2014
265 articles
Isolated showers, gusty winds expected for Thursday’s Delta 4 launch
Weather forecasters will watch for isolated rain showers and gusty winds that could delay Thursday's launch of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket carrying NASA's Orion space capsule on its first flight into orbit.
VideoSoyuz rocket deploys upgraded Russian navigation craft
A new navigation satellite lifted off aboard a Soyuz rocket Sunday and reached an orbital perch 12,000 miles above Earth to test upgraded capabilities aimed at improving positioning services for Russian military and civilian users.
Ground team ready to rouse Pluto probe for historic flyby
On the final stretch of a speedy nine-year trek through the solar system, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will be awakened from hibernation Dec. 6 for an encounter with Pluto, a mysterious world that has captured imaginations and will soon be revealed in reality.
Launch of Japanese asteroid probe delayed
Poor weather at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan has grounded until at least Wednesday the launch of a $300 million robotic mission to fly to an asteroid, pick up samples and return them to Earth.
VideoThanksgiving in space
Six people living on the International Space Station shared an out-of-this-world Thanksgiving dinner in orbit.
Proton liftoff delayed by upper stage problem
A Proton rocket launch set will be delayed until December after Russian technicians discovered a faulty gyroscope on the launcher's Breeze M upper stage.
VideoSpaceX hopes to recover rocket intact after next launch
SpaceX will test out new stabilizing fins that could help land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating barge in the Atlantic Ocean after liftoff on a space station resupply mission in mid-December, according to Elon Musk, the company's billionaire leader.
Previous flights of the Delta 4-Heavy
As a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket prepares to carry NASA's Orion spaceship on its first orbital flight test, we look back at the seven previous Heavy launches.
Photos: Delta 4-Heavy ready for Orion flight test
The first flight test of Orion will be a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise to check critical systems of the crew capsule.
VideoThree-person crew docks with space station
Five hours and 48 minutes after a sky-lighting launch from Kazakhstan, a Russian Soyuz ferry craft carrying a crew of three representing Russia, the United States and Italy glided to a smooth docking at the International Space Station.