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On Apollo anniversary, Soyuz crew set for launch to space station
Fifty years to the day after Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, a NASA astronaut, an Italian flight engineer and a Russian commander geared up for launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft Saturday on a six-hour flight to the International Space Station.
Falcon 9 rocket test-fired ahead of station cargo launch
SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Friday evening, igniting nine Merlin engines for several seconds while hold-down restraints kept the launcher on the ground. The company also confirmed the rocket is scheduled for takeoff Wednesday on a space station resupply mission, three days later than previously planned.
Video: Falcon 9 fires up engines for static fire test (members only)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine first stage engines for a brief hold-down firing Friday at Cape Canaveral, passing a key milestone before launch July 24 with a Dragon space station resupply ship.
Live coverage: Falcon 9 ignited for test-firing ahead of launch next week
After several delays earlier this week, SpaceX conducted a hold-down test-firing of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Friday evening in a key test before launch next week on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
SpaceX points to leaky valve as culprit in Crew Dragon test accident
Investigators believe a leak of propellant inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system led to the capsule's explosion April 20 during a ground test at Cape Canaveral, and a senior SpaceX official said Monday that delays are making it "increasingly difficult" to fly astronauts on the commercial spaceship before the end of the year.
Firefly to build U.S. version of Israeli Beresheet lunar lander
Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based company which is already developing a small satellite launcher, has signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries to build lunar landers in the United States and carry NASA science instruments to the moon, officials announced Tuesday.
Newly-released videos show SpaceX payload fairing coming back to Earth
New videos released Wednesday by SpaceX show the payload fairing from the company's Falcon Heavy rocket plunging back into the atmosphere after launch June 25, trailing a wake of haunting blue super-heated plasma before unfurling a parafoil and landing in the net of an offshore recovery ship.
Mars lander’s ground team begins inspection of stuck instrument
In a bit of interplanetary troubleshooting, the robot arm on NASA's InSight Mars lander has lifted a support structure to reveal an underground thermal probe that got stuck soon after it started hammering into the Red Planet's surface earlier this year.
More photos from SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy night launch
The predawn launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center of a Falcon Heavy rocket June 25 was the first nighttime liftoff of SpaceX's heavy-lifter, the most powerful launcher currently operational anywhere in the world. The Falcon Heavy's two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral less than nine minutes later.
NASA approves development of flying drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan
NASA officials announced Thursday that the agency will move forward with the development of a plutonium-powered robotic quadcopter drone to explore Saturn's moon Titan, a hazy world covered with dunes and methane lakes that scientists say is reminiscent of the ancient Earth.