Articles written by Marcia Dunn
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Space Force launches its 1st mission with virus precautions
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The newly established U.S. Space Force launched its first national security satellite Thursday with a leaner staff because of the coronavirus pandemic. "Nothing stops the space launch mission!" the 45th Space Wing...
No family, fanfare for NASA astronaut launching next month
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA astronaut who's about to leave the planet for six months will blast off without any family or fanfare because of the coronavirus. Chris Cassidy said Thursday that he won't have any guests at his April 9 launch...
It's cloudy with a chance of iron rain at hot, faraway world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — At one hot, faraway world, it's always cloudy with a chance of iron rain. That's the otherworldly forecast from Swiss and other European astronomers who have detected clouds full of iron droplets at a hot Jupiterlike...
Boeing blames incomplete testing for astronaut capsule woes
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing acknowledged Friday it failed to conduct full and adequate software tests before the botched space debut of its astronaut capsule late last year. A software error left the Starliner capsule in the wrong orbit in...
Satellite almost on empty gets new life after space docking
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A communication satellite almost out of fuel has gotten a new life after the first space docking of its kind. Northrop Grumman and Intelsat announced the successful link-up nearly 22,500 miles (36,000 kilometers) above...
Mars lander confirms quakes, even aftershocks on red planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's newest Mars lander has confirmed that quakes and even aftershocks are regularly jolting the red planet. Scientists reported Monday that the seismometer from the InSight spacecraft has detected scores of...
SpaceX aims to launch up to 4 tourists into super high orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX aims to launch up to four tourists into a super high orbit, possibly by the end of next year. The private company is working with Space Adventures Inc. for the flight, officials announced Tuesday. Ticket prices...
Candy, cheese soar to space station to satisfy crew cravings
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A cargo ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday, carrying candy and cheese to satisfy the astronauts' cravings. Northrop Grumman launched its Cygnus capsule from the Virginia seashore. The...
NASA's space snowman reveals secrets: few craters, no water
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's space snowman is revealing fresh secrets from its home far beyond Pluto. More than a year after its close encounter with the snowman-shaped object, the New Horizons spacecraft is still sending back data from more...
Spacewalking astronauts plug leak, finish fixing detector
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spacewalking astronauts plugged a leak in a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station on Saturday, completing a series of complex repairs to give the instrument new life. The $2 billion Alpha Magnetic...
First space-baked cookies took 2 hours in experimental oven
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The results are finally in for the first chocolate chip cookie bake-off in space. While looking more or less normal, the best cookies required two hours of baking time last month up at the International Space Station....
SpaceX launches, destroys rocket in astronaut escape test
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX completed the last big test of its crew capsule before launching astronauts in the next few months, mimicking an emergency escape shortly after liftoff Sunday. No one was aboard for the wild ride in the skies...
Spacewalking astronauts wrap up battery improvements
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A pair of spacewalking astronauts successfully wrapped up battery improvements outside the International Space Station on Monday, completing a job begun last fall. NASA's Jessica Meir and Christina Koch installed the...
Titanic wave of star-forming gases found in Milky Way
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a titanic wave of star-forming gases practically right under our noses in the Milky Way. Harvard University scientists reported Tuesday that this massive structure has been hiding out in the...
Boeing capsule launches to wrong orbit, skips space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing's new Starliner capsule ended up in the wrong orbit after lifting off on its first test flight Friday, a blow to the company's effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year. As the company scrambled to...
SpaceX delivers 'mighty mice,' worms, robot to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX made an early holiday delivery to the International Space Station on Sunday, bringing muscle-bound "mighty mice," pest-killing worms and a smart, empathetic robot. The station commander, Italy's Luca Parmitano,...
Spacewalking astronauts add new pumps to cosmic detector
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spacewalking astronauts installed new pumps on a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station on Monday in a bid to extend its scientific life. It was the third spacewalk in nearly three weeks for Italy's...
NASA warned of safety risks in delayed private crew launches
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA auditors warned Thursday the space agency faces “significant safety and technical challenges” that need to be solved before astronauts fly in private capsules. In its report, NASA’s inspector general office...
Most distant world ever explored gets new name: Arrokoth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The most distant world ever explored 4 billion miles away finally has an official name: Arrokoth. That means "sky" in the language of the Native American Powhatan people, NASA said Tuesday. NASA's New Horizons...
Mini Mercury skips across sun's vast glare in rare transit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mini Mercury skipped across the vast, glaring face of the sun Monday in a rare celestial transit. Stargazers used solar-filtered binoculars and telescopes to spot Mercury — a tiny black dot — as it passed directly...
Boeing crew capsule completes major flight test in desert
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing's capsule for astronauts underwent its first major flight test Monday, shooting a mile into the air then parachuting back to the New Mexico desert. The Starliner capsule carried no crew, just a test dummy for the...
3-2-1-Cookoff! Astronauts to bake cookies with new test oven
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Forget reheated, freeze-dried space grub. Astronauts are about to get a new test oven for baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch. The next delivery of supplies for the International Space Station — scheduled for...
Space station's 2 women prep for 1st all-female spacewalk
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Men have floated out the hatch on all 420 spacewalks conducted over the past half-century. That changes Friday with spacewalk No. 421. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will make "HERstory," as NASA is call...
NASA conducts spacewalk as world's 1st spacewalker dies
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts replaced oversized batteries outside the International Space Station on Friday, as news broke of the death of the world's first spacewalker. NASA interrupted live TV coverage of its second spacewalk this week...
Astronauts replace old batteries in 1st of 5 spacewalks
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts hustled through the first of five spacewalks to replace old batteries at the International Space Station on Sunday. Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan removed three old batteries and installed two new ones...
