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NASA challenges companies to mine lunar soil
NASA announced Thursday it plans to purchase lunar soil from a commercial company, an effort the agency's top official said is intended to set a precedent for the transfer of ownership of extraterrestrial material and stimulate a market harvesting resources from bodies throughout the solar system.
SLS booster test-fired in Utah
Northrop Grumman test-fired a five-segment solid-fueled booster for NASA's Space Launch System Wednesday at the company's test facility in Promontory, Utah.
NASA sets Oct. 23 as target launch date for first operational Crew Dragon mission
The first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts aboard is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Oct. 23, following a formal certification review to assess data from the Crew Dragon's two-man test flight that concluded earlier this month, NASA said Friday.
Penultimate piece of NASA’s first SLS rocket arrives at Kennedy Space Center
One of the final pieces for the first test flight of NASA's huge Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket recently arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, joining other elements already at the Florida spaceport awaiting shipment of the SLS core stage once it completes testing at a NASA facility in Mississippi.
Safety panel concerned about quality control on Boeing crew capsule
Members of NASA's independent panel of aerospace safety advisors raised concerns last week about quality control problems that "seemingly have plagued" Boeing's Starliner crew capsule program, while urging NASA to closely monitor SpaceX's plans to reuse Crew Dragon spaceships on astronaut flights to the International Space Station.
NASA chief still hopeful to get more money for moon landing effort
House lawmakers this week proposed to fund NASA's human-rated lunar lander development program at less than one-fifth of the level the Trump administration wanted, but NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday the House budget bill is just the "opening salvo" in an appropriations process that now goes to the Senate.
Coronavirus work stoppage likely to delay launch of NASA X-ray astronomy mission
A nearly three-month stoppage of on-site work due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus at NASA's Marshall Space Fight Center in Alabama is expected to push back the launch of the IXPE X-ray astronomy satellite from May 2021 until some time later next year, a senior space agency official said.
Astronauts gear up for Friday spacewalk amid planning for August Crew Dragon return
Space station commander Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken plan to float outside Friday for the first of up to four spacewalks needed to complete the replacement of aging batteries in the lab’s solar power system. NASA managers hope to get the work done in time for Behnken and crewmate Douglas Hurley to return to Earth aboard their Crew Dragon capsule by around Aug. 2, officials said Wednesday.
NASA agrees to fly astronauts on reused Crew Dragon spacecraft
NASA has agreed to allow its astronauts to fly on reused Crew Dragon spaceships and Falcon 9 boosters beginning as soon as SpaceX's third launch of a crew to the International Space Station, a mission expected to launch next year.
VideoSLS booster segments arrive in Florida, but stacking on hold until core stage test
Fueled segments of the solid rocket boosters that will lift off on the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but officials will hold off on stacking the boosters until the SLS core stage completes a crucial test-firing later this year.