Mars landing comes down to final 6 minutes of 6-month trip

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — For NASA's InSight spacecraft, it all comes down to the final six minutes of a six-month journey to Mars.

1st private moon flight passenger to invite creative guests

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said Monday that he plans to blast off on the first-ever commercial trip around the moon and will invite six to eight artists, architects, designers and other creative people on the weeklong journey.The SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket is scheduled to make the trip in 2023, Maezawa and company founder Elon Musk announced at an event Monday at its headquarters near Los Angeles.Maezawa, 42, said he wants his guests to be inspired to create once they return to Earth "to inspire the dreamer in all of us.""I wish to create amazing works of art for humankind," Maezawa said. "Just thinking about it now gets my heart racing."

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity snaps dusty selfie

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped a dusty but cool selfie.NASA released the panorama this week.

Elon Musk on calls to adopt healthier work-life balance: 'You think this is an option; It is not'

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Arianna Huffington is calling on Elon Musk to adopt a healthier work-life balance, but the Tesla CEO says that's not an option.In a tweet early Sunday after arriving home from a late night at a Tesla factory, Musk told the Huffington Post founder that his electric car company and Ford are the only two American automakers that have avoided bankruptcy.He then added, in an apparent reference to his long hours at work: "You think this is an option.

NASA spacecraft rockets toward sun for closest look yet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft zoomed toward the sun Sunday on an unprecedented quest to get closer to our star than anything ever sent before.As soon as this fall, the Parker Solar Probe will fly straight through the wispy edges of the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, that was visible during last August's total solar eclipse.

Last-minute technical problem delays NASA's flight to sun

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A last-minute technical problem Saturday delayed NASA's unprecedented flight to the sun.The early morning launch countdown was halted with just one-minute, 55 seconds remaining, keeping the Delta IV rocket on its pad with the Parker Solar Probe.Rocket maker United Launch Alliance said it would try again Sunday, provided the helium-pressure issue can be resolved quickly.

Astronauts picked for SpaceX, Boeing capsule test flights

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Friday assigned the astronauts who will ride the first commercial capsules into orbit next year and bring crew launches back to the U.S.SpaceX and Boeing are shooting for a test flight of their capsules by the end of this year or early next, with the first crews flying from Cape Canaveral, Florida, by next spring or summer.Nine astronauts were named to ride the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner capsules — five on the first crew flights and four on the second round of missions to the International Space Station."For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who made the introductions at Johnson Space Center.

NASA's record-breaking spacewoman retires as astronaut

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's record-breaking astronaut, Peggy Whitson, retired Friday less than a year after returning from her last and longest spaceflight.She's spent more time off the planet than any other American: 665 days over three space station missions.

Spacewalking astronauts set up TV cameras for arriving ships

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts set up TV cameras Thursday for new crew capsules set to arrive in coming months.The International Space Station's commander, Drew Feustel, and Ricky Arnold completed the installation — their main job — after struggling with a shield for protection against space debris.As the work got underway, Feustel had trouble removing the protective panel, in order to disconnect an old cable and hook up a new one for the cameras.

NASA rover knocked out as gigantic dust storm envelops Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's seemingly unstoppable Mars rover Opportunity has been knocked out by a gigantic dust storm that is enveloping the red planet and blotting out the sun.Officials said Wednesday they're hopeful the rover will survive the storm, which already covers one-quarter of Mars and is expected to encircle the planet in another few days.

'We were blown away:' NASA announces Curiosity rover finds sharp increases of methane on Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — New Mars discoveries are advancing the case for possible life on the red planet, past or even present.Scientists reported Thursday that NASA's Curiosity rover has found potential building blocks of life in an ancient Martian lakebed.

NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson being honored in bronze

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician whose calculations helped astronauts return to Earth, is being honored at her alma mater with a bronze statue and a scholarship in her name.West Virginia State University says a dedication ceremony is planned for Aug. 25, the day before Johnson's 100th birthday.Long before the digital era, Johnson worked as a human "computer" at the agency that became NASA, working in relative obscurity as an African-American woman.

Astronaut and moonwalker Alan Bean dies at 86

HOUSTON, Tx. -- Astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth person to walk on the moon, has died.A statement released by NASA and family members says Bean died Saturday in Houston after a short illness.

NASA spacecraft will have company all the way to Mars

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's next Mars explorer is going to have company all the way to the red planet.The Mars InSight lander will be trailed by a couple of puny yet groundbreaking sidekicks called WALL-E and EVE.

SpaceX rocket booster lands on floating platform; Tess satellite headed toward orbit

FLORIDA -- Just minutes after launching NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, the SpaceX rocket booster is back on Earth.The first-stage booster landed Wednesday evening on a floating platform in the Atlantic, just off the Florida coast.

NASA delays next-generation space telescope until 2020

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is delaying the launch of its next-generation space telescope — its highest science priority — until at least 2020.Top officials said Tuesday that more time is needed to assemble and test the James Webb Space Telescope, which is considered a successor to the long-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.It's the latest in a series of delays for the telescope, dating back a decade.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity marks 2,000th day on red planet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has now marked 2,000 days on the red planet.That's 2,000 days by Martian standards.

Astronaut's DNA no longer matches identical twin's after time in space, NASA finds

Spending a year in space not only changes your outlook, it transforms your genes.Preliminary results from NASA's Twins Study reveal that 7% of astronaut Scott Kelly's genes did not return to normal after his return to Earth two years ago.The study looks at what happened to Kelly before, during and after he spent one year aboard the International Space Station through an extensive comparison with his identical twin, Mark, who remained on Earth.NASA has learned that the formerly identical twins are no longer genetically the same.