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Fate of NASA’s InSight Mars mission to be decided soon
NASA is close to deciding whether to spend an extra $150 million to send the InSight lander to Mars in 2018 or cancel the mission after an instrument problem made the spacecraft miss a launch opportunity this year, with a verdict on the project's future expected within weeks, officials said.
Water ice abounds in Pluto’s frigid bedrock
New maps produced from data gathered during the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of Pluto last year show surprisingly widespread water ice shaping mountains capped by methane snow and forming an underlying bedrock blanketing the distant world.
Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft breaks solar power distance record
NASA's Juno spacecraft bound for a rendezvous with Jupiter in July has set a record as the most distant solar-powered space probe ever flown.
Satellite launched to measure motions of the oceans
A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Live coverage: Falcon 9 launches ocean study satellite, barge landing fails
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California's Central Coast at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) Sunday with the Jason 3 oceanography satellite. A secondary objective of the mission to recover the first stage on a barge in the Pacific Ocean failed.
Photos: Falcon 9 poised on hillside launch pad in California
The first Falcon 9 flight of 2016 is ready for takeoff Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and these photos show the rocket positioned on its launch mount overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Launch timeline for Falcon 9/Jason 3 mission
Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket's ascent to orbit with the Jason 3 satellite, a joint project between European and U.S. weather agencies to monitor wave height and sea level in the world's oceans.
Ideal weather predicted for Falcon 9 launch Sunday
Meteorologists predict mostly sunny skies, mild temperatures and light winds Sunday for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California's Central Coast with a $364 million oceanography satellite for U.S. and European science institutions.
Jason 3 pre-launch news conference
The pre-launch news conference for the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission, scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. (Membership required.)
Photos: Jason 3 oceanography satellite encapsulated
The Jason 3 oceanography satellite, a joint project between U.S. and European weather agencies, is closed up inside the nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket awaiting launch from California's Central Coast on Sunday.