Live coverage: Mission control loses contact with Indian moon lander

In nearly five years on the job as Boeing’s Space Launch System program manager, John Shannon has presided over the completion of the first SLS core stage inside a cavernous factory in New Orleans.

In the closing months of a nearly 11-year mission, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has arrived in its final orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres and is obtaining the sharpest views yet of the king of the asteroid belt.

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, crowned with 31 satellites from 15 countries, is counting down to liftoff early Friday from an island spaceport on the country’s east coast.