NASA

Read the latest NASA news today on Newser.com

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Unusual Space Junk Mishap Results in Unusual Lawsuit

Florida family sues NASA over damaged home

(Newser) - When a small piece of space debris fell to Earth and damaged a home in Florida, it raised the interesting question of who should pay up. A new lawsuit filed by the family that owns the home thinks the answer is pretty simple: NASA. The unusual legal case stems from...

Boeing Is Struggling to Get Astronauts Home

Starliner astronauts will now return at least 8 days late

(Newser) - Ground Control had news for Captains Butch and Suni this week. Their return from the International Space Station, initially scheduled for June 18 and later pushed back to June 22, has been delayed until June 26. Their return on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has been held up by the same...

Boeing's Starliner Finally Gets Off the Ground

Launches NASA astronauts for the first time after years of delays

(Newser) - Boeing launched astronauts for the first time on Wednesday, reports the AP , belatedly joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for NASA. A pair of NASA test pilots blasted off aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule for the International Space Station, the first to fly the new spacecraft. The trip by...

Boeing Starliner Launch Scrubbed With Minutes to Go

One computer wasn't working properly, United Launch Alliance boss says

(Newser) - A computer called off Boeing's first astronaut flight on Saturday with 3 minutes, 50 seconds on the countdown clock. The cause was computer trouble, the AP reports. Crews in Cape Canaveral, Florida, then went to work to shut down safely and remove astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who...

Rivals: Musk's SpaceX Is an 'Anti-American' Empire

Critics gripe to 'NYT,' claiming space launch company is no 'accidental monopoly'

(Newser) - Elon Musk's SpaceX is the topic of conversation in the latest deep dive by the New York Times into his business practices, and the upshot is: His rivals aren't happy. They claim that although SpaceX is now a major player in the space launch arena, with NASA and...

Nation's First Black Astronaut Gets His Flight at 90

Ed Dwight's Blue Origin trip to space completes a 60-year quest

(Newser) - Ed Dwight's giant leap took 60 years. The first Black person to be trained as an astronaut, Dwight at last reached space on Sunday aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. The delay helped make Dwight, who's a few months older than William Shatner was during his flight,...

'Not Done Yet!' The Sun Emits Another Massive Solar Flare

This one appears to have only glanced Earth, so don't expect amazing auroras

(Newser) - The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly two decades Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places, per the AP . "Not done yet!" the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in an update. It's the biggest flare...

Mayan Intercropping Could Be Key to Food on Mars
Mayan Intercropping Could
Be Key to Food on Mars
NEW STUDY
May 12, 2024 1:45 PM CDT

Mayan Intercropping Could Be Key to Food on Mars

Researchers are experimenting with the ancient method on Martian-like dirt

(Newser) - The international space community has its sights set on humans landing on Mars by the mid-2030s, but a big question remains once astronauts get there: what will they eat? Researchers in the Netherlands at Wageningen University & Research are working to solve that particular problem in the long-term, when humans...

Boeing Ready for Test Flight to ISS With Astronauts on Board
Why Boeing's
Astronaut Launch
Was Called Off
UPDATED
May 7, 2024 4:05 PM CDT

Why Boeing's Astronaut Launch Was Called Off

Buzzing valve raised concerns Monday night

(Newser) - Boeing's first astronaut launch was called off because of a valve problem on the rocket Monday night. The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing's Starliner capsule for a flight to the International Space Station when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned...

Voyager 1 Is Fixed—Sort Of
Voyager 1 Is
Fixed—Sort Of
Apr 23, 2024 6:15 AM CDT

Voyager 1 Is Fixed—Sort Of

Scientists bypass faulty chip to receive coherent engineering data, but more work is needed

(Newser) - For the first time in months, NASA is receiving readable data from Voyager 1. The spacecraft exploring interstellar space at a distance of 15 billion miles sends back science and engineering data in binary code, but that code suddenly became garbled in November. NASA scientists reportedly found a malfunction in...

NASA Chief: China Is Hiding Its Military Goals in Space

'We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space program is a military program'

(Newser) - NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warned lawmakers about China's space program as he made his pitch for the agency's 2025 budget Wednesday. Nelson said China was using its civilian program to mask its military presence in space, AFP reports. "We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian...

How to Get Mars Rocks to Earth for Cheap? NASA Shrugs

Space agency seeks ideas to revive Mars Sample Return Mission

(Newser) - Calling all innovators: NASA is looking for out-of-the-box ideas about how to get Martian rocks to Earth in the next 15 years without breaking the bank. The space agency says it can't achieve this top priority before 2040 with the $5 billion to $7 billion in funding currently outlined....

Get Ready to Set Your Clocks for Moon Time

White House instructs NASA to figure out a unified standard of time to aid future missions

(Newser) - In the future, we'll have Earth time and we'll have Moon time. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on Tuesday directed NASA to establish what it called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), "a unified standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies"...

Total Solar Eclipse Isn't the Only Rare Cosmic Event This Year

NASA calls it a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to catch a glimpse of this exploding star

(Newser) - As April's total solar eclipse approaches, scientists say astrophiles are in for another cosmic treat in coming months. Dubbed by NASA as a "once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity," a rare event in a star system far, far away will cause it to shine brighter than Polaris, the North Star....

NASA Has Successfully Nudged an Asteroid
NASA Did a Number
On the Asteroid It Hit
UPDATED
Mar 20, 2024 9:55 AM CDT

NASA Did a Number On the Asteroid It Hit

Dimorphos' shape was changed, in addition to its orbit time, a new study finds

(Newser) - It's safe to say NASA's test of whether an asteroid could be nudged off a collision path with Earth was a success. The DART spacecraft's impact with the asteroid Dimorphos not only shaved 33 minutes and 15 seconds off the time it takes to circle its parent...

Apollo 10 Commander Tom Stafford Dead at 93
He Took 'Snoopy' to
Within 9 Miles of the Moon
OBITUARY
Mar 18, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

He Took 'Snoopy' to Within 9 Miles of the Moon

Apollo 10 commander Tom Stafford dead at 93

(Newser) - Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first US-Soviet space linkup, died Monday. He was 93. Stafford, a retired Air Force three-star general, took part in four space missions. Before Apollo 10, he flew on two Gemini flights, including the...

47-Year-Old Voyager Probe Responds to 'Poke'

Communication not entirely lost as received data could offer clues to malfunction

(Newser) - The bad news is the Voyager 1 mission team still isn't sure why the 47-year-old spacecraft is sending garbled messages from the outer reaches of the solar system. The good news is that the communication link isn't entirely severed across a gap of 15 billion miles, as a...

Voyager 1 Is Sending Back Garbled Messages

Losing contact with the aging craft is a scientific loss, but also an 'emotional' one

(Newser) - If you're still sentimental about Pluto's planetary status, get ready for a galactic gut punch. NASA's steadfast Voyager 1, which has been sending crucial data from space for nearly 50 years, is experiencing a serious glitch that may permanently end its communication back to Earth. NPR reports...

NASA Watched 'Helplessly' as 2 Satellites Got Perilously Close

Space agency's TIMED spacecraft, defunct Russian satellite came within 65 feet of each other last week

(Newser) - Last week, a NASA satellite "almost got clobbered high above Earth." That's the scoop from Space.com , which reports on a near collision last Wednesday between the space agency's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) research spacecraft, which has been in space studying data since...

Odysseus to Be 'Tucked in for the Cold Night of the Moon'

Moon lander broke leg upon landing on lunar surface

(Newser) - The first private US spacecraft to land on the moon broke a leg at touchdown before falling over , and had just a few hours of power left before its anticipated premature shutdown Wednesday night, the AP reports. Intuitive Machines, the company that built the lander, released new photos Wednesday, six...

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