Latest National Aeronautics and Space Administration News
Crash of private Japanese moon lander blamed on software, last-minute location switch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private Japanese moon lander went into free-fall while trying to land on the lunar surface last month, company officials said Friday, blaming a software issue and a last-minute switch in the touchdown location. The spacecraft belonging to the company...
SpaceX sends Saudi astronauts, including nation’s 1st woman in space, to International Space Station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday. SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that...
NASA picks Bezos' Blue Origin to build lunar landers for moonwalkers
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Bezos' rocket company has won a NASA contract to land astronauts on the moon, two years after it lost out to SpaceX. Blue Origin received a $3.4 billion contract Friday to lead a team to develop a lunar lander named Blue Moon. It will be used to...
Japanese company: 'High probability' lander crashed on moon
A Japanese company’s spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon Wednesday, losing contact moments before touchdown and sending flight controllers scrambling to figure out what happened. More than six hours after communication ceased, the Tokyo company ispace...
Ada Limón reappointed as US poet laureate
Ada Limón has been appointed to a second term as U.S. poet laureate and has numerous projects in the works, including a poem for NASA's Europa Clipper mission. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Monday that Limón will serve an additional two years, instead of the...
SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight Thursday and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built on a round-the-world trip...
Old NASA satellite plunges to Earth over Sahara Desert
An old NASA satellite that studied the sun for more than a decade fell to Earth over the Sahara Desert, the space agency reported Thursday. NASA officials said they have received no reports of damage or injury so far from the reentry, which occurred in the wee hours of the morning in...
Old NASA satellite falling to Earth, risk of danger 'low'
An old NASA satellite is expected to fall to Earth this week, but experts tracking the spacecraft say chances are low it will pose any danger. The defunct science satellite known as Rhessi will plummet through the atmosphere Wednesday night, according to NASA and the Defense...
What to know about 1st test flight of SpaceX's big Starship
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship. It's the biggest and mightiest rocket ever built at 400 feet (120 meters), with the lofty goals of ferrying people to the moon and Mars. Monday's...
Space race! Meteorites hit Maine, museum offers $25K reward
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Somewhere in a remote stretch of forest near Maine's border with Canada, rocks from space crashed to Earth and may be scattered across the ground — just waiting to be picked up. If you're the first person to find a big one, a museum says it'll pay out a...
