Space & Astronomy News Headlines

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship and guided the privately owned craft into a docking berth on Friday, opening a new chapter in the U.S. space program. The unmanned capsule was the first commercial spaceship to reach the orbital outpost. …

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Even robots like to have fun. NASA's rover on Mars showed off its playful side by snapping a photo of its own shadow. It's the latest self-portrait since the rover, named Opportunity, landed on the red planet in 2004.

WASHINGTON - James Doohan, Scotty from "Star Trek," spent his acting career whizzing through the cosmos. Gordon Cooper was one of America's famous Mercury seven astronauts. And Bob Shrake spent his work life anonymously helping send NASA's high-tech spacecraft to other planets.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - For the first time, a private company will launch a rocket to the International Space Station, sending it on a grocery run this weekend that could be the shape of things to come for America's space program.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The California Science Museum said it has raised nearly half of the $200 million needed to build a permanent exhibit for the space shuttle Endeavour.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan - A Russian-made Soyuz craft carrying three astronauts has docked with the International Space Station, putting the crew in place for the imminent arrival of the first ever privately owned cargo ship to the orbiting lab.

A prominent NASA scientist penned a provocative column in the New York Times Thursday, suggesting the end of civilization could be nigh, thanks to Alberta's 'tar sands.' "Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was … Continue reading →

PASADENA, Calif. - The Mars rover Opportunity is on the go again.

NASA's scheduled flight of space shuttle Enterprise to New York City has been scuppered by a week of poor weather conditions, which have now pushed the delivery of the prototype orbiter back to Friday, the U.S. space agency says.

NASA's scheduled flight of space shuttle Enterprise to New York City has been scuppered by a week of poor weather conditions, which have now pushed the delivery of the prototype orbiter back to Friday, the U.S. space agency says.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A former computer specialist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was laid off because he was combative and didn't keep his skills sharp — not because he advocated for his belief in intelligent design while at work, an attorney said Monday in a case that plays on the tensions over the origins-of-life …

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Know how to go to Mars cheaply? NASA can use your help.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA has decided to keep its planet-hunting spacecraft running for several more years.

ATLANTIC, Va. - After several delays, NASA has launched five rockets from Virginia that are part of a study of the upper level jet stream.

WASHINGTON - A discarded chunk of a Russian rocket missed the International Space Station early Saturday. However, it came close enough to force six astronauts to seek shelter in escape capsules.

PASADENA, Calif. - A NASA spacecraft in orbit around the moon has sent back five dozen new images of the lunar surface including a view of the far side with Earth in the distance.

PASADENA, Calif. - Scientists analyzing the surface of a giant asteroid are puzzling over bright spots that represent some of the purest materials seen so far by a NASA spacecraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The Obama administration is preparing for a space tourism industry that is expected to be worth $1 billion in 10 years, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration's commercial space office said on Tuesday. Rocket planes and spaceships to carry passengers beyond the atmosphere, similar …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The International Space Station may provide the setting for a 500-day pretend trip to Mars in another few years.

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has postponed the launch of a new X-ray telescope to allow more time to check an issue with the rocket that will boost it into orbit.

Two new NASA videos use the latest close-up imagery of the moon from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to reveal Earth's natural satellite in a whole new light.

Astronauts who have spent prolonged periods in the zero gravity of space tend to show eye abnormalities linked to pressure around the brain, another study has confirmed.

Astronauts who have spent prolonged periods in the zero gravity of space tend to show eye abnormalities linked to pressure around the brain, another study has confirmed.

Astronomy enthusiasts are gearing up for a dazzling planetary conjunction this week during which Jupiter and Venus will appear to be side by side.

Astronomy enthusiasts are gearing up for a dazzling planetary conjunction this week during which Jupiter and Venus will appear to be side by side.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has landed robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, sent probes to outer planets and operates a worldwide network of antennas that communicates with interplanetary spacecraft.

NORFOLK, Va. - NASA will be launching a series of rockets to learn more about the little-understood jet stream winds that circle the Earth at the edge of space.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Flying in formation around the moon, a pair of NASA probes began mapping the lunar gravity field in hopes of figuring out why Earth's only natural satellite is shaped the way it is.