News Archive
Browse every article published on Spaceflight Now, from launch reports and mission previews to spacecraft development coverage. Use the filters to narrow by topic or search by keyword.
Matching Articles
607 articles
NASA probe finally on Pluto’s doorstep
Three billion miles and nine-and-a-half years from Earth, NASA's New Horizons probe is racing toward a historic July 14 flyby of Pluto, providing the first close-up views of the most famous denizen of the Kuiper Belt, a vast hinterland where uncounted remnants of the solar system's birth orbit in frozen solitude.
NASA names cadre of commercial crew astronauts
Four veteran astronauts have been selected to train for launch aboard new commercial crew capsules being built by Boeing and SpaceX that are intended to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station starting in 2017, NASA announced Thursday.
Progress resupply mission arrives at ISS
A Russian Progress cargo ship glided to a smooth docking with the International Space Station early Sunday, bringing more than 3 tons of supplies and equipment to the lab complex.
Russia launches cargo ship to station
Recovering from an April failure, Russia successfully launched a Progress cargo ship early Friday loaded with more than three tons of supplies and equipment needed to replenish stockpiles aboard the International Space Station.
New Horizons gets ‘all clear’ for Pluto flyby
After an exhaustive search for heretofore unseen rings, small moons or other space debris, senior managers have concluded that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, hurtling toward a July 14 flyby of Pluto at more than 30,000 mph, can safely stay on its current course without undue fears of a mission-ending impact.
New Horizons two weeks from Pluto flyby
NASA's New Horizons probe, now just 10 million miles from Pluto and 14 days from a historic July 14 flyby, is operating in near flawless fashion, making increasingly detailed observations of the enigmatic dwarf planet and its large moon Charon, project engineers and scientists reported Tuesday.
VideoFalcon 9 rocket destroyed in launch mishap
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with more than 4,000 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station -- including a critical docking adapter needed by future U.S. crew ships -- broke apart in a shower of debris shortly after launch Sunday.
Shuttle memorial honors crews, orbiters
In the first memorial of its kind, NASA and the families of the 14 men and women who lost their lives aboard the shuttle Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 have joined together to remember the astronauts with pictures, personal mementos and, in an emotional first, iconic wreckage from both orbiters.
New Horizons in good shape approaching Pluto
Now just three weeks from its historic flyby of Pluto, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is close enough to detect objects smaller and dimmer than the dwarf planet's smallest known moon and so far, nothing has been spotted that would pose a threat to the probe as it barrels through the system at more than 30,000 mph, scientists said Tuesday.
Comet lander wakes up!
The European Philae comet lander, out of power and presumably lost after bouncing into heavily shadowed terrain last November, phoned home Saturday after finally getting enough sunlight on its solar panels to transmit data to the Rosetta orbiter for relay to Earth.