Tracking Trends, Breaking News
The failure of a SpaceX rocket’s upper stage engine late Thursday that stranded 20 Starlink internet satellites in a low, non-survivable orbit will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and likely will delay at least one and possibly two upcoming piloted flights of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets. The mishap ended a remarkable string
Read More
SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites from California Thursday, but the engine powering the rocket’s second stage suffered a catastrophic failure, if not an explosion, during an attempt to carry out a final “burn” to raise the low point of the orbit, company founder Elon Musk posted early Friday on X. Musk referred
Read More
The crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft said Wednesday they’re confident the capsule will carry them safely back to Earth at the end of their extended stay aboard the International Space Station, despite helium leaks in the ship’s propulsion system and trouble with maneuvering thrusters. Launched June 5, commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams
Read More
Running years behind schedule, Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket blasted off on its maiden flight Tuesday, thundering away from the European Space Agency’s jungle launch site in French Guiana in a bid to restore independent European access to space. Facing increasingly stiff international competition, Europe’s space agencies see the Ariane 6 as critical to re-establishing
Read More
Four volunteers have emerged from NASA’s simulated Mars environment after more than a year spent on a mission that never actually departed Earth. The volunteer crew members spent more than 12 months inside NASA’s first simulated Mars habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston, which was designed to help scientists and researchers anticipate what a
Read More
The return to Earth of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is on indefinite hold pending results of new thruster tests and ongoing analysis of helium leaks that cropped up during the ship’s rendezvous with the International Space Station, NASA announced Friday. But agency officials insisted Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams are not “stranded”
Read More
A powerful SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket boosted a hurricane-hunting GOES weather satellite into orbit Tuesday, the final member of a four-satellite fleet at the heart of an $11 billion upgrade to the nation’s forecasting infrastructure. “NOAA’s geostationary satellites are an indispensable tool for protecting the United States and the one billion people who live and
Read More
Beijing – China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday with rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first. The probe landed in northern China on Tuesday afternoon in the Inner Mongolian region. “I now declare that the Chang’e 6 Lunar Exploration Mission achieved complete
Read More
Starliner trip home from ISS delayed to assess helium leaks – CBS News Watch CBS News NASA has again postponed the troubled Boeing Starliner’s trip home from the International Space Station as crews assess a series of helium leaks. Those leaks had also delayed the first crewed launch of the ship multiple times. Mark Strassmann
Read More
Floating in the International Space Station’s Quest airlock module, veteran spacewalkers Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt were preparing to head outside Monday to finish a spacewalk that was called off June 13 when Dyson reported a significant water leak from her spacesuit’s cooling system, saying “there’s literally water everywhere.” The leak was stopped when Dyson
Read More