SpaceX said Friday that evidence points to a large breach in the rocket’s helium system during a routine prelaunch test that turned into a devastating fireball three weeks ago. The Falcon rocket and a satellite were destroyed in the Sept. 1 explosion, which occurred on the pad two days before the scheduled liftoff. Most of…

A new study finds that Pluto is “spray-painting” the red poles of its big moon Charon. The paint is actually Pluto’s continually escaping atmosphere. Methane and other gases from Pluto end up coating Charon’s frozen poles, which are so cold and where winters are so long that this buildup remains for decades. A chemical transformation,…

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk is calling last week’s launch pad accident the “most difficult and complex failure” in the company’s 14-year history. After a week of public silence, Musk said via Twitter that the company is still investigating the accident, its second in just 15 months. A massive fireball erupted during a prelaunch test…

NASA’s first asteroid-sampling spacecraft was poised for an evening takeoff Thursday as crowds gathered to witness the start of its seven-year quest. Osiris-Rex will be aiming for asteroid Bennu, a big, black, roundish rock that is circling the sun in a slightly wider orbit than Earth’s. The robotic probe will orbit the ancient asteroid, vacuum…

An asteroid that may hold the key to life is getting its first visitor in billions of years. Asteroid Bennu, a black roundish rock taller than the Empire State Building, is the intended target of a NASA spacecraft set to blast off Thursday night. Not only will the robotic probe named Osiris-Rex fly to this…

NASA is going after an asteroid this week like never before. It’s launching a spacecraft to the exotic black rock named Bennu (BEN-oo). Once there, the spacecraft will vacuum up handfuls of gravel from the asteroid’s surface, and then in a grand finale, deliver the pay dirt all the way back to Earth. The mission…

SpaceX is scouring computer and video data for clues to the devastating launch pad explosion that destroyed a rocket and satellite. Thursday’s accident occurred during a prelaunch test, eight minutes before the engines on SpaceX’s Falcon rocket were supposed to briefly fire. The rocket was being fueled when a huge fireball erupted. On Friday, SpaceX…

A massive fireball and explosion erupted Thursday at SpaceX’s main launch pad, destroying a rocket as well as a satellite that Facebook was counting on to spread internet service in Africa. There were no injuries. The pad had been cleared of workers before what was supposed to be a routine pre-launch rocket engine test. SpaceX…

Astronauts took their second spacewalk in two weeks Thursday, this time for some radiator work outside the International Space Station. Commander Jeffrey Williams and Kate Rubins headed over to a 44-foot-long thermal radiator that’s no longer in use and needs to be folded up to stay safe from space junk. Williams had a power drill…

SpaceX has a taker for the first flight of one of its recycled rockets. The Luxembourg-based company SES — a longtime SpaceX launch customer — said Tuesday it will send its next communications satellite up on a previously flown Falcon rocket. It will be the first true reuse of a rocket previously used for an…

A SpaceX Dragon capsule headed back to Earth on Friday with a load of science experiments and gear from the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins waved goodbye as the Dragon slowly flew away, aiming for a splashdown in the Pacific, just off Mexico’s Baja California coast. It’s loaded with 3,000 pounds of research…

Spacewalking astronauts installed a new front door for visitors at the International Space Station on Friday, the crucial first step in welcoming commercial crew capsules as soon as next year. The two Americans, Jeffrey Williams and Kate Rubins, hooked up the docking port — their major objective — in just a few hours. They were…

The heavens will be bursting with shooting stars this week. Thursday night into early Friday, the annual Perseid (PUR’-see-ihd) meteor shower is expected to peak with double the normal number of meteors. Scientists call this an outburst, and they say it could reach up to 200 meteors per hour. Prime viewing should be in the…

Five years after Atlantis completed the space shuttle program’s final voyage, NASA is still at least a year away from launching its astronauts from U.S. soil. When Atlantis returned to Earth on July 21, 2011, everyone knew there would be a lengthy gap. But the pilots who guided Atlantis to one last “wheels stop” are…

SpaceX finally made good on its delivery of a space station docking port Wednesday morning. A Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station, bearing more than 2 tons of supplies. The shipment includes a docking port needed for future rocket ships. SpaceX is working on a crew-worthy Dragon, while Boeing is developing a capsule…

SpaceX successfully launched a critical space station docking port for astronauts early Monday, along with a DNA decoder for high-flying genetic research. As an extra treat, the company brought its leftover first-stage booster back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for a vertical touchdown — only the second such land landing for an orbital mission…

Imagine a planet with triple sunrises and sunsets every day for part of the year, and nonstop daylight at other times. Astronomers revealed such a place Thursday: a strange new world in the Constellation Centaurus that has not one, not two, but three suns. What’s more, a year there lasts half a millennium from Earth’s…

NASA’s fireworks came early this year with a successful rocket test in Utah. On Tuesday, NASA fired a booster intended to hoist astronauts into true outer space. The ground test lasted the full two minutes, and the early word is that everything went well. NASA plans to use the mega-rocket for trips to Mars in…

America’s Atlas rockets are flying again, successfully launching a communications satellite for the Navy. The unmanned Atlas V rocket blasted into a brilliantly clear sky Friday morning. It was the first Atlas flight by rocket maker United Launch Alliance since March, when a fuel-valve problem popped up on a space station delivery for NASA. The…

A capsule filled with space station trash bit the cosmic dust Wednesday with a keenly interested scientific audience. The cargo carrier broke apart and burned up while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere high above the Pacific. Researchers gathered information on the breakup from sensors it carried, in hopes that the data will improve future spacecraft. Built by…

More than one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way because of man-made lights. Among those missing out on awe-inspiring Milky Way views: nearly 80 percent of North Americans and 60 percent of Europeans. These are the findings of a new global atlas of light pollution, published as part of a…

Space station astronauts opened the world’s first inflatable space habitat Monday and floated inside. NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams swung open the door to the newly expanded chamber and was the first to enter. He said it was pristine but cold inside. The room — called the Bigelow Activity Activity Module, or BEAM — arrived at…

Call it the Leaning Tower of SpaceX. SpaceX’s fourth recovered rocket returned to shore Thursday, leaning to one side but still standing tall on its ocean-landing platform. The first-stage booster pushed the limits during the landing last Friday. Its speed was close to the design maximum for the rocket and the support system for its legs.…

NASA successfully inflated a new experimental room at the International Space Station on Saturday, producing the world’s first pump-it-up compartment for astronauts. The operation took much longer than expected, stretching over three days in all. But victory, when it came, was sweet. “A significant milestone has been accomplished,” Bigelow Aerospace, the inflatable chamber’s creator, cheered…

NASA’s yearlong spaceman still is nursing sore feet, stiff legs and fatigue, even after nearly three months back on Earth. Retired astronaut Scott Kelly gave his first major address to NASA employees Wednesday, confiding that while he may have looked good upon landing in Kazakhstan at the beginning of March, he didn’t feel that well after returning from the…