launch in Decade
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The two astronauts who will end a nine-year launch drought for NASA arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, exactly one week before their historic SpaceX flight. It will be the first time a private company, rather than a national government, sends astronauts into orbit. NASA...
Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden, Who Circled Moon, Dies at 88
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, who circled the moon alone in 1971 while his two crewmates test-drove the first lunar rover, died Wednesday at age 88. Worden died in his sleep at a rehab center in Houston following treatment for an infection, said friend and colleague...
Biggest Explosion Seen in Universe Came From Black Hole
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the universe, originating from a super-massive black hole. Scientists reported Thursday that the blast came from a black hole in a cluster of galaxies 390 million light-years away. The explosion was so large it carved out a crater...
Mars Lander Confirms Quakes, Even Aftershocks on Red Planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's newest Mars lander has confirmed that quakes and even aftershocks are regularly jolting the red planet. Scientists reported Monday that the seismometer from the InSight spacecraft has detected scores of marsquakes. A series of research papers focus on the 174 marsquakes noted through last September....
Pioneering Black NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson Dies
Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who calculated rocket trajectories and earth orbits for NASA’s early space missions and was later portrayed in the 2016 hit film “Hidden Figures,” about pioneering black female aerospace workers, has died. She was 101. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter that she died Monday morning....
'Black in Space' Looks at Final Frontier of Civil Rights
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In 1959, Ronald Erwin McNair walked into a South Carolina library. The 9-year-old aspiring astronaut wanted to check out a calculus book, but a librarian threatened to call the police if he didn't leave. McNair was black. Years later, McNair was selected to become only the second...
Solar Orbiter Blasts Off to Capture 1st Look at Sun's Poles
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Europe and NASA's Solar Orbiter rocketed into space Sunday night on an unprecedented mission to capture the first pictures of the sun's elusive poles. “We're on the way to the sun. Go Solar Orbiter!” said Cesar Garcia Marirrodriga, project manager for the European Space Agency. “It's...
Astronaut Christina Koch Returns from Record Setting Spaceflight
MOSCOW — NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who spent nearly 11 months in orbit to set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, landed safely Thursday in Kazakhstan along with two International Space Station crewmates. The Soyuz capsule carrying Koch, station Commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency...