After an extended review, NASA has opted to forego capturing a small asteroid as an interim step on the road to sending astronauts to Mars. Instead, the agency will focus on robotically plucking a sizable boulder from the surface of an asteroid and returning it to the vicinity of the moon. Read More...

Taking space station resupply to new heights, Lockheed Martin unveiled plans for an innovative modular spacecraft Thursday that could be used to deliver cargo to the lab complex or serve as a small habitat for NASA astronauts making deep space voyages aboard the agency's Orion capsules.
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Locked down in a massive test stand, an upgraded five-segment solid-fuel booster thundered to life in Utah Wednesday in a spectacular test firing, generating 3.6 million pounds of thrust during a two-minute "burn" that generated a 5,000-degree torrent of flame and a towering plume of exhaust visible for miles around.
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A Delta 4 rocket boosted NASA’s Orion deep space exploration vehicle to an altitude of 3,600 miles Friday, setting up a dramatic re-entry and a successful splashdown to close out a milestone test flight. Read More...

Launch of a powerful Delta 4 rocket carrying NASA's new Orion deep space exploration craft was called off Thursday because of high winds and trouble with sluggish propellant valves. Read More...

Engineers made final preparations Wednesday for the maiden launch of NASA's new Orion deep space exploration craft early Thursday on a long-awaited test flight. Read More...

NASA is gearing up for a milestone unmanned test flight Thursday, the first launch of the agency's Orion deep space exploration spacecraft intended to one day carry astronauts on missions beyond low-Earth orbit and, eventually, Mars.
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NASA managers have formally approved development of the Space Launch System -- SLS -- heavy-lift rocket, the most powerful booster ever attempted and a key element in the agency's long-range plans to send astronauts into deep space. Read More...

NASA has finalized a $2.8 billion contract with Boeing for development of avionics systems and the 20-story-tall first stage of the agency's planned Space Launch System rocket, a gargantuan booster intended to propel astronauts on missions to deep space targets. Read More...

The European Space Agency will supply the service module that will power an initial unmanned test flight of NASA's Orion deep space exploration capsule in 2017, officials say.
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A small vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket being used to test advanced technologies veered off course an instant after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center Thursday, crashed and exploded. There were no injuries.
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The Curiosity Mars rover survived its nail-biting plunge to a pinpoint landing on the floor of Gale Crater in remarkably good shape, engineers said Monday as tests and checkout proceeded. (UPDATED) Read More...

The Mars Science Laboratory rover closed in on its target Saturday, steadily accelerating under the increasing tug of the red planet's gravity as it streaked toward a high-stakes descent to the surface overnight Sunday. Read More...

NASA announced contracts Friday totaling up to $900 million to be divvied up between three companies -- SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada -- to continue development of commercial manned spacecraft. Read More...

A rocket firing Tuesday nudged NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft back into position to relay data from the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory directly back to Earth during the rover's descent to the surface Aug. 3. Read More...

The first space-bound Orion capsule, the centerpiece of NASA's post-shuttle exploration program, was officially unveiled at NASA's Florida spaceport Monday. An unmanned test flight is planned for 2014.
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A towering 355-foot-tall mobile launch tower was hauled to launch pad 39B Wednesday for structural tests and fit checks before modifications to support the agency's planned heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.
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NASA unveiled the design of a new post-shuttle super rocket Wednesday intended to boost astronauts on flights to nearby asteroids and, eventually, Mars. If fully funded, initial test flights are expected in 2017. Read More...

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has asked outgoing space shuttle Program Manager John Shannon to carry out an independent review of competing options for eventual manned missions beyond low-Earth orbit, officials say. Read More...

NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft, approaching the edge of the solar system, have detected signs of what may be gigantic magnetic bubbles at the interface between the sun's influence and interstellar space. Read More...

NASA will develop a version of the Bush administration's Orion capsule for future deep space missions beyond Earth orbit, the agency announced Tuesday. But it's not yet known when the spacecraft might fly. Read More...