space

While the world is still basking in the glow of NASA's successful landing of its Curiosity rover on Mars, a flight of the space agency's experimental Morpheus lander had a much more unfortunate ending today.

According to Space.com, the lander crashed and burned at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon after its first free-flight test went badly awry.

"The @MorpheusLander experienced a failure, causing it to catch fire," NASA tweeted. "No one was injured. Information will be released as soon as possible."

But Space.com added that in a statement, NASA said that, "… Read more

After an intense competition, NASA announced contracts Friday totaling up to $900 million to be divvied up between three companies -- SpaceX, Boeing, and Sierra Nevada -- to continue development of commercial manned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

While it is far from clear whether Congress will provide enough funding to keep all three companies in the mix, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former shuttle commander, said the program was critical to America's future in space.

"Today we are announcing another critical step towards launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on … Read more

Some big stories in Thursday's tech highlights, but stick around for the Olympic LOLs:

Google Wallet now lets users pay with any major credit or debit card. But you still have to have one of the few Sprint devices with NFC to use the service. That's because Verzion, AT&T and T-Mobile rather have you wait for the competing service they invested in, called Isis. But don't hold your breath waiting for Isis.

The Transportation Security Administration has been ordered to address comments and concerns from the public about its airport body scanners. Wired has reported … Read more

Those of you who've never seen an actual space shuttle or Apollo module up close can now get a taste of the real thing courtesy of Google Street View.

Commemorating the past 50 years of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the search giant has unveiled a series of interactive, panoramic Street View photos. Each of the 10 online photos focuses on a different piece of space technology, equipment, or location.

One photo reveals the Atlantis space shuttle from stem to stern. Another highlights the Apollo 14 Command Module. And a third carries you to the top of an … Read more

MOJAVE DESERT, Calif.--It's hard to imagine a more complete -- and impressive -- collection of aviation facilities and aircraft anywhere on the planet than the one in this vast, arid, wide-open wasteland northeast of Los Angeles.

Thanks to its endless amounts of dry, flat terrain, useless to most people, and the fact that there are only a few ways in -- vital for security -- the Mojave is, and has long been, the beating heart of the aviation world. It's here that Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier. And where Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne ushered in … Read more

An attempt to re-dock an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship with the International Space Station was aborted by the ship's flight computer Monday night when a new rendezvous system failed to operate as expected, flight controllers said.

By design, the spacecraft ended up on a passive return trajectory that will permit another docking attempt later this week, after engineers have a chance to diagnose what went wrong. The station's six-member crew was never in any danger, officials said.

The Progress M-15M spacecraft was undocked from the station's Pirs module Sunday afternoon and directed to back away to … Read more

An unmanned Japanese rocket carrying more than five tons of space station hardware, scientific gear and crew supplies vaulted away from its scenic seaside launch stand in southern Japan Friday (U.S. time) and set off on weeklong flight to the International Space Station.

The powerful H-2B rocket's two hydrogen-fueled first stage engines roared to life as the countdown ticked to zero, followed a few seconds later by ignition of four strap-on solid-fuel boosters at 10:06 p.m. EDT (11:06 a.m. Saturday local time), roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the … Read more

This weekend is a rare opportunity to see a space rock the size of a city block go for a joyride past the much bigger space rock we call Earth.

The snappily named asteroid 2002 AM31 will cruise by our planet this Sunday, coming within 13.7 lunar distances, or about 3.2 million miles.

If you consider yourself a bit of a NEO (near-Earth object) groupie, you can watch the whole spectacle online at the Web site of the Slooh space camera (really a network of robotic telescopes around the globe). Webcasts are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. PT and will feature live commentary and feeds from telescopes in Arizona and the Canary Islands. … Read more

Several months after its high-profile fly-by of the New York City skyline, the Space Shuttle Enterprise has landed on display at a New York exhibit presented by the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The show finally opened to the public today.

The Enterprise has found its final home on the USS Intrepid. For now, it's housed in a temporary pavilion; the museum is planning a more permanent structure in the future.

The space shuttle was unveiled as part of Samsung's SpaceFest week at the museum, which also included the "launch" of the company's newest product, the 75-inch ES9000 television.… Read more