News Archive

Space station crew ready to close out 167-day mission

Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. Navy test pilot will buckle into custom-molded seats inside a Soyuz spaceship Wednesday, undock from the International Space Station and head for a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan to close out a 167-day space voyage.

On this date: March 8

#OTD in 2001, Discovery launched on STS-102 to exchange crews aboard the International Space Station

On this date…March 4 launch of STS-62

#OTD in 1994, the launch of Columbia on the STS-62 microgravity research mission

NASA probe closes in on dwarf planet Ceres

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is closing in on the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, beaming back increasingly sharp pictures revealing a heavily cratered world with unexpected spots of light that may be reflections off exposed ice or some other material.

On This Day… Endeavour Launches on ASTRO-2 Mission

#OTD in 1995, Endeavour launched on the ASTRO-2 astronomy mission:

On This Date…March 1

A mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope blasted off on this date in 2002.

Russian intelligence gets an upgrade with satellite launch

Russia launched a next-generation military reconnaissance satellite Friday, ushering in an era of digital mapping from orbit after decades of relying on film returned to Earth inside landing capsules.

On This Date…Feb. 28

Video: MMS preview briefing

During a Feb. 25 briefing at NASA headquarters, details were discussed about the upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, scheduled for launch March 12 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Falcon Heavy rocket hangar rises at launch pad 39A

SpaceX began erecting a new hangar at a former space shuttle launch pad in Florida last week, moving the historic facility closer to launching astronauts again.