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NASA’s huge moon rocket faces critical test-firing before first launch
A critical test firing Saturday of the four main engines powering the first stage of NASA's gargantuan Space Launch System moon rocket is the final major hurdle before the fully assembled booster's costly, oft-delayed launch late this year on an unpiloted test flight.
NASA mission extension enables first flybys of Jupiter’s moons in 20 years
In a pair of mission extensions, NASA has cleared the way for more seismic observations on Mars with the robotic InSight lander and approved plans for the Juno spacecraft to alter its orbit and perform close flybys of Jupiter's icy moon Europa, Ganymede, and the volcanic moon Io.
VideoNASA sets mid-January target for SLS hot fire test
NASA is moving forward with a crucial test-firing of the core stage of the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket as soon as Jan. 17 after engineers were satisfied with the results of a fueling test last month.
Canadian astronaut to join NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission around the moon
A Canadian space flier will join three NASA crew members on the first piloted flight of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft around the moon, becoming the first non-U.S. astronaut on a lunar voyage, officials announced last week.
Lockheed Martin to buy rocket engine-builder Aerojet Rocketdyne
Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense contractor, announced late Sunday that it has reached a deal valued at $4.4 billion to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, a supplier of engines to NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket and United Launch Alliance's Atlas, Delta, and Vulcan rockets.
Chinese sample return capsule lands on Earth after round-trip flight to moon
A capsule containing moon rocks landed in a remote, snow-covered corner of China Wednesday, bringing home the first samples from the lunar surface in 44 years and completing the Chinese space program's most challenging robotic mission to date.
Chinese spacecraft heading back to Earth with lunar samples
A Chinese spacecraft ferrying rocks drilled from the moon’s surface is on course to land back on Earth Wednesday and deliver the first fresh lunar samples to scientists since the 1970s.
Scientists thrilled with asteroid treasure returned by Japanese spacecraft
Japanese space agency officials said Tuesday they found a "large number" of pitch black rock and dust particles after opening a capsule returned to Earth earlier this month by the Hayabusa 2 mission, giving eager scientists their first significant specimens ever brought back from an asteroid.
Full video of Starship’s seven-minute high-altitude test flight
This video replay shot from South Padre Island shows SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype rocket taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, climbing high into the atmosphere, then gliding back to a fiery crash landing after an otherwise successful test flight.
Spectators watch the final fiery moments of the Starship test flight
Spectators on South Padre Island watch the Starship prototype end its test flight in a fiery crash landing.