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Trump administration requests funding boost for NASA’s Artemis moon program
The Trump administration is requesting $25.2 billion for NASA in fiscal 2021, a 12 percent increase that includes $3.3 billion to kickstart development of a human-rated lander for the Artemis moon program. Nearly half of the budget request, $12.3 billion, is devoted to new and ongoing projects focused on the return to the moon and eventual flights to Mars.
Atlas 5 blasts off with Solar Orbiter
Under a brilliant moon, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flashed to life and vaulted away from Cape Canaveral late Sunday, boosting the European Space Agency's $1.5 billion Solar Orbiter probe out of Earth's gravitational grip toward a multi-year voyage around the sun that will give scientists their first glimpse of the star's poles.
NASA, Boeing managers admit problems with Starliner software verification
Two software errors detected after launch of a Boeing Starliner crew ship during an unpiloted test flight last December, one of which prevented a planned docking with the International Space Station, could have led to catastrophic failures had they not been caught and corrected in time, NASA said Friday.
Koch and crewmates back on Earth
Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station -- including the first all-female excursion -- joined a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge to landing in frigid Kazakhstan early Thursday, setting a new record for the longest single flight by a female.
Koch heads home after record-setting mission
Christina Koch, veteran of six spacewalks outside the International Space Station -- including the first all-female excursion -- will join a Russian commander and an Italian flight engineer for a fiery plunge back to Earth early Thursday, setting a new world record for the longest single flight by a female astronaut.
Astronauts finish repairs to space station cosmic ray detector
During a fourth spacewalk Saturday to wrap up repairs of the coolant system in a $2 billion cosmic ray detector, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and Drew Morgan discovered a leak in one of eight coolant lines that were spliced into a new pump module during three earlier excursions. But Parmitano was able to tighten a fitting on the line and the astronauts were able to complete the repair work, setting the stage for the instrument to resume science operations.
Spacewalkers complete another round of solar array battery replacements
It took NASA more than 50 years to stage its first all-female spacewalk last October. It took three months before the second on Jan. 15 and just five days more for the third on Monday, a successful six-hour 58-minute excursion to finish installing a set of new solar array batteries aboard the International Space Station.
Koch, Meir continue space station battery replacements on successful spacewalk
Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir floated back outside the International Space Station Wednesday for history's second all-female spacewalk, installing two powerful new lithium-ion batteries on the far left end of the lab's solar power truss.
Koch marks record stay in space for female astronaut
Astronaut Christina Koch, launched to the International Space Station in March, marks her 289th day in space Saturday, breaking retired astronaut Peggy Whitson's world record for the longest single spaceflight by a female.
NASA, Boeing clear Starliner for Friday launch
Boeing's Starliner capsule, carrying an instrumented astronaut test dummy nicknamed "Rosie," is on track for launch Friday on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, mission managers said Tuesday. The flight is a major milestone in NASA's push to resume launching U.S. crews from American soil.