Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

The mission, dubbed NG-21, was the second out of three planned launches of a Cygnus spacecraft onboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff happened on Sunday, Aug. 4, at 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 UTC).

Physicists are gearing up to send a re-engineered science instrument originally designed for lofty balloon flights high in Earth’s atmosphere to the International Space Station next week to broaden their knowledge of cosmic rays, subatomic particles traveling on intergalactic routes that could hold the key to unlocking mysteries about supernovas, black holes, pulsars and dark matter.

The Obama administration’s fiscal 2016 budget includes $18.5 billion for NASA — a half-billion-dollar increase — that continues development of a new mega-rocket and capsule for deep space exploration and significantly boosts funding for commercial spacecraft to ferry crews to and from the space station, agency officials said Monday.