Latest National Aeronautics and Space Administration News

Boeing's first astronaut flight called off at the last minute in latest setback

Jun. 01, 2024 22:21 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Last-minute computer trouble nixed Saturday’s launch attempt for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, the latest in a string of delays over the years. Two NASA astronauts were strapped in the company’s Starliner capsule when the countdown automatically...

Boeing's 1st astronaut flight now set for June after a review of small leak on new capsule

May. 24, 2024 15:40 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June, after spending the past few weeks struggling with more problems on the space capsule. Officials for the company and NASA said Friday that intensive reviews indicate the...

Ed Dwight, America's first Black astronaut candidate, finally goes to space 60 years later

May. 20, 2024 04:08 AM EDT

VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, finally rocketed into space 60 years later, flying with Jeff Bezos’ rocket company on Sunday. Dwight was an Air Force pilot when President John F. Kennedy championed him as a candidate for NASA’s...

Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch because of valve issue on rocket

May. 07, 2024 01:45 AM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on the rocket Monday night. The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule for a flight to the International Space Station when the countdown was...

Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the latest entry to space travel

May. 04, 2024 14:39 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — After years of delays and stumbles, Boeing is finally poised to launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the...

A horse-shaped nebula gets its close-up in new photos by NASA's Webb telescope

Apr. 29, 2024 16:57 PM EDT

DALLAS (AP) — NASA’s Webb Space Telescope has revealed the sharpest images yet of a portion of a horse-shaped nebula, showing the “mane” in finer detail. The Horsehead Nebula, in the constellation Orion, is 1,300 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7...

NASA astronauts arrive for Boeing's first human spaceflight

Apr. 25, 2024 18:34 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing’s first human spaceflight arrived at their launch site Thursday, just over a week before their scheduled liftoff. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will serve as test pilots for Boeing’s Starliner capsule,...

NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet

Apr. 23, 2024 16:04 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth stopped sending back understandable data last November. Flight controllers traced the blank communication to a bad computer chip and...

NASA confirms mystery object that crashed through roof of Florida home came from space station

Apr. 15, 2024 21:46 PM EDT

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — NASA confirmed Monday that a mystery object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home last month was a chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station. The cylindrical object that tore through the home in Naples on March 8...

NASA is seeking a faster, cheaper way to bring Mars samples to Earth

Apr. 15, 2024 18:08 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth is on hold until there’s a faster, cheaper way, space agency officials said Monday. Retrieving Mars soil and rocks has been on NASA’s to-do list for decades, but the date kept moving forward, as...