4+ day, 12+ hour ago   (557+ words) Genesis, NASA's first sample-return mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, was brought down by a basic design flaw. On Sept. 8, 2004, NASA's Genesis spacecraft crash-landed in Utah after its parachutes failed to deploy. Genesis was NASA's first sample-return mission since the Apollo program,…...

4+ day, 13+ hour ago   (693+ words) "There was a sudden explosion as the satellites disintegrated." A team of researchers just chased a pair of reentering satellites in a private jet to learn about the pollution caused by space debris burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The international…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (610+ words) The tiny planet hides big mysteries that scientists can't wait to tackle. Mercury, the tiniest and least-explored planet in the inner solar system, is hiding mysteries far larger than itself — and finally, scientists will soon be getting not one but…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (456+ words) Sophie Adenot and Jessica Meir were outside the ISS for six hours and 49 minutes on the sixth-ever all-female extravehicular activity. Two astronauts replaced a spacecraft docking aid and a video camera during a successful spacewalk outside of the International Space…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (445+ words) Pioneer 11 began its life as a backup twin of NASA's Pioneer 10 mission to Jupiter. So how did it get to Saturn? On Sept. 1, 1979, NASA's robotic space probe Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn. Pioneer 11 launched in 1973 on…...