Planets
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

In this image from NASA, NASA's experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity lands on the surface of Mars Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP)
NASA's Mars helicopter takes flight, 1st for another planet

By Marcia Dunn Apr. 19, 2021 11:26 AM EDT

President Joe Biden congratulates NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars 2020 Perseverance team for successfully landing on Mars during a virtual call in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Biden lauds NASA team for giving US 'dose of confidence'

By Alexandra Jaffe And Aamer Madhani Mar. 04, 2021 06:09 PM EST

In this illustration made available by NASA, the spacecraft containing the Perseverance rover slows down using the drag generated by traveling through the Martian atmosphere. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient life

By Marcia Dunn Feb. 18, 2021 04:15 PM EST

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

This image made available by the China National Space Administration on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 shows the Tianwen-1 probe en route to Mars. China's duo _ called Tianwen-1, or “Quest for Heavenly Truth” _ will remain paired in orbit until May, when the rover separates to descend to the dusty, ruddy surface. If all goes well, it will be the second country to land successfully on the red planet. (CNSA via AP)
Next stop Mars: 3 spacecraft arriving in quick succession

By Marcia Dunn Feb. 07, 2021 10:06 AM EST

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, file photo, actor George Clooney talks to reporters on arrival at the premiere of the television mini-series "Catch22," in London. Clooney was honored Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, by co-stars and colleagues at the annual film benefit for the Museum of Modern Art, held virtually. (Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP, File)
Q&A: Clooney on 'Midnight Sky' and his twilight as an actor

By Jake Coyle Dec. 23, 2020 01:42 PM 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

U.S. Ambassador John Rakolta talks with a UAE TV presenter during the U.S.A Pavilion handover ceremony at the Dubai Expo 2020, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. The U.S. showed off a literally star-studded pavilion Wednesday for Dubai's upcoming Expo 2020, complete with a replica SpaceX rocket body beside it. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
US shows off its star-studded Expo 2020 pavillion in Dubai

By Jon Gambrell Nov. 18, 2020 04:38 AM EST

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

This illustration made available by NASA depicts the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on the red planet's surface near the Perseverance rover, left. NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover headed to Mars. Set to rocket away this week from Florida, Perseverance is NASA's brawniest and brainiest Martian rover yet. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)
NASA's next Mars rover is brawniest and brainiest one yet

By Marcia Dunn Jul. 27, 2020 01:41 PM 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 image made from a video, Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center attends a news conference at Tanegashima Space Center on a small southern Japanese island after a launch of a United Arab Emirates spacecraft Monday, July 20, 2020. A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. (MHI via AP Photo)
UAE's Amal spacecraft rockets toward Mars in Arab world 1st

By Mari Yamaguchi And Victoria Milko Jul. 19, 2020 08:36 PM EDT

This June 1, 2020, rendering provided by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre shows the Hope probe. The U.S., China and the United Arab Emirates are sending spacecraft to Mars in quick succession beginning this week.(MBRSC via AP)
Look out, Mars: Here we come with a fleet of spacecraft

By Marcia Dunn Jul. 13, 2020 01:09 AM 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

This photo provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech in June 2020 shows a 3-by-5-inch (8-by-13-centimeter) aluminum plate between the wheels at center and right, which commemorates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pays tribute to the perseverance of healthcare workers around the world, attached to the Perseverance Mars rover, in Pasadena, Calif. NASA is pressing ahead with a July 20 launch, despite the pandemic. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)
NASA's next Mars rover honors medical teams fighting virus

By Marcia Dunn Jun. 17, 2020 05:20 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup:

By The Associated Press Jun. 01, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
The Dallas Morning News. May 31, 2020. Here’s a path forward to cutting Texas’ skyrocketing property tax bills If you...

This photo provided by NASA shows the crew of SpaceX entering the International Space Station, Sunday, May 31, 2020. The Dragon capsule arrived Sunday morning, hours after a historic liftoff from Florida. It's the first time that a privately built and owned spacecraft has delivered a crew to the orbiting lab. (NASA via AP)
SpaceX's historic encore: Astronauts arrive at space station

By Marcia Dunn May. 31, 2020 11:11 AM EDT

President Donald Trump views the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Launch provides Trump moment to relish during difficult week

By Jill Colvin May. 30, 2020 04:34 PM EDT

The SpaceX Falcon 9, with Dragon crew capsule on top of the rocket, sits on Launch Pad 39-A, Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Two astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on Saturday, May 30. For the first time in nearly a decade, astronauts will blast into orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
'Back in the game': SpaceX ship blasts off with 2 astronauts

By Marcia Dunn May. 30, 2020 09:17 AM EDT