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New Horizons awake for Pluto encounter
Speeding through the outer solar system after a nine-year trek from Earth, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is awake and preparing for an encounter next summer with Pluto.
Photos: Orion capsule plucked from the Pacific
A recovery team stationed in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California secured NASA's Orion spacecraft and winched it into the flooded well deck of a U.S. Navy transport ship after the capsule splashed down into the sea to wrap up a successful four-and-a-half hour test flight.
Chinese-Brazilian Earth observation satellite launched
An Earth-watching satellite developed by China and Brazil lifted off on a Long March 4B rocket, replacing an environmental craft lost in a launch mishap last year.
VideoAriane 5 sends up satellites for DirecTV, India
Two communications satellites rode an Ariane 5 rocket into space Saturday -- one to beam down ultra-sharp television programming into millions of American homes and another craft to give Indian citizens expanded access to information technology.
Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off on commercial flight
After a two-day delay caused by unfavorable high-altitude winds, an Ariane 5 rocket lifted off Saturday at 3:40 p.m. EST (2040 GMT) from French Guiana with communications satellites for DirecTV and India.
VideoJohn Grunsfeld speaks about Orion’s science goals
John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, speaks about the EFT-1 test flight and science opportunities made possible by the Orion capsule and its Space Launch System rocket.
ESA member states commit funding for Orion service module
As a barebones Orion spacecraft awaits its first launch from Cape Canaveral, representatives of European governments agreed to fund the development of a power and propulsion element to take the crew capsule on voyages around the moon, to an asteroid, and eventually to Mars.
Hayabusa 2 launches on audacious asteroid adventure
A Japanese H-2A launcher blasted off from an idyllic island spaceport Tuesday, dispatching a daring six-year expedition to bring a piece of an asteroid back to Earth.
Philae’s “little cousin” heading for asteroid touchdown
Weeks after accomplishing the first touchdown on a comet, the team of European scientists that developed the Philae landing craft is awaiting launch of a related robot riding piggyback with Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to achieve the same feat on an asteroid.
VideoJapan set to launch asteroid sample return mission
Japan is readying an H-2A rocket for liftoff Tuesday to kick off an audacious six-year roundtrip journey to a carbon-rich asteroid, drop a fleet of landers to its surface, collect primordial rock samples, and return the materials to terrestrial laboratories for analysis.