Live coverage: Russia launches first crewed mission since Soyuz failure

The Trump administration is proposing $19.1 billion for NASA in its fiscal 2018 budget blueprint, a 0.8 percent decrease from 2017 funding levels, focusing on deep space exploration, both human and robotic, and increased public-private partnerships to lower costs and encourage private sector innovation.

Blue Origin launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket Thursday, putting two small NASA satellites onto a long, looping course to Mars to learn more about how the sun has slowly blown away the red planet’s once thick atmosphere.

Astronaut Scott Kelly, settling in aboard the International Space Station for a marathon 342-day stay in orbit, said Monday he is looking forward to serving as a test subject for medical research on the long-duration effects of weightlessness, data he said would help pave the way for eventual flights to Mars.