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2,317 articles
SpaceX preps for test of Dragon capsule’s life-saving abort system
A spaceship designed to ferry astronauts into orbit by 2017 is set for a major test Wednesday, when SpaceX plans to blast the capsule away from Cape Canaveral on a mile-high demo flight to simulate the craft's ability to protect occupants in the event of a catastrophic rocket mishap on the pad.
A taste of Italian culture makes it to the final frontier
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti got a taste of home Sunday when she tried out a new espresso maker that is part creature comfort and part science experiment.
House bill backs exploration at the expense of Earth science
A draft policy outline passed on a party-line vote by a House committee last week calls for redirecting funding from NASA's Earth science programs into the space agency's heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule programs, an outcome NASA's administrator said will set back climate change research.
Progress failure probe narrows in on separation from rocket
Something went wrong with a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft moments before it deployed into orbit Tuesday on the way to the International Space Station, and investigators are analyzing whether the stricken supply ship may have lost control after a botched separation from its Soyuz rocket booster.
VideoRussia gives up on Progress supply ship docking
Russian flight controllers have given up attempting to salvage a Progress cargo ship loaded with 3 tons of supplies and equipment intended for the International Space Station. Astronaut Scott Kelly, on board the lab for a year-long mission, said Wednesday the Progress will not be docking and instead will plunge back into the atmosphere.
VideoVideo: Russian cargo ship spinning
A video camera aboard Russian Progress cargo ship reveals craft is spinning dramatically in orbit as it passes in range of ground station communications.
VideoRussians scramble to restore cargo ship communications
A Russian Progress supply ship loaded with more than 3 tons of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station apparently spun out of control shortly after reaching orbit Tuesday, putting the resupply mission in jeopardy while flight controllers scrambled to come up with a fix.
Antenna snag strikes Progress cargo freighter
Russian ground controllers decided Tuesday to delay the docking of a Progress supply freighter to the International Space Station until Thursday after telemetry signals indicated two radar navigation antennas may not have deployed following the ship's launch from Kazakhstan.
Decision on new space station cargo contracts deferred
NASA expects to select commercial contractors to resupply the International Space Station in September, three months later than the agency's previous timetable under a competition for cargo deliveries beginning in 2018.
Dragon pad abort test set for early May
A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday.