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In 2006, a small, little-known company named Space Exploration Technologies Corporation — SpaceX, for short — won a NASA contract to ferry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. At that moment, SpaceX had not yet launched anything to orbit and would not succeed until two years later with its tiny Falcon 1 rocket. … Read more

Night sky observers are being treated this week to a view of a red-tinted full moon — known in June as a “strawberry moon” — a phenomenon that occurs when the moon sits low on the Southern Horizon. This summer, the reddish color is particularly pronounced because the moon is sitting at the lowest position … Read more

The northern lights are fleeting and fantastical. But Elise Wright Knutsen, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Oslo, has gotten used to them. “I’m Norwegian, so the aurora is a big thing here,” she said. “You kind of grow up with it happening over your head.” But catching her first glimpse of the aurora … Read more

Ed Smylie, the NASA official who led a team of engineers that cobbled together an apparatus made of cardboard, plastic bags and duct tape that saved the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 after an explosion crippled the spacecraft as it sped toward the moon, died on April 21 in Crossville, Tenn. He was 95. His … Read more

President Trump’s recent trip to the Persian Gulf was notable for the ways that American foreign policy overlapped with his family’s business interests. But another powerful White House figure also cut lucrative deals in the region last week: Elon Musk. Tagging along on Mr. Trump’s state visit to Saudi Arabia last week, Mr. Musk, the … Read more

New Yorkers, get ready for the latest solar spectacle. Each year at the end of May, and again in mid-July, residents and tourists flood the streets of Manhattan for a spectacular view of the sun setting in the west, flanked by the city’s famous streetscapes. Nicknamed Manhattanhenge, the event attracts more people each year, some … Read more

new video loaded: SpaceX’s Starship Has Smooth Launch but Uncontrolled Reentry transcript Back transcript SpaceX’s Starship Has Smooth Launch but Uncontrolled Reentry The spacecraft sprang a propellant leak, causing it to break apart and scatter debris in the Indian Ocean. We did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship, … Read more

President Trump on Saturday said that he planned to withdraw his nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and close associate of Elon Musk’s, to be the next NASA administrator, days before Mr. Isaacman’s expected confirmation to the role by the Senate. Mr. Trump in recent days told associates he intended to yank Mr. Isaacman’s … Read more

A geomagnetic storm is expected to set skies aglow in the northern part of the United States on Sunday night into early Monday morning, with the northern lights potentially visible as far south as Alabama to Northern California, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The geomagnetic storm reached severe … Read more