Space

Blue Origin launched its reusable New Shepard booster from West Texas on a suborbital flight to the edge of space Thursday on the company’s first mission since founder Jeff Bezos and three crewmates rocketed to an altitude of 66 miles last month.

NASA has selected New Directions Technologies Inc. of Ridgecrest, California, for management systems engineering, software development, project management, information technology security, and enterprise architecture support services for the agency’s Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center, and Ames Research Center.

New Shepard aced its latest mission this morning (Aug. 26), an uncrewed jaunt that carried a variety of scientific experiments, as well as some pioneering artwork, to and from suborbital space.

United Launch Alliance is rolling a test article for its new Vulcan rocket to a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Wednesday, moving the booster into position for a series of cryogenic tanking tests set to begin in the coming days.

Enceladus’s unusual features could help scientists search for evidence of life outside Earth.

Students in Georgia and California will each have an opportunity this week to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

NASA’s plan to “reboot” human exploration of the moon will get kick-started soon by a spacecraft the size of a microwave oven.

A planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station Tuesday was postponed after NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, which NASA described as a “minor medical issue.”

A battle for the future of American stargazing is about to begin — and the stakes are sky high.

Astronomers have found an asteroid, or possibly an extinct comet, in a high-stress orbit carrying it closer to the Sun than any other body in the solar system.