Space & Astronomy News

This Fourth of July weekend will be filled with dazzling fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, who is flying high above Earth on the International Space Station.

NASA's newest spacecraft in orbit around the moon has sent its first snapshots of the lunar surface.

Three crewmembers of the International Space Station took a short trip aboard their Soyuz lifeboat late Thursday as traffic heats up at the orbital outpost.

WASHINGTON - NASA has tweeted in space, but now one of its astronauts is breaking a new space Twitter barrier. He'll tweet from space in Spanish and English.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Catholic Church should not fear scientific progress and possibly repeat the mistake it made when it condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century, a Vatican official said on Thursday in a rare self-criticism.

KOUROU, French Guiana (AFP) - A European rocket placed the world's biggest commercial telecommunications satellite into geostationary orbit, launch operator Arianespace said.

PARIS - The largest commercial satellite ever built - the massive TerreStar-1 - launched into space on Wednesday, riding a European-built rocket into orbit.

NASA will try to launch the space shuttle Endeavour on July 11, nearly a month late, after plugging a potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak, top mission managers said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US space shuttle Endeavour has cleared a test for potentially harmful hydrogen gas leaks that twice delayed its high-profile launch, NASA said Wednesday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - To NASA's relief, a fueling test on space shuttle Endeavour uncovered no hydrogen gas leaks Wednesday and paved the way for another launch attempt late next week for the delayed mission.

PARIS (AFP) - Astronomers on Wednesday said they had identified an intermediate class of black hole that could explain how supermassive, light-sucking monsters develop in the heart of galaxies.

NASA fueled the space shuttle Endeavour early Wednesday in an apparently successful test of repairs aimed at eliminating a potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The interplanetary space probe Ulysses officially ceased operations on Tuesday after an 18-year voyage of roughly 5.5 billion miles (8.85 billion km) and nearly three complete orbits around the sun, NASA said.

PASADENA, Calif. - The U.S. and European spacecraft Ulysses has ended its more than 18-year mission to explore and research the region of space above the poles of the sun.

Over the 4th of July weekend, Americans will have "spectacular views" of the International Space Station as it makes several passes over the country, NASA said Tuesday.

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Irish rock megastars U2 Tuesday launched their new world tour on a vast stage in Barcelona before some 90,000 fans with a show that included a live linkup with the International Space Station.

WASHINGTON - Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon.

Spacewalks, extreme G forces, micro-gravity - astronauts must be able to handle it all. Staying hydrated and healthy is crucial.