international space station

Last week's loss of an unmanned Russian supply ship may be a bigger problem than first believed.  NASA officials say keeping crews on the International Space Station now depend on finding and fixing the problem that caused the crash.

An unmanned Russian supply vehicle that launched this morning to deliver supplies to the International Space Station crashed back to Earth a little over five minutes after launch.

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, NASA is looking to the private sector to provide the rockets and ships necessary to keep the International Space Station going.  If things go as planned, the first privately owned space capsule will dock at the space station in November.

The Space Shuttle Endeavour and its crew of six has undocked from the International Space Station and is coming home, to close out NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight.  They paused just long enough to do a victory lap and test equipment for a future interplanetary ship.

NASA's countdown clocks are ticking once again for what will be the next-to-last space shuttle launch, now set for Monday, and the six-man crew is ready to go.

“Space junk” and debris in Earth orbit is a big and growing danger to space vehicles, satellites and even the International Space Station.  That's why NASA scientists are looking at a new option for reducing the dangers of orbiting clutter.