After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the Moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday. During transit to the Moon, engineers performed a mid-course correction [...]

(Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - artist's impression; credit: NASA) Two NASA spacecraft will reach major mission milestones early Tuesday morning as they approach the mOON - one will send back live streaming imagery via the Internet as it swings by the Moon, the other will insert itself into lunar orbit to begin mapping the [...]

(image credit: NASA) A Europe-wide education event will link the International Space Station with hundreds of schoolchildren in several European cities. In a live link-up with the ISS, scheduled for 21 September, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne will perform a simple experiment in space to demonstrate the effects of freefall. The event is enabled [...]

(Proba 2; credit: ESA) Following an agreement between ESA, Krunichev Space Centre and Eurockot Launch Services, ESA's next Earth Explorer mission SMOS and a secondary payload, the technology demonstrator Proba-2 satellite, will now launch on 2 November 2009. The new November launch date follows a rescheduling of the previously announced date of 9 [...]

Space Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon says engineers believe they now understand why a hydrogen gas vent line has been leaking, causing shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to be postponed twice. He says a plate that attaches the vent line to Endeavour's external fuel tank is slightly misaligned and that's allowing a small leak to happen [...]

The NASA Constellation Program is developing an astronaut escape system for its Orion spacecraft, designed to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2015 and to the lunar surface by 2020. In a parallel effort, another NASA team, led by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), is preparing to demonstrate an alternate escape [...]

(Jack Hills, Australia; image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team) The oldest material on Earth which has yet been dated by man is a zircon mineral that is 4.4 billion years old and comes from a sedimentary gneiss in the Jack Hills of Australia's Narre Gneiss Terrane. It is [...]

At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, technicians moved the rotating service structure back around space shuttle Endeavour on June 18, one day after the shuttle's second STS-127 launch attempt was scrubbed due to a reoccurring hydrogen gas leak. Located in the hydrogen venting system outside Endeavour's external fuel tank, the leak postponed launch [...]

Space Shuttle Program teams are working on plans for carrying out a through engineering investigation into the reoccurring hydrogen gas leak that has postponed space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station until next month. A leak in the hydrogen venting system outside Endeavour's external fuel tank postponed Endeavour's launches Saturday and Wednesday. [...]

(European Space Agency) An enormous eruption has found its way to Earth after travelling for many thousands of years across space. Studying this blast with ESA's XMM-Newton and Integral space observatories, astronomers have discovered a dead star belonging to a rare group: the magnetars. X-Rays from the giant outburst arrived on Earth on 22 August 2008, [...]

Taking a mid-day stroll, an alligator crosses the Saturn Causeway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in front of the Astrovan with STS-127 crew members aboard. The crew was on its way to Launch Pad 39A on June 2 for a simulated launch countdown, part of the terminal countdown demonstration test. The crew [...]

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, rolled aboard their Atlas V rocket to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Wednesday morning in preparation for launch on Thursday. The spacecraft left its processing facility at 10:02 EDT and arrived at the [...]

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, launch managers met to discuss filling space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank in preparation for the STS-127 launch scheduled for 5:40 a.m. EDT on June 17. Due to current weather conditions, fueling did not begin as scheduled at 8:15 p.m. There was a 40 percent chance of weather prohibiting tanking [...]

At 1:15 p.m. EDT today, clocks at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida began counting back from T-11 hours toward the liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour. Launch is scheduled for 5:40 a.m. EDT Wednesday, June 17. Endeavour is in launch position at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following rollback of the Launch Pad 39A [...]

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch on its STS-127 mission at 5:40 a.m. EDT Wednesday, June 17. As a result, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, are set to lift off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on [...]

The open rotating service structure, or RSS (left), on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida reveals space shuttle Endeavour poised for launch. NASA managers have scheduled the next launch attempt of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission for 5:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 17. The launch [...]

(Image credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA) Saturn's moon Enceladus may be harbouring pre-biotic processes. A European instrument team on the joint ESA-NASA Cassini-Huygens mission to the ringed planet has discovered sodium salts in the ice grains of the planet's outermost ring. This ring is replenished by the geysers on the small [...]

NASA managers will make a final decision by Monday afternoon about whether to launch space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday, June 17 or wait until later in the week. Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are working to fix a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside Endeavour's external fuel tank. The leak postponed [...]

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are working to fix a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. The leak postponed Endeavour's Saturday morning scheduled launch to the International Space Station. Early this morning, teams gained access to the area where the leak occurred on Kennedy's Launch [...]

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are working to fix a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. The leak postponed Endeavour's Saturday morning scheduled launch to the International Space Station. Early this morning, teams gained access to the area where the leak occurred on Kennedy's Launch [...]

The launch of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station is on hold due to a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 12:26 [...]

Pictured on the front row are astronauts Mark Polansky (right), commander, and Doug Hurley, pilot. Remaining crewmembers, pictured from left to right, are astronauts Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency's Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, all mission specialists. Kopra is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to [...]

June 11: Taking part in a prelaunch news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida about the STS-127 mission are (from left) Mike Moses, launch integration manager and chair of the Mission Management Team; Pete Nickolenko, STS-127 shuttle launch director; Koki Oikawa, Japan Experiment Module, or JEM, Project Team function manager; Pierre Jean, director [...]

Because of weather concerns and launch site preparation needs, NASA has rescheduled the test launch of the Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, to no earlier than June 20 at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The launch window June 20 extends from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT. The launch [...]

(credit: NASA) Space shuttle Endeavour is ready to carry seven astronauts and a key piece of the Japanese laboratory complex to the International Space Station, said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. 'We're in really good shape to fly,' Moses said. The team carefully reviewed the spacecraft to make sure nothing was [...]

Prelaunch activities remain on schedule at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the agency prepares for liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission, a 16-day flight to the International Space Station. As Endeavour's three fuel cells are loaded with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the mission management team will meet for a [...]

(credit: NASA/JPL) NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has been assembled and is undergoing final preparations for a planned Nov. 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The mission will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearing house of hundreds of millions of objects - everything from the [...]

NASA has announced a new funding opportunity that could result in the award of cooperative agreements for projects designed to educate students, teachers and lifelong learners about global climate change. Proposals for Global Climate Change Education: Research Experiences, Teaching and Learning are expected to leverage NASA's unique contributions in climate and Earth system science to [...]

The countdown to launch of space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission officially began at 9 a.m. today as countdown clocks began counting backward from T-43 hours. Prelaunch activities remain on schedule as NASA prepares for liftoff of Endeavour on Saturday, June 13, at 7:17 a.m. EDT. The seven STS-127 crew members arrived at Kennedy [...]

The Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya has completed a productive operational phase and will conclude its scientific mission with a controlled impact on the lunar surface, scheduled for 18:30 UT (14:30 EDT/20:30 CEST) today. The impact is expected to occur on the near-side of the Moon, in the dark area close to the limb, at lunar [...]

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt completed an 'internal' spacewalk Wednesday at 3:07 a.m. EDT. Padalka and Barratt replaced a Zvezda hatch with a docking cone. The excursion took place internally with the spacewalkers attached to umbilicals in Zvezda for life support. It lasted about 12 minutes. Docking antennas, a docking [...]

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is examining Mars again with its scientific instruments after successfully transitioning out of a precautionary standby mode triggered by an unexpected June 3 rebooting of its computer. Engineers brought the spacecraft out of the standby mode on June 6. Cameras and other scientific instruments resumed operation June 9. The Mars [...]

The Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya has completed a productive operational phase and will conclude its scientific mission with a controlled impact on the lunar surface, scheduled for 18:30 UT (14:30 EDT/20:30 CEST) today. The impact is expected to occur on the near-side of the Moon, in the dark area close to the limb, at lunar [...]

Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt completed an 'internal' spacewalk Wednesday at 3:07 a.m. EDT. Padalka and Barratt replaced a Zvezda hatch with a docking cone. The excursion took place internally with the spacewalkers attached to umbilicals in Zvezda for life support. It lasted about 12 minutes. Docking antennas, a docking [...]

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is examining Mars again with its scientific instruments after successfully transitioning out of a precautionary standby mode triggered by an unexpected June 3 rebooting of its computer. Engineers brought the spacecraft out of the standby mode on June 6. Cameras and other scientific instruments resumed operation June 9. The Mars [...]

NASA's Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, is scheduled to be tested June 15 at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The launch window extends from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT. The unpiloted test is part of an effort to design a system for safely propelling future spacecraft and crews [...]

The results of the second annual NASA Lunar Art Contest are out-of-this-world productions from high school and college students from around the globe. 'Crater Core Sample,' a painting by Zachary Madere of the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Lakewood, Colo., was judged the best of more than 90 imaginative entries. The painting [...]

NASA is inviting the public to make its voice heard as a panel of experts undertakes an independent review of planned U.S. human space flight activities. NASA has created a Web site for the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee to facilitate a two-way conversation with the public about the future direction of [...]

Kennedy Space Center has invited media to view the Ares I-X rocket Forward Assembly move on Thursday, June 11, from the Assembly Refurbishment Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building for processing for the upcoming flight test this summer. Manufactured by Major Tool and Machine in Indiana under a subcontract [...]

On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-127 Mission Specialists Julie Payette (left) and Tom Marshburn get a close look at the payload in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. The payload includes the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF and the Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The astronauts [...]

June 3: The crew is at Kennedy for a launch dress rehearsal called the terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, which includes emergency exit training and equipment familiarization. Endeavour's STS-127 mission is the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. NASA managers completed [...]

NASA managers completed a review Wednesday of space shuttle Endeavour's readiness for flight and selected June 13 as the official launch date for the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A [...]

NASA has selected 13 informal education providers to share $6.9 million in grants through the Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums. Participating organizations include museums, planetariums, Challenger Centers, aquariums, and other institutions of informal education. Selected projects will partner with NASA's Museum Alliance, an Internet-based, nationwide network of more than 350 science centers, planetariums, [...]

Cloud chasers studying Saturn's moon Titan say its clouds form and move much like those on Earth, but in a much slower, more lingering fashion. Their forecast for Titan's early autumn — warm and wetter. Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have monitored Titan's atmosphere for three-and-a-half years, between July 2004 and December 2007, and observed [...]

ESA-selected Mars500 crewmember Oliver Knickel reports back from inside the special isolation facility at the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow where the six-strong crew have now completed the ninth week of their simulated Mars mission. Mars500 crew during the 105-day study. The crew will remain in the habitat at the Institute of [...]

Team Edwards celebrated the life of a U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School student during a memorial service at hangar 1207 May 28. Maj. Mark 'Dash' Graziano, TPS Class 09-A student, died May 21 when his T-38 Talon crashed nine miles north of Edwards in the Mojave Desert during a student-test mission. During the service, [...]

NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday evening, concluding a more than 2,500-mile cross-country ferry flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. The piggyback pair left Edwards Monday morning and flew to [...]

Space shuttle Atlantis is on its way to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a modified 747 jet known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on May 24, completing mission STS-125, a 13-day journey of approximately 5.3 million miles in space. With the STS-125 mission completed, [...]

Space shuttle Atlantis is being prepared to continue its cross-country ferry flight to Florida today. Managers met this morning for a weather briefing. They decided that Atlantis' departure on top of a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from Biggs Army Air Field, in El Paso, Texas now will take place no earlier than 8:40 [...]

Space Shuttle Atlantis, aboard Shuttle Carrier Aircraft NASA 911, left Edwards Air Force base at 11:06 EDT (15:06 UT) and landed at Biggs Army Air Field, Fort Bliss, Texas at 11:06 MDT (17:06 UT) on June 1, 2009. They will spend the night together at Fort Bliss before continuing tomorrow on the next stage of [...]