A group of NASA physicists at Kennedy Space Center may have uncovered an intriguing option for controlling a fleet of satellites or stopping an older satellite from tumbling out of control. The research centers on electromagnetics and considers how simple devices might offer solutions to problems that have eluded engineers. For example, oscillating magnetic fields…

Astronauts heading into orbit aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will wear lighter and more comfortable spacesuits than earlier suits astronauts wore. The suit capitalizes on historical designs, meets NASA requirements for safety and functionality, and introduces cutting-edge innovations. Boeing unveiled its spacesuit design Wednesday as the company continues to move toward flight tests of its Starliner…

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station can expect almost 5,000 pounds of new hardware and experiments in two days following Monday’s early-morning liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. The launch lit up the skies over Florida’s Atlantic coast at 12:45:29 a.m. EDT as the nine engines of the Falcon rocket ignited…

The spacesuits astronauts will wear while exploring the surface of Mars will protect the person inside, supply air and water, and be flexible enough that astronauts can dig samples and do the other tasks required. Those are big jobs for a device that sounds like something someone might pick out of a closet and zip…

The first flight of Orbital ATK’s enhanced Cygnus spacecraft will carry more than 7,000 pounds of equipment and experiments to the International Space Station on a mission that marks the resumption of NASA’s commercial resupply efforts. Standing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 20.5-foot-tall, cylindrical Cygnus has been…

NASA opened a new avenue for exploration and technology development with awards to three companies to launch missions dedicated to CubeSats. The tiny, box-shaped spacecraft have emerged in the last 16 years as a quick, viable way to test components and techniques that, if proven, can be applied to much larger missions where the stakes…

Swamp Works engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are inventing a flying robotic vehicle that can gather samples on other worlds in places inaccessible to rovers. View more: Photos of the Day: Flying Robot Designed to Maneuver in Space The vehicles – similar to quad-copters but designed for the thin atmosphere of Mars…

The codes AV-073 and AV-080 may not mean much to many, but they mean a whole lot to former astronaut Chris Ferguson and the team of engineers and technicians who will assemble the first Atlas V rocket to launch a crew to the International Space Station. Read: Students Applying Lessons to Develop Safer Spacecraft That test and…

Months of lab work has led to this chilly day – by Florida standards – with four small, wheeled robots moving around the parking lot outside the Launch Control Center while their leader, Kurt Leucht, keeps electronic tabs on them using a laptop. He carries the laptop around as he tracks each of the four…

A spacecraft built for humans left the domain of low-Earth orbit Friday for the first time in 42 years when NASA’s first Orion soared 3,604 miles above Earth and returned safely hours later, having accomplished a flawless flight test as part of NASA’s journey to Mars. Read: Looking for Life on Mars “We as a…

A Delta II rocket blazed off the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California early Wednesday morning to begin a landmark mission to survey carbon dioxide gas in Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, is expected to provide insight into how the planet adjusts to the increased production of carbon dioxide…