NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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NASA Launches Rocket on Trip That Will Take 6 Years

Craft will arrive at Jupiter moon Europa in 2030 to begin its work

(Newser) - NASA launched a rocket to the moon on Monday, but this particular moon will take nearly six years to reach. The spacecraft known as Europa Clipper took off for the Jupiter moon of Europa and is scheduled to arrive in 2030, reports Space.com . Once the journey is complete, the...

NASA Sends Crew to Retrieve Stranded Astronauts

SpaceX mission leaves seats empty for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

(Newser) - Astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station to rescue two colleagues who have been stranded there for more than 100 days. The SpaceX mission took off Saturday afternoon from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, CNN reports. Liftoff had been postponed on Thursday because of Hurricane...

Contractor Tacks on a Lot of Zeroes to NASA Project

The projected cost of a new launch tower being built has ballooned from $383M to $2.7B

(Newser) - Contracting projects that go over time and budget are not all that uncommon, but this story out of NASA is next-level. In a new report , NASA Inspector General George A. Scott says the estimate to build a launch tower to accommodate a larger Space Launch System rocket has ballooned from...

Mission to Jupiter Moon Is a Go, NASA Says

Project is to assess suitability for life in possible ocean on Europa

(Newser) - NASA on Monday approved next month's launch to Jupiter's moon Europa after reviewing the spacecraft's ability to withstand the intense radiation there. Questions about the reliability of the transistors on the Europa Clipper spacecraft arose earlier this year after similar problems cropped up elsewhere, the AP reports....

Starliner Is Back on Earth, Sans Crew

Boeing capsule lands in New Mexico, leaving astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore at ISS

(Newser) - Boeing's first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky. Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range,...

Starliner to Return Friday, Empty
NASA Books Starliner's Return
Sep 4, 2024 7:30 PM CDT

NASA Books Starliner's Return

Stranded astronauts will be regular crew on space station until February

(Newser) - Boeing's problem-plagued Starliner spacecraft has been scheduled to begin its return journey to Earth on Friday evening, NASA said Wednesday, with no one aboard. Six hours after it leaves the International Space Station, around midnight, the spacecraft is to make a parachute landing at the White Sands Space Harbor...

Astronaut Reports 'Strange Noise' From Starliner

NASA has solved the mystery of odd pulsing sound coming from Boeing Starliner docked at ISS

(Newser) - NASA's Butch Wilmore had Mission Control scratching its head this weekend with a question about an odd noise. "I've got a question about Starliner," Wilmore said in his Saturday message to Houston from the Boeing aircraft docked at the International Space Station, per the Guardian . "...

38 Years Later, Home State Gives Christa McAuliffe a Fitting Honor

Teacher killed in the space shuttle disaster is first woman with a statue at New Hampshire statehouse

(Newser) - Decades after she was picked to be America's first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe is still a pioneer—this time as the first woman to be memorialized on the grounds of New Hampshire's Statehouse in Concord, the city where she taught high school. McAuliffe was 37 when she...

These 4 Will Have to Wait a Bit Longer for Historic Mission
SpaceX Postpones
Historic Mission Again
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 28, 2024 8:41 AM CDT

SpaceX Postpones Historic Mission Again

Weather delays SpaceX's Polaris Dawn expedition, to feature first spacewalk ever by private citizens

(Newser) - A civilian quartet was set to blast off into space from Florida on Wednesday morning, on their way to the first spacewalk ever by private citizens, but that mission has now been postponed. The BBC reports that Elon Musk's SpaceX, just hours before liftoff, cited "unfavorable weather forecasted"...

For Safety's Sake, NASA Picks SpaceX to Return Astronauts

The decision, a blow to Boeing, means crew members will stay in space until next year

(Newser) - NASA announced Saturday that it had made its decision on how two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth: in SpaceX's Dragon capsule instead of in Boeing's Starliner. Referring to past fatal accidents, NASA officials said the astronauts' safety was the main driver...

Final Resting Place of ISS May One Day Be a 'Treasure Trove'

Underwater conditions at remote Point Nemo keep spacecraft relatively well preserved

(Newser) - Even defunct spacecraft need a final resting place. For Russia's Mir space station, as well as hundreds of other spacecraft from the US, Russia, Europe, and Japan, that graveyard is situated around the remote Point Nemo in the South Pacific, east of New Zealand—and it will eventually claim...

NASA: No Decision Yet on Bringing Starliner Crew Home

But astronauts stuck on ISS are 'doing fine'

(Newser) - NASA said Wednesday it's still deciding whether to keep two astronauts at the International Space Station until early next year and send their troubled Boeing capsule back empty. Rather than flying Boeing's Starliner back to Earth, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would catch a ride on SpaceX's...

Starliner Crew Could Be Stuck on ISS Until 2025

NASA is looking at backup option involving SpaceX

(Newser) - Two NASA astronauts who went to the International Space Station on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in early June for what was supposed to be an eight-day stay might not make it home until next year, NASA admitted on Wednesday. In what CNN describes as a "stunning change of tone...

NASA Delays Crew Launch Due to Starliner Issues

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have now been on the ISS for 2 months

(Newser) - NASA is delaying its next astronaut launch to buy more time at the International Space Station for Boeing's troubled new crew capsule. The space agency said Tuesday it's bumping SpaceX's four-person flight from this month to next. It's now targeted for Sept. 24 at the earliest....

NASA Spots a 'Super Jupiter'
NASA Spots
a 'Super Jupiter'
Jul 24, 2024 5:08 PM CDT

NASA Spots a 'Super Jupiter'

Planet takes more than a century to go around its star

(Newser) - A super Jupiter has been spotted around a neighboring star by the Webb Space Telescope—and it has a super orbit. As the AP reports, the planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass. Its atmosphere is also rich in hydrogen like Jupiter's....

Moon Landing Anniversary Is Upon Us
Moon Landing Anniversary
Is Upon Us
Jul 20, 2024 7:32 AM CDT

Moon Landing Anniversary Is Upon Us

NASA, museums have plenty of ways to celebrate

(Newser) - The cosmos is providing a full moon for the 55th anniversary of the first lunar landing this weekend, and plenty of other events honor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's giant leap. Aldrin, 94, the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, headlines a gala at the San Diego...

NASA Sends First Hip-Hop Song to Space
NASA Beams
Hip-Hop Song to Venus
Jul 17, 2024 2:40 PM CDT

NASA Beams Hip-Hop Song to Venus

Missy Elliott song traveled to her favorite planet at the speed of light

(Newser) - NASA is planning two missions to Venus later this decade, but Missy Elliott got there a lot sooner. The space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the Deep Space Network beamed Elliott's hit "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" to Venus on Friday. The agency says it's the...

Rare Daytime Fireball Streaks Over NYC
This Was NYC's Skyline Tuesday
Jul 17, 2024 10:33 AM CDT

This Was NYC's Skyline Tuesday

A rare meteor streaked over the Statue of Liberty, was widely ignored by busy New Yorkers

(Newser) - A meteor streaked across the sky above New York City on Tuesday morning, stunning residents—at least those who could be bothered to look up. "A meteor that had traveled millions of miles through deep space entered the atmosphere, passed above the Statue of Liberty, zoomed over the tourist...

Space Telescope Captures Galaxies 'Penguin' and 'the Egg'

Images mark the Webb telescope's second anniversary

(Newser) - The Webb Space Telescope has captured a pair of glowing, interacting galaxies, per the AP . The observatory operated by NASA and the European Space Agency photographed the two galaxies 326 million light-years away, surrounded by a blue haze of stars and gas. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles. The...

Stranded Astronauts Keep Faith
Stranded Astronauts Keep Faith
Jul 10, 2024 4:35 PM CDT

Stranded Astronauts Keep Faith

NASA test pilots hold news conference in orbit

(Newser) - Two astronauts who should have been back on Earth weeks ago said Wednesday that they're confident that Boeing's space capsule can return them safely, despite breakdowns. NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing's new Starliner capsule early last month, the first people to...

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