NASA

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Humans May Have Arrived on the Sun's '4-Yard Line'

NASA awaits confirmation of historic solar mission on Christmas Eve

(Newser) - Confirmation awaits, but NASA scientists appear to have pulled off a remarkable Christmas Eve voyage on two fronts:
  • The sun: The space agency's Parker Solar Probe by now should have wrapped up a flight to within 3.8 million miles of the sun, the closest any craft has ever
...

NASA Probe Has Historic Assignment
NASA Probe
Has Historic
Assignment
Dec 22, 2024 10:30 AM CST

NASA Probe Has Historic Assignment

Parker will be sent closer to the sun than any previous mission

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun this week than any object sent before. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a...

NASA's 2 Stuck Astronauts Just Got Delayed Again

Their 8-day mission will last at least 10 months

(Newser) - NASA's two stuck astronauts just got their space mission extended again. That means they won't be back on Earth until spring, 10 months after rocketing into orbit on Boeing's Starliner capsule. NASA announced the latest delay in Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' homecoming on Tuesday. The two...

NASA Delays Moon Missions Again
NASA Delays
Moon Missions Again
Dec 5, 2024 2:00 PM CST

NASA Delays Moon Missions Again

Moon landing won't happen until 2027 at the earliest

(Newser) - NASA announced more delays Thursday in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo. Administrator Bill Nelson said the next mission in the Artemis program—sending four astronauts around the moon and back—is now targeted for April 2026, the AP reports. It had been on...

Trump Picks Billionaire Private Astronaut to Lead NASA

Jared Isaacman was first private citizen to walk in space

(Newser) - The first billionaire to walk in space is in line to become the first billionaire to lead NASA. President-elect Trump announced Wednesday that Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4, is his choice for NASA administrator. In a Truth Social post, Trump described Isaacman as "an...

NASA Radar Spots Secret City US Built Under Greenland's Ice
NASA Radar Spots Secret City
US Built Under Greenland's Ice
in case you missed it
Dec 1, 2024 3:20 PM CST

NASA Radar Spots Secret City US Built Under Greenland's Ice

New image provides a more detailed look at abandoned compound

(Newser) - "We were looking for the bed of the ice and out pops Camp Century," NASA scientist Chad Greene said after spotting the secret city and Cold War relic in Greenland. Greene and his team were flying over the Greenland Ice Sheet in April, CBS News reports, when their...

Russian Cargo Ship Brings Supplies to ISS —and a Stench

Odd smell, droplets, which raised fears of contamination, attributed to 'outgassing'

(Newser) - A cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, but shortly after Russian cosmonauts opened the hatch, they had to slam it shut again. The cosmonauts noticed a strange stench coming from the Russian Progress 90 spacecraft, which brought a load of food and equipment. They also "...

Russia, US Disagree on Space Station Leak
ISS Is Leaking. NASA Thinks
That Could Be 'Catastrophic'
in case you missed it
Nov 17, 2024 12:45 PM CST

ISS Is Leaking. NASA Thinks That Could Be 'Catastrophic'

But Russia's Roscosmos maintains that operations are safe

(Newser) - With astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for months, you may have forgotten all about the aging space station's persistent air leaks . Well, they're still there and, according to NASA, they are now the ISS' most pressing issue, threatening the safety of the astronauts on board, CNN...

Some Votes Came From Out of This World

NASA's didn't let little thing like being on a work trip 250 miles above Earth stop astronauts from voting

(Newser) - Work trips take Americans away from their polls on Election Day all the time, so we have absentee ballots. Work trips take astronauts a bit beyond the reach of standard absentee ballots, so NASA put together the Space Communication and Navigation Program. As Quartz reports, four astronauts aboard the International...

Voyager 1 Reaches NASA by Turning On Old Transmitter

Main component had been switched off automatically when fault protection system was triggered

(Newser) - A radio transmitter that's been a backup for decades has helped reestablish communication with Voyager 1 after NASA lost touch for days. The blackout began on Oct. 19, CNN reports. The team suspects the fault protection system was triggered, causing the system to turn off the X-band transmitter and...

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...

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