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902 articles
Tanking test marks resumption of Delta 2 rocket’s final launch campaign
A team of United Launch Alliance and NASA engineers worked through Delta 2 launch day fueling procedures during a simulated countdown Wednesday for what should be the second-to-last time before the venerable rocket's final liftoff next month from California's Central Coast.
Hayabusa 2 probe gets a closer look at asteroid amid landing preps
The Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft dropped within a half-mile of asteroid Ryugu last week, probing its gravity field ahead of key decisions in the coming days to settle on a target site for the robotic mission's first sample collection attempt, and the best touchdown location for a European lander stowed on the mothership.
Scientists thrilled with closer views of Ceres’ famous salty crater
Fresh pictures from NASA's Dawn spacecraft have provided the sharpest glimpse yet of the bright salt deposits discovered inside a crater on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.
Arianespace aims for busy second half of 2018
Europe's first mission to Mercury, a quartet of Galileo navigation spacecraft, the world's first global winds observatory, and a new European weather satellite have arrived at an equatorial launch base in French Guiana in preparation for launches in the coming months.
Japanese spacecraft reaches asteroid after three-and-a-half-year journey
Japan's robotic Hayabusa 2 spacecraft arrived Wednesday at asteroid Ryugu, a diamond-shaped object more than a half-mile wide where the probe will attempt a brief landing later this year to collect rock specimens for return to Earth.
Growing dust storm encircles Mars, rover remains silent
The effects of a global dust storm on Mars have been observed by NASA's plutonium-powered Curiosity rover, which continues its scientific campaign as the thick veil of dust continues starving the aging Opportunity rover of solar energy on the other side of the planet.
Asteroid Ryugu revealed by approaching Japanese spacecraft
In the final days of a three-and-a-half year pursuit, Japan's Hayabusa 2 sample return spacecraft is beaming back clearer images of asteroid Ryugu, an unexplored object that scientists say resembles a spinning top or dumpling nearly 180 million miles from Earth.
Dawn spacecraft flying low over Ceres
In the closing months of a nearly 11-year mission, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has arrived in its final orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres and is obtaining the sharpest views yet of the king of the asteroid belt.
Huge dust storm knocks aging Mars rover out of contact with Earth
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, 14 years past its original 90-day design life, has dropped out of contact with Earth after powering down everything but its master clock in a bid to weather a huge dust storm that is blotting out the sun, preventing the solar-powered rover from recharging its batteries, mission managers said Wednesday.
NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe's engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the solar system's biggest planet.