Space launches
FILE - This Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, shows a full-scale model of the Ingenuity helicopter displayed for the media at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Space engineer Loay Elbasyouni was part of the NASA team that made history this month by launching an experimental helicopter from the surface of Mars. But he says an expedition to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, where posters celebrate his achievement, feels even farther off because of Israeli and Egyptian restrictions. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Gazan behind Mars drone says visiting home is no small step

By Fares Akram Apr. 29, 2021 01:13 PM EDT

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off in this time exposure from Launch Complex 39A Friday, April 23, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
SpaceX launches 3rd crew with recycled rocket and capsule

By Marcia Dunn Apr. 23, 2021 05:52 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2018 file photo, ground personnel carry NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei after the landing of the Soyuz MS-06 space capsule in a remote area south-east of the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Vande Hei learned last week that he’ll launch April 9, 2021, on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station.Vande Hei said Monday, March 15 he may have to give up his return Soyuz seat in the fall to a Russian movie-making tourist. If that happens, he'll have to wait for the next Soyuz ride home in spring 2022. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP, File)
US astronaut launching next month may spend year in space

By Marcia Dunn Mar. 15, 2021 06:53 PM EDT

This image made available by NASA depicts a possible area through which the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover could traverse across Jezero Crater. This mosaic is composed of aligned images from the Context Camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS via AP)
NASA rover attempting most difficult Martian touchdown yet

By Marcia Dunn Feb. 17, 2021 11:42 AM EST

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken work with teams from NASA and SpaceX to rehearse crew extraction from SpaceX's Crew Dragon, which will be used to carry humans to the International Space Station, at the Trident Basin in Cape Canaveral, Fla. For the first time in nearly a decade, the two astronauts blasted towards orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil on May 30 2020, a first for a private company. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP, File)
World's space achievements a bright spot in stressful 2020

By Marcia Dunn Dec. 16, 2020 11:36 AM EST

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Double Dragons: SpaceX launches space station supplies

By Marcia Dunn Dec. 06, 2020 11:18 AM EST

In this frame grab from NASA TV, the SpaceX Dragon is seen after docking at the International Space Station, late Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. (NASA TV via AP)
SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts reaches space station

By Marcia Dunn Nov. 16, 2020 06:13 PM EST

Members of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi pose for a photo as the astronauts leave the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A and planned liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule on a six-month mission to the International Space Station Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
SpaceX launches 2nd crew, regular station crew flights begin

By Marcia Dunn Nov. 15, 2020 01:07 PM EST

NASA firefighters drive on the road outside the fence near a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company's Crew Dragon capsule attached, sits on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on Nov. 14, 2020 (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
SpaceX crew flight delayed; Musk gets mixed COVID-19 results

By Marcia Dunn Nov. 13, 2020 01:10 PM EST

NASA Astronauts Shannon Walker, left, and Victor Glover walk from their airplane after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on Nov. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Astronauts arrive at launch site for 2nd SpaceX crew flight

By Marcia Dunn Nov. 08, 2020 12:01 PM EST

In this handout photo taken on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, and provided by Russian Direct Investment Fund, a new vaccine is on display at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that his country is the first to approve a coronavirus vaccine hasn't provoked the awe and wonder of the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite into orbit in 1957. Instead the announcement was met by doubts about the science and safety of the vaccine. (Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/ Russian Direct Investment Fund via AP)
Moscow announces advanced trials for new COVID-19 vaccine

By Vladimir Isachenkov Aug. 26, 2020 02:33 PM EDT

In this handout photo taken on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, and provided by Russian Direct Investment Fund, a new vaccine is on display at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia. Russia on Tuesday, Aug. 11 became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for use in tens of thousands of its citizens despite international skepticism about injections that have not completed clinical trials and were studied in only dozens of people for less than two months. (Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/ Russian Direct Investment Fund via AP)
Science and politics tied up in global race for a vaccine

By Ben Fox Aug. 12, 2020 12:17 AM EDT

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
SpaceX capsule and NASA crew make 1st splashdown in 45 years

By Marcia Dunn Aug. 02, 2020 11:07 AM EDT

"Save Space Camp" drive pulls in more than $1M in days

Aug. 01, 2020 11:27 AM EDT
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A fundraising drive launched to help the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp through the coronavirus pandemic has pulled in...

An Atlas V rockets lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center with NASA's Perseverance rover on its way to Mars, Thursday, July 30, 2020, at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built, a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers is part part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA launches Mars rover to look for signs of ancient life

By Marcia Dunn Jul. 30, 2020 07:52 AM EDT

Security guards watch over an exhibition depicting rovers and bio-domes on Mars in Beijing Thursday, July 23, 2020. China launched its most ambitious Mars mission yet on Thursday in a bold attempt to join the United States in successfully landing a spacecraft on the red planet. The Tianwen-1 was launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from a launch site on Hainan Island. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
China launches ambitious attempt to land rover on Mars

By Samuel Mcneil And Aniruddha Ghosal Jul. 23, 2020 12:47 AM EDT

In this 2017 photo made available by NASA, technicians lift the mirror assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane inside a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. On Thursday, July 16, 2020, officials announced that the telescope is now scheduled to launch on Oct. 31, 2021. The previous target date was March 2021. (Desiree Stover/NASA via AP)
NASA's Hubble successor delayed again by virus, other issues

By Marcia Dunn Jul. 16, 2020 06:27 PM EDT

The Ofek 16 sits on display at an Israel Aerospace Industries facility in central Israel shortly before launch Monday, July 6, 2020. The new spy satellite was launched into space from central Israel early Monday, giving Israel an additional tool to keep tabs on its enemies. (Israel Ministry of Defense Spokesperson's Office via AP)
With a view toward Iran, Israel launches spy satellite

By Josef Federman Jul. 06, 2020 12:24 PM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2019, file photo made available by NASA, engineers watch the first driving test for the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance. in a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again because of rocket issues. The space agency has until mid-August to send the Perseverance rover to the red planet to look for signs of ancient microscopic life, before having to wait until 2022. Managers are now targeting no earlier than July 30 for a liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, eating up half of the month-long launch window. (J. Krohn/NASA via AP, File)
Launch of NASA Mars rover delayed again, 2 weeks left to fly

By Marcia Dunn Jul. 01, 2020 10:33 AM EDT

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket, with a global positioning satellite for the U.S. Space Force, lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
SpaceX launches Air Force's newest GPS satellite

By Marcia Dunn Jun. 30, 2020 05:12 PM EDT